I would ask the student to tell me about themselves and about when they want to accomplish. I would also tell the student about myself and possibly find some things that we may have in common. I may give a pre-assessment of some type and ask if I may speak to their teacher so that I may be more effective in helping the student. How can you help a student become an independent learner? I would encourage the student to give me the next steps of the problem and to explain and justify their answers. Oftentimes, a student does know how to do something or has a decent grasp of the subject, but does not feel confident that they can do the work. I often have students do practice problems on whiteboards and compare their answer with mine. The student can ask questions if they need to and find out where they are possibly off track. How would you help a student stay motivated?