Certified Tutors From Southwest Texas Junior College

We discussed his missing assignments, found them and finished reviewing them to be turned in. We discussed how far he was able to get in the book he is reading for a book report, and I told him to be up to page 300 by the weekend. Conferences are this Thursday, so we will meet again next Tuesday.

We discussed logarithmic and exponential functions and how to solve equations using their inverse properties. We worked through a few example problems, including one involving radioactive decay. Then we shifted to his current homework assignment involving simplifying rational equations. We reviewed the difference of square formula and discussed strategies for cancelling like terms.

The student and I continued to work on fractions. We added, subtracted, and I briefly went into multiplication for his next section in class.

We worked on properties of right triangles and quadrilaterals. We paid close attention to terminology like "simplest radical form" and what that means. We looked at breaking up polygons into triangles to identify their properties. We reviewed the types of quadrilaterals and how some belong to other more general categories (square is a rectangle for example). We worked on a problem using properties of triangles and angles to prove that the quadrilateral was a rhombus. She seemed to understand how to work on the shapes to show that sides are the same or parallel, but she needs to practice. She will practice problems in her textbook before our session tomorrow.

This session was a continuation of the previous session, with extra time scheduled to ensure we were able to cover the majority of the topics that will appear on the student's exam. These areas include: finding the equation of a tangent and normal lines of a function; trig identities and functions as well as their derivatives; expanding on the chain, product, and quotient rule; implicit and logarithmic differentiation; and linear approximation and differentials. Overall, the student seemed to be at a point where he could navigate most of the problems we covered with minimal assistance.

The student and I prepared for her geometry final today. We spent most of our time on (sometimes strange) logic puzzles. Once she got rolling on those, she was able to get most of them right with little input from me. I hope she has a great finals week!