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When Should I Hire A Tutor?
When Should I Hire A Tutor?
Some students have a natural affinity for a particular school subject. Maybe you have gone to school with a "math whiz", for instance. Perhaps you pick up foreign languages easily, and your French studies are "façile "? But what if you are not naturally gifted in a school subject? What if you are struggling just to keep up?
Students often spend a great deal of time trying to raise their grades, but sometimes their best efforts are not giving them the results they seek. Investing in regular tutoring with a professional educator could be exactly what you need.
Are you completing all of your assignments and submitting them on-time?
No matter your education level, if you are not meeting the minimum requirements of the class, your grade will suffer. Instructors often subtract points for late assignments, and sometimes they will not even accept late work. Understand your teacher's policies regarding assignments and due dates, and make sure to follow them for best results. If you are getting all of the work done but scores are low and you are not understanding, then you might think about securing tutoring services.
Do you have a study schedule?
Do you know that studying after every instructional period can help you retain information, and therefore perform better on tests and other assessments? One way to ensure that you make the best use of your study time is to work with a tutor. The tutor can guide you in study techniques, explain difficult concepts, provide tips and suggestions, and give you additional practice questions.
Two heads are better than one. Even if you do not hire a tutor, learning with a 'study buddy' is a great way to increase your 'learning power'.
For every hour spent in class, devote 20 minutes of studying to follow-up. Meet with your tutor or study buddy 2-3 times per week. You might even decide to partner with a buddy and work with the tutor (and both of you save money)!
Have you been asking questions in class or getting 1:1 help from your instructor?
The most immediate source of help is your teacher, so start there. If you think you need more, think about collaborating with a learning coach-- a tutor. Sometimes the tutor can offer a fresh perspective explaining things in a way that works better for you. One of my greatest advantages as a tutor is how well I get to know my students and the ways they learn best. I can tailor their instruction so that it meets their specific needs, and I make sure that we keep working at it until we find a method that suits their learning style, personality, and interests. That is how we can make it work.
No matter what you decide, know that you hold the key to your success. Even when working with a tutor, you are going to be putting in the effort that will get you the results you seek. By making the commitment to learn and partnering with someone who has experience and knowledge to help you, you are gaining strength and confidence in your ability to learn and grow. Smart students investigate the way they learn best, and sometimes that means spending a few hours a week with an experienced tutor.
Happy Learning!
Stressed Before Finals?
Stressed Before Finals?
If you're anything like me, you try to plan ahead for tests and exams. Some of us try to study for up to two weeks in advance of the assessment. Others like to make up their own practice test based on instructions from the teacher. Still many others re-read notes and highlights from pages in their textbooks, mining for those key concepts and explanations that will be helpful come testing-time.
If you're not like me, however, you rarely (if ever) study on a schedule or have never developed a solid study plan. No worries! I am a tutor, and it is my job to help you with that! Here are the Top 5 Tips to improving your study habits.
#1 Do not wait until the night before the test
While this may seem obvious, pulling an all-nighter remains in the repertoire of many students. If you wait until the night before, then cramming will only result in brain fog and poor recall the day of your test. Instead, plan to study at least once or twice a week-- every week of class, right from the beginning. When you recap what you have been taught most recently, you have a better chance of retaining information and using the new knowledge you have obtained to help you build your understanding of new concepts on top of the previous week's information. Your instructors design lessons that way, so it is best to follow suit.
#2 Study using flashcards, notes, diagrams, lists, and homework assignments.
Even when you don't perform well on a quiz or homework assignment, it is not a complete loss for you. Keeping track of wrong answers and correcting them can be a great tool for studying and retaining information.
Notes taken during class are also valuable-- as you may already know-- but have you gone one step further and created flashcards? They aren't just for vocabulary. You can make flashcards to learn anything-- from steps in a process, rules and formulas, to categorizing information. Be creative as you plan your studying to maximize your efforts, adapting any tools you are using to suit your learning needs.
#3 Study with a partner.
When it comes down to it, you should not go it alone as you study. Sure, you know the hardest topics and which mistakes you have made in the past. But what about your blind side? Maybe there is some material, which you think you know, but don't actually know well. Your study partner, who can be another student in your class or someone else who is knowledgeable of the material (like a tutor), may think of important points you have left out of your notes. They can also provide a different perspective on how to understand key information.
#4 Apply your individual learning style in your study 'toolkit'.
As Aristotle, the early Greek philosopher, is quoted as saying: "Know Thyself". By considering how you learn best, you can make the most of your crucial study time. Why use memorization and rote learning when you can reach higher levels of critical thinking and thus improve your overall comprehension and retention of material?
Each of us has a unique set of talents and skills, hobbies, interests, and tastes that dictate how we learn best. Some people are visual learners, while others are audio-linguistic learners. Combining your purpose for study with your own learning style will garner you results prior to 'The Big Day'. If you are a musical person, then you may want to write a short song to review the main vocabulary in a unit. If you like to touch and feel items, then manipulatives may be the way to go. These are simply physical objects that you can use to help you learn.
For instance, students in my French class made a shoebox biography incorporating pictures, textures, writing, and of course, a shoebox as the canvas for a project to introduce themselves. After making the artifact, they could practice their adjectives, conjugations of some verbs by turning the box as they re-read their biography. They might feel the texture of sandpaper and be reminded how they described themselves. A button or ribbon on the box might be used to find and review information about how to write a French sentence using proper verb forms.
There are many ways to incorporate your learning style, so read more about learning styles here and Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory here.
#5 Take breaks while studying.
You want your mind to be fresh when you review key material, so taking a 10 minute break during every half hour of study will help you better retain and recall information. This is known as the Pomodoro Method, which can be used to break up any task and give you breathing room in the process.
Now that you know what to do when preparing for your test, I hope that you feel more confident about your prospects. And, if your test is upcoming, it's time to hit the books!
Go, Learn!
P.S.- To learn more about various study techniques and practice study skills, join my pre-college program in December!
P.S.- To learn more about various study techniques and practice study skills, join my pre-college program in December!
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