Winter holidays on the central coast most often feature beach walks and weather in the mid 60s. This year looks to be no exception! A very heartfelt thank you to my tutors and tutoring clients in Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo, Los Osos, Morro Bay, Templeton, Atascadero and Paso Robles. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Archive for November, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving, San Luiso Obispo Tutoring Clients and Tutors
Friday, November 20th, 2009Happy Thanksgiving, Santa Barbara Tutoring Clients and Tutors
Friday, November 20th, 2009I’ll be puttering around Aliva Beach for the holiday so here’s an early heartfelt thank you to my wonderful tutors and tutoring clients in Carpinteria, Montecito, Santa Barbara, Goleta, Solvang and Los Olivos! Happy Thanksgiving to all.
Motivated Learning
Friday, November 20th, 2009Learning demands motivation! Some kids are motivated by As and teacher praise, but the best students are kids who view learning as a joy in itself. My math tutors and science tutors from UC Santa Barbara agree: kids who want to learn do better! My physics tutor had a Carpinteria student who went from an F to a B just because he got excited about physics. He began completing all his assignments, studying hard for tests, taking time to quiz himself and then seek out answers where he had knowledge gaps. Clearly, he had the ability to learn physics all along. What he lacked was motivation. Cheers to the best tutors: they are always great motivators!
In Defense of the SAT
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009I shared this story with my Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo SAT tutors: At Harvard’s college counseling program last summer, one prominent dean of college admissions stood up and said, “Look, I know everyone loves to hate the SAT. But listen, every year we accept a few kids on the basis of their SAT scores. If a student’s school is obscure, if their teacher letters are short and vague, if their counselor letter is poorly-written, if their transcript or portfolio is difficult to compare to ordinary academic benchmarks… but they just might be that diamond in the rough — then an outstanding SAT score gives us the evidence we need that the young scholar can succeed here. ”
The Scientific Mind
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009I just finished Howard Gardners’ 5 Minds for the Future. He argues that too many teachers, students, citizens fail to appreciate the distinction between a subject and its way of thinking. My Santa Barbara chemistry tutors agree. A kid may memorize key concepts like acids and bases, learn compounds, elements, and so forth but fail to appreciate what it means to think scientifically. That is, to know that scientists make observations and pose theories, design experiments to test their theories, revise those theories based on findings, make new observations, conduct new tests. Scientific thinkers appreciate how hard it is to make definite causal arguments (A caused B, not merely that A and B are correleated). All kids should experience science as a living, moving discipline and appreciate the value of scientific thinking. That’s the excitement! Not 35 definitions to be memorized for a test.
5 Minds for the Future
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Over coffee with one of my San Luis Obispo math and physics tutors, got talking about Howard Gardner’s 5 Minds for the Future. The ever-wise Mr. Gardner says we’ll want Disciplined Minds, Synthesizing Minds, Creating Minds, Respectful Minds and Ethical Minds in the future. When a global talent-pool is click away, it pays to be an expert. Leaders will provide value arising from deep training in their field (math, science, history, literature) or profession (law, medicine, education). Schools can cultivate these minds deliberately in today’s kids. A worthy idea!
What is Spark Tutors?
Friday, November 13th, 2009Hi there! At Spark Tutors, we tutor lots of Santa Barbara kids in lots of classes. But it’s all about one key idea: the power of one-on-one teaching to help each child learn to their highest potential. Whether it’s algebra tutoring for an undermotivated 8th grader or AP Calculus tutoring, all kids achieve more with a private tutor. So if you need early grade reading, writing and math help, we do that (with fun learning games). And if you need a mentor and academic tutor for a middle-years kid, we do that. And if you need high-school tutoring in geometry, calculus, physics or chemistry… or Spanish, writing, biology, statistics, algebra or SAT tutoring… we do that too!
When to start prepping?
Friday, November 13th, 2009Parents ask when to start prepping for the SAT. Of course, it depends on the child, their goals, and their current score range. But in general, even studying for one month prior to the exam will help. My Santa Barbara SAT tutors favor two sessions a week, three hours per session. They focus on test-taking techniques and getting rid of students’ bad test-taking habits. Just that will often raise scores 100 or more points. If you want a more significant score boost, start studying three to four months in advance, and work on improving your SAT math and verbal skills.
Math Motivation
Thursday, November 12th, 2009A brilliant SLO math tutor figures out that while his student loathes math, he loves shop. Great snakes! Shop is loaded with math, underneath all that sweet-smelling sawdust. So my SLO math tutor has his student bring home shop projects and they talk about each one. Sometimes they talk about the math involved. Then they do his math homework. When a math tutor can make algebra and geometry relevant to a non-school-loving teenager, that’s genius. Kids don’t care what you know until they know that you care.
Do you have a future in math?
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009Yes, Santa Barbara, the results are in. The best job in 2009: Mathematician. That’s according to Careercast.com, which ranked 200 jobs by stress, physical demands, hiring outlook, compensation and work environment. Mathematicians blissfully crunch numbers in cushy home offices while dairy farmers… well… don’t. So dig into that geometry and have another helping of calculus. It’ll boost your thinking skills and your career prospects too. (For the curious, best jobs 2-5 were actuary, statistician, biologist, and software engineer). Which Spark Tutors’ helpful Santa Barbara calculus tutors can tell you, all require advanced math smarts.