My teaching approach, more so than philosophy, is to assess a student's weak and strong points during initial meeting/session and prepare materials that support learning the principles the student needs help in. When working with students, instead of outright showing or telling a student what is incorrect or could be better, I ask probing questions such as, "How do you know that is the right answer?" or "Could you improve the sentence further?" so the student more deeply considers his or her work.

I help students become independent learners by showing them paths to learn from, ways to find information on their own so they feel empowered to find answers to their questions on their own. I also try to keep the tutoring sessions fun and interesting so students have positive connections to learning.

I help students stay motivated by giving pep talks. If a student were to say "This is too hard. I just can't do it," I would say "I know you can do it. Every individual has their personal strong and weak points. Things you find easy others find hard and vice versa. We will review this subject multiple times, and through repetition, you will come to understand it."

When students have difficulty with particular concepts, I find new ways to demonstrate the concept because people have different ways of learning. If I can visually show the concept, I will. But there is always more than one way to explain something.

I support students struggling with reading comprehension by breaking down the material into smaller pieces; I possibly have the student summarize the material paragraph by paragraph so the passage is less intimidating and easier to take in.

I start my first tutoring sessions with students by first asking what the student needs help with before we meet so I have an idea of what we are going to be working on together. I collect any potentially helpful resource materials. Then, I approach the student with kindness and approachable authority and inquire as to what the student wants to work on or needs to work on.

I would help a student stay engaged in a subject challenging to them by showing how the subject will have larger application later. For instance, if a student were struggling in physics (I don't teach physics, but if I did) I would explain that physics can apply to lots of interesting jobs or activities, like sound engineering or playing with chemicals.

To be sure a student understood the material, I would ask the student review questions that covered the totality of the material. If the student didn't understand all aspects of the material, I would find other ways to re-explain the material and ask what specifically the student didn't understand. I would then go over those aspects specifically.

I build a student's confidence in specific material by thoroughly explaining any aspect of the material the student doesn't understand or has questions about, and then we discuss the material until I know the student feels comfortable with the material or can explain it to me.

I evaluate a student's needs by sitting with the student, discussing what he or she needs help with, and then by looking over work the student has done on his or her own and evaluating if they need help with issues they haven't vocalized.

I adapt my tutoring to a student's needs by reading the emotional and voiced concerns of the student. I have lots of experience with many different types of personalities in various situations; I have become pretty well versed in changing my social approach to adapt to different personalities while still maintaining the task at hand.

Materials I bring to a tutoring session depend on the subject, but generally, I'll research online practice sheets/succinct explanations of subject matter/examples that demonstrate the material. I use them if I deem it appropriate, but usually I bring them as a back-up/in the event they can be used.