In a first session, I like to get right into what the student's goals are for the session as well as over time. I also like to try to find out how the student likes to learn and what styles of learning are easiest for them.

I help a student become an independent learner by using a strategy called gradual release. This means we work on something together, where I teach a concept, skill or strategy, and then I start to allow the student to do more of it without my help until the student is capable and feels confident to do it on their own! It is a really powerful thing, and it helps students feel more confident to take on other challenges.

When a difficulty presents itself we can either practice more or find a new way to attack it. It really depends on what the skill or concept is that the student is struggling with. Overall, I stay patient and encouraging.

When it comes to reading comprehension, we practice reading with different reading strategies, we talk about what we read out loud together to help process, and we write, because it all helps.

I have found that getting to know the student's needs and perceived strengths and weaknesses really helps make the most of each session.

Confidence comes from feeling capable. To build confidence you need to feel successful. To do this in tutoring, I like to start with smaller goals at the beginning (Rome was not built in a day, right?!). Over time, the goals increase and so do the accomplishments.