I choose to tutor math because I love numbers and I love to help students succeed in mathematics. There is no better feeling than when I see my student "get it" and smile because the math finally "clicked".

The first session with a student is very casual. I have no agenda, no schedule, and no major expectations. I want to get to know the student and his/her likes and dislikes, his/her personality, his/her learning styles, his/her pros and cons regarding math, etc. I try to get this information through casual conversation and asking questions. I do not use any kind of a pretest or formal evaluation in my first session.

One of my main goals with students is to help them learn how to take notes and actually study math. Too many students are not taught these skills, and these skills are what create an independent learner in a variety of disciplines. I teach note taking methods, I teach study methods for tests, I provide examples of notes and problem solving for the student to refer back to, and I try to work and teach problems in the exact way that I want the student to work the problem on his/her own.

Positive reinforcement. I always go back to something the student has done right and say, "See? You did this. You accomplished this. You succeeded. So it can happen again and again and again." It doesn't matter how small the accomplishment may be; it only needs to be positive and a success. I say, "It may take more work, more time, more struggle, but it can happen. We made it happen last time, and we can make it happen again.".

If my student is struggling, I usually try a different method of presentation such as a visual approach, an auditory approach, a comparison to a real-world situation, a hands-on experiment with manipulatives, a change in the words I use, and more. If those techniques do not seem to work, I go online and research other educator's suggestions for teaching the given concept.

I usually ask my student to teach the topic to myself or another individual in order to determine their level of understanding. I feel that observing a student teach a concept gives me the best opportunity to test their full comprehension of the process. In addition to this practice, I regularly have the student do problems on his/her own as we go through the material, and "pop quizzes" are also a good technique.

在任何情况下,我发现一些学生s doing right - a topic he/she full understands and can succeed at. I ask him/her to show me how to do it, to explain to me how to do it, to work a quick "quiz", etc. Then, I emphasize, "See? You did this right! You could even TEACH me how to do it! I want you to teach your MOM how to do it! You got a 100% on your quiz!" During the beginning stage of working with a student, I do this regularly, after each topic. As time goes on, I use it as needed with the goal that his/her confidence builds to the point where he/she does it all on his/her own.

My first 2-3 sessions are spent observing the student a lot. I ask the student to work problems, to explain how he/she does the problem, to explain where he/she gets confused, to show me the topics that make sense and the topics that are confusing, and more. The more I observe, the more I am able to assess the student's learning style, personality, strengths and weaknesses (both mathematically and in character). I use those observations to build my tutoring plan.

I try to always use the materials the student possesses. I want the student to be able to go back and look at something we worked on alongside his/her book, notes, worksheet, etc. I also emphasize writing things out - I write things out for the younger student, and I ask the older student to take his/her own notes. Notes accompanied by examples and practice problems are my number one choice for materials.

When working word problems in math, I always encourage drawing pictures, first and foremost. Next, I encourage the use of underlining, circling, crossing out, using colored pencils, and more. I want students to see that there's a lot of words in word problems that are not relevant to the problem. "Circle the values you'll use. Cross out the extra information. Underline the operation words. Write down the useful information, and quit reading the original problem." This is also a note-taking technique, and I really feel it's a life-long skill that serves students repeatedly in their education.

In our initial meetings, I try to read the student immediately to know whether he/she responds to a casual/joking/lighthearted atmosphere or a more structured/get down to business/no joking atmosphere. Then I use those techniques to help the student feel more comfortable with me. Gaining the student's respect and trust is a top priority for me. If I gain these 2 traits first, and I do my job well, the learning will naturally follow.