Julia R.

I aim to make my lessons as enjoyable and useful as possible, so learning complex concepts become a fun challenge, reviewing content is highly effective, and working on assignments is gratifying.

I like quickly grasping a student’s goals and creating a detailed plan to achieve them. I also discuss important things such as preferred learning styles and address any particular challenges a student may face.

Organization, planning skills, and independent study are instrumental to success in the IB. These are among my greatest strengths and something I emphasize with each student. In addition, I am happy to share any of my supporting documents and resources with students so that they have plenty of material to use outside of our classes.

I think positive reinforcement and setting reasonable goals are significant to maintaining motivation. Therefore, these are things I emphasize with each student. During a lesson, if I feel a student is losing focus or motivation, it is not uncommon for me to ask them to explain a concept or fact I just covered to gauge their attention levels. This helps me continuously calibrate my teaching style and pace throughout a session.

This depends very much on the specific context. I find that sometimes, explaining a complex concept in a way that may be more distilled or relatable to the student can help. Other times, having the student explain their understanding of the topic back to me can be pretty helpful in identifying any gaps in their knowledge that would be worth reviewing.

Several possible approaches may help with reading comprehension. First, I ensure that there are no difficulties with any of the vocabulary or syntax. Next, reading a text aloud or even several times can be helpful. Finally, dissecting a passage into smaller, manageable pieces can be crucial after the main idea has been grasped.

The first key to success is communicating with the student beforehand to grasp what the student is hoping to learn. During this time, I also like to ask the student if there is anything, in particular, they would like to work on during our sessions. Having a good idea of what a student hopes to obtain from the sessions is extremely helpful for me when constructing the first lesson plan. Especially at the beginning, I seek regular feedback from the student to ensure everything goes smoothly.

From my experience tutoring students one-on-one, engagement is not usually an issue. However, if a student seems to be struggling with a complex subject, I try to make it relatable, fun, and attainable to keep the student excited.

I like to go through the material in depth, suggest creative ways to remember content and ask the students loads of questions during my sessions to ensure they understand the material. Afterward, depending on the student’s needs, I may use past papers and practice questions to evaluate their understanding of the material.

I always like to highlight what a student has accomplished first before suggesting areas of improvement. Showing students what they have done well, combined with lots of positive reinforcement, are crucial in building their confidence.

I like to ask loads of questions before and during a session to evaluate a student’s needs. Moreover, when going through varied content, I am able to identify different areas of improvement, which we can then focus on.

This depends on each student, but in general, if something is not working for a student, I look for feedback from the student and adapt my lessons accordingly. Often after getting to know students, their needs, and learning styles, I can quickly adapt my teaching so it can be most beneficial for them.

This will depend greatly on the student's preferences, but typically if I am reviewing or teaching content, I will most likely use screen-sharing to present a PowerPoint presentation. I use questions from past papers or even Kahoot to switch things up.