My teaching philosophy is patience builds confidence. With patience, all students can build confidence. I think teachers need to be patient to help students build their confidence.

The student and I will introduce ourselves. I want to hear about the student’s history with the subject. I want to know what the student's challenges are. I then want to discuss how we can meet the student's goals working together.

I work the "I do, we do, you do" method. I think students need examples. They need relevant real world examples to help them better understand concepts. I think a lot of practice is key to comprehension. With practice, students can become more independent.

I would first let the student know that difficulty with the subject matter is normal. I think students need to understand that it may take some time to master a concept. I would then discuss strategies and resources that might help the student to get better at the skill or concept.

For math, I think students need to focus on the numbers. Students need to also focus on how to turn written math into mathematical expressions or equations. I would take the text and show students how to pull out the important information. The students would then practice this strategy.

I found that students need to celebrate the small successes that they have. Learning new concepts is a process. The more check marks a student can put on mastering different topics, the more confident they feel about attacking new concepts.

I would try to make the situation realistic for the student. Struggling with a topic is not unusual. Students need to understand that they will take subjects that are demanding. The key is for them to try different ways to address the subject matter. Students could have a different learning style, and require additional resources.

I would use closing strategies, like an exit ticket, direct questions, or verbal or written summaries. I usual have students create their own problems (similar to the ones in the concept area) and solve them. If the student can do this, then I feel confident that they understand the concept.

I build a student’s confidence with patience and practice. I also celebrate success, so that students can see their learning progress.

I typically start with basic questions from a unit. Sometimes, prerequisite questions that use the same skill set help in assessing student needs as well. For example, if a student has a hard time adding and subtracting fractions, I then know that this will carry over to solving equations with fractions. We would first need to address the basic adding and subtracting.

I try to figure out a student’s learning style and how they like to receive information. If a student is more visual, I would introduce more pictures and graphical representation. If a student is more logical, I would focus more on the reasoning behind the math.

I think the work space is important. Students need visual models. I also like to have practice problems that students can work on. I also tell students where they can learn more about a concept. Different kinds of media and technologies are used as well.