Student engagement is key. When students are engaged and curious, they bring their best thinking and work ethic. Connecting work with students’ lives increases interest, perseverance, and retention.

My first priority is getting to know them and helping them get to know me. Using questions and games I like to share interests, strengths, challenges, and interesting stories, then move on to learning styles and creating smart goals. The final piece of a first meeting is setting up clear expectations and putting effective organization practices in place to maximize our time together.

Focusing on a strong foundation and consistent use of strategies builds independent learners. I often have students talk through their thinking and/or teach me how to do something to demonstrate their level of mastery and independence.

I use multiple strategies depending on their learning style. I always use questioning to get at the specific sub skill or skills they are struggling with. I chunk the concept into smaller pieces. If I can simplify the problem, I do so, to help them get at the foundational skills involved. I compliment students and acknowledge the parts they do understand, and encourage them, helping them to visualize their best self and persevere with an open mentality.

I strongly believe in fostering intrinsic motivation, and feel the one on one setting of tutoring supports this approach better than the classroom. Setting goals, celebrating success, learning from mistakes, reflecting on the learning journey, and using games, activities and celebrations, as rewards all align with intrinsic motivation. In rare cases, I will work with a student to create an external motivation structure that feels good to the student, family, and myself.

I gently use the questioning process to identify the area or areas I feel to be most problematic. Does a student reread when they don't understand? Do they have schema to summarize effectively? Do they read with expression? Do they rush? Once I have a clear picture of the specifics, I can focus on strategies that address those areas. Sometimes I will read to students and then have them summarize to see if it is a fluency, memory, or processing problem.

Get to know them, and help them get to know me. 5 minutes talking about a shared interest early in the process more than makes up for itself over the course of the tutoring relationship. I also set up clear guidelines and organizational expectations so time can be used effectively.

I often have students talk me through the process they used to get an answer or write something, modelling for them if need be. I also have students teach me how to do something to check their understanding. A last strategy that works well for math is to give them a question with work shown and an incorrect answer, and have them find the mistake.