Award-Winning Study Skills and Organization Tutors serving Cambridge

The student and I continued to work on his biology study guide. We got about 90% of the packet complete and his answers to the questions are much more detailed and accurate than before. I explained to him a few concepts that were taught at the beginning of the semester so its been awhile since he's last read up on it. He plans to study with his friends later today and continue on the packet.

In today's session, I reviewed the student's daily log for the last three days. The last half an hour or more I helped him with his American government and economics homework - summarizing in his own words the second half of the Bill of Rights. I helped explain the significance of various amendments, and gave some real-life examples.

The student and I met to discuss her summer studying plans. She showed me the progress she has made on her summer work, and we discussed various obstacles to her studying to brainstorm solutions. She showed significant strides in managing her own learning and has been working a bit on biology, chemistry, and English over the course of this past week. We discussed different strategies to make sure she is also spending time on math.

For this session I instructed the student to allot a set amount of time to type a 1/2- 1 page summary of the first part of "Watership Down." He decided to give himself 1 hour to do so. For this assignment he was instructed to provide a summary and character analysis of 3 major characters and then write a brief reflection/personal commentary on the book so far. I assigned him a number of Spanish assignments for the weekend, and we will pick up on Spanish instruction throughout the next week.

Today, the student and I spent the entire session discussing his summer reading book. We covered the events of each of the chapters and continued our discussion of the themes of the book. We also discussed key vocabulary terms and how they related to one another. For homework, I asked the student to write a paragraph explaining how the story at the end of the book relates to the themes that we have been discussing over the last several weeks.

The student received his state assessment scores in the mail today. He did very well in language arts. He exceeded the standards in that area. In math, he met the standard. I had him read an article about 10 tips that make a successful student. We talked about the article and what his thoughts were on it. We also discussed some of his strategies for studying for tests, projects and using notes to better understand the topics that he learns in school. I recommended that he read over his notes at the end of every homework session. I also recommended that he not listen to music when he reads, so that he comprehends the text. He was open to this discussion and seemed willing to accept the advice that was given. The student also worked on his B.A.R.F (Be A Reading Freak), so that he could get ahead in his reading. He read 40 pages during our session, and wrote 2 sentences for each 10 pages that he read. I explained to him that he should not do the minimum amount of work, and that to be successful, he should write as much as he needs to in order to explain his comprehension better. He said he would do this.