Before getting started, I tend to get comfortable and relax, with the hope that the student will as well. I believe that the student must be involved in their own learning. I do not do the work for the student. My goal is to give the student the tools to help themselves. When a student tells me "I don't get it," I use probing questions to get them to narrow it down to exactly what it is that they don't get. I encourage them to apply themselves. I also do plenty of examples, doing whatever I can to relate the work to the real world, and specifically, their real world. I try to gain a rapport with the student, then relate the course material to the student's life.