My teaching philosophy is that a teacher can only get a student to understand so much. The rest has to come from the determination of the student to want to understand and achieve success. Like the saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink."

What I would do in a first session is understand the student and learn a little about them. I want to know what is blocking them from moving forward in their academics, and try to work with them to get around it, so that they not only understand the material but can become a master at it as well.

I would help a student become an independent learner by perhaps assigning additional reading before a session, like formulas or the concept of something they are studying in class. That way, when we come to the answers, we don't waste extra time learning those things.

I would help a student stay motivated by giving them another insight on why it's good to get your homework and learning done early. If you keep focused and motivated, you find yourself with a lot of time on your hands, a.k.a. fun time.

If a student has difficulty with a skill or concept, I would try to explain the concept or skill in another way. I'm mostly known for my metaphors and examples, so I would give as many as I need until the student has a clear understanding of what is happening.

The strategies I have found helpful when working with students is to tackle the question head on. There, we can see what the question is asking and apply our knowledge to that area, instead of learning a lot of various concepts and only needing to use one.

Since my specialty is math, I would try to get the student to see the problems and math in general to be like puzzles. There's only one right answer, and it's very satisfying to get the answer, much like a puzzle.

How I would build a student's confidence in a subject is by how well they understand the material. The more they handle it and solve problems, the more they will begin to grasp the concepts and what math is, therefore boosting their confidence if they assume themselves to be 'Math Wizards.'

The types of materials I would use during a session would be my trusty pencil, eraser, a calculator and paper.

How I would help is to go through each problem sentence by sentence, find what's important and what is needed to answer the question, and then solve the problem from there.

I would make sure the student understood the material by giving a few practice problems in the session after, to make sure that the learning we did wasn't forgotten.

I would evaluate a student's needs by getting to know them and understanding the reasons on why they are struggling.

If one situation doesn't work, then I would try a few different situations until the student's needs are met.