I believe it is important to first help students identify their greatest strengths as a learner, and which learning style they are most receptive to. Some students prefer listening to topic reviews, seeing diagrams, or working through problems. Regardless of the learning style of students, I aim to provide the student with tools to help them gain confidence in mastering the topics at hand.

In a first session with a student, I will gain an understanding of the student's immediate and long-term goals, and learning style.

I would first introduce a student to free resources at the library or online and emphasize they should first start with a clear understanding of their goals. After a student knows what their learning objectives are and has covered the material, I suggest creating practice questions.

To help a student stay motivated, I can remind them of their former accomplishments and remind them of the joys of mastering new material.

After presenting similar concepts or analogies for the student, I would ask the student to then explain the concept or demonstrate the skill again and see if they have gained a better understanding.

First, I will ask the student to interpret what they understand from a passage and then review the passage with them. For sections the student is struggling with, I will go over alternative ways of expressing the same idea and ask the student to practice summarizing it in their own words.

I have found it is useful and effective to draw diagrams and connect many small ideas in order to explain comprehensive concepts. When students are able to understand why the smaller tasks or concepts are important in the overall theme, I find they are more excited about learning.

Finding practical applications for the subjects that relate to the student's interests can help engage them more. For example, if a student is interested in fast cars and is struggling with algebra, then I will review practice problems related to driving cars or comparing their costs and features.

For science related topics, I would ask a student to design an experiment or present a topic to me that demonstrates their mastery of the material. For math topics, I would ask a student to work backwards and solve a similar problem with new numbers or variables. For English or writing topics, I would ask the student to interpret reading material that they are interested in and synthesize an appropriate writing sample.

For the many small goals that we will accomplish as we reach milestones along their educational journey, I will provide encouragement and positive feedback. I think it is important to remind the student that their continued attitude of trying and not giving up is already a great achievement in itself.

I evaluate a student's needs by reviewing their homework, tests, study habits, notes, and goals. For a student who seems to struggle with note-taking, I may suggest alternatives and study tips to prepare them for lectures. If a student mentions they could not keep up with a teacher's presentation, then I can review the material with them and present it both verbally and with diagrams.

I regularly ask students if they are comfortable and ready to move forward to working on the next goal before finishing the first task at hand. I ask students about their first priority and most immediate academic goals and address these in the beginning in order to devote more time and attention to these.

In my own academic career, I preferred to use class PowerPoints, textbooks, and occasionally have found some well organized websites useful for reviewing material. For tutoring sessions, I will typically use paper and pen for concepts that the student may wish to keep as reference, and a dry erase board with markers for practice problems if the student prefers to use this method as well. I may also use my laptop to direct the student to online sources that I found helpful, or I refer to my textbooks.