It's the home stretch! There are only 2-5 weeks left of school, depending on your school.  Hopefully your grade is where you want it to be, but if it's not, what can you do?

Studying by yourself can be... frustrating... boring... and other choice words my students have used. Unfortunately, frustration and boredom are bound to happen sooner or later, because studying is usually a lone task.  How can students overcome that hump and finish the term strongly?  One way is to find a study group!  ...but where? and how?

Welcome back from Spring Break, everyone!  Depending on the school, there are now 8-10 weeks left of school.  That might sound like a lot (it's two months!), but it really isn't a lot at all.  Younger students have state projects, mission projects, and CSTs.  Older students have "big name" tests these last two months--more CSTs (STAR testing), the CAHSEE, the ACT, the SAT, AP tests--and those really dilute the classroom time because teachers are consumed by them also.  

Now that we've had our students working on overcoming procrastination and developing better study skills, we can turn to helping students organize their time better. Building time management skills will carry students through their whole lives. Everyone has a limited amount of time in the day, and each person has to figure out how to make the best use of that time. Teaching students how to do that now will help them become more productive people in their adult lives. When a person can manage time, that person gains control of the tasks in life.

As students progress through each school year, their vocabulary should be improving and growing. Increasing our vocabulary is ideal, no matter what field or career. Remember that a good vocabulary is needed to communicate our ideas and feelings effectively. As seen in "Improve your student’s vocabulary, Part I," there are several things you can do to improve your student’s vocabulary. Help your student continue to take control of life and learning by implementing these tips too!

Everyone knows we should speak and write better. In today's high-tech texting/messaging world, we are rapidly losing the ability to spell even simple words. Students need to be able to function in the business world (read: get better jobs), but how can this be done with our limited vocabularies?  A good vocabulary is what we need to communicate ideas and feelings effectively.  The larger the vocabulary--and that means MORE words, not bigger words--the better a person will be able to control learning and life in general.  How can we help our students improve the words they use?

So much studying to do!  Students have so many classes these days; it seems as if there isn't enough time to study it all.  (We'll cover time management in another post. For now...)  How should students study?  What are the best tips on HOW to study?  Studying deals with more than just reading chapters over and over.  It starts IN the class.

Now that the second semester has started for everyone, what can we do to have a good semester? Many students (and parents) start the semester with good intentions, but things tend to unravel anyway. Unfortunately, no one seems to notice until report cards (progress reports, Open House night, etc.) arrive, about 4-6 weeks into the semester. That's when my phone rings. If parents start earlier, however, report cards won't be such a surprise.

Writing an essay can be so difficult: sometimes your mind is blank but you have an assignment to do.  In high school, you have to write essays for class.  Some of them are timed (in-class essay tests!) and some aren't (essay homework, whew).  For those who take the SAT, the very first section is a 25-minute timed essay question!  So of course, I practice timed essay-writing with all my students.  But WHAT do you write???  Everyone has the same problem...

"I DON'T KNOW HOW TO START!!!"

It's report card time!  How do we have a strong finish to the semester?  How do you get your student to study?  What can you do to help your student focus better?  Many parents don't know how to help students improve their grades.  As an experienced tutor and education consultant, I encounter many parents frustrated with their students acting up in class, not doing their homework, etc.  Even the 'A' students often struggle with the end of the semester.