What is your teaching philosophy?

Anyone can learn anything with a little bit of patience and effort. I believe I can supply help where help is needed, and provoke deeper thinking of topics through good conversation.

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

I would sit down with a student and see how comfortable they are with the material. I would then ask them some goals they would like to accomplish throughout our time together.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Becoming an independent learner means knowing your learning style and adapting tools to fit that style. As a tutor, I would supply clients with the tools they need to better help themselves when I am not present. Being an independent learner is a new way of thinking and approaching learning, and I enjoy aiding in that delicate process.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I would reintegrate the end goal, whether that goal is to graduate, pass a class, or just improve social skills. We all need goals, and sometimes it can be hard to see the finish line or improvements being made thus far. I feel like it is a educator's job to reinforce all the positive steps taken towards an overarching goal. I would become a cheerleader of sorts for my students.

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

I would find a way for the difficult concept to be related to the student. Sometimes stepping back and analyzing how a particular concept can be applied to the student's life, or something they are familiar with, helps in mastering a foreign concept. Breaking down difficult material into simpler parts also helps, much like a puzzle and taking it piece by piece before we get to enjoy the big picture.

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

I would target the specific problem the student is having and offer suggestions. There are a number of things that could lead to poor reading comprehension, however some repair strategies include asking the student the purpose of the passage or details within a piece of literature. Getting the individual to think about story structure, possible questions or topics for further discussion, and the ability to summarize just the key elements. All these components are essential for good reading comprehension skills; therefore, I would have to see where the student is struggling to master a key skill and design a specific reading plan for them.

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

Knowing a student's learning style helps me design a plan or strategy they enjoy following. Learning can be hard work, but it can also be fun. So keeping lessons full of interesting material is crucial for success.

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

Student excitement come from reliability. I would find a creative way to use things the student have a passion for already. For example, a grade schooler was struggling in reading, but had an interest in Harry Potter. I made deal with the student (with the parents' permission of course) that for every chapter she read out loud to me after homework, she could do that chapter on Pottermore. Pottermore is an online interactive supplement website for the book. She not only read the book and was entertained and learned new vocabulary, she read more passages on the website. This "deal" transformed a struggling reading student into an avid reader. She finished the Harry Potter series and moved on to other books that she never would have had an interest in beforehand for fear of poor reading skills.

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

I normally ask students questions to better gauge if they are just memorizing definitions or they have good mastery of the skill. I sometimes ask a student to explain the problem to me as if I were seeing the material for the first time. This helps me see what key information fails to make it to their demonstration, and I can take a moment to mention what they might have left out, or I get to see first where they are "stuck".

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

I celebrate small victories. As we learn small concepts, I praise them or tell them just how good they are moving along. Most individuals are overwhelmed, therefore taking a moment to say "good job" means a lot to them.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Normally a student is not meeting a benchmark, or comes knowing they are weak in some subject. However, that is not always the case. Sometimes a student is struggling and cannot understand what they are doing wrong or how they are failing to do well in a course. At that point, I normally step back and have them tell me what has been covered. Then I'll have them show me mastery of concepts until I find the root of the problem.

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

A student's needs depend on how they learn, the subject being taught, and the approach of the tutor. I would start by identifying how the student learns best, if they do not already know. Maybe even experimenting with new methods. For example, a visual learner would benefit greatly from color coded notes. Overall, everyone has different needs and situations, and I take great care to make sure the student is learning the material by any means necessary.

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

Normally I use whiteboards, paper and writing materials, and anything the student needs throughout the session. If am tutoring in math, a graphing calculator might be present. If I was tutoring someone learning to read, books would be brought to the session for practice. All sessions typically have a lesson plan, which I have prepared and has a general outline of the topics covered or benchmarks being reviewed. I am a huge believer in flashcards and repetition, however I know that does not serve every student. Overall, I think the materials I bring to a session depend on the student's needs and desires for our time together.