What is your teaching philosophy?

I truly believe that all students can achieve. Each student is an individual and has varying needs that must be met in order to achieve and learn effectively. It is the teacher's part to ensure they understand and help each student meet their needs. Overall, I emphasize the model to my students, "smart is not something you are, it is something you get through effective effort." This means that I believe that they can achieve, but hard work by the teacher and student is needed in order for them to succeed.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

What I typically would do in a first session is get to know the student with a few questions or with a brief conversation before diving into the work. Questions or conversations would surround what are their hobbies, who is in their family, and what do they think of school? I would ask these to hopefully later help them make a better connection with the work we are doing. Throughout the session, I would bring up some personal examples or information about myself, to better the child and my relationship.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I can help a student become an independent learner by letting them be accountable for their actions, and by making sure I keeping in touch with the family about the student's progress or work. In addition, instead of giving the child answers, I would be acting as a guide and have the student form the answers themselves. They would need to provide reason and evidence for their thinking. Myself providing the expectation of the child having the responsibility to provide the answer and complete the work is what will help my students becoming independent learners.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I would help a student stay motivated by using a variety of "teacher tools": positive feedback, positive reinforcement, bringing the learning to life, student ownership, relevance, etc. Each student is different and is motivated in different ways intrinsically and extrinsically. My job will be to figure out what works best for your child and how we can improve upon my findings. Therefore, I will use different methods to help a child stay motivated.