What is your teaching philosophy?

Docendo discimus (teach in order to learn). Though Seneca wrote these words thousands of years ago, they are as relevant today as any in human history.

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

An ice-breaking Q&A session on likes/dislikes, strengths/weaknesses, study skills and habits, and past experience. Then jumping into the material with a critical lens.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By demonstrating that their passions have a place in academic life.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Helping them to recognize their own successes within a broader context.

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

Deconstruct the skill into more manageable constituents, many of that the student likely already has.

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

Engaging their creative minds first and their critical minds second.

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

Demonstrating that the subject has more to do with their own hobbies and interests than they realize.

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

Simply be helping them realize their own success.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

Listening and observation.