Certified Tutors From DeVry University-Minnesota

Today we worked on functions for a state assessment exam review packet. We went over finding the slope of a linear function as well as the y-intercept. The student did well on this and at first struggled with finding the slope from a table of x and y values, but after we reviewed it more, she understood the concept. We also went over definitions of functions and talking about zero slope and no slope. She has a strong understanding of her math exam review concepts. She had a positive attitude during the session and even had pinpointed problems that she had trouble with that she wanted to ask me about during the session. Very good session.

We did more review for the student's upcoming test on Monday (chapter 1). Topics included: odd vs. even functions, transformations, inverse functions and their graphs, the "12 main functions," word problems involving area/ volume.

The student has a test on Thursday so she had review problems. She didn't have much trouble with them. We reviewed types of numbers and some special factoring rules. The review didn't cover some of the more challenging problems so I had her do a couple just to make sure she could do them. I think she'll do well on the test.

The student had a great session today. We worked on graphs as that is what they are currently covering in school. She said that she was having a hard time getting the points on the right spots on the graph, so we practiced that along with writing equations based on word problems and graphing those points. She did a great job with all of this! We then started some more advanced information about graphs: slope and y=mx+b. We just started talking about this, but they should be covering this in school soon, so she will be prepared when they do so. She had a great session, and it sounds like she is really enjoying math so far which is great to hear!

The student has the SAT this Saturday, so we worked on reading comprehension and vocabulary reviews, as well as a little math review to break up the reading work. He is at the point where he understands when and why he gets questions on the reading passage sections incorrect, but he's still working on being able to spot those differences between the "best" answer and the "good but not best" answer while under time pressure. His timing for the test in general has improved greatly, and he is using the reading strategies we developed and worked on over the past sessions. Primarily, he needs to put in practice to start recognizing the patterns behind the questions, which will help guide him to the right answer. We are working on that, and hopefully he will grasp it better and better in the next sessions before his test. On another note, his ACT scores came back and he did well on them.

On Monday, the student and I worked on ending vowel sounds (cial, ing, tion etc.). I gave him a timed reading test of ending sounds and took note of which sounds he needs work on. We reviewed the sounds from the previous weeks. We worked on how to break a word up into syllables so that he could practice each sound individually and then place them together. We finished the session with a poetry reading to practice his interpretation skills and deriving the meaning of a word using the surrounding text.