What is your teaching philosophy?

I'll teach you, and you teach me.

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

Introductions between myself and the youth. An icebreaker to get to know one another and our learning/teaching styles.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By teaching the student to the best of my abilities, giving them the knowledge that I already know, and then having them place their knowledge into a concoction of the tutor's and student's knowledge.

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

Assess how that student learns best. Visual is most popular. I would use interactive activities to both help me the tutor, teach the student, and to have the student be able to use the tools that we use in sessions in their own learning experience (i.e. at school or at home).

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

Assessing their reading level. Getting reading materials that are on the student's level. Us reading together. Whether I am listening to the student read or vice versa. I would ask follow up questions, depending on how long the text is (every other paragraph, at the end of the chapter, etc.).

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

Building a relationship with the youth is super important. For a youth to respect you, be comfortable enough to ask questions, and to give you honest feedback on your teaching skills, you must build a relationship with them. I have found in my few years of tutoring that having a good relationship with your youth is one of the first steps to being a good educator.

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

First, find out what they like. I have an 11 year-old brother who is obsessed with basketball. He isn't very excitable about math. He is in geometry, so I we watched a couple YouTube videos of Stephen Curry (his favorite player). As we watched the videos, I would explain to him the angles or arcs that Curry was creating as he made 3 pointers. That engaged him just enough for us to finish his math homework for the night. So, finding what the student's interests are is essential.

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

If the student can relate back to me, or themselves or others -- what they have learned -- then they have learned the material.