TeachOrTutor.com Presents: The Buzz

If you are looking for a SAT, ACT or GCSE tutor, then there are some things that you should keep in mind. First of all, you should have as your main goal whenever you are working with a tutor to raise your SAT or ACT test scores. This is something that almost any student can benefit from, especially whenever the tutoring is both targeted and personalized. In such cases, it really does not matter what the student’s current level of understanding and performance actually is. If this is of interest to you, then you may wish to hire a tutor. Whenever you are trying to do this, there are some things that you should look for in a college tutor or university tutoring program. These things include:

1. You should try to get a private tutor but if you have to go with a group tutoring system, then you need to make sure that the session will be interactive and that most of the people who are participating in the session are at the same level as you. After all, the last thing that you need is to be kept back in your SAT or ACT tutoring because the people who are in the session with you do not know as much as you do. Of course, you also do not want to get lost in a class where all of the people are far ahead of you.

2.  You will want to make sure that you are getting the personal instruction that you need. This means being made to feel like you are the only student in the world and that the instruction is specifically tailored to your needs and the admissions requirements of the colleges or universities that you are trying to gin admittance to. Usually this begins with the instructor fully assessing your needs and skills.

3. The tutor should push you by teaching you things that are just ahead of what you already know but they should not go too fast. Nevertheless, you should always feel the exhilaration of learning something new each time you meet with your tutor.

4. The materials that are used should be varied. They should include diagrams, verbal instruction, reading and writing. This is important because we learn better and retain what we have learned to a greater degree whenever we learn in several different mediums.

5. After each time you meet with your tutor they should give you homework that is useful and makes you think. The goal of this homework is to help you learn the material better. At your next tutoring session, your tutor should help you to go over your homework so that you learn from your mistakes and know what weaknesses you need to overcome.

6.  Make sure that you check for your tutor’s references. They should also be able to tell you how well their past students have done on the SAT or ACT after having used their services.

After your tutoring session you will be able to find the college that fully meets your potential so that your learning experience will be truly worthwhile.

Tutoring services are abundant today. They can be found in strip malls, online and, of course, the more traditional one-on-one tutoring still exists today as well. This makes it difficult to make an informed decision about which tutoring service to use.  With this in mind, here are 5 tips to help you make this important decision:

1.  Make sure that you do your homework. Take the time to look at the service’s web site where you should find a lot of information about what subjects they tutor, what their educational philosophy is and what their tutors qualifications are.

2. Be certain of what goals you want to attain before you select a tutoring service. There are many reasons why people choose to get a tutor for their child. For instance, your child may be falling behind and need some remedial tutoring or you may have a gifted child who needs to be challenged so that they are able to reach their full potential. Of course, there are also tutors available to help your child whenever they are studying for the SAT, GRE or CBEST. Regardless of what your goals are, knowing this before you hire a tutor will help you to decide which tutor is truly the best fit for you or your child.

3. The tutor you choose should be willing to personalize things so that you can learn the best. Herein it really is important to make sure that one-on-one tutoring is available. For this reason there really should not be any more than 20 students per tutoring session, otherwise it will be difficult to get the individualized attention that is necessary.

4.  You also need to take location into account so that you can be certain that the tutoring takes place in a place where your child can reap the greatest benefits. It is important to understand that it may not be ideal for your child to go to a tutoring session as it will probably take your child several sessions just to become comfortable with the environment before they can even take advantage of the learning opportunities. Of course, there are times when the time and place may not be convenient. Oftentimes parents find that the combination of in the home and online tutoring works best. An added benefit here is that the familiar home environment makes it easy to transition to learning. Furthermore, this type of tutoring is both convenient and consistent.

5. Be sure that you get evaluations and assessments. The initial evaluation should be done at no extra charge as this will provide a benchmark by which to measure your child’s progress. Periodic assessments should also be done to ensure that progress is being made. So, while there are many different reasons for using a tutor, the tutor that you choose should listen to your student, be upbeat and enthusiastic, make learning fun, instill confidence in your student and teach your student new learning habits so that they can succeed in all of their educational endeavors.

There are a lot of students who have a tutor to help them when they are studying a language. If you choose to get a tutor whenever you are trying to learn the English language, there are some things that you should do in order to the most out of your tutoring sessions:

1. Do your best to try to find a tutor who is a native English speaker. In this way you will be able to learn the correct pronunciation of words and the appropriate usage of them as well.

2. If your tutor is going to fast for you, you should not just tell them that they are going too fast for you but make them repeat themselves. Only then will you be able to figure out what is causing you the difficulties that you are having. It could be that your tutor is speaking too fast; using too many words that you do not know; that the material is unfamiliar to you; or that your teacher’s accent is confusing you.

3. If you find that your tutor is not challenging you enough, it is important to let him know. You are going to want to learn new words and work on them until you master them. Herein it is a good idea to provide your tutor with lists of words and patterns that you want to work on and information about mistakes that you always make.

4. Make sure that you are able to tell when your tutor is correcting you so that you can learn how to correct yourself and reinforce any information that you may be struggling with.

5. Be sure to use English as much as possible. Insist that your tutor use English, even if they have an excellent command of your native language. Let your tutor know that whenever he speaks to you in your native language that you feel as though he does not believe that you are capable of using English.

6.  Never allow your tutor to finish your sentence for you. Maybe you will need to develop 2 signals: 1 for asking for patience and 1 for authorizing the tutor to help you.  After all, you want as little help from your tutor as possible.

7.  In a one-on-one tutoring session, you should make sure to set clear boundaries stating who is really in charge. Herein it really is important for a tutor to understand that they are there to accommodate your needs as a student. This is especially true since you are not only paying your tutor with cash but you are also paying him with your valuable time. As such, your tutor should be more than willing to participate in any of the activities and drills that you propose, even if these things are not structured in the way that the tutor thinks they should be.

In today’s work world we are faced with a lot of reading in the form of journals, reports and email messages. It is important to be able to read fast so that you can finish your work earlier and thus devote more time to other important areas of your work. With this in mind, you will be happy to know that speed-reading is a technique that you can acquire at any time. Here are some of the important skills that you will need for speed-reading:

1. Whenever you are speed reading you need to use your finger. This is because our eyes have an innate tendency to follow a moving object. Thus, as you move your finger across the page your eyes will pick up the words at a faster pace. This may seem a bit irritating at first, but this is good because you will know that you are actively engaging in learning this skill.

2. You also need to learn how to better develop your peripheral vision. This can be done by teaching yourself to look at a few words at a time so that you can eventually read at a speed that exceeds 1,000 words per minute. It is best to learn how to do this while reading a newspaper because it is divided into columns with only 4 to 6 words per line. Your goal here is to put your finger in the center of each sentence and stretch your vision as much as you can to capture as many words at one time as possible. This technique may slow down your reading speed at first, but eventually you will begin to read faster and better.

3.  Another trick that will help you to read faster is skimming and scanning. This is a form of “adaptive reading,” meaning that you should learn to skim through the article and pick out only those key words that are actually important. Usually this is not a big problem for most people. This is especially true for these people whenever they are reading articles that they are actually familiar with. For instance, if you have bought a new DVD recorder and want to know how to use the recording function, you are not going to spend the time to read the entire manual. Instead, you will skip to the portion that has to do with recording. However, practicing this technique is helpful whenever you are reading newspapers, magazines, emails and Internet web sites. Your goal here is for your eyes to sweep through the text and find only the information that you are looking for.

Regardless of which technique you are working on, remember: practice makes perfect. Not only will speed-reading help you to read things faster, but it will also improve your vocabulary and increase your general knowledge. However, you are not going to be able to learn how to speed-read over night. It is going to take some patience and discipline while you practice the aforementioned techniques.

Most students have never experienced anything similar to the format of distance learning courses. This is because the teaching style is more student directed and relies heavily upon technology. So, if you are not savvy when it comes to the computer and the Internet, then you are not only going to have to learn new coursework but you will also need to learn new skills as well. Therefore, it is a good idea to see if your local public library or community center is offering classes or workshops about computers and the Internet. This may seem overwhelming but in reality the time that you spend learning how to use this new technology will save you time overall.

A lot of colleges also offer support for new students. Some of these schools may have orientation sessions at the beginning of each new semester. If your school offers this, then you should plan on attending. You will be able to gain valuable information about the structure of the course that you are about to take and the technology that is used therein. Besides learning how to use new technology, you will probably also learn how to organize your time as well as get a feel for the teacher’s expectations.

More than likely you will have to write a research paper for your distance learning college course. If you are taking a class that is within driving distance of your home, you should go to the school to do your research at the college library. Of course, your school probably also has an online library database, which you should learn to use so that you can save time whenever you are doing research.

Your workload in a distance learning class will be similar to traditional college coursework. You will need to study the text, then complete assignments and take exams. So, almost all of your work will involve both reading and writing. Therefore, you may want to get a tutor who can help you to improve your skills in these areas. You will also need to make sure to schedule enough time to complete all of your reading. One thing that may help here is to get your textbooks early so that you can read the first few chapters before classes begin.

Make sure that you also have good time management skills. You do not want to begin procrastinating, so set goals for yourself and make a schedule so that you can achieve these goals. It is a good idea to plan on spending 9 hours per week studying for each class that you are taking. Make sure you do not fall behind. In fact, try to stay at least 1 week ahead.

Of course, you are not completely alone whenever you are taking distance learning courses. You can stay in contact with your instructor and ask for regular feedback via a phone call or email message. Take the time to interact with other students through chats, message boards or online study groups. Make sure to take advantage of every opportunity you are given.

Effective skills for studying is important for being a good learner. These skills will help you to successfully approach your education. There are many things that need to be done here though.Â

First of all you must understand that learning is a very personal matter. There is not a single thing that will work for everyone in every situation. Some of the things that you should use to help you learn new skills include:

1.  Enable yourself to take responsibility for your learning.

2.  Spend your time effectively and do everything possible to stay on task.

3.  Select the best approach for each of your assignments.

4. Make sure to have access to various types of content and reference materials.

5.  Be confident enough to know when to get a tutor.

Secondly, you need to identify your own learning style preferences. While a lot of factors affect your learning, the thing that effects your learning most is whether you learn by reading, watching, listening or doing. Of course, you cannot make your instructors adapt to your learning style, but you can learn to adapt to theirs. Another thing that effects your learning style is whether you are a morning person or a night owl because this is when you are able to concentrate the best.

Third, you need to learn how to manage both your time and your life. Herein it is important to set goals and then work towards achieving them. From there, analyze how you are using your time and if you find that you are wasting it, make the necessary adjustments so that you can reach your goals. Of course, it may take you longer to learn something but how well you learn something, not how fast you learn it, is the critical factor.

Now that you have all of these things in place, you also need to learn what studying means and how to do it. This begins by developing a better vocabulary so that you can be a more active reader. English has a huge vocabulary and being able to understand the meaning of numerous words is a very important part of effective learning. It is also very important of becoming both physically and mentally involved in what you are reading, which is what you need in order to be able to learn from what you are reading.

Learning does not end with your textbooks though. You will also need to learn how to become a better listener so that you can take better notes. There are some things that you will need to do in order to be able to take good notes:

1.  Make sure to prepare for class.

2. Learn how to distinguish major from minor points.

3. Use a system for taking notes.

4. Participate in class.

5.  Review your notes often.

If you are willing to try these things, you will be able to get something from the classes that you take. This is because true education is not about cramming material into your head, but about expanding your capabilities. Your teacher or tutor is there to set the stage for this to happen but you have to be the one to put it into action.

If you need to write a research paper for a class, you need to get started as soon as it is assigned. Herein you should establish a time table to ensure that things are done properly and within plenty of time. This is because there are numerous steps that need to be taken to put this paper together, including:

1. Take a few minutes to brainstorm topics that interest you then narrow it down to the one topic that you want to work on the most. This should be something that you do not already have a strong opinion about but that you do have some background in. You should also take some time right now to learn how to use the various library resources.

2. Spend some time reading several general pieces about your topic so that you can narrow things down and decide upon which aspect you will focus. You should also run a preliminary database search to make sure that there is enough material available to support your research. Herein you should also decide whether you want to explain some information or persuade about a specific opinion.

3. It is now time to draft your preliminary thesis wherein you state your primary idea about the topic. Remember! This is only a preliminary thesis and you need to keep revising it until you are able to clearly communicate your controlling idea.

4.  Now is the time to start doing your research and taking your notes. Of course, this involves purposeful, critical reading wherein you take meaningful, accurate notes. Without these notes you are not going to be able to produce a good research paper no matter how great a writer you are. However, you cannot just take notes. You also need to include complete citation of any of the information that you plan on using.

5. Once you have taken your notes you need to draft your tentative working outline. In this informal outline you will be able to organize your main ideas, as well as the major and minor details that you want to use in order to develop and support your thesis. This will also help you be able to present your ideas in a logical manner.

6. You may find that you need to do some more research and take some more notes after you have drafted your tentative outline. This is because there are probably some holes in it. If you are struggling here, it is also a good time to get a tutor to help you ensure that everything is put together to the best of your ability.

7. After you have your outline together, it is time to actually write your first draft. Herein you should also rewrite your thesis statement so that it is clear and focused. Make sure that your paper includes a combination of direct quotes, idea summaries and paraphrased ideas, which are all properly credited. You do not have to be perfect at first though because you will need to rewrite and edit this several times before you have a completed paper. It is also important to develop a works cited sheet for at the end of your paper.

English is the richest language in the world with more than 1,000,000 words. However, most adults’ only know 40 to 50,000 words. In order to increase your vocabulary there are some strategies to use.

First of all, you can learn what a word means by looking at the context that it is used in. In order to do this, you need to stop reaching for a dictionary when an unfamiliar word comes up while you are reading. Instead, try to figure its meaning out by looking at the words around it. Herein there will be clues to help you unlock the word’s general meaning. If you still cannot figure out what the word means and your book has a glossary in it, use it.

A glossary will give you the specific definition of the word as it is used in your book. This is because a glossary is a mini-dictionary that is located in the back of your book. In case this does not work, you can always reach for a dictionary. Herein you will not only find what the meaning of the word is but you will also find the word’s correct spelling, pronunciation, derivations and what part of speech it is. Since there will probably be a variety of definitions available, you should try to fit the definition back into the original context.

Another way in which you can try to figure out the meaning of a word is by looking at its structure. Here is where knowing the different parts of speech are will help you to understand and unlock the meanings of words. These different parts of speech include:

1. Prefixes are the part of a word that is sometimes attached to the front of the word.

2.  Roots are the basic part of words.

3.  Suffixes are attached to the end of a word.

In order to learn even more words, you need to read various types of materials. Then once you do learn more words, you also need to use the following strategy to help you remember the new words that you are learning. Part of this has to do with making the time to actively review the new words that you are learning. Otherwise you are going to have to learn the word over and over again each time that you see the word. An easy way to do this is to write each new word on the front of an index card with its meaning on the back. You should also write a sample sentence underneath of the definition.

Whenever it is time to review the words that you are learning you should look at the word and try to recall the definition on the back. Then look at the definition and the sample sentence and try to recall what the word is. As you review the cards, sort them into 2 stacks: those that you know and those that you do not know. You can then concentrate upon those words that you do not know whenever you are studying and only periodically review all of the cards. This is critical to remembering the words that you are learning.

It can be a daunting task to learn a foreign language. This is because it will take you a few hundred hours to learn the 2,000 to 3,000 words that will help you to be fluent conversationally. While this may sound too difficult for someone who just casually wants to learn a new language, there are 7 tips that can help you learn the language a lot faster:

1. Flashcards are the single best and most efficient way to spend your time while learning a new language. In fact, if you learn 12 new words a day, 5 days a week you will learn 3,000 words in a year.

2.  Once you gain some basic understanding of the language it is a good idea to do some reading about something that you are interested in that language. This will help you to learn vocabulary and phrases that really interest you, which will help you to learn the language even faster.

3. Make sure that you are able to hear the language that you are learning as this is extremely important if you plan on speaking this language. You can use these tapes while you are driving or relaxing. In order to do this you are going to need more than 1 audio CD.

4. Some great, free opportunities to hear the language that you are studying are available via Internet radio. Herein you can be exposed to new vocabulary words each time that you listen to it. Listening to Internet news broadcasts from other countries, in the language that you are studying is a good idea because the more sources you have to listen to, the better off you will be.

5. It is very important to have daily contact with the language that you are learning. Even 10 minutes per day is a lot better than just studying the language for a few hours a day just once or twice a week. This is because you will need to frequently review what you are learning so that you can maintain what you have learned.

6.  Another great way to practice the language that you are learning is by having Internet pen pals around the world who speak the language that you are learning. These people can help you immeasurably and in turn you can help them with their English. There are plenty of free web sites and forums where you can find these people at.

7.  If at all possible, take the time to study and practice with others. You can always get a tutor to help you here. This type of instant feedback and interactivity cannot be gotten from a book, audio or other software. Herein you can also absorb what you are learning quicker because it is a lot more fun.

If you apply some of these techniques to your language learning regimen you will discover that you can learn a new language without requiring any more time from your already overtaxed schedule. In fact, this can actually use less time by streamlining your learning process in this way. This is because you are using your learning time more effectively. Good luck!

Lifelong learning is a philosophy of approaching learning as an integral, inseparable part of your life. It is important to make a plan for this type of learning. Here are 10 tips to help you formulate this plan for yourself:

1.  Make a commitment to approaching learning as though it really is a lifelong journey. This does not mean that you have to attend formal educational institutions in order to undertake this process.

2. Lifelong learning does not follow a schedule like that you had in school, which is why it is so easy to ignore and procrastinate. However, this does not have to happen to you if you are willing to create a system that works for you. One such idea is to keep learning journals for each topic that you enjoy studying.

3. Take the time to create settings that support and inspire you to learn. For instance, the library, the mall, the park and a restaurant may all cause you to want to learn about different things. You will also want to learn what supplies help to keep your energy up. For instance, you may need a quiet environment for some learning while others can best be done in a busy environment.

4.  In order to learn effectively, it is important to figure out how you learn. This is not to say that there is 1 best way. In fact, you should know that everything can be tied into learning. Herein it is also important to figure out when your mind needs a break and how you best retain the information that you learn (i.e. by reading aloud, taking notes, summarizing things or sharing with others).

5.  Practice different types and ways of thinking so that you can keep your mind strong and flexible. This is like taking your mind to the gym.

6.  Whenever you are writing something, make it into an opportunity to work toward improving the way in which you use words to construct understandable ideas. This will lead you to be able to think more clearly.

7. Take the time to listen to a teleclass or a book on tape and then write your own version of it. This will help you to move it into your long-term memory so that you can use it in other situations.

8.  By experiencing other peoples communication styles and learning methods you will be able to grow, prosper, open your mind and develop new perceptions. Your ability to use these situations as an opportunity to learn means being willing to deal with conflict, criticism and any other points of vulnerability that you may encounter.

9.  You should know that both your physical and your mental health affect your ability to learn. Make sure that you are able to identify and work through any health challenges in these areas just as soon as they appear.

10. All of this should be written down as a part of your yearly learning goals. These can then be subdivided into monthly topics that you make time commitments for. From there, go ahead and minimize any distractions by tabling the other topics that you want to learn about. You may wish to write these down in a folder that is for next year.