If a student has difficulty learning a skill or concept, what would you do?

I work with students to make sure they understand each step of a skill. If I found there was a particular concept they were struggling in, I would go through the entire process with them until I figured out at which step it was that they were faltering. Then I would work exclusively on that step with the students until they understood how to do it on their own.

What might you do in a typical first session with a student?

My first session would be spent seeing where the student was at in his or her understanding of the material. We would go over the basics of the subject first to make sure the student had a solid grasp on that before moving on to what the student feels he or she needs help on.

How can you help a student become an independent learner?

Students often tend to rely on their tutor to get them through tests and school, so I make it a point to ensure that students are able to solve the problems we work on together without my help by the time the session is over. If they are not able to do so, I often ask them to try some practice problems on their own in between sessions, and then we continue working on them the next time we see each other. This is primarily to make sure students don't feel as if they know how to do everything when they're with me, but then realize their understanding maybe wasn't as strong as they'd like when they take the test.