If you think your skills aren't quite up to speed for college, don't give up. Take time to prepare yourself. There are many ways to get a college degree. You just have to take the path that's right for you. Follow these tips:
• Use test score information to see where you need work. Score information from the ACT®, SAT, PLAN, PSAT can tell you what subjects you need help with and what you can do to raise your skills to the next level. Remember, a low score doesn't necessarily mean you're bad in a subject. It just means you haven't mastered the subject yet.
• Work with a tutor to learn what you don't know yet.
• Take a summer or night school class.
• Check out study aids—books, videotapes, audiotapes and computer programs—at your school library, a public library, or a local bookstore.
• Ask your counselor or a teacher about ways you can build your academic skills.
Showing posts with label tutor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tutor. Show all posts
Friday, June 18, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Summer School Option
Failing a class in high school can be devastating to self esteem (not to mention offer potential trouble getting into a preferred college), but luckily there are options to take: Summer school, taking the class over the following year, staying back a year or, if it’s an elective, just letting it go. Here are five reasons why summer school is a viable choice:
1.) Summer school will give more time to learn the basics of the subject being taught. Middle and high school classes mimic the fast paced world in which we live. Unfortunately, students learning math and science often can’t keep up and get lost. Considering each step is a building block for the next concept in the course, it isn’t a mystery why many students do not pass a class the first time around. The needed time is offered during summer school sessions.
2.) The environment of a summer school class offers a different approach. It tends to be more relaxed with smaller classes – it’s the optimal learning environment in which all students could benefit. Couple that with having a different teacher who uses their unique teaching approach and students may do very well with the subject that they previously failed. students, such as these, do well in summer school and often become more positive about their academics.
3.) Summer school will give a second chance to obtain class credit, preventing doubling up a core class during the school year. Here is how today’s high school works: Each state requires a certain amount of core classes to be taken by every student and passed before they can graduate. So, even if a student isn’t going to college, he/she may still have to pass four math classes including algebra and geometry to obtain a diploma. This can be demoralizing to students that have a hard time in math classes. If he/she fails the one, having to take two of these together the next year can lead to more failure with the possibility of the teenager dropping out of school. Summer school prevents this problem.
4.) During summer school, students will be able to focus on just that particular class. Remember, students face the same type of stress that we are facing in our adult lives with deadlines and the push to perform well. Summer school will help those who get overloaded by having too many classes to focus on at one time. So, if the work load during the school year was a problem, summer school is the option to take to get the class credit.
5.) Summer school will give the chance to raise his/her grade point average. A failure in any class really hurts the cumulative average and can cost the chance to go on to the college or technical school of choice. While letting an elective class go and not retaking it is an option, summer school grades replace the failing grade already earned, thereby raising the grade point average.
Create a positive conversation by bringing up something your does well. Then discuss ways to keep a failing grade from happening again by using study groups and perhaps hiring a tutor at the first sign of trouble in a class. When it is all said and done, summer school will get some students back on the right track with passing grades.
1.) Summer school will give more time to learn the basics of the subject being taught. Middle and high school classes mimic the fast paced world in which we live. Unfortunately, students learning math and science often can’t keep up and get lost. Considering each step is a building block for the next concept in the course, it isn’t a mystery why many students do not pass a class the first time around. The needed time is offered during summer school sessions.
2.) The environment of a summer school class offers a different approach. It tends to be more relaxed with smaller classes – it’s the optimal learning environment in which all students could benefit. Couple that with having a different teacher who uses their unique teaching approach and students may do very well with the subject that they previously failed. students, such as these, do well in summer school and often become more positive about their academics.
3.) Summer school will give a second chance to obtain class credit, preventing doubling up a core class during the school year. Here is how today’s high school works: Each state requires a certain amount of core classes to be taken by every student and passed before they can graduate. So, even if a student isn’t going to college, he/she may still have to pass four math classes including algebra and geometry to obtain a diploma. This can be demoralizing to students that have a hard time in math classes. If he/she fails the one, having to take two of these together the next year can lead to more failure with the possibility of the teenager dropping out of school. Summer school prevents this problem.
4.) During summer school, students will be able to focus on just that particular class. Remember, students face the same type of stress that we are facing in our adult lives with deadlines and the push to perform well. Summer school will help those who get overloaded by having too many classes to focus on at one time. So, if the work load during the school year was a problem, summer school is the option to take to get the class credit.
5.) Summer school will give the chance to raise his/her grade point average. A failure in any class really hurts the cumulative average and can cost the chance to go on to the college or technical school of choice. While letting an elective class go and not retaking it is an option, summer school grades replace the failing grade already earned, thereby raising the grade point average.
Create a positive conversation by bringing up something your does well. Then discuss ways to keep a failing grade from happening again by using study groups and perhaps hiring a tutor at the first sign of trouble in a class. When it is all said and done, summer school will get some students back on the right track with passing grades.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Ode to the Tutor
Let’s be honest for just a moment. With the current state of affairs in each state and at most colleges, even community colleges where class sizes are traditionally smaller, classes are getting bigger. Lectures halls are built to hold hundreds. And unless you’re a grad student or a special honors student you may never see a class with less than 30 people. That being said, taking a class is a terribly inefficient way to learn.
Think about it: You learn what the professor wants you to learn rather than what you want to learn. The class proceeds at the pace the professor chooses, which may well be too fast or slow for you. By the time you need to apply the knowledge in the workplace (if you ever do), you’ll probably have forgotten it.
Besides, unless it’s an online course, your body must be in that classroom Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 to 2 PM. What if you can’t focus? What if you are kinesthetic learner and not a visual or auditory learner? That lecture class might not help you understand or “learn” a subject at all.
In contrast, consider the tutor. You learn precisely what you need, at the pace you need to learn it, with all the feedback you need, at a time convenient for you, in the comfort of your home (or dorm, library, etc), and at a cost typically less than that of a college course. You get to ask the questions, you decide what to study, you get to progress into areas you want and decide when to study them.
Think about it: You learn what the professor wants you to learn rather than what you want to learn. The class proceeds at the pace the professor chooses, which may well be too fast or slow for you. By the time you need to apply the knowledge in the workplace (if you ever do), you’ll probably have forgotten it.
Besides, unless it’s an online course, your body must be in that classroom Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 to 2 PM. What if you can’t focus? What if you are kinesthetic learner and not a visual or auditory learner? That lecture class might not help you understand or “learn” a subject at all.
In contrast, consider the tutor. You learn precisely what you need, at the pace you need to learn it, with all the feedback you need, at a time convenient for you, in the comfort of your home (or dorm, library, etc), and at a cost typically less than that of a college course. You get to ask the questions, you decide what to study, you get to progress into areas you want and decide when to study them.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
How to Get Better Grades – Part 5 of 5
Get Support
At crunch time, it helps to have someone to coach, cheerlead, and yes, nag you. Who’s your nag of choice?
• Your mom or dad
• Your brother, sister, uncle, etc.
• A nice kid in your class who knows the stuff but isn’t such a genius that she’d have a hard time explaining things in plain English.
• A tutor. Ask the teacher if he can work with you after school. If not, ask if he can recommend someone. Tutors can make a big difference.
If You’re Too Upset to Do Schoolwork
Your parents are fighting, your best friend is telling lies about you, you’re going through another bout of thinking you’re ugly. Whatever the reason, you’re feeling too upset to think about schoolwork.
• First, try to fight through it. You may think you’re too depressed or anxious to concentrate on quadratic equations but if you just get started, you may find that the schoolwork distracts you. Get it done and you’ll probably feel better - you’ll have taken control over your life. Getting good grades is a step toward a better life. Don’t do it and you’ll have one more reason to feel miserable.
• Nip your worrying in the bud. The moment you catch yourself beginning to worry, decide whether you can do anything about your problem now. If not, turn your attention back to your schoolwork. If you don’t nip your worry in the bud, it tends to snowball into such a big worry that there’s no way you’ll be able to concentrate on schoolwork.
• If those techniques don’t work, it may be time to talk to a counselor or someone else you trust.
• Get started early. You'll be less stressed, you'll learn more, and crazy as it may sound, you may actually enjoy studying. Cramming is never fun. It’s just an adrenaline-powered frenzy session likely to result in a so-so grade, and, seven seconds after the exam, your forgetting 90% of what you crammed.
• Maintain perspective. Yes, you want good grades, and yes they matter, but there are plenty of C students with better lives than many A students. In the end, your life will probably be no worse if you get a B rather than an A in World History.
• One more secret: Your parents or teachers probably won’t tell you this, but the truth is that many FINE colleges will admit you with so-so grades.
At crunch time, it helps to have someone to coach, cheerlead, and yes, nag you. Who’s your nag of choice?
• Your mom or dad
• Your brother, sister, uncle, etc.
• A nice kid in your class who knows the stuff but isn’t such a genius that she’d have a hard time explaining things in plain English.
• A tutor. Ask the teacher if he can work with you after school. If not, ask if he can recommend someone. Tutors can make a big difference.
If You’re Too Upset to Do Schoolwork
Your parents are fighting, your best friend is telling lies about you, you’re going through another bout of thinking you’re ugly. Whatever the reason, you’re feeling too upset to think about schoolwork.
• First, try to fight through it. You may think you’re too depressed or anxious to concentrate on quadratic equations but if you just get started, you may find that the schoolwork distracts you. Get it done and you’ll probably feel better - you’ll have taken control over your life. Getting good grades is a step toward a better life. Don’t do it and you’ll have one more reason to feel miserable.
• Nip your worrying in the bud. The moment you catch yourself beginning to worry, decide whether you can do anything about your problem now. If not, turn your attention back to your schoolwork. If you don’t nip your worry in the bud, it tends to snowball into such a big worry that there’s no way you’ll be able to concentrate on schoolwork.
• If those techniques don’t work, it may be time to talk to a counselor or someone else you trust.
• Get started early. You'll be less stressed, you'll learn more, and crazy as it may sound, you may actually enjoy studying. Cramming is never fun. It’s just an adrenaline-powered frenzy session likely to result in a so-so grade, and, seven seconds after the exam, your forgetting 90% of what you crammed.
• Maintain perspective. Yes, you want good grades, and yes they matter, but there are plenty of C students with better lives than many A students. In the end, your life will probably be no worse if you get a B rather than an A in World History.
• One more secret: Your parents or teachers probably won’t tell you this, but the truth is that many FINE colleges will admit you with so-so grades.
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