What is your teaching philosophy?

My philosophy for teaching is that the teacher is there to shape their learners and there to guide them into becoming the best version of themselves. A teacher is supposed to lift up their students.

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

The first session is supposed to be there to help develop expectations for both the student and the teacher about future sessions, and in the first session we will also clearly identify what the end goal is supposed to be for the student so that our future sessions will always have that end goal in mind to best optimize our time together.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By showing a student that they are capable of critically thinking, and problem solving on their own, with my presence simply guiding them to generate their own ideas, is how a student becomes independent.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

You help a student stay motivated by giving the student choices, and by making the learning relevant to what their interests are, which will help the learner stay engaged.

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

Scaffolding is a teacher's best friend, as well as the learner's. By layering the concept or skill first with parts the student is confident they know, and using those skills to build their knowledge base up to the harder skills, the learner will begin to master the difficult skill.

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

The first part is to understand why the student is struggling with comprehension; is it because the vocab is too advanced and that is slowing down comprehension, or is that perhaps they aren't strong writers and they do comprehend, but the form of testing is what is taking away from being able to demonstrate the knowledge they posses? Once you know the cause of the comprehension issues, you can start to work to solve the problem by either lowering the vocab level or by testing them verbally, for example.

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

When starting to work with a student, it is always important to make sure the student knows that I am there to help them, and that I am interested in them doing the best work possible.

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

I think it is important to give the student choices and allow them to have a sense of agency in their learning. Once the student has that feeling of being an agent of their own success, they will take ownership of the process, and with that ownership they will work to get past the hardship of the area, because they are now in control.

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

Formative assessments are the biggest tool a teacher has to see understanding. That may be a conversation with a student about a concept, a short written response, a quick multiple choice test, or a presentation on a subject.

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

Feedback is a great tool to help build a student's confidence. Providing meaningful feedback is always filled with praise, but also suggestions for improvement, so that they feel empowered to improve.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Evaluation of a student's needs is an ongoing process, and formative assessments are one great tool to know where a student is struggling. However, simply having a check-in with the student, where the student tells me how things are going, is another tool.

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

This is another ongoing process. Teaching is always changing in the classroom based on how a student previously performed on an essay, test, a warm up, an exit ticket, or a conversation. Being able to recognize that you need to spend more time on a subject and not move on is something a teacher will always do, and is always prepared for, because they know slowing down will ultimately help the learner reach the end goal.

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

For English, it is important to have either a notebook, laptop, and whatever text they are working on.