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I believe everyone can understand math if they are given the right approach. A lot of times, there are multiple ways to solve a math problem, but students are only taught one of them. My goal as a tutor is to provide students with multiple perspectives, not only to show them math is useful in real life, but also to help them find the best way for them to understand math.

In my first session, I like to get to know my student, and let my student know a bit about me. This ice-breaking process helps me know where to start when I tutor my students by learning about their background knowledge and their learning preferences. With this information in mind, I can tailor my tutoring to each individual student. Also, I believe my student would feel more comfortable working with me once they know me and my expectations for them better.

When I tutor my students, I like my sessions to be very interactive. I am usually not the only one who talks math in the session. It is my way to assess my student's understanding by asking them guiding questions. Through these questions I ask, I can find out what concept is hard for my student to understand or apply in a particular problem. I believe it makes the tutoring session more effective when I focus more on where my student's confusion is.

In addition to keeping the tutoring sessions interactive, I like to provide multiple perspectives and real-life applications for my students as much as possible. Math can seem really abstract when it has no connection to our daily life, so I usually try to find an example or two that a concept is used for.

I would step back a bit, and try to find out what my student is having trouble understanding. Through this process, I can also encourage my students to keep working on the problem by reassuring how much they already understand about the concept. After that, I will focus on the concept/skill my student is struggling with, and present it in a different manner.

I started learning English when I was in first grade, and I went through all the steps to learn a new language, including the struggle with reading comprehension. I think the trick sometimes is not to get caught up on one single word, and to try to look at the bigger picture. After all, it is more important to understand the general idea, and the student can always go back to look up the word at the end if it prevents them from understanding the problem or context.

I always find multiple perspectives helpful for student learning. Since everyone has their learning preferences, there may not be a universal way to teach a concept to all the students. Therefore, it helps to present a concept in a different approach when students do not fully understand a method.

I like to either apply what I teach to real life or use some interesting examples that use the concept. For example, math can be dull when it is just memorizing formulas without any connections or other context, so I usually like to use some word problems students actually encounter in their life. In some other cases, I would use some classic math problems in history or some anecdotes of famous scientists to motivate students. When students feel they are able to think like a mathematician or a scientist, they are more likely to put more effort into understanding the material.

I assess my student's understanding by asking them to tell me their approach to a problem. If they are able to explain the method to solve a problem, they should be in good shape. Otherwise, if they struggle a bit on solving the first problem, I will give them another example to give them a chance to present their solution to me so that I can see if they fully understand the material.

I am a very encouraging tutor in general. I like to confirm with the student when they have done the steps correctly. So a lot of times, even before they reach the last step, if they have the right approach, they will get my verbal compliments multiple times as they move forward. I find it effective to create a positive learning environment so that both my student and I are excited as we keep going with the subject.

Asking guiding questions is a very important part of my tutoring session. Through this step, I get the opportunity to interact with my student and get feedback from them about what they understand and what they do not. When I see a problem, I can spot where I need to explain more or provide more examples to my student. This method allows me to hear their needs even if they are too shy to ask.

If I see a student experiences difficulty in a particular concept, I will put more time on this particular topic and connect it to the other concepts. If a student has certain learning preferences, I can always present the material in a way that enables them to learn better. With my math background, I am able to find multiple approaches/perspectives for a single topic so that my student can choose their favorite way to learn that concept.

I like to use examples to allow my student to apply the concept they just learned. With my teaching background, I have a lot of practice problems and worksheets available for tutoring sessions. Every so often, I would also give my student resources to some educational games or apps that they can use to practice with during or after the tutoring session. That way, they can become more independent in the learning process, even if I am not there with them.