Jump Into Online Tutoring – It Works!

Find a tutor

This sounds obvious enough.  You can find lots of tutors online these days.  Look for a tutor that will be a good fit for you or your child.  When you find a potential candidate, check out his or her website, videos, blogs, etc.  This will get you a feel for the tutor’s style. Of course, you want a tutor who has knowledge in your area of interest.  However, finding a good fit goes beyond subject matter.  You need to chat and make sure that the tutor’s personality and approach make you feel comfortable.

Get in touch

Allow time to chat with the tutor online.  If you are going to sign up for online tutoring, you might as well practise “working” online.  There are many excellent platforms that allow tutors, parents, and students to see and hear one another almost as if they are in the same room!  Skype, Zoom, and BitPaper work really well.  (All free to use!)

Be understanding and patient.  You will want the tutor to schedule you at a time that works for you but also for him or her, so that nobody is rushed or unprepared for the chat.  Every tutor is different, but I provide a minimum 30 minute free information meeting.  (They are so much fun, we often run over.)

This is a perfect time to see how you can interact online through one or more of the programs that the tutor uses.  For example, I show my potential clients that they can write, type, draw, share documents & videos, and share screens while we have our meeting.  Of course, we can see each other through the cameras and talk just as if we were in the same room.  It is truly amazing.

Small clip showing a tiny bit of the online abilities.

Ask away!  

Ask your prepared questions.  Look for a tutor who is able to answer your questions to your satisfaction.  A tutor who tells you exactly what he or she is able to do and what he or she is not able to do is far more valuable than one who simply “advertises.”  Everyone has limits.  Also, tutors cannot guarantee a specific improvement, although they can provide you with common results or even examples of stellar results that occur occasionally.  Don’t forget to ask about how lessons are delivered? What times are available? How are the lessons packaged?  Is there a minimum number of lessons required? What is the cancellation policy?

Not all ABC’s and 123’s

I have touched on this before.  Learning is not only about the abc’s and the 123’s. You want an educational coach that can relate to the student and that can motivate, encourage, and help the student reach his or her goals.  Of course, if you are looking for a writing tutor or reading tutor, you want someone knowledgeable in these areas, but he or she also needs to be able to speak well enough to engage the student.  He or she needs to have a rapport and, in my opinion, a sense of humour.

Patience is essential.  For over twenty years I have tutored all kinds of students and patience cannot be overrated.  Everyone learns differently.  A tutor needs to take the time to know the student and gear the teaching style and methods to the individual, focusing on using the student’s strengths to conquer his or her weaknesses and construct a more solid foundation.

Do you feel comfortable?  

Sign up.  Commit to a number of lessons. Don’t be afraid to get started.  It is often this step that “trips up” the process.  Like anything new, it is a bit scary – but the rewards are amazing!

First lesson

Don’t be late!  Try to make sure that you have the time correct – particularly if you and the tutor are in different time zones.  (Of course, the tutor should aim to make this clear as well.)  Please, respect the tutor’s time.  Consistency is key for learning also, so try to make all scheduled lessons or reschedule within the same week if possible.  The first lesson is exciting, but it can be frustrating, too.  The technology is great, but it is not perfect.  Allow for a few glitches and a little learning curve to get everything right.  Smile. Enjoy.  Your tutor will help walk you through any technical issues, but there is nothing wrong with you helping each other.  The first lesson should leave you feeling comfortable, and it should provide a good start to your online tutoring experience.

Commit to the program

The first lesson is not the whole program!  Don’t expect it to suffice.  Be consistent by attending all lessons.  Be prepared.  If you are supposed to be doing something outside of the face-to-face lessons, make sure you have completed (or at least attempted) all tasks.  Write down any questions, so you don’t forget them.  Turn off or reduce all distractions.  If the instructor is talking to you, the session should not be interrupted constantly by irrelevant texts, calls, or other open programs.  Focus on the lesson.  After all, that’s why you signed on!

Here is a recap:

1.   Find a tutor – research

2.  Get in touch – have an online meeting

3.   Ask questions

4.   Feel comfortable? Register for lessons (plan for a reasonable number)

5.  Enjoy the first lesson – relax, get used to the technology

6.   Commit to the program – be consistent & prepared

The best point of all is that you have options that never existed before.  Take advantage of them.

Need more help, please feel free to get in touch.

Website: www.tutoringcentral.com

Video – Jump Into Online Tutoring – It Works!

How Do I Make My Writing Sophisticated?

But, how do I make my writing sophisticated? 

I hear these kinds of questions, especially from high school or university students.  They feel that their writing should now “sound” more intelligent, so they add all kinds of words, clauses, and phrases that tend to do quite the opposite!

Here are better ways to improve the quality of your writing:

Make your writing clear.

Make your writing concise.

Make your writing understandable

Provide support, detail, explanations, anecdotes, and so forth to help the reader understand your argument, point of view, or opinion. Spend time to fully understand your own thoughts and connections to the material so that you can write about the ideas intelligently.

These are far more important than complicating the issue.

When students, or any writers for that matter, force their writing – the quality becomes worse.  Making something “sound” more complicated than it really is does not help the reader (or the teacher ) in any way.

Your ideas can be original and attractive, but they don’t need to be mired in arcane language or complicated sentence structures that lead the reader nowhere.

I have read students’ essays that aim to impress, but the writing is so convoluted that the meaning is lost.  When I ask them to explain, they often say, “I’m really not sure what I meant, but doesn’t it sound good?” Their hope is that the teacher or professor will find something in that mess to admire.  This is a very poor method!

Some of the best writers, in fact, make a concerted effort to ensure that their writing is as uncomplicated as possible. That does not mean “dumbing-down” (as one of my students said to me recently).  It means that you are doing your job to help the reader comprehend your intentions.

It is the ideas and thoughts that are important.  You want the reader to be impressed, or at least persuaded, by your argument, opinion, or description.

If the reader does not understand your work, he or she will not be impressed.  (Although I have heard people say, “He must be a great writer, I couldn’t understand a word of it!”)

Work on sentence structure and grammar.  Make sure you follow the basic rules and conventions of writing.  Don’t think of the rules as restrictive. Recognize that they actually free the rest of your mind to be creative in thought, networking ideas, and expounding upon your take on a particular topic.

Want a place to start?  Try these discount coupons, and I will help you.

Paragraph Writing

Essay Writing

Punctuation Made So Easy

Brush up on the basics and apply them well, and you will see higher grades.  Better yet, the quality of your writing will continue to improve.

Of course, as you become more proficient, you might notice that your sentences are longer and more “sophisticated,” but they retain the clarity of purpose as well.

Most of all – keep writing!

As with any skill, you get better with practice, especially if you pay attention to the weak spots.  Try to take on constructive advice and make the necessary adjustments to keep improving.

For more information, lessons, and programs check out the website.

Website: www.tutoringcentral.com

This week’s video:  “How Do I Make My Writing Sophisticated?”

Register for the FREE  Student Survival Guide – How to Become an A+ Student

15 Questions to Ask When Looking for a Tutor

1.      What do you tutor?

There is no sense in having a long conversation if the tutor does not teach the subject you need.

2.    Where do you tutor?

Some tutors travel to the client’s home, some tutors meet in a neutral location, and some tutors have the client come to them.

Don’t forget online tutoring! 

Many tutors will use a combination of one of the methods above with online tutoring or do all of their teaching online.

If you have any issues with the location of the lessons, ask the tutor why he or she chooses to teach in this way.  You might be surprised that a method will work for you even though you never thought about it.

3.   How long is each tutoring session? How often do you meet with the student?

4.   What is your availability?

If the tutor does not have any spots available or nothing that will accommodate your schedule, then you can decide to continue on with the conversation or not.  It might still be a great idea to get to know the tutor for future reference.

5.   What are your qualifications, certifications or credentials?

While qualifications are important, there are a wide variety of qualifications. Is the tutor able to express himself or herself well in describing his or her strengths? It is more important that the tutor feels comfortable with the teaching process than his or her having a PhD.

6.   How long have you been tutoring?

Again, this should not be the only deciding factor.  Someone new to tutoring would not have a lot of experience, but she or he might still be an excellent tutor.  Of course, one with lots of experience has probably dealt with many different learning styles and has gone well beyond the lessons learned from textbooks or teacher’s college into the real world of teaching and learning.

7.   Can you tell me a little bit about your teaching philosophy?

Get to know the tutor by discussing education overall and his or her feelings and thoughts about the importance of learning.  This gives both of you a chance to speak more freely and get to know one another.  You can often begin to get a “feel” that this is the right fit. If a tutor cannot clearly express himself or herself about teaching and students, it might be time to look a little further.

8.   Have you worked before with students who have learning challenges?

This question would not apply to everyone, but many parents are looking for a tutor to handle an identified student.  Even without a formal identification, a student might have issues with attention, dyslexia, or other learning challenges that require remediation.  A tutor who has worked with these kinds of issues will have tools and strategies to help.

9.  How do you assess students?

What kind of tools does the tutor use to discover a student’s current abilities and challenges? How will these tools be used to generate a useful program? Is the tutor willing and able to incorporate results from other assessments?

10.  How do you design the student’s program?

Will the program be flexible or static?  Will the program be homework support only, or will the program be solely based on the tutoring materials?  Of course, flexible programs might include a homework support component as well as lessons to strengthen a student’s foundation.

11 .  What kind of reporting do you provide?

You might discuss the kind and amount of contact available between reports as well.

12.   How can I help in the learning process?

Are there things that I can do at home to help improve the results?

13.  How much do you charge per session?

Please, do not hire a tutor solely based on price!  This is such a bad idea, but something a lot of people do.  Cheap is not always the best choice – particularly when we are talking about developing someone’s brain and helping them gain the skills they will need for the rest of their lives.

14.   Are there any other additional fees for materials, phone calls, assessments, extra homework practice, etc.?

A tutor should always be up-front about the cost of tutoring.  Unfortunately, sometimes there are a lot of hidden fees.   You should be fair as well.  If a tutor is providing a lot of extra practice, she or he has to prepare the materials, read over and mark the answers, and include all of this in their reporting method.  Doing the extra work might need to be rewarded.

15.   What is the policy for cancellations and make-up sessions?

Keep in mind that pedagogically the student should be consistent and available for his or her sessions or to make them up as soon as possible.  To be fair, this also makes sense for the tutor from a business perspective.  Your goal and the tutor’s goal should be to achieve as many sessions as possible on the right day and time.

These questions will get you started.  I can’t stress enough how important it is to find a tutor that will work with you or your child’s particular challenges and goals in mind.  Look for a tutor who won’t simply “plug-in” your child to a program designed for all. Learning is not the same for everyone, so the program for your child should not be identical to the one for thousands more!

Website:    www.tutoringcentral.com

This week’s video:  Questions to Ask When Looking for a Tutor

 

Don’t Miss Out on the Awesome Benefits of Online Tutoring!

Is online tutoring right for me?

Is online tutoring right for my child?

Can online tutoring be anywhere near as good as an in-person tutor?

There are many questions when it comes to tutoring online.  Today, I am going to point out some the many advantages there are to online tutoring.  You might think of more. Please feel free to add on in the comments section.

The most important – and most obvious – is the learning.  You can retain lessons learned over the year, practise current assignments, and learn something new to prepare for the future.

Don’t you agree that this is already looking awesome!  

Online tutoring can often accelerate learning.  There are so many resources at the tip of your fingers with videos, texts, and live discussions to name a few.

The learning process can be so much more dynamic.

There is no travelling back and forth to the tutor, saving you time, avoiding traffic jams, and allowing the instructor and learner to be from different provinces, states, or even countries.

Geography is no longer an issue.

  Andrew Neel

You can learn in the comfort of your own home – or at a café, at the beach, at grandma’s house – wherever there is an internet connection, you can learn.  (Actually some of the tasks don’t even require the connection for some assignments, particularly asynchronous exercises.)

Comfort and access to all your own amenities.

You can take asynchronous lessons which are primarily done offline or at least without a lot of intervention from the instructor.

You can take synchronous lessons which are real-time interactions with the instructor.

I like to do a combination in a kind of “flipped” classroom style in which the student takes care of his/her business independently (after some instruction / direction of course) and then we can spend time on the essential business of assessment and focused instruction to make those all-important improvements.

Learn independently; learn together; learn in combination!

You still have the opportunity to meet your instructor and to discuss assignments, math problems, etc. by using platforms such as Zoom and Skype.  These are FREE to use for both instructor and student.  Bonus!

Sometimes, you can even meet other students from all over the world.  You can collaborate or simply provide suggestions.  When one student has a question or problem that he or she can’t solve, you can be sure that many others have the same issue.  You can help them, and they can help you.

Using a whiteboard such as BitPaper (in my case replacing Ron’s famous scrap paper), you can work together on problems, draw diagrams, pictures, and so on.

You can upload and download files; so, even though you might be doing a lot of work online, you still have the option to print and work on paper.  In fact, I encourage students to use paper for brainstorming when preparing to write and for scribbling out math problems and rough work in all arenas.  Although you can do this on the computer, research has shown that the good “old-fashioned” writing things out on paper can be even more beneficial in wiring the brain effectively.

No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater! (Please don’t do this.)

Online tutoring can be treated as an “add-on” to in-person tutoring or as a replacement.  Again, there is no reason why the old and the new cannot work together and be friends.

If you are ready to get started, so am I.  Click on the website link below or e-mail for further information or to set up a free information meeting.

Website: www.tutoringcentral.com

Online Lessons

E-mail:  tutoringcentral@hotmail.com

Video: The Awesome Benefits of Online Tutoring

A Brain is a Terrible Thing to Waste!

A brain is a terrible thing to waste!  So don’t let that happen.

Summer learning can help stop this critical loss.

Research dating back 100 years confirms the phenomenon often referred to as “summer slide.”

                       W. White, Reviews Before and After Vacation. American Education, 1906, 185-188

Research consistently shows that students (aka people) who continue to access learning material and opportunities over the summer months retain more of the foundation they gained during the school year.

Summer slide or summer loss affects all students but particularly those who are struggling in the first place.  Those who continue to learn over those long weeks show dramatic improvement in the retention of information and the ability to reason and complete math problems as well.

            “Differences in a child’s summer learning experiences during his or her       elementary school years can impact whether that child ultimately earns a high   school diploma and continues on to college”

                             Alexander, Entwistle, & Olson, 2007.

Not only can students slow or stop the summer loss, but they can learn new material to be better prepared for next year.

Imagine your child going back to class having kept the foundation from last year.

Walking proudly into school with the full knowledge that he or she is prepared to take on the challenges to come.

Over twenty years of tutoring children has taught me that their confidence and belief in themselves (that is honest belief – not bravado) provides the strongest impetus to improvement and success compared to anything else.

But wait – There’s more!

You can be any age to learn something new, refresh your knowledge, or gain brain synapses – improving brain function.

Yes, students can “train their brain.”  Our brains are malleable – they can be adjusted.  The way our brain communicates is complex; however, in very simplified terms, the dendrites and axons make connections via synapses (small gaps) between them.  These synapses will grow and build when stimulated – in other words, when they are asked to do so through some kind of effort and performance!

Similar to your muscles, if you don’t exercise them – they weaken.

                                     If you don’t use it – you will lose it!

How to avoid summer learning loss: 

       Read!

This cannot be overstated
Reading is so important.  The choice of reading material is less a factor than the act and the follow-up.
Don’t read “blindly” – engage yourself with the material by talking about what you’ve read with others, look to learn more about the topic, write about what you’ve read, comment or blog about it.  Use any method you like to make sure that you aren’t forgetting as fast as you are reading.
Also, remember the library – often free reading material of all kinds there!

       Write !

Write a journal.
Write about what you have been reading (see above).
Start a blog about your favorite topic.
Write letters (astonish your friends and the world!).
Write some poems.

        Visit!

Visit museums, zoos, landmarks, grandparents, science centers, etc.

Yes, visiting and discussing the new facts, ideas, theories, and so one can be very helpful. This kind of learning stimulates multiple styles of learning including visual, auditory, and kinesthetic / tactile.

Why grandma & grandpa?  Don’t forget the wisdom of the entire family.  I’m only using these as representatives.  Different points of view (acceptable to you or not) are important to develop stronger reasoning and decision making skills.  People’s stories provide a different kind of context to the learning process.

Parents

Ask for opinions and comments on T.V. shows or Internet/video games, etc.
NOTE:       Be sure to ask open questions not closed questions.
An open question invites more conversation, whereas a closed question generally elicits only a “yes” or “no” response.
Example:   
            Open question –   “What did you like about the main character?”
            Closed question – “Did you like the main character?”

Don’t be too quick to judge opinions (despite the lack of logic or maturity). It is just important to keep paying attention and engaging with material.  A great deal of learning comes from talking it out and hearing one’s own ideas aloud.  Self-correction tends to happen in stages.

Tutoring

Of course – a couple hours of tutoring per week can also help retain past lessons and help to prepare for the next year!

Note:  This is not school!   Students often complete more in a couple of hours a              week than they did all week in the school year – leaving lots of time to                play, ponder, lie on the grass and look at the sky – etc.

Come see what a professional tutor and personalized program can do for you or your child!

In-person and online tutoring available.

www.tutoringcentral.com

 

E-mail:  tutoringcentral@inbox.com

Phone:  519 824 0982

Video for Summer Learning

References:

Alexander, K., Entwisle, D., and Olson, L. (2007). Lasting consequences of the summer learning gap. American Sociological Review, 72, 167-180.

Borman, G.D. (2001). Summers are for learning. Principal, 80(3), 26-29.

White, W. (1906). Reviews before and after vacation. American Education, 185-188.

 

 

 

 

Exam Time

Tips for Doing Well on Exams

Test yourself before the examination.

You should practise the information you have been learning. You may work in a group, but make sure the group isn’t just a social gathering in which very little “study” is accomplished.
By self-testing you will be able to monitor how well you have mastered the material. It is much better to find out what you don’t know before the exam. You will have time to brush up on weak areas or information you have forgotten.

Find out as much as you can about the exam.

• What kind of exam will it be: multiple choice, true/false, short answer, essay?
• What material will be on the exam?
• What is the relative importance of different topics on the exam?
• What is the time limit for the exam?
• If the teacher doesn’t automatically give you this information, ask him/her. Usually teachers are receptive to students who want to know how to prepare.

Try to predict what might be stressed on the exam.
If the teacher has stressed certain areas in class, these are probably going to be on the exam and likely to count for more marks.

Learn the teacher’s testing habits.
Looking back at a teacher’s previous tests and exams will give you an idea of his/her general format and the kinds of questions he/she usually asks.
Some teachers tend to look for details while others look for the “big picture” or general themes and ideas – knowing what a teacher is looking for can reduce the amount of preparation time, but – even better – can increase the accuracy of your preparation.

During review, ask yourself questions you think might be on the test.
If you have used SQ3R and solid note-taking tips, you will know the key points and major ideas of the course. With some practice, you will be able to predict many of the questions that will actually be on the test. Preparing to answer these questions beforehand will put you miles ahead – answering the same or similar questions on the exam will be easy!!

Prepare for the type of test questions you expect.

Maintain a healthy lifestyle before the test.
• get a good night’s sleep
• eat breakfast (if the exam is in the afternoon – eat lunch)
Your mind will work better if you take care of your body.  They are not exclusively separate entities.

If you really must cram for the exam, do it intelligently.
Pick out the most important parts of your notes or text for study.
Scan and survey for general information.
Note: Try to break yourself of this habit of procrastination and cramming for next time – use the tools you have at your disposal now to schedule and follow through with a PLAN to reach goals.

Be anti-social right before an exam.
Do not discuss the exam with other nervous students just before the exam.  This will make you second-guess yourself and increase anxiety.

Becoming “Test-Wise”

These strategies help you to work smarter not harder.

Making it or breaking it in the first five minutes.
• Put your name on the test papers or answer sheets.
• Read and understand the general directions.
• Don’t skip over the directions – listen to instructor’s additional directions (if any) – underline any key words in the directions.

Do you need to answer all of the questions or is there a choice?
How are you supposed to record my answers? – pencil, pen, on the test sheet / separate sheet or booklet – special pencil for computer scoring?

Survey the entire test.
• How many questions are there?
• How many pages, and are they all there?
• Are their different weights given to different sections or questions? (Knowing this will help you divide your time appropriately –giving more time to the heavily weighted sections.)

Jot down initial thoughts.
As you survey, you may want to jot down key terms or ideas that pop into your mind. You will be able to use them in your more thorough answer later.

Plan how you will spend your time during the exam.
Portion out your time according to the worth of different exam sections.

REMEMBER: Always leave a few minutes at the end to review your work and ensure you haven’t made any silly mistakes – especially important for essay type answers.  You might be surprised at what you find!

If you need further information on any of the topics here or more study tips, please contact me.

Come join me for some personal tutoring, online lessons, more study tips, or sign on to the mailing list at:

L.T.L. Tutoring Central

Let’s Keep Learning!

Email:  tutoringcentral@inbox.com

YouTube: Tutoring Central (click on videos to see everything)

Happy Halloween!

Click here for HAPPY HALLOWEEN video – and a few safety tips

Halloween

or

All Hallows Eve

Halloween falls on October 31, which in the old Celtic calendar was the last day of the year, its night being the time when all the witches and warlocks were abroad.  On the introduction of Christianity it was taken over as the eve (even or e’en) of All Hallows or All Saints.

Brewers Dictionary of Phrase & Fable

 Of course, most young people know that the most important part is “trick or treating” – and the treats are the most important part of all!!

Have fun, enjoy, and be safe.

www.tutoringcentral.com

What is Learning?

What is learning?

Well, this question is far too broad to be answered in a short blog – assuming that it can be answered at all.
But, generally, I think the definition of learning needs to be broadened well beyond the memorization of facts and numbers. Some people believe that is all there is to learning, but there is so much more.

Learning is engagement, comprehension, knowledge networking, and incorporation as well as acquisition.
I don’t believe in throwing the baby out with the bathwater, however.There is value in what has come before, but there’s always so much to learn – especially about teaching and the methods to help students (of any age) reach their goals.

Helping students with motivation and encouraging them to be inquisitive is so important because these are the qualities necessary for life-long learning. Young children are naturally curious and inquisitive. We’ve all experienced the “why…why…why…why” questions! (Feels a bit like an inquisition at times – lol.)
They want to know about everything. The problem is that they are so broad and so brief that they have difficulty reigning in all the disparate bits to develop a coherent learning experience.
That, in part, is a teacher’s job (teacher = parent, tutor, coach, & teacher). The trick is to do so without completely squashing enthusiasm and eagerness to learn.

Technology today may be increasing the duration of this “scattered” learning, so as teachers/tutors/parents, our job will be to help bring the pieces together. Technology is an amazing tool, but that’s all it is without the proper use, it fails. (Yes, I dare to use the ‘f’ word!)

So, I’ve returned to my starting point. Yes, we need knowledge acquisition (facts, information) to be part of learning; however, we also need to be able to network and incorporate these pieces of data while retaining curiosity and enthusiasm.
So learners and teachers (we should all be both), stay motivated – look for the treasure inherent in all learning.
I know you can!

Ron

Website:    tutoringcentral.com

YouTube:   tutoringcentral

It’s not about the Grades!

You may think this is an odd or even irresponsible thing for a tutor to write (or think) – but it is true!

I have tried to encourage my students to forget about the grades and, instead, aim to do their best work and to gain the most knowledge from their studies.

#1  The knowledge is what counts.

The whole enterprise of education is to help disseminate and gain knowledge – the ability to reason, think, and draw conclusions.

What does a “C” a “90%” or a “Level 3′ mean in all this?

Not much!

In fact, students receive grades for all sorts of reasons – not always connected to the acquisition of knowledge.

I have seen a high school student (more than one actually) score in the 90% range for mathematics; yet, she could not tell me what 3 x 3 is without a calculator.  (Also, if she made a mistake on the calculator doing this same operation, she would not recognize the error.)

So what, exactly, does the 90% mean?

Here is another true example.  A student received a B+ (77%, Level 3+) in his English class; however, he was unable to write a full sentence by himself.  In fact, he was unable to dictate a sentence very well and a paragraph was beyond him even with the dictation – scribe method.

So what did the mark / grade measure?

Simply said, it wasn’t very useful.

The student, himself, did progress. The gains he made should be recognized, and he should be commended for his own personal growth.  Providing a “grade,” however, was not an essential part of his knowledge acquisition or growth.

#2    The grades will follow.

If the focus is on using solid study strategies and gaining new knowledge, then the grades will come anyway!

Even if grades remain an essential part of educational assessment, focusing on them does not help.

Look to the content of what you are learning and spend your energy on getting to know the material.

There are those who want to give up on grades all together, and I understand why.

I am, however, still pleased to see some marking scheme in certain areas.

For myself, I like to see that I have conquered 80% or 90% of a given set of math questions, for example.

This does not mean that if I get 50% I give up!  It just helps me to know where I need to focus my energy. In other words, I obviously didn’t comprehend that unit fully.

So, maybe we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater but a new perspective could help.

#3     Students get it!

Over nineteen years, I have seen lots of students – many with learning challenges of one kind or another.

Each one has known that his/her “A” may or may not be connected to the material he or she has learned.  Students know when they have truly done well and when they haven’t.  The are happy to get the grade, but time and time again, students have admitted that they don’t know how they got an “A” in a class they barely understood.  They know when their mark is based on an IEP or some other standard (although it isn’t always clear what that standard might be).

They have all appreciated that in private or small group tutoring classes they can be more honest about grades and actual knowledge.  Not only are they happy to be more honest with themselves; but, often, they begin to excel with new vigor, recognizing that beginning at their “START” point, they don’t have to think or worry about “the score” at every juncture.

Why keep up the charade?

It is time to rethink!

Finally – what does the picture on this blog have to do with anything?  Well, you tell me – put your thinking cap on!

It doesn’t matter how slowly you go….

“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”   Confucius

What a wonderful quotation!

So many of my students get frustrated because the school requires them to reach certain levels at particular ages/grades – and, yet, they are not ready!

The goal of education is to learn – to improve – to enjoy – and to gain an understanding that we didn’t have before (or to remind us or build an additional tentacle to our network of knowledge).

If you are in grade 7 but have a limited (or non-existent) understanding of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and/or division – are you ready for algebra and complex fraction operations?

No!

And there is no shame in that.

Start where you are.  Take one step forward.  And then another.  And another.  And so on until the foundation is secure. Before you know it, you will be ready to learn those fractions!  (Or write an essay, book report, chemistry formula, etc.)

If you stop, however, then those fractions will forever be a mystery to you.

So, keep moving forward.  Keep challenging yourself, and you will be surprised at what you gain!

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