My teaching philosophy is, "Can you explain this to me? "I believe in calm, corrective teaching; encouraging students when they are on the right track, and going back and revisiting material so they can explain it in their own words if they are still having trouble.

I would start with asking a few introductory questions: what their hobbies are, what subjects they like, why they think they are having difficulties with this subject, what their classroom environments are like and what goals they have for the subject I am helping with.

I help students become independent learners through encouraging them to put pieces together while going through material. If they are confused, I encourage them to take steps to figure out a solution to the issue they are facing. Creating a method of troubleshooting they can apply to any learning situation is extremely valuable and sets them up for success in a situation where they may not have outside help.

By encouraging them for the reward! Setting goals is extremely important in learning environments, so having a picture of the finish line and beyond gives them something to work towards.

If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, I like to break it down and ask them to explain the parts to me. Then, we start to synthesize the information together to form the bigger picture.

For students who are struggling with reading comprehension, I like to sit down with and go over each word, sounding out each letter and giving concrete meanings to each word, practicing this throughout the text, and then going through the material once more.