Max Thomas

I have taught Mathematics (and some Music Technology) in schools and colleges for most of my working life. I have worked in many special schools in which I have often come across students who are convinced they can never understand Mathematics at any level. Most of the time, such students have had a bad experience of Maths, which may even date back to their Junior School years.
The first and most important thing is to establish rapport with students. One needs to create an ambience in each session in which there is trust and good will, such that no-one will fear either to express uncertainty or misunderstanding about that which is being taught.
Normally, I would start off with some basic questions about which areas of the topic(s) in question the student feels are the hardest to understand. This is to try to home in on that level of ability that a student has, in other words, it is an assessment of the potential of that student without making any final judgement because of their current ability. Once this is established - and this can sometimes take only a few minutes - a little reminding of the scaffolding around that topic should take place, followed by some tentative discussion of the next step in progressing their knowledge in that topic area.
That which determines the dynamics of the lesson is simply the level of enthusiasm (or not!) that the student exhibits regarding their understanding. If everything is clear, the next step can be approached quite quickly, and progress may be visible even by the end of the first session.
Praise and encouragement should be forthcoming at all times where progress has been made; and patience accompanied by alternative explanations where progress is lacking.

I have not always been a Maths teacher. I was the founder-member of a fairly successful rock band in the 70s and 80s: we recorded 7 albums and had a top-ten hit in 1978. We travelled all over the world, and one thing I discovered was that people are all the same! It doesn't matter which language you speak, what colour skin you have, or what you do in your life... the most important thing is to be warm and friendly to the people that are around you - I guess it's called "LOVE." I hope that I am seen to adopt such a way of life in my Maths tutoring!