As a tutor I refrain from "teaching" as much as possible. First of all, I am not a teacher, and I am not very good at teaching. That being said, what I am very good at is tutoring students. When I tutor students, I stay away from lecturing. A teacher/professor has already tried to do that once, and it didn't work-- which is the reason why a student seeks a tutor's help. If I start to lecture too, then at that point, I believe I am not helping the student at all. Therefore, as a tutor I try to use the skills I have acquired over a long period of time to help reinforce the ideas a student has already learned in a classroom setting. That is what I intend to do, and that is what I do the best.

The first day of tutoring, I try to mostly make the student feel comfortable. I access where a student stands in terms their knowledge about the topic by asking some leading questions. I also try to access the student's learning habits so as to use the most effective way to tutor that particular student.

Generally, when a student comes to seek help with a problem, it's usually not that particular problem she need helps with but rather the concept that the problem deals with. By using the "Socratic Method" of tutoring, I try to make the student think. I try to make them do all the work, while at the same time filling any void I think necessary. That way, when the student is done with the problem, she gets a sense of satisfaction, a positive reinforcement that would help her get in the path of being an independent learner.

It is always a small positive reward such as "good job" or "well done" or "excellent" after they answer a leading question that keeps the student focused on the problem. One of the other things I like to do is get myself in the same level as the student and try to relate to them by saying something along the lines of "I understand this is a hard concept. I also had trouble with this when I took this class 7 years ago." I have found that it always motivates the student when they see that they have somebody to relate to.

I suggest students use some free online resources, which they can use to better understand some of the skills they struggle with. Learning is a process, and sometimes it needs more than a session or two of tutoring to perfect it. As a tutor, I believe we can only do so much. Sometimes we need students to be proactive and go an extra mile to learn a difficult concept.

I use the "Socratic Method" during tutoring, where I teach students to think and be fully interactive during the tutoring session. I have used this method on several of my students, and so far, it has proven to be very effective.

I like to work with worksheets after I am finished tutoring a concept or a chapter. The worksheet might be a questionnaire or, sometimes, even a fun activity that can help a student better understand the particular concept.