What is your teaching philosophy?

Know your strengths, and use them to create habits that get you to your goals.

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

As them what accomplishment they are most proud of.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Provide "anchor strategies" to use when challenges arise.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

口头encouragement, texted encouragement, and creating visual cues that remind them of their abilities and strengths.

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

Take a break and take a walk - clear the mind, breathe, and then get back to work.

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

Working with reading material that gives them information they want and need - this is motivating and takes the pressure off of the skill itself, and then the reading becomes a vehicle to reach a desired result. Also, start with shorter assignments and build, just like a weight training program!

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

Using different approaches - drawing, singing, moving, building, collaborating together on an approach - something other than a "worksheet".

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

Approach it in a different format and/or include content that interests them. If you hate to write, but have great ideas, then record your ideas, and then listen and write from what you dictated. If you hate literature, and are rebellious, read literature that was rebellious for its time and relate it to current day situations.

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

Comprehension checks that ask the student to explain the newly learned concept or demonstrate the skill.

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

Start small and build up. Then after some time, show them where they started, demonstrating the progress they've made.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

With an initial assessment, where I ask questions and have them write a paragraph about the last book they read/movie they saw/or show they attended.

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

I change the pace, the scale and the content according to their needs.

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

Their school work, newspapers and magazines, markers for drawing, white boards for recording "Big" ideas and themes, and items that appeal to their other senses. For example, balls, string, puzzles - appealing to tactical senses. I also use photos and items to elicit responses and engage students in telling a story.