What strategies have you found to be most successful when you start to work with a student?

I typically encourage the student to answer as many questions as possible on their own. A lot of students have the right idea and are surprised by how much they can do on their own with just a little bit of guidance.

What techniques would you use to be sure that a student understands the material?

I've found that using analogies is a great way to explain a new concept. It puts a difficult idea in terms that the student is familiar with and makes it easier to understand. Sometimes we also work with a whiteboard, it's fun to draw and it helps students remember the material.

How do you build a student's confidence in a subject?

If a student isn't confident with the material, we do lots of review problems. The more problems and samples a student sees, the more prepared they are to answer actual test questions. Students are always excited to see their score on review problems increase and often tell me that we do not need to continue review because they feel prepared for the test.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

When trying to figure out each student's needs I ask them to do a practice problem and tell me what they think and how they would solve it. A lot of times watching a student work is enough to figure out what type of teaching technique is best for them. Some students like to draw out pictures or prefer to talk themselves through the problem. Later I use those same techniques when I go over the material.