What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe I learn as much as my students do. We're in this together to make your experience fun and engaging. We all need a little fantasy sometimes to not become trapped in our reality.

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

It's important to introduce each other properly and propose tutoring methods that we are both comfortable with. Also, having an open mind to new tutoring methods can go a long way for both of us.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I encourage my students to reach their maximum potential by bringing their best efforts to the platform. Ultimately, through both of our dedicated work and time, my students will be virtuous, independent learners.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Certain subjects can challenge us and get to our heads, however it's important to be aware that positive vibes are the best form to be about. There will be hard days; at times we might not understand much, and that's ok. We dust ourselves off and try again!

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

If my students are struggling, I would do my best to create new forms of learning the subject. We all need introductions to new methods; being creative is key. There is nothing wrong with a little extra boost of energy sent our way to improve our challenges.

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

Everybody has different levels of reading comprehension. It's best to slow down the process and articulate word per word of the subject. Flashcards, if not rhythm tunes, usually work best for memorization of specific words and phrases.

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

Recognizing that you are not above the student, but willing to work patiently and directly with the student, usually sets a great environment for both of us to instill trust and compatibility for each other.

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

Set a goal for the student to reach; something they would be proud of if they mastered the struggling subject.

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

At the end of the session, I would like for the student to either document their own synopsis of the subject or answer questions of their best, if not most proud, moment they believe they learned.

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

I constantly encourage my students that their intelligence isn't based on numbers, but the knowledge their mind is able to verse when completing assignments or speaking of the designated subject.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I always question their personal feelings and ratings of the subject. I like to hear their opinion first. After, depending on the subject, I'll ask the students to rate the understanding of the subject on a scale from 1-10. Finally, a few prepared questions on my part are given just to confirm their level of comprehension.

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

I'm willing to attempt new tutoring strategies if the student is not comfortable with mine. However, I feel we should all be given opportunities to display our tutoring methods to each other; of course this itself is a process.

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

I typically use, depending on the subject: flashcards, vocabulary lists, phonics books that I own, images of certain words, and music comprehension (educational songs, CDs, videos) of vocabulary words.