Jacob
Certified Tutor
I am a current Master's degree student at Illinois State University, where I study Communication. I currently work both as a private tutor for high school/AP English, ACT prep, SAT prep, and as a graduate teaching assistant at my university. I have several years of tutoring and teaching experience working with clients from a variety of backgrounds and with a variety of goals and challenges, and I have used that experience to develop the strongest pedagogy possible, in order to accommodate the needs of all my clients. I look forward to meeting and working with your student!
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Undergraduate Degree: Arizona State University - Bachelors, Communication
Graduate Degree: Illinois State University - Master of Arts, Communication, General
- ACT Composite: 33
- ACT English: 33
- ACT Math: 32
- ACT Reading: 34
- ACT Science: 33
Music, Movies, Sports, Poetry
What is your teaching philosophy?
My teaching philosophy is seeing knowledge as a spider-web. Everything is interconnected and can be understood by relating it to something else. Every concept is grounded in several other concepts, and the key is to find the route that connects what we do know to what we want to know.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
My first session would be primarily two things: getting to know my student and hearing from them, personally, exactly what it is they want to get out of tutoring.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
I can help a student become an independent learner in two ways: by making the material relevant to their personal life and by building their confidence in their abilities.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
The key to keeping students motivated is maintaining a constant level of success. Don't "throw them into the deep end" of difficult material, but ease them into it and make sure they always feel confident going forward.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
If a student is having difficulty with a concept, my plan of action is to attack it from a new direction. Whether that be through anecdotes or through a different paradigm, the goal is to frame the issue in a new way and hopefully provide new insight.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
For students who are struggling with reading comprehension, I like to have them re-format what they're reading into verbal words, drawings, or anything that can allow them to reform the material into something they better understand.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
I find that being able to build a personal relationship with a student is the key thing to their success. If I can build common ground with a student, it allows me to better understand how to approach material and in what ways I can relate material to the student.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
To help engage a student, I find the best way is to relate it to them. Find a way to shape the material so it feels relevant to the student's life or interests.