What is your teaching philosophy?

As a math and science tutor, I have come to develop two key philosophies: to get students to think about science as a process, and to individualize their learning experiences, the former of which I learned as a student myself, and the latter of which became evident as an effective teaching strategy.

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

For a first session, I generally aim to spend some time getting to know the student and building a friendly relationship. Before diving into the material, I think it is important to understand the goals, aspirations, and personality of a student so I can design lessons that are tailored specifically to the needs of the student and be a more effective tutor!

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

My strategy to help a student become an independent learner is simply to let the student do the work. By giving control of the process to the student, I know I can encourage active learning and increase the student's self-confidence.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

From my experience tutoring, I have noticed that a high-quality relationship with a tutor whom the student respects is a key element of helping students develop intrinsic motivation. Some simple ways that I try to do this is by taking a genuine interest in my students, always being patient and friendly, being flexible with scheduling, and, of course, never giving up on my students.

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

I think the most important thing to help a student learn a difficult concept is first for the tutor to simplify the concept in their own mind and to keep asking themselves questions before turning to the student. This aims to really break down that concept in the tutor's mind, because the more you simplify it, the better you understand it and can teach it.

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

In order to help students that are struggling with reading comprehension, I teach them self-monitoring techniques. Self-monitoring is key for success in reading comprehension at all levels. Giving students some questions to ask themselves as they read is a great first step toward understanding.

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

两种策略,我真的当我开始关注to work with a student are to provide quality feedback early and often, and also to clarify the learning goals and style of the student.

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

为了帮助学生参与他们的材料are struggling in, I would try to make the material meaningful to the student. In aiming for full engagement, it is essential that students perceive activities as being meaningful. To ensure that activities are personally meaningful, we can, for example, connect them with the student's previous knowledge and experiences, highlighting the value of an assigned activity in personally relevant ways.

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

One unique way to help students understand material is to actually encourage and reward them for making mistakes, and to let them fail early and often. Getting your students involved in the content and helping them experience it without fear or hesitation of failing can help them learn material better. If they fail or make mistakes along the way and are comfortable in doing so, they learn.

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

In order to boost a student's confidence in a subject, I try to set attainable goals from the start. This is a sure-fire way for students to feel a sense of accomplishment and see for themselves how much they have grown.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

In order to assess a student's needs, I tend to try and pause every few minutes to see whether the student is following along with the lesson. This helps to not only identify gaps in comprehension, but also to break up lessons in smaller, more manageable chunks.

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

In order to adapt my tutoring to student's needs, I would try to gauge how the student learns and responds best, and stick to those methods.

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

I will often use practice worksheets/questions and compiled lessons, either printed out or shown on a computer screen, depending on the preferences of the student.