Every student is different. Instead of covering everything taught in the class, I prefer to focus on problem areas.

I believe that learning is a personal process, and the role of a good teacher or tutor is to facilitate and guide the learning experience. Because of this philosophy, I like to push students to grasp concepts as much as possible, instead of focusing on memorization.

Often, lack of motivation stems from a lack of clear goals and/or direction. I would set well-defined and attainable goals within the larger project of improving grades.

If we've gone over the skill or concept multiple times to no avail, I would try new angles to teach it from. If a student has trouble understanding something, often re-framing it using different vocabulary and logical processes can help them work through the mental block.

I take them slowly through practice questions, going step-by-step and making sure that they don't get lost along the way.

I like to start by narrowing down what material they have a strong grasp on and what material they need the most focus on. In this way, we can build on their strengths to help improve those weak spots.

I find learning, particularly in science and math, really exciting. I try to impart that excitement to my students by relating the material to the real world and using interesting but easy-to-grasp analogies.

Most important are practice problems, whether they are in a textbook, worksheets, or on the tutoring company's platform. Doing a couple problems isn't enough; to really make sure they understand the material, a student should be able to correctly answer practice problems consistently.

I think praise and positive thinking are very important when tutoring someone. Whenever someone overcomes some challenge, like finally understanding a difficult concept or improving their quiz scores, I make sure to verbally acknowledge that they're doing a good job.