What to Look For in a Tutor
Before, during, and after the school year, lots of students and parents recognize the need for amazing tutors. But once you start shopping around, you likely become a bit overwhelmed by the sheer volume of options out there for academic tutoring and test prep. Should you go with a private agency? A fellow classmate? A retired teacher? After school, or only on weekends? One-on-one, or in groups? And what if you plan on taking both tests? Does it even really matter? If these are some of the questions rattling around in your head as you search for a tutor, maybe take a step back and ask some questions about yourself instead. You’re one-half of the student-tutor relationship, after all, and to know what to look for in a tutor, you should understand what you want out of tutoring. Consider the following: Have you ever taken the SAT or ACT? Just…
Teachers Plant Seeds of Knowledge
Teachers plant seeds of knowledge that last a lifetime. From all of our educators to all the rest, Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!
Talk Yourself Through Tough Tasks
As I get older, I find the temptation to talk to myself growing stronger every day. Am I just desperate for intelligent conversation? More likely, experience is revealing to me what many researchers have started to recognize: talking to yourself can be very helpful. What’s so special about sharing aloud the incessant internal dialogue that runs through most minds? External self-talk works precisely because the practice moves the chatter from inside our heads to outside of them, providing a crucial sense of perspective. Plus, effective self-talk has purpose, either motivational or instructional. Carrying on a conversation of one about your favorite sports team isn’t helping anyone! The very idea of talking to yourself aloud may sound too silly to take seriously, but external self-talk has been linked to all kinds of desirable outcomes, from deeper learning of unfamiliar material to better passing and shooting on the basketball court. If you’re…
Teach It to Learn It
Imagine if the only way you were allowed to learn something was to first hear it in a lecture and then study it on your own. Sounds restrictive, doesn’t it? Obviously, lectures prove perfect for certain educational endeavors, but then again, so do lab work, flipped classrooms, independent research, and a host of other multimodal approaches. And yet, no matter how a student is initially taught something, he’s expected to master that information alone, usually by sitting at a desk for hours reviewing notes. Here’s a revelation: maybe self-study isn’t the best path to content mastery for every student… maybe even not for you! One surprisingly effective strategy to learning is devilishly simple: teach it. The infamous Learning Pyramid, based loosely on the work of educator Edgar Dale, touts teaching as the most effective route to knowledge retention. More recent research helps provide the evidence this idea has needed. For…
How to Become a Top Tutor
Teaching, as most of us have had occasion to discover, is one of the most enjoyable ways you can interact with others. And tutoring, which allows you to build a rapport 1-1 with someone who can benefit from your knowledge or expertise, may be the most satisfying form of teaching. When done right, tutoring is not just financially rewarding, but also fun. Are you tutoring? How to Become a Top Tutor Rochester Brainery Tuesday, March 10th, 7:00pm-8:30pm Whether you’re already in the game or just waiting on the sidelines to be called up, the time has come to take tutoring to the next level. Become a truly elite tutor by understanding the best practices–and secrets–truly elite professionals have mastered. In my long career in for-profit education, I’ve learned from and trained so many gifted teachers. I’ve also learned what a tutor needs to do to make a session meaningful…
10 Remarkable Rules for Students and Teachers
Most adult music lovers have heard of John Cage, the pioneering American composer. But even if you don’t know anything about Cage’s copious musical contributions, you can learn from this avant garde influencer’s impact on education. Sister Corita Kent, a personal friend of Cage, credits him with inspiring a list of rules for both teachers and students that has, in turn, inspired very many others. Education, like all other arts, is a process that demands the best work of its collaborators to produce the finest results. Whether you are a student or a teacher (or more likely both), consider applying these clear rules to your craft: RULE ONE: Find a place you trust, and then try trusting it for a while. RULE TWO: General duties of a student: Pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students. RULE THREE: General duties of a teacher: Pull…