I understand where you and lastyearisblank are coming from, but she did not even help me TRY to find a solution! With my students, I will remind them of the steps, or the strategies, or clues to help them solve the problem. I will ask them "What are the steps? What are the strategies we learned? Do you remember any clues that we talked about? Think about those and see if that helps you find the answer."

That is not giving them the answer, but making a very distressed student refocus and remember what we learned. This gives them the confidence that they can do it.

I do not just tell them, "Go back to your seat and figure it out on your own!" That is how I felt yesterday. It may not be the right feelings, but that is how it made me feel for her to allow me to sit there and suffer alone.