Experience Summary
Since high school, I have tutored friends, peers, and my younger siblings in several subjects, including biology, chemistry, French, and algebra. As a future medical student with a background in anthropology and French, I am comfortable teaching many subjects as I have had to become competent in the sciences and have developed skills as a writer through my anthropology concentration and interest in clinical research and manuscript writing. Working as a teacher’s assistant in Human Physiology, I developed particular strengths in tutoring biology and learned how to review a wealth of information with a large classroom of students as well as how to focus on the needs of various individuals in the class. I have always enjoyed working with other people and felt that as a student I gained a lot from teaching others.
Teaching Style
I believe that first key step to successful teaching is to allows the student convey his/her needs or problem areas. While much can be gained from looking at previous evaluations and test scores, I think that it is crucial to let the student express their needs to make them feel comfortable and build a commitment to the teaching program. In individual sessions, I feel that allowing the student to discuss concepts out loud in addition to completing written exercises and preparing questions facilitates the learning process. I also find that real world analogies are useful ways of linking academic information to previously learned concepts and facilitate the student's understanding. Walking students through diagrams or schematics is also helpful, especially when teaching scientific information.