Certified Tutors From University of Maryland-University College

On Sunday I met with the student to work on Algebra II. His class is working on quadratic equations and has just gotten to the quadratic formula. We worked very thoroughly and deliberately through a few problems using the quadratic formula. We discussed best practices, including testing answers and properly inputting data into the calculator. Once we were comfortable with using the quadratic formula, we talked about how to factor. The student has a pretty keen sense of arithmetic, so the mechanics of factoring are rather easy for him. Using this technique effectively will primarily be a matter of understanding how to test if factors make sense and verifying answers. We worked together to determine a strategy for solving quadratic equations - first try factoring, and if that does not succeed quickly, then use the quadratic formula. This is a solid method for tackling these sorts of problems that will play to the student's arithmetic strengths, while allowing him a tried and true fallback with which he seems comfortable. I'm feeling very good about this session and I think that with practice the student will be strong with this material.

Today we worked on studying for the student's Chemistry test. We went over states of matter, physical and chemical changes, compounds, mixtures, and the periodic table. She continued to do excellent with the material. We covered a lot of concepts, which can be very overwhelming. Still, she kept right up with me and maintained an excellent attitude.

The student and I had a good session. He did a great job, really. He already had a really good grasp on how to complete the tasks. We did 2 tailed t hypothesis testing and calculating confidence intervals and calculating sample size. I think really all he needed was a practical example of what the confidence interval meant in words.

The student and I spent time doing test corrections from a quiz she had recently received back with a score of 75. After we corrected her test, we went over the material for her next quiz (factoring, factoring by grouping, GCF, monomials/polynomials, distributive property). She is very quick to solve, and most of the time is correct.

Concepts: - Function Transformations/Translations - Polynomials - Vertices. The student understands concepts regarding function transformations/translations.

We reviewed linear equations and went through worksheets to develop the student's understanding of types of questions he could address with line functions. Afterward, we continued to work on algebraic word problems to continue to help his problem solving abilities.