literature Articles

Sometimes, it is essential to provide students with additional perspectives, besides the tutor's. As I tutor more and more, I realize that even with the one-on-one benefits of tutoring, there is a need for interaction with other students. However, the problem is, there are no other students to provide this feedback when you are tutoring a student. I have found that creating relationships with other students is a remarkable enhancement to the tutoring experience.

I have used Pen Pals to meet this need. There are a variety of websites that offer pen pals for different purposes. If I am tutoring a student in Social Studies, Geography or History, a Pen Pal is an amazing resource for FREE and REAL information about the study topics. This is usually an exciting concept that is well-received by the student because they thrive with interactions with others and they think it's amazing to connect with people like them all around the world! Using the right resources for this is essential, so I suggest that tutors spend some time locating the right program for their needs. Usually, those that are dedicated to teachers offer the most security and less potential for spam and unwanted leaks of information to the Web. Additionally, these sites allow the tutor more access to hand-picking the pen pals for their needs. The greatest benefit for this type of tutoring lesson is the ability to focus on the writing skills of the student while not needing to create writing assignments for the sake of writing! This makes the students more likely to give their effort to their tasks AND it allows the tutor to challenge the student to become eloquent in their writing efforts because it is directed at a "friend". I encourage tutors to give this a try in Foreign Languages, Writing, History and Social Studies, ESOL... actually, the possibilities are endless! I'd love to know how YOU are using Pen Pals in your tutoring!

Perhaps you are a student and, for whatever reason, you find yourself stuck in a mold of defeat. What are you to do? You don't want to fail all your classes--that wasn't your goal when you woke this morning. However, here you are: unmotivated, feeling left behind, stuck in a rut.

The one thing you have going for you is that if you do show some interest and express this interest (as meek as it may be) to the teacher, your teacher will take notice of that. Teachers are hungry for students who show interest in their lessons. As a teacher, I had a student in your shoes--to whatever degree you are in those shoes. She was failing every class because traditional testing and traditional methods of teaching were the norm at this school and this wasn't reaching her understanding or interest. This student became so used to failing and being seen as a problem case that she just resigned to it. At times, wore it as the only badge of honor she had. After all, the tests and teaching wasn't that interesting anyhow? Right?

What I did as a visiting teacher for 4 months was provide student choice projects to express learning. So, for instance, instead of a traditional quiz on the topic of tone in a story, I allowed students to build, construct, or write about tone. This particular student chose to construct something. And boy, did she build. She built the entire inside and outside of a house in one of the stories down to every detail. It blew me away and she became on fire in her learning even in what use to be boring and difficult for her.

So what can you as a student do to break the mold when your teacher isn't offering any? Ask your teacher yourself about doing a specific alternative project. Be pro-active. What are you good at? Could you make a video? Write a song? Construct something? Keep it to the subject at hand but make it real to you and your gifts and talents.

What if the teacher says no? Some teachers are so stuck in their ways, they may not let you do this. You can still do the project on the side. Use it to bring out your creativity and understanding. Then, try to translate what you learned into the format of what you are being asked to use. You will need this adaptive skill in job searching, career creation, and on the job no matter what your career.

If you are a teacher, realize that teaching is changing. You cannot stick to only traditional methods and reach all your students the way you desire to. Offer more student choice projects as a form of assessment beyond the tests and worksheets. You'll then witness the most challenged students soar and even become more willing to learn the traditional forms too!

Hello,

I am here to help you. If you need to brush up on your writing skills, grammar, or reading skills...I am here for you. Together, we can get rid of your weaknesses and emphasize your strengths. You do not have to dread doing your homework alone, or not succeeding in the classroom.

I am here to help you. I want to do everything I can to make you the success you want to be. I will give you the one-on-one help that is sometimes difficult for the teacher to achieve in the classroom. Working hard and putting forth your best efforts will help us to achieve the success you desire.

Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks!

Out of all the major decisions a parent has to make, deciding which tutor would better enhance their child's learning capabilities is very important. Although this is not an easy task, having some basic ground rules can be helpful.

1. Find out what subjects your child needs help in. Looking at your child's report card is an easy way to know what subject he/she is not working up to his/her potential. Also, don't hesitate to ask the teacher what skills is your child lacking to be getting the grade that your child is striving for. Having good communication with the teacher, lets the teacher know that the parent is working together with the child. If a student is behind, usually teachers will allow a proper catch up by assigning extra credit. Some teachers even have after school hours to instruct your child further. Some children seem to improve by getting the one on one instruction that comes with having a tutor.

2. Where do you find the right tutor for your child? That seems to be one of the hardest problems for the parent. The easiest way to find a tutor is by finding a credited institution that supply's tutors on demand for parents. You can be assured that it's the institution's goal of placing tutors with proper certifications in the hands of any parent who is looking for the right match. This site screens each tutor individually in order to verify the candidate would be reliable and safe for your child's needs. Also, the candidate must have experience, certifications, and skills to offer to your child. The most wonderful part is if you're not satisfied, you are under no obligation to continue with the same tutor. You can always pick another tutor of your choice. You can continue or stop at your own leisure. Never sign up with an institution that obligates you in any way for a contract period with one tutor which is non-transferable.

3. How to select the right candidate? There are many things to be thinking of before you start picking out the right choice.
a. Which kind of tutor do you need for your child? Does your child have special needs? Will any English tutor do or should the tutor hold certification in certain areas like reading, spelling, proofreading, or writing?
b. How far is the tutor from me? Is your tutor close enough to be on time or if running a little bit late would not be a problem? Knowing the distance is one solution in making sure your tutor is dependable instead of worrying if your child will be sitting and waiting for the lesson.
c. How qualified is the tutor for the subject your child needs? Any tutor must have proper skills. You can not think that a qualified experienced English tutor could provide the same set of skills if your child is needing help in math. A well rounded tutor is not a bad thing, but make sure your tutor is specialized in the subject for your child.
d. Realize experience is different than qualification. So many people confuse or combine the two virtues which should be purposely kept separate. You can have a tutor that is definitely qualified, but who hasn't had any dealings with serving the public. The other situation is where you have had a tutor who has lots of experience, but never any tutoring education. For your child, you should look for a tutor who is both experienced and qualified.

4. Pick up to four candidates before final selection. This is always a good rule of thumb. By picking four you will have inside satisfaction that you are not just taking a random chance of introduction with your child. Think ahead, that the tutor you select, your child will depend on to instruct and guide towards a better future. Write to each of them that you are interested in their services and let them know you are comparing them to others. Tell them of your child's problem and ask if selected what would a sample lesson be. Ask them how often would they suggest your child be tutored. Ask them if they are available to tutor for the length of time that your child needs. You want to make sure that the tutor will try to be there and not just leave after one or two lessons. If you get a fast, detailed response, this will inform you that they are interested and probably can supply proper knowledge to your child. Then email them that you would like to speak to them by phone. Having a good talk with the new tutor can be comforting to you before introducing him/her to your child. Be sure to throw at least one request to the tutor to see if the tutor is receptive in accommodating your needs as well if it would benefit your child or can the tutor be willing to give you an explanation of why right now wouldn't be the right time. By giving such a thorough review of the candidates, in the end will give you at least backup candidates,so you don't have to wear yourself out by having another fresh search.

5. Prepare how your child is going to study. After choosing the right candidate, think about where you would like the meeting to take place. Some parents who still are unsure if the candidate is right, like the first meeting to take place at the library. The library is monitored and you can see the interaction that is taking place between the tutor and student before taking the tutor to your home. If you are confident enough, then you can go by convenience. Maybe it is more convenient for you to have the tutor to meet in your home than the library. The trips of going to the library may tire out your child before the lesson begins. Can the teachings of the lessons be performed in a "silent please" area? Or can the library make accommodations for a private room to be used? The area in the home should be a place like the dining room table, away from the noise of a television or other children. It shouldn't be in the child's bedroom. It should be in a structured environment where computer or printing use can be made available. Working on a table at home will be easy for the child to adapt to know as a "learning area" like their own desk at school.

6. Are you ready for the first meeting! It's always nice to have a glass of water set for the tutor. But, remember, it is not necessary. The tutor may instruct you that having food/water around during a lesson may distract the child from learning. If the student starts getting up to get water or during a lesson stops to drink water may interrupt the child understanding of the lesson. Usually, it should be the tutor's judgment of whether the child really would need a drink or just is using it as an excuse to move around. An experienced tutor should be able to handle her classroom area. I would recommend that the parent requests that the first lesson be observed from afar. When a parent is there sitting at the same table, it may get the reaction from the child of looking back and forth to the parent, trying to be assured that their response to the tutor is correct. Observing from afar, can give the child room to breathe as to say. A good tutor lets the child give an honest response, even if it is off the mark, and then steers the child to the best answer. As long as you are confident with thefirst visit then each lesson afterwards doesn't need to be monitored. This lets the tutor and student have a good bonding environment to enable better learning.

That's it! I hope you have found a little bit of information from my article that can help you with your search. I would like to invite you to learn more about me. I am a professional tutor in the Lilburn area. I have tutored for over 25 years in a variety of situations in the English field. I have tutored children, teenagers, college students, and adults. You are able to see my profile on this website. My accomplishments are many, I am proud to say. My students enjoy my teaching style and have always improved in their studies.

I feel like my blog just got "Wal-Mart"-ized. You know Wal-Mart, it looks the same everywhere you go.

I had a comment in the last blog entry that asked "You're on the web, ain'a?", and they changed to "You're on the web, right?" I'm trying to give my blog a little local flavor, so people who see me in my area will know I'm from Milwaukee, or at least have been here long enough to pick up the dialect, if you can call it that. Instead, it's been edited to fit generic, everyday, "proper" English. Meantime, I still get told occasionally that I have an accent, even though I grew up 45 miles from Milwaukee. Go figure (another Milwaukee-ism there).

I don't know what the book was last week that they were reading on WPR on "Chapter a Day", but it took place in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The protagonist is confused by everyone adding "ain'se" (sounds like "ents") to the ends of their sentences. He interprets it to mean "and so...". At one point he's frustrated by a shopkeeper talking and ending every sentence with "ain'se", so he finally asks, and so what? He then finds out that "ain'se" is short for "ain't it so?", which was derived from translating German "nicht war", and it was considered polite by the German locals to throw that in a lot. I haven't been to Manitowoc, so I can't speak to the accuracy of that in the story.

On the other hand, 25 years ago I worked with a woman from Marinette, and ya, she sounded like she stepped straight out of the set from "Strange Brew', eh? So apparently they _do_ talk like that up there. And then I go to my brother's in Waupaca (not wau-PAY-ca as some salesmen tried to convince my sister-in-law's mother once upon a time) and up there you get a lot "Uff da!" from the Norwegians and Swedes, I suppose.

Milwaukee is the only place I've been that uses the word "bubbler" for a drinking fountain, presumably because the water "bubbles" out of the pipe. They also use the word "soda" for carbonated beverages around here, but if you go down to Kenosha or up to Abbottsford, it's "pop", just like in most of Illinois. So here's a map that shows what terms are used where, by county: http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/308-the-pop-vs-soda-map/. I guess down South, if you want Coke you'd better ask for a "Coke Cola", as I've heard some of the older NASCAR drivers say it in the "History of NASCAR" tapes, particularly Tim Flock.

I was in Boonville, California when I was 12, and what an interesting place for a local dialect! It seems in the 1800's the adults made up the dialect ("Boontling") so they could talk over adult issues in front of the kids without them knowing what was going on. Words were borrowed from Scots, Gaelic, Pomo Indian, and Spanish. So horn of zeese was a cup of coffee, and "kimmies" were men. I learned a few phrases in the hour or so we spent there eating lunch, but I've since forgotten them. Now that I love words and language, I'd love to go back and see if they still speak it there, although Wikipedia, that vast repository of unassailable knowledge (note the sarcasm) says it's fast becoming archaic as the youngsters no longer learn it, or at least don't speak it. Still, there is a list of words there, some with how they originated.

So, I love words, and to the editors, lay off my dialect! If I wanted to write "Wal-Mart"-style, I would. It's not a mark of ignorance. It's a mark of locality and uniqueness. I do it consciously and for a reason.