What is your teaching philosophy?

My teaching philosophy is to utilize educational standards as a basis to teach a subject while tapping into a student's background knowledge to design an individualized lesson plan that will facilitate the student's success.

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

In a first session with a student, I would get to know a little about the student and what their short and long term goals are. Then I would work with them to develop an educational plan based on the standards and instructional goals developed from the pretest and conferencing.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

I will not do the work for the student. I teach methods to learn that promote independent learning. I believe in providing the methodology rather than an answer to each problem.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I believe in positive reinforcement and motivation along with patience and determination is what learning is all about. Mistakes are just another opportunity to learn!

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

It's important to offer several different ways to learn as well as solve problems. In math, there are usually 4 different ways to solve a problem and if presented, most students are able to grasp one way if they are an independent learner.

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

I teach methods to assist with comprehension, especially since most subjects (including math) include a fair amount of comprehension. Teaching the importance of decoding, fluency, and context clues are important to comprehension.

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

I believe developing a plan that is a "living document" is important. revisiting the plan periodically and making changes are important to the success of a student. Consistent utilization of strategies throughout subjects is important as well.

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

赞美是很重要的,当学生们在苦苦挣扎。It's important to celebrate what they know and praise a student for learning what they didn't know. I like to make learning fun and engaging!

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

Students often learn well when they can teach the material to others. I like to have students "teach" me the lesson at the end to show me they are mastering the lesson. Review of the previous lesson during a lesson is important too.

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

Constant praise and motivation during a lesson is important. Students usually don't respond well to negativity. Starting out with smaller steps in a lesson and gradually growing the lesson while pausing to ensure understanding also builds confidence.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I evaluate a student's needs by reviewing a pretest at the beginning and building a plan with the student (and sometimes the parent). Each lesson will have an "exit ticket" to ensure that the student's needs are met during the lesson.

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

I am trained to utilize differentiated instruction to accommodate different types of learning styles.

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

I typically use traditional methods as well as electronic methods during my instruction.