What is your teaching philosophy?

Patience.

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

Talk with the student to understand exactly what they are struggling to understand.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I strive to help the student understand the difference between knowing and understanding. For instance, knowing the name of a bird in thirteen different languages is great, but at the end of the day you don't actually understand anything about the bird. Now understanding the biology and tendencies of the bird is truly understanding something about the bird, regardless of if you can remember the name.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I feel showing the application of what the student is learning is wonderfully useful. Not just a mundane example however, but a fantastical example that spans the imagination!

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

Through a series of questions I would attempt to try and find the specific concept they were struggling with, and once I have discovered it, I would attempt to explain it from as many different perspectives as possible.

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

I would find some reading material with a theme preferred by the student, have them read some of it, and myself read it. I would then just engage in discussion with the student about it.

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

I find that to teach something you have to have a significant understanding of it. Therefore, I would have the student re-explain the material back to me as if they were the teacher.

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

I would show them all the amazing things happening in that field.

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

Once the student has sufficiently demonstrated comprehension of a subject, I would work with them increasingly more difficult problems until they realized how proficient they have become.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I attempt first to simply engage in conversation with the student about the subject and try to understand what he/she is struggling with. Following, I would attempt a few practice problems of varying difficulty.

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

I understand that a student may be an auditory, visual, or hands on learner. After discovering which the student may be, than I adapt my teaching to that student's needs by either lecture, multiple visual representations, or trying to understand the topic from multiple perspectives.