Teach people, not information. No one learns in quite the same way, and when I can discover how that student learns, then they will realize that they are smart, and that they are a good learner. I love to ask questions that I don't always know the answer to, not to make the student feel that they are searching for the answer that will please me; I want to make the students think, to help them see the relevance of the topic in their own lives. I want them to leave the classroom, their mind lingering on the topic. I love to ask questions that make the student find the answer for his or herself. I like to see their minds stretch and grow, so that they know that the next time they are presented with a similar situation, they are capable of solving it.

我想了解学生:他们的爱好, likes, dislikes. I would want to talk about the subject matter to be tutored, and ask them how they feel about it, and their ultimate goal in working together. I'd want to get to understand their learning style (tactile, audio visual, etc.) so that they can feel confident in our work together, and so that I can know we are using are time effectively. Mostly, I want to build the trust that is necessary to help the student succeed.

By helping them discover the answers for his or herself! This is done by asking questions, and lots of them. Shelling out the answers, only make me a crutch, not a tutor. By repeatedly asking questions, and encouraging them when they succeed, I believe this will create an independent, confident learner.

By finding a way to connect the subject matter to something they care about. Most of us "check out" of learning in a particular subject because we feel like it doesn't apply/matter to us, or that we are never going to be good at it. By connecting the subject to the things that are import to the student, they are then willing to work with me to create the building blocks of success for that topic.

First, assess what the difficulty is. Second, back up the learning level to where they did feel confident with that skill, and work forward from there. No one starts school believing they are incapable. We just need to assess when that feeling changed, and work from that point forward.

When you start out looking for something, it is much easier to identify it while reading. I would start by having them look for specific things in a passage, and then mark them in a personalized color code as they go along. This makes it possible to then go back and identify those elements while analyzing the material. Annotation is the key to success in reading comprehension.

By requesting a student summarize in their own words what we are learning periodically, I am able to verify that they are understanding. If they are not, we need to go back and come at the problem from a different angle or technique until the concept is clear to them.

Identify at what point they lost their confidence and start from there. Compliment and encourage every effort. Even when correcting, also identify something that was done well, so that they feel that their good work and effort is being acknowledged, as well as being instructed on what could improve.

By asking the student/parent lots of questions to evaluate comprehension. Also, example problems/questions/essays to see what their level of understanding is.