I believe in connecting new material to existing student knowledge. Students should always understand the importance of what they are learning and how it relates to their personal and professional goals.

I would want to know what the student is passionate about -- whether or not it is related to academics.

The key to being an independent learner is grit -- the ability to stick with a goal long-term and overcome obstacles. I can instill grit in students by helping change a students' mindset and attitude. When a student realizes that they can do whatever they set their mind to, anything is possible and students develop the intrinsic motivation necessary to think and work on their own.

Students give up when they don't believe in themselves. I would help a student stay motivated by reminding them how far they have come so they can remember that they are capable of achieving and learning.

I would take the skill or concept back a few steps and work forward in difficulty. This strategy in teaching is an effective way to teach a difficult skill or concept because it allows me to identify exactly where the student misunderstanding is arising and enables me to address the root cause of the misunderstanding.

Students who struggle with reading comprehension do so because they are not able to cite the text. I would ask text-dependent questions (reading comprehension questions) and go a step further to show me the part of the text that proves the answer they gave me. Challenging students to cite the text develops reading comprehension skills because the strategy keeps students grounded in what they are reading instead of guessing or making invalid inferences.

I have found that educators should give students the opportunity to put their challenge or problem in their own words. Instead of educators making an assumption of what a student needs help with, educators should allow students to explain what they understand and what they don't in order to pinpoint misunderstandings and come up with effective solutions.

I always try to relate the topic at hand to the student's individual interest, as well as help students understand the relevance of what we are learning. Students are more likely to engage with a subject when the can visualize how they will eventually utilize skills or concepts on which we are focusing.

One great way to check for understanding is to have a student explain the concept to me in their own words. Another technique to check for understanding is to present common mistakes related to the material and have the student explain to me why the example is wrong or incorrect.

The best way to build a student's confidence in a subject is to present him or her with data that illustrates their growth in the area. Data is irrefutable. If a student becomes discouraged, I can share with them information that clearly demonstrates how far they have come through diagnostic assessments, previous assignments, etc.

The first place to start in determining a student's needs is to have the student describe what they believe their struggles to be or in what areas they would like to confuse. However, sometimes students are not able to assess what they are struggling with. When this is the case, I would begin with simple concepts or examples and move up to more difficult ones because it is most effective to identify and target the foundational understandings and then move from there.

Students oftentimes know what they like and they don't like. After I have worked with a student for an extended period of time, I like to take the temperature and determine what strategies I have used that they find to be effective or useful and which strategies they do not feel have been compatible with their learning style. Further, individual student needs usually can be determined on the fly. I can determine whether I need to speed up, slow down, ask more/fewer questions, etc. based on how the student is reacting to my teaching style.

Materials that the student brings are the most ideal because that is the material they typically work with and are most comfortable with. In the event the student requests that I prepare materials, I access our massive resource library or find appropriate materials elsewhere on the internet.