Alvaro
Certified Tutor
"Teaching makes me stay in a sort of state of enlightment." I have been a language facilitator for over 20 years. I hold a PhD. in Philosophy in Spanish from Florida International Unversity and a Masters of Arts from The University of Florida.
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Undergraduate Degree: Florida International University - Bachelors, Spanish
Graduate Degree: University of Florida - Masters, Spanish
Outdoors, Films, reading and writing, Photography
- Adult ESL/ELL
- Adult Literacy
- AP Spanish Literature and Culture
- Art
- Business
- Business Writing
- CLEP Prep
- CLEP Spanish
- Comparative Literature
- Conversational Spanish
- Creative Writing
- English
- ESL/ELL
- Foreign Language
- Introduction to Fiction
- Languages
- Latin America History
- Other
- Philosophy
- Photography
- Poetry
- Portuguese
- SAT Subject Test in Spanish with Listening
- SAT Subject Tests Prep
- Social Sciences
- Social Studies
- Spanish
- Spanish 1
- Spanish 2
- Spanish 3
- Spanish 4
- Test Prep
- World Literature
- Writing
What is your teaching philosophy?
Since not everyone studies language or literature for the same reason, nor learns in quite the same way, I have found that the most effective motivational tool for students is to tailor each course to correspond to their own interests, opening before them the truly enriching possibilities of mastering a foreign language.
What might you do in a typical first session with a student?
We will do greetings and get his/her level of proficiency through a diagnostic test.
How can you help a student become an independent learner?
By finding out the best method of learning for the student in particular.
How would you help a student stay motivated?
By using material that is meaningful for the student and being clear about goals and expectations.
If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?
I will try different approaches to making him or her confident about a particular skill or concept. I will go back to it by using tools the student can choose to his/her best interests.
How do you help students who are struggling with reading comprehension?
First, we lay out a set of words, ideas, and examples before reading. Then we will make a questionnaire and read it over to find strategies to spot relevant information and sentence structure.
What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?
I always require that a questionnaire be administered at the beginning of a session to gauge the student's competency level, as well as their expectations and satisfaction with the course as it advances.
How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?
Find some personal value to the content and skills using topics that fit best the student's strengths and weaknesses.
What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?
A situation or role-play where students should be able to use the material covered in a session.
How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?
By reinforcing the basics of any taken subject and having the student see his/her own progress through daily quizzes.
How do you evaluate a student's needs?
By providing an effective instruction that focuses on particular needs, desired outcomes, past experience in the subject, and learning styles.
How do you adapt your tutoring to the student's needs?
I use my own material, which I adjust to different needs, personalities, and learning styles.
What types of materials do you typically use during a tutoring session?
Audios, pictures, dialogues or role-play situations, flashcards, PPP, etc.