Waleeja
Certified Tutor
Throughout my high school and college careers, I have been well acquainted with heavy class loads coupled with extracurricular activities - and by doing so I learned ways to optimize my time all the while working to maintain the quality of my work. Consequently, I developed my studying styles that centered around teaching myself the materials in detail. One of the studying techniques I find helpful include study sessions with other classmates, in which I usually take an active part in teaching and explaining material to other classmates. Although I have never held a teaching job as such, I have helped my classmates throughout my college career in subjects that include math, biology, political science, and proof-reading for papers.
Before each study session at which I was to teach or present, I would review the material at hand to ensure I could teach properly and answer any following questions. Before a tutoring session, I prefer knowing the subject to be studied so that I can prepare for each student a unique method that will help the student understand the topic at hand. Additionally, I prefer planning examples and quizzes to further help a student's understanding.
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Undergraduate Degree: The University of Texas at El Paso - Bachelors, Cellular & Molecular Biochemistry
Running, painting (watercolors), reading/writing, listening to podcasts (true crime)
- Advanced Placement Prep
- Algebra
- Biology
- Cell Biology
- Chemistry
- College Biology
- College Chemistry
- High School Biology
- High School Chemistry
- High School Physics
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Life Sciences
- Math
- Molecular Biology
- Other
- Physics
- Science
- Summer
What is your teaching philosophy?
Allow the students to make connections between concepts, while my job is to facilitate that journey.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
A quick introduction to better understand a student's preferred learning methods, followed by an overview of the subject matter to ensure a strong foundation.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
By having students explain the topics to me as they understand them.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
In addition to reminding them of their long-term goals, I will hope to introduce them to real life examples of the subjects they are studying.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I will introduce the concept or skill to the student from a different perspective, if possible. However, it will be a priority to detect which part of the concept or skill is giving the student a hard time. Once identified and thoroughly explained, the student is more likely to grasp and understand the bigger concept as a whole.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
There are several reading techniques, each specific for the goal of reading. Techniques for reading science passages versus English passages may differ, and depending on the student's assignment I can suggest these techniques. I will find examples for students to read and help them with the techniques to better understand the material.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
I think it is important to really listen to the problems that a student is having understanding a concept, since different students may find different aspects of one concept difficult to understand. Furthermore, most subjects require practice to solidify a student's understanding. I find that working through practice problems also helps clarify concepts.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
By drawing connections to real world professions that use those specific subjects. Additionally, showing students how that subject influences their life.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
I will ask the student to explain the concept to me by constructing questions and having the student answer them in as much detail as they can. This encourages students to think beyond just what they have learned.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
By reminding them of what they know. I would have them solidify the basis of the concepts, which can help the student realize that they know the subject material. From there, we can build the more complicated concepts.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
As some students are visual learners others learn better by detailed explanations (I find myself doing a bit of both). Then there are other methods of learning that I will make an attempt to recognize in a student, and will continuously search to accommodate their learning style with my teaching style.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Typically, I use my notes, outlines, images, and quiz questions.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
By evaluating their curriculum and coursework to understand the extent of detail they need to know for their course. Additionally, I will make every attempt to understand any limitations that a student may have and work around them.