Certified Tutors From Catholic Theological Union at Chicago

The student and I met from 1-2:35pm. We went over his current grades in Algebra and Chemistry and discussed his A on the last Algebra test that he took. I indicated which assignments he needs to follow-up on with his teachers. We then spent time with balancing equations, particularly emphasizing on combustion reactions. We will likely meet on Thursday night to prepare him for his Chemistry exam on Friday.

Focused on the English section, specifically how-to go about the questions as well as time management skills.  Focused on how to streamline and improve essay writing while managing time.  Worked on strategies for overcoming test anxiety.

The student filled out a student questionnaire so that I could get to know him better. Then he worked on his science fair project proposal. He came up with a fabulous idea, wrote out the materials needed, the help he'd need and where to find it, a hypothesis, and the procedure.

The student is currently working on Subjunctive verb mood, which is the most challenging in Spanish because it does not exist an equivalent in English. We worked on that for the most part of the lesson. The subjunctive is the key for a great AP test. The students who use it show an advanced level of proficiency. She understands very well the rules and the usage because she was very accurate in the practice we did. We will keep working on it. At the end of the session we did some listening comprehension and it went alright. The student is improving every time I see her and I am sure that at the end of the year she will do great on the test.  

The student and I discussed the latest chapters in his English book Lord of the Flies (pgs. 74-123), and we read the last fifteen pages together out loud. We discussed relevant themes and characters, including the significance of several key motifs (growing hair, dirty clothes, the damage done to the island, the increasing violence, etc.), the chapter titles, and the metaphors attached to each character (i.e. what roles they correspond to in society). As we discussed these chapters, we completed a homework assignment by brainstorming questions about the material. Some of these questions were predictions about future events and others focused on the symbolic significance of a particular event that we read about (e.g. Ralph deciding not to blowing the conch to call a meeting after the fight, or Simon's speech at the assembly). Next time the student and I meet we will be at page 187, and nearly finished with the book.

Tonight I focused on reading comprehension with the student. We worked on story worksheets. We discussed the main ideas of the stories as well as what she thought the story was about. We discussed what certain paragraphs would mean and if she understood what happened during the story. She made good progress in identifying the main idea and expressing it in a complete sentence. We finished the session by completing her math word problems homework.