What is your teaching philosophy?

A quote, which is commonly attributed to Albert Einstein, goes, "If you can't explain something to a 6 year old, then you don't actually understand it yourself."

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

Get to know the person and his strengths and weaknesses as a student. Get to know what he/she likes to do for fun.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

By motivating them to go back and look at the question again; to show them that they themselves have the capabilities to help themselves, and to decipher how to solve problems themselves. I would also ask them questions and tell them stories which motivate them to try and understand the world better.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

I think learning becomes fun when you are able to be successful at it; suddenly doing things you weren't able to do before. I think the best motivation is to prove to them that they themselves are capable and smart.

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

I would stop what we were doing and completely start the lesson from scratch; explaining it in a different way this time.

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

I would encourage them to pay attention to every word in the sentence because each word has value; otherwise, the author wouldn't have used it.

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

Strategies which I have found successful are to first show the students a couple of examples on how to do the problem. Then I like to watch the students try it themselves. If an when they are successful, then I give them a larger number of problems for them to finish up alone.

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

Encourage them to be strong and courageous and fight through the struggles. I would also motivate them by downplaying how hard the subject is, and persuading them in believing that they are smart enough to get the job done.

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

One technique I like to use is mixing in a lot of different types of problems.