Evan
Certified Tutor
Undergraduate Degree: Colorado State University-Fort Collins - Bachelors, Physics
ACT English: 31
Ice hockey, board games, biking, hiking, movies, physics, ancient history
AP Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism
AP Physics C: Mechanics
College Physics
High School Physics
Special Relativity
Thermodynamics
What is your teaching philosophy?
The key word here is confidence. When a student is struggling in a subject, they can begin to feel very incapable and unmotivated. No one wants to do something which they are certain they will fail at. I try to build confidence in two ways. First I will always give praise for answers done correctly. Second, I try not to use the words "that's wrong". Instead I will tell a student that I understand why they would put that answer -- it's a common and easy misunderstanding -- then I would present an alternative way to think about the problem. I find that getting a student's mentality to switch from "I'm a failure" to "the subject is hard but I can do it" does wonders for keeping them confident and engaged.