Tutoring a smart seventh grader can be interesting, challenging, and educational. Grace wants to make the best grades and get into an Ivy League University, Harvard, to be specific. She studies all the time and does things I wish my other students would do. Joshua lives for basketball and sports and plans to go to Stanford or UCLA. While he does well and is quite smart, he isn't into the minute details of learning. However, he will do reports as long as he can use his computer.
I wonder how many of the differences are about the differences between boys and girls. He attends a private school and she attends a public school.
1. Grace and Joshua actually read the material assigned. She usually uses a highlighter as she reads. I would highlight or underline important words, concepts, dates, definitions, people's names, etc. Joshua doesn't see the need to do these things, but he does study and he will do assignments.
2. She sometimes copies the material in handouts or subject matter things she has to read. I would copy words, sentences, facts, concepts, definitions, people's names, etc., that I think I will need to remember. Hand writing information or typing it, as she sometimes does, puts the information into a person's brain in more ways than one. Joshua is a male and hasn't determined that what he does now can impact the college choices he makes. He isn't into going the extra mile.
Get the picture? Grace goes beyond the usual actions that help us learn new material or study for a test. Joshua studies but usually does what he has to do to get by.
3. I remember doing maps and reports, but some of Grace's teachers' assignments are creative. Students make booklets with information and pictures. Grace writes enough information that she should retain a lot of it for tests. She uses her creativity to make each booklet look as polished as possible. The pride she takes in her work puts her at the top of her class and gets her the good grades! I need to ask Joshua about projects he does. I did the minimum and jumped back into my books.
4. Did I mention that she reads the assignments? She also reads extensively. That I did, too. I read everything.
I still need to get the kids to be willing to listen to explanations, but I can't expect a 7th grader to do that. Funny how smart kids don't like to listen for new information or information they missed. They believe they can learn anything on their own.
Information I didn't get from a 7th grader
Making flash cards for words or facts can be a big help for a student who has a lot of information to learn. Have the student write the information on each card. Writing information helps people remember it. Work with a few cards at a time. Once the student knows that information, go on to the next cards.
Reading material aloud helps, too. A student should read the material aloud. If a parent reads the material aloud as a review, the student can listen and absorb things missed while struggling with words. Hearing the words in two different voices stimulates a person's brain to learn.
1. Read your material silently and highlight what you read, or at least things you believe you might need to remember.
2. Take notes. If you don't know which things to write as notes, start copying entire paragraphs. I suspect your brain will begin to sort things so you will know what you don't need to write.
3. Make flash cards with information or work on reports for extra credit. Illustrate and/or add extra information at the end.
4. Students should read material aloud and have someone else read it aloud. Hearing the words in different voices helps.
These suggestions can help students who learn by reading, hearing, and by writing information.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Ms Mary Edits, too!
Mary has just recently gone over two of my YA books, and I will have her do my next RS as soon as the revisions are done.
What I can tell you is that she's very thorough - to the point that she read the first one over a second time as she was concerned she might have missed something. She's not terribly fast, but I'd exchange speed for quality any day. What we did was have her send back a few chapters at a time as she went over them. In this way, I could make corrections and ask her about her suggestions at the same time if I didn't understand. I personally think the commas are out there to drive me nuts, and Mary keeps them all in place.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Our New Website is Live!
Our new website is www.MsMaryTutors.com.
Summer is upon us with Memorial Day weekend. Most students around Metro Atlanta are out of school for the summer. It's time to let our kids take the summer off, isn't it? Or is it?
If your son or daughter plans to attend college, he or she needs to take the SAT and/or the ACT as a junior. Students who want the best scholarships should apply for them based on scores earned before fall of their senior years. That might mean taking the tests more than once. Some programs offer classes which help prepare students to do well on these tests. They often teach strategies and practice taking tests. However, some students need or want individualized instruction based on their specific weaknesses or concepts they missed along the way.
One of my students is aiming at being my most improved student. His goal is to achieve a nearly perfect score in the SAT. Even in honor classes he has missed specific concepts he needs for the writing and reading parts of the test. I have been filling in those areas for him for the past 3 months. He reported a nearly perfect score for the Advanced Placement tests he took weeks ago.
He wants to beat the student who raised her score on the verbal sections by 100 points.
If you aren't ready to hire a tutor, purchase SAT and ACT practice books and have your student work through them over the summer. That means putting the video games down and reading test questions and then studying the explanations with the answers. Studying the explanations is more important than reading the answer sheets. Once school starts students are usually busy with school and extra-curricular activities, sports, music and even studying.
Many students will learn there is a need to study vocabulary words and practice reading the selections. Grammar and mechanics reviews are necessary for good scores. And then there is the essay portion of the tests.
Maybe your high school student needs to study some during the summer.
Summer is upon us with Memorial Day weekend. Most students around Metro Atlanta are out of school for the summer. It's time to let our kids take the summer off, isn't it? Or is it?
If your son or daughter plans to attend college, he or she needs to take the SAT and/or the ACT as a junior. Students who want the best scholarships should apply for them based on scores earned before fall of their senior years. That might mean taking the tests more than once. Some programs offer classes which help prepare students to do well on these tests. They often teach strategies and practice taking tests. However, some students need or want individualized instruction based on their specific weaknesses or concepts they missed along the way.
One of my students is aiming at being my most improved student. His goal is to achieve a nearly perfect score in the SAT. Even in honor classes he has missed specific concepts he needs for the writing and reading parts of the test. I have been filling in those areas for him for the past 3 months. He reported a nearly perfect score for the Advanced Placement tests he took weeks ago.
He wants to beat the student who raised her score on the verbal sections by 100 points.
If you aren't ready to hire a tutor, purchase SAT and ACT practice books and have your student work through them over the summer. That means putting the video games down and reading test questions and then studying the explanations with the answers. Studying the explanations is more important than reading the answer sheets. Once school starts students are usually busy with school and extra-curricular activities, sports, music and even studying.
Many students will learn there is a need to study vocabulary words and practice reading the selections. Grammar and mechanics reviews are necessary for good scores. And then there is the essay portion of the tests.
Maybe your high school student needs to study some during the summer.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Apologies and Thanks!
I have neglected this blog and I do apologize. My teaching life has been crazy busy, and I LOVE it!
I am currently tutoring a first grader, 2 third graders, a 6th grader, an 8th grader, a high school senior who will take the ACT for the 3rd time, and a junior who will take the SAT for the 2nd time. Does this sound like a wide variety of levels?
Well, I also tutor 5 adults. One adult is working to take the GED, 3 are business people who wish to improve their communication skills for their jobs. Two have college degrees. One student is working on his Ph.D. We proof and line edit his projects.
Of course they pay me, a very good thing.
The thanks are coming. A parent sent me this email and I must share it with you. Names will be withheld, but I will say this dad was a skeptic at first.
Ms. Marvella
I am currently tutoring a first grader, 2 third graders, a 6th grader, an 8th grader, a high school senior who will take the ACT for the 3rd time, and a junior who will take the SAT for the 2nd time. Does this sound like a wide variety of levels?
Well, I also tutor 5 adults. One adult is working to take the GED, 3 are business people who wish to improve their communication skills for their jobs. Two have college degrees. One student is working on his Ph.D. We proof and line edit his projects.
Of course they pay me, a very good thing.
The thanks are coming. A parent sent me this email and I must share it with you. Names will be withheld, but I will say this dad was a skeptic at first.
Ms. Marvella
I would like to say that I believe you have done an amazing job working with Eddie.
He still does not like school of course, but his improved English grades show he knows much more than he did and it’s amazing.
Perhaps you have given him “more” confidence!
I wish you taught Math, ha!
Thanks again for your “Great” work!
This kind of response makes me happy! Or I like to say "You can't beat that with a stick!"
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
I now tutor a ten year old student entering fifth grade. His good manners make me think he probably gets lost in a classroom of rowdy ten year olds.
As a teacher I often had to work with the kids who caused disturbances while the good kids were quiet. Quiet doesn't always mean a student is working or that he comprehends.
Practice is important. Because our children work with computers and computer games early, they write a lot less than they need to.
1. Have your child write his spelling words or any other words or facts he needs to learn on cards. If each card contains one word or one fact, learning can be focused on small bits. Make your own "flash cards" and use them for review, even after you think that information has been learned. If the child writes the word carefully and neatly, he'll remember it better. Have him say the letters as he writes them.
2. If a child has poor handwriting, stress that there are times when neatness is important and remind him he isn't racing. Today journals allow a student a place to write without worrying about neatness or spelling. That can reduce pressure and encourage a student to write more, but there are times when neatness and correct spelling and grammar count.
3. Always allow a child to do a rough draft to get his ideas together, then have him do a neater draft with correct spelling and neat writing. Teach students that drafting is good.
4. If you want to help a child improve his handwriting, let him practice with the paper he used in first grade or pretend regular ruled paper is old practice paper. Have him use three lines as two. This can help him remember to keep the letters in proportion.
As a teacher I often had to work with the kids who caused disturbances while the good kids were quiet. Quiet doesn't always mean a student is working or that he comprehends.
Practice is important. Because our children work with computers and computer games early, they write a lot less than they need to.
1. Have your child write his spelling words or any other words or facts he needs to learn on cards. If each card contains one word or one fact, learning can be focused on small bits. Make your own "flash cards" and use them for review, even after you think that information has been learned. If the child writes the word carefully and neatly, he'll remember it better. Have him say the letters as he writes them.
2. If a child has poor handwriting, stress that there are times when neatness is important and remind him he isn't racing. Today journals allow a student a place to write without worrying about neatness or spelling. That can reduce pressure and encourage a student to write more, but there are times when neatness and correct spelling and grammar count.
3. Always allow a child to do a rough draft to get his ideas together, then have him do a neater draft with correct spelling and neat writing. Teach students that drafting is good.
4. If you want to help a child improve his handwriting, let him practice with the paper he used in first grade or pretend regular ruled paper is old practice paper. Have him use three lines as two. This can help him remember to keep the letters in proportion.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Grab Your Young Student's Attention part 1
One way to grab a youngster's attention is by making up stories with him or her as the main character. For my first grade student, I work on a story no more than 500 words long, usually fewer words.
I asked him what kind of stories he would like about himself. He made a list - with my help - of the things he wanted in his story. His list included do magic, a magic hat, rabbits, a magic wand, and a magic cape. Magic stories I can do, piece of cake. How hard could it be, since I made up stories and characters for my daughter when she was young?
I double space each story and use a nice large font and wide margins at the top and bottom. The more white space the better for a young reader.
When I bought the first story for the next lesson, he read about himself. He learned he could fly to the top of a tree and that he could understand what a kitten was telling him. We were building up to super powers, kid style. Since I tutor him for an hour after he has been in school all day, we take turns reading aloud. He likes that.
When he asked how many stories I could make up for him, I told him as many as he wanted. He liked that a lot!
This time he wanted space aliens and guns and swords and guns that shot swords and a space ship bigger that ten houses, and cannons. Hmmm, not so easy.
I created Fitzu, a space alien.
More on Fitzu later.
I asked him what kind of stories he would like about himself. He made a list - with my help - of the things he wanted in his story. His list included do magic, a magic hat, rabbits, a magic wand, and a magic cape. Magic stories I can do, piece of cake. How hard could it be, since I made up stories and characters for my daughter when she was young?
I double space each story and use a nice large font and wide margins at the top and bottom. The more white space the better for a young reader.
When I bought the first story for the next lesson, he read about himself. He learned he could fly to the top of a tree and that he could understand what a kitten was telling him. We were building up to super powers, kid style. Since I tutor him for an hour after he has been in school all day, we take turns reading aloud. He likes that.
When he asked how many stories I could make up for him, I told him as many as he wanted. He liked that a lot!
This time he wanted space aliens and guns and swords and guns that shot swords and a space ship bigger that ten houses, and cannons. Hmmm, not so easy.
I created Fitzu, a space alien.
More on Fitzu later.
Lesson One, Nouns and Verbs
Starting simple is always good, even if your writing is complex. If you already know this material, read over it anyway and feel smart.
My student's writing is complex and he uses a lot of complicated concepts, so we needed time to identify the concept nouns by their uses in his sentences. Concrete or tangible nouns are easier to pin down than intangible ones.
FIRST LESSON
In order to work on sentence structure and effectiveness, I’d like to make sure you and I have the proper building blocks to speak the same language. Those building blocks are called the parts of speech.
The first two parts of speech we’ll identify are nouns and verbs.
Part 1
Nouns name persons, places, things, ideas, concepts, creeds, etc.
John, America, Duluth, Ford, Catholic or Catholicism, University of Georgia Bill of Rights are all proper names.
Carriage, car, man, boy, religion, city, school, university, gym, church are common names. They don’t name a specific person, place or thing.
Many words can be used in different ways in different sentences.
Part 2
Verbs show action or state of being.
Jump, sing, read, throw, study, practice, run, find, exercise, and shoot are action verbs. Verbs have tenses you use automatically, like jumped, sang, threw, studied, practiced, ran, shot.
Have, has, and had are helping verbs or show possession when they appear without an action verb. May, might, can, could, should, would, will, and shall are all helping verbs.
Is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being are all being verbs since they show no action. Seem, appear, and felt are verbs also.
If you want to do something with this knowledge, select a page you have written or a page in a book. Copy that page so you can mark it up.
On the same page, find the verbs and color them blue, nice bright, easy to spot blue. Include verbs of being and helping verbs listed above. Now mark the nouns with red.
What happens in your sentence? At least one word in a sentence tells you that. Then find the word that tells who or what did the action. That will be a noun or a pronoun.
Want to try this on your own? Send me your answers and I'll grade you. Copy a page and paste in into a document. Highlight your nouns and verbs in color.
Make a comment or ask a question.
My student's writing is complex and he uses a lot of complicated concepts, so we needed time to identify the concept nouns by their uses in his sentences. Concrete or tangible nouns are easier to pin down than intangible ones.
FIRST LESSON
In order to work on sentence structure and effectiveness, I’d like to make sure you and I have the proper building blocks to speak the same language. Those building blocks are called the parts of speech.
The first two parts of speech we’ll identify are nouns and verbs.
Part 1
Nouns name persons, places, things, ideas, concepts, creeds, etc.
John, America, Duluth, Ford, Catholic or Catholicism, University of Georgia Bill of Rights are all proper names.
Carriage, car, man, boy, religion, city, school, university, gym, church are common names. They don’t name a specific person, place or thing.
Many words can be used in different ways in different sentences.
Part 2
Verbs show action or state of being.
Jump, sing, read, throw, study, practice, run, find, exercise, and shoot are action verbs. Verbs have tenses you use automatically, like jumped, sang, threw, studied, practiced, ran, shot.
Have, has, and had are helping verbs or show possession when they appear without an action verb. May, might, can, could, should, would, will, and shall are all helping verbs.
Is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being are all being verbs since they show no action. Seem, appear, and felt are verbs also.
If you want to do something with this knowledge, select a page you have written or a page in a book. Copy that page so you can mark it up.
On the same page, find the verbs and color them blue, nice bright, easy to spot blue. Include verbs of being and helping verbs listed above. Now mark the nouns with red.
What happens in your sentence? At least one word in a sentence tells you that. Then find the word that tells who or what did the action. That will be a noun or a pronoun.
Want to try this on your own? Send me your answers and I'll grade you. Copy a page and paste in into a document. Highlight your nouns and verbs in color.
Make a comment or ask a question.
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