There are three general realms that I have found to be vital to creating a nourishing educational setting, whether in person or online. First and foremost, I stand to support developing a child's cognitive abilities and learning skills. This also entails encouraging my students' intellectual curiosity and confidence as autonomous learners. I strongly emphasize rational thinking, creativity, and teamwork in my lessons. Secondly, as schooling involves constant interaction with others, the realm of social and emotional development is very important. One of the greatest contributors to this is a student's self-awareness of their motivations and attitudes. Such internal understanding will then be reflected in positive relationships with others and an ability to communicate effectively. The final component to my teaching philosophy is to further the growth of good character. Through incorporation of dialogue on morality and ethics within the context of the curriculum, students can find the value in self-respect, responsibility, and trustworthiness for themselves, all while learning the material they need.

During our lessons, I ask them the types of questions that make them think in rational ways. I am repetitive in this process so that they will learn to ask these kinds of questions themselves when they come across a similar task. Once we learn material together in class, I assign them worksheets to complete by our next lesson in order to practice on this material on their own.

I think that feedback is very important for students at every part of the learning process. It's important to know what level the student begins at before our first lesson, and then for them to see the progress they are making as we continue.

When a student isn't understanding a concept, I always find a new way to approach the material. Sometimes this means I compare the new concept to one they may already be familiar with, and then show them how the two are different from one another. Other times, it means taking a break and coming back to the problem later.

Regardless of the age or skill level, reading comprehension is one of the most difficult concepts to teach. However, it becomes much easier when you understand what the underlying problem is for each individual student. Some students have a limited vocabulary, and therefore cannot understand what they're reading. For such students, it's important to review common prefixes, suffixes, and roots to give them the tools to make effective guesses. Other students have a hard time understanding the relationships between words in a sentence. To help with this, I like to focus on reviewing transition words and other conjunctions. Finally, some students have a hard time understanding the main idea of a literary piece. For these students, I find it's very important for them to learn the structure of writing, rather than practicing reading itself. This will allow them to see introductory sentences, evidence, and conclusions much better when they read.

The most successful students are the ones who aren't afraid to voice their questions. Therefore I try to make them feel as comfortable as possible from Day 1. I keep the lessons very relaxed and easy going, I tell them about my interests, and sometimes I even introduce them to my French Bulldog, Bella. I ask them about their own interests and make the material relevant to their own lives. This has yet to be unsuccessful for me. :)