Diego
Certified Tutor
I am a bilingual, well organized, innovative, and self-directed individual with over 22 years of extensive experience in the Information Technology field, and more than 10 years of teaching experience.
Reflecting on my educational experiences, both as a student and as a teacher and volleyball coach, I appreciate the immeasurable impact that teachers make on the lives of young people. I also realize that the skills and knowledge acquired in the classroom will be used by young people throughout life.
I teach because I really like teaching; because I feel I possess the natural vocation of helping others to understand new concepts. I hope to be a role model that cultivates in young people open minds, the knowledge and ability to look at the world critically, and the belief in one's capacity to make positive contributions to society.
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Undergraduate Degree: Universidad de Costa Rica - Bachelors, Industrial Engineering
Graduate Degree: Southern Illinois University Edwardsville - Masters, Management Information Systems
Soccer and Volley Ball, reading, watching tv, exercise, karaoke
What is your teaching philosophy?
Language immersion with a lot of examples and practice.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
I introduce myself and explain my philosophy and methodology. I like to know the student's background and discuss the student's expectations and goals, and how I can adjust my methodology to meet those expectations and goals.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
Based on a diagnostics, I can provide feedback to the student about their strengths and learning opportunities. Based on that, I can highlight the gaps that they need to study by themselves.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
By defining the final goal, the student and I can plan the learning process, and I can measure the student's progress and encourage them to work hard to continue progressing until completing the goal. On the other hand, I like to motivate the student by using practical cases and examples, so they can get motivated when relating the subject with real life.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I would approach the concept from different angles or points of view, or using a different frame of reference. I also like lots of examples. In the next session, I like to come back to the concept to make sure that it was well assimilated.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
I encourage the students to face the problem on two fronts: (1) learning how to infer meanings from text and (2) learning as much vocabulary as possible. Finally, regardless the type of problem, I encourage practice, practice and practice.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
Plan and customize the class and the learning process according to the student's needs and goals.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Identifying the gaps, the specific areas of opportunities, and motivation.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
Practice the material with several different examples and, if possible, assign homework and review it in the next session.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
Practice, practice and practice will provide confidence to the student.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
Practice tests provide valuable information about which areas are to be improved by the student.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
My personalized methodology is actually adapting my teaching to the student's needs. Once I identify the student's needs, I plan the learning process in function of those needs, and measure the progress based on that plan.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Video/audio and computer based materials, MS PowerPoint presentations, book exercises, practices and repetitions.