Certified Tutors From Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

The student has had trouble the past couple of weeks with his tests at school, so his mom asked me to help him study for an algebra test tomorrow and help him make sure his make-up vocab homework is perfect. We saved vocab for last, and he told me his teacher is only checking one lesson tomorrow, so I checked that one for him and only found one spelling error. He's being tested in math class on Algebra chapter 7, which includes compound interest, exponential growth rates, slope-intercept form, standard form, function notation, and graphing basic functions such as parabolas. He had a couple of questions right away about parabolas, so we looked at the basic format of a parabola function and variations on that format, as well as shortcuts and methods for checking the accuracy of an x/y table used to map out coordinate values before graphing the function. We talked about the symmetry of a parabola and how to spot that in the table. This will help him ensure speed and accuracy on this section of the test tomorrow. We reviewed the format of the basic compound interest formula, depreciation/exponential decay formula, and exponential growth formula -- what each part of the formula means and how to understand changes in that formula and various types of questions about it. We also looked at how to find domain and range for a variety of function types - we talked about a system for finding it, so to think about what changing the x-value from small to big and from negative to zero to positive does to the y-value, and then to ask whether or not there are possible x-values that could change the y-value to something negative or positive or zero. To do this really well, he has to know about different types of exponents, so we covered exponents as well -- just the concept of fractional exponents, negative exponents, and raising a number to the zero power. He said he had learned some of this, but that some of it seemed new -- not sure if that's because he doesn't remember previous classes where they covered exponents or if his classes just haven't gotten that far yet. We cycled the material, so I kept going back to earlier subjects and re-quizzing him on the material. By the time the session ended, he was answering all my questions correctly and giving succinct, yet specific explanations that should help him adapt to whatever his test questions end up being.

I covered with the student finding the inverse of trigonometric functions their domain and range; finding the exact value of trigonometric expressions without the use of a calculator; and simplifying trigonometric expressions.

Today, we went over the results of the student's recent ACT. He mainly missed questions due to small errors. He understands the content, and we talked about a few strategies to help him potentially catch small errors as he's making them. Then, we brainstormed several prompts for the new ACT essay.

Today we practiced the student's spelling words for her spelling test on Friday. We also worked on learning the difference between a question and a statement sentence. She also practiced learning the difference between the words whether and weather. We also started working with words that have silent H's. She practiced matching vocab words to the correct paragraphs that best fit those words. She also practiced reading comprehension and is doing well learning these concepts. I gave her a reading comprehension assignment to complete before our next session.

We completed a review of IRR and the different ways of looking at projects versus cost of debt and equity. We also discussed finding the right balance between debt and equity. I will send over a more detailed explanation on how to calculate MIRR for the test tomorrow.

The student and I worked one-on-one together to review his math and Spanish homework. I then had him read aloud to me from a reading passage that I supplied him with. I asked him comprehension questions. He is working on spelling the months of the year and the days of the week. We also covered proper use of punctuation and capitalization. He has been making improvement with his reading fluency.