I believe that all students can be successful, and it is a matter of finding their best learning style. I believe that learning should be mobile, and students should have an opportunity to experience the content. Once the content becomes personal, it makes more sense.

In a first session, I would spend some time getting to know the student, and finding out what they think are some of their strengths and weaknesses. I would also be very interested in their hobbies, as that information may help me make the content more interesting to them.

I believe in teaching students good study habits. Once a student learns how to manage their time and workload, that helps them to become more independent as a learner. I am also big on I-we-you; in other words, when students are learning something new or difficult, I do one problem first, then we do one together, and then they try one on their own. This scaffolding helps students to become more confident in their abilities.

Students should have the opportunity to experience small successes. I like to have these moments in my work with students. It helps to keep them motivated when they see that they can do the task. Also, I believe in integrating real life into content. For example, if a student loves football, we could learn math by looking at statistics on different players.

If a student is having a hard time with a skill, my first action would be to review the basics concepts associated with that topic. Once students have a grasp of the basics, if they are still struggling, I try a more hands on approach, bringing in models or videos.

For students who struggle with reading comprehension, the key is scaffolding. I would begin with a piece of text the relates to one of the student’s interests. We would then make predictions based on the title and any pictures or diagrams. In the beginning, depending on how much work the student needs, I may continue by having them answer text dependent questions about the text. As they become better readers, and understand more, I would move to having them summarize some paragraphs without questions, and then having them develop their own questions.

Encouragement and positive feedback is the most successful tool I have. I use the growth mindset with my students, and always encourage them to shoot for their best. I remind them that when something is not correct, it is not failure, but a necessary stepping stone to help them understand better. Modeling for students how to approach a skill or concept is also another strategy I use.

I always try to tailor the content I present to students in tutoring to their personal interests. If I can make the topic they are having trouble with more personal and relevant, they become more engaged.

I believe that formative assessments are a great tool to assess where students are with comprehension of content. I use assessments like multiple choice questions, quick writes, and practice problems to help me see where students are in their understanding.

I build a student's confidence with small steps, and appropriate material. I always start out with the basics, and build. Every session will always have opportunities for students to experience success with the content. This will in turn help to boost their confidence.

After the initial getting to know you portion of tutoring, I have students take an evaluative assessment so that I can see the areas we need to focus on. This assessment will cover what the students should know up to that point in that content.

If I find that students need more help in a particular area, I will adjust my strategies. I may spend a little more time on those skills that the student needs more development in, and then assign take home practice.

During a tutoring session, we may use a practice workbook, depending on the content, and also manipulatives like a whiteboard.