Tutoring: In-home or out?

Of course, I am biased for tutoring taking place outside the home. The decision is usually justified around the theme of “distraction elimination.” There is no such thing as “fewer distractions.” There will be distractions in any learning environment—the trick is how to refocus the student quickly back to the task. At home, teens, being who they are, will stay distracted longer because they think everything is about or may be about them. This possibility will keep their minds occupied. At Study Depot or any other outside venue, the distraction (car door slamming, visitor, phone ringing, etc.) the interruption is about the site--the student knows this and will return to work faster. Although in-home tutoring may be more convenient time-wise, it is not the best situation for the students' learning or the parents’ wallet.

Another issue is safety. Although many “in-home” agencies require an adult to be present during sessions, this does not always happen and, being a parent, I have concerns about that.

Any comments? Email cchristopher@studydepot.com

OMG- (text-talk) not in school:(

Students know the difference between text-talk and standard English usage and rarely confuse the two. Today’s San Diego Union-Tribune ran a story citing information garnered from a research study released Thursday involving a survey of 700 teens and parents. The significant finding was that, “65 percent of youngsters ages 12 to 17 have used emoticons (combinations of symbols that reveal facial expressions), text shortcuts and informal language in school assignments.” Big surprise, students know and use text lingo; it does not follow that they use it in serious assignments. If anything, they now have a type of shorthand they use for note taking and for the first draft of more formal assignments. The problem arises when the draft(s) haven’t been thoroughly proofed and the shortcuts and symbols slink through. Text-talk is another language and one that students have a lot of fun with and display their creativity. One parent said, “at least they’re writing.”

Have an opinion? Email cchristopher@studydepot.com

Almost the end of school--plan wisely

In just seven weeks students, parents and teachers will be swamped by end of the year work, performances, parties and summer planning. Standardized testing, AP tests, SAT, etc. are all in the next few weeks. This is the time to bring out a blank calendar where every deadline and event can be posted and even color-coded. We are doing this with every student at Study Depot, so there will be no surprises and the students will experience, first hand, the benefits of careful time management. If they are consistently reminded the management of their assignments and the due dates, it will result in much better grades on tests and final grades--this is the confidence builder all students need. I

If you have other helpful hints, please email cchristopher@studydepot.com and we can post them.

Shortcuts

“There are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going to.” Beverly Sills, opera singer.

In this insanely paced world, it is almost impossible to ignore shortcuts when they appear; it always seems like a good idea and they’ll get us where we need to go much more quickly--so why not? Usually, they backfire. Speaking in the philosophical sense, knowing where you want to go, believing it is possible, visualizing it constantly and doing the necessary “grunt work” is the only way to get anywhere truly worth going to.



Please send comments to cchristopher@studydepot.com

Progress Reports-Yikes

Spring progress reports are often the worst. These reports reflect the student relaxing after the holidays, which are just prior to semester reports, and the end of the year seems really far away. Academics are often the last thing on their minds and progress reports show it.

Don’t despair. There are still enough weeks remaining to bring the grade up. How? Create a calendar (I use Publisher) for just the weeks left. Write all due dates and test dates including highlighting finals week. Include end of the year performances, rehearsals, sports activities and family events. At first, the calendar may look overwhelming, which morphs into looking manageable, especially when it’s tweaked to fit the all important academic demands. Color coding is a must for academics and can be fun for the other activities. Post the calendar in an obvious location and start checking off completed tasks . This will keep your student on track and help with lots of end-of-year planning.

Success takes courage

Congratulations Matt for getting into the schools you wanted. Well done!
Students like Matt take risks every day both academically and personally; they usually pay off but it takes courage.

Quote for today,
“The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it is the same problem you had last year”
Former Secretary of State, James Dulles

Same idea: I have heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

Living life demands us to be creative, which means taking risks without knowing the outcome. Have a creative and successful day.

Do It!

Today’s quote: “No one ever excused his way to success” by Dave Del Dotto

Excuses promote procrastination, which results in a lot of anxiety. Putting a project off without any feelings of dread, guilt, fear or uneasiness doesn’t happen very often. One or more of these icky feelings are the ones most people describe when they procrastinate or make excuses for not doing a task. I know when I procrastinate, not only do I have to do the project eventually, but I have already wasted lots of time in the form worry and anxiety—it really is easier and much more time efficient to just do the work. The feeling of satisfaction that comes with the accomplishment is the outcome and that is a pretty good way to feel.

To just do it:
• Plan how you are going to accomplish the task—just make a list of what needs
to be done and what materials you need to use.
• Time-chunk so that you are only taking on parts of the task, not the whole thing
• Check completed steps off the list—it feels good!
• Honor the time you have set aside for the project; don’t let anything intrude.
• Celebrate not procrastinating!

Your ideas and comments are very welcome. Please email me at cchristopeher@studydept.com