Bio

My name is Anuoluwa Oyetoran, Anu for short. I am a 4th-year medical student currently in my clinical rotations across the US and Canada. I am an IB diploma graduate, graduated in 2015 from Colonel By Secondary School, Ottawa, ON, Canada. I love tutoring.

Teaching Experience

As an IB student, I was tutored in organic chemistry HL, so I understand a good tutor’s value. I have successfully walked a couple of IB diploma students through their Biology and Psychology IA and IB exams. I also have experience tutoring premedical and medical students in different subjects – biochemistry, behavioral sciences, molecular biology, and physiology. I feel confident that I can help assist my students in achieving their goals.

What is your teaching philosophy?

I believe that any student can understand any concept as long as they are willing to learn, and the tutor is willing to simplify the concept, which I am. I love to tailor each tutoring experience to the student’s needs.

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

I want to get to know them, especially how they learn if they are visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners. I want to know what their strengths and weaknesses are in the subject I will be tutoring them in. I also want to know their expectations from the tutoring sessions and how we can work together to make that happen.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Once you explain and ensure that your student understands the concept of the material they are studying, they will be able to build on that knowledge on their own. In that way, they can take initiate and responsibility for their own learning experience.

How would you help a student stay motivated?

Positive affirmations are a great way of keeping a student motivated. Also, celebrating their little milestones as they progress. I also believe it is important to check in with your students and see how they feel about the material and concept we are going through.

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

I would try different methods of teaching. I believe that every concept or skill is learnable as long as the student is willing to explore other means of learning the concept.

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

I will start from what they understand, then encourage contextual thinking to try to figure out what they just read. If that doesn’t work, then we will define each vocabulary that they find difficult to comprehend.

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

I believe trust is important in a tutor and student relationship. Your student has to trust that you are competent enough to take them to the place they would like to be academic. So I will have a conversation about expectations with the students when we start working together, so I know how best to work with them.

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

It varies for each student, but generally, I will try to find something they like and relate it to the subject/concept we are learning. For example, if the student enjoys watching anime, we can relate anime characters to the biology concept we are learning. I believe this will help the student get excited and engaged.

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

When I am learning something, I constantly test myself with questions to ensure that I understand the material I am learning. I will do the same for my students – about 15mins after we have just learned a concept, I will randomly ask them a question on the concept to see if they understood and are retaining the material.

How do you build a student’s confidence in a subject?

I believe that positive affirmations are the best way to build a student’s confidence; I will let them know that when they say negative things like “I’ll never learn that” or I am not smart enough,” then they close their mind to the possibility of learning. So positive affirmations will help combat that.

How do you evaluate a student’s needs?

By having a conversation with them, I want to know their favorite subject and why they like that subject or who their favorite teacher is, and why they like that teacher. That will help me understand their learning method. I will also ask them what they are struggling with the subject I will be tutoring them. It is also important to include their parents and get their opinion of what they believe their child’s biggest need is.

How do you adapt your tutoring to the student’s needs?

At the beginning of the tutor-student relationship, I believe it is important to have a conversation about the student’s expectations and how best I fit into them. Also, to understand what the student’s learning style is. Once I have this information, I am better positioned to tailor my tutoring to the student’s needs.

What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?

Textbooks, whiteboards, tables, charts, and sometimes short videos.

Teaching Skills