What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe all students can succeed. Patience is needed to facilitate learning. I believe that multiple strategies should be used to move students to understanding and applying information.

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

In a first session, I would like to get to know the student and find out what their learning style is in order to best fit strategies for them to maximize the effectiveness of the session.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I can help students become independent learners by equipping them with the tools they need to be successful. Knowing how to research and find answers, take notes, and build study skills is important.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Motivation is essential to success. I believe feedback and praise is an excellent way to keep students motivated.

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

If a student is having difficulty with a skill or concept, I must reassess my strategy and teach it a different way. I may also use scaffolding to teach skills or concepts that may be missing and build from that point.

How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?

I believe strategies such as SQ3R (Skim, Question, Read, Recite, Review), which is a textbook comprehension strategy that can assist students in increasing their comprehension skills.

What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

Strategies in reading include teaching textbook features, context clues, and writing strategies that include prewriting, as well as note taking strategies.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?

I would use technology to increase excitement and engagement. There are a plethora of websites and programs that keep students engaged in our computer driven world.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?

Students should be able to demonstrate that they understand by presenting information in some type of medium.

How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?

I build confidence by providing feedback and praise. Students who struggle must know they are making progress.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I believe in diagnosing student's skills. Also, pre-testing in a subject or content area will let you get a baseline on the student's needs.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?

I build a program based on deficits in reading and writing. Once a student has mastered one skill, scaffolding will allow us to move on to a higher skill while reviewing the previous skill.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

I use technology-based materials including reading programs that build a student's skills from where they are and moves them to a higher grade level.