What is your teaching philosophy?

Each student is different, there is no such thing as a universal teaching strategy. Upon meeting the student, I will identify what the strengths and shortcomings are in order to develop the best way to help retain information and make learning interesting and not a chore.

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

I would like to know why the student is having a hard time with that specific subject or what it is that's specifically causing distress. From here we can identify strengths and help make them solid in order to work on fixing the deficits.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Many times, students don't understand the subject matter because they feel overwhelmed; eliminating this feeling will encourage them to take the initiative and learn.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Memory is always a useful tool, but if that which is memorized is not put into action it will be forgotten soon. The best way to motivate a student is to incorporate a bit of comedy or relate the subject matter to their interests.

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

Identify why they're struggling. Is it a pathology? Is it because they're uninterested in the subject matter? Strategies are a dime a dozen, but if we can't identify the underlying cause for this difficulty, then we're just trying to fix the problem with a band aid.

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

Roleplaying is always a helpful tool, having them explain the subject to me as if I didn't know it at all, then going through it with the student, and then finally have the student expertly explain it to me

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

Look for what we can relate the subject matter to, and then make the student part of the solution, not just be a talking head.

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

I use roleplaying, mnemonics, study (flash) cards, and diagrams.

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

Once we've gone through the subject matter together, I'd have the student explain everything to me and identify if any loopholes remain in their knowledge.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I try to make the session seem as informal as possible in the sense that the student feels comfortable and tells me why they're failing.

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

Like I've said before, there's no universal teaching strategy, what's useful for one student may not be for another. We must identify shortcomings from the beginning and work through them to solidify the knowledge.

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

I use reference books, diagrams, internet, images, flash cards, and drawings.