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

One effective strategy I use is to break a problem down into small, easy-to-manage pieces, and have the student solve them. Then I show them how these parts all add up to solve a seemingly complex problem. That gives the student a lot of confidence in dealing with difficult math problems.

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

Students gain a deep understanding of the material when he or she can solve a problem from scratch. Furthermore, students become experts of the material when he or she can explain the nature of the problem and each step of the solution to someone who is inexperienced with math. I will quiz the student in this manner. Also, for students to understand the "big picture" of the material, I would have them learn information in "chunks" by taking pieces of information and grouping it together. This makes efficient use of their short-term memory.

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

I can show the student that he or she can solve seemingly complex math problems by breaking the problem down into separate parts that can be easily managed. Then I would show the student that he or she has solved the entire problem and that it was not that bad.

How would you help a student get excited/engaged with a subject that they are struggling in?

The reason why students struggle with a subject is because he or she does not know the purpose of what he or she is learning. To keep students engaged, I will provide the student with a "road map view" of the subject content so the student can know what is to be accomplished at the end of the course, and what the purpose is behind each current assignment.

How do you evaluate a student's needs?

I am very aware that students have different learning styles, and I will test the student's' ability to retain information with different techniques based on different senses and determine which technique works the best.