Bruce's Tutoring Blog

As this 2012-2013 school year has come upon us, I started to reflect on a number of major tutoring successes I had the pleasure of experiencing over the 2011-2012 school year.

In one such instance dating back to August, 2011, I began a long-term partnership with a high school senior who was taking AP Chemistry and desired the best possible course academic outcome. This student and I initially setup a regular once-a-week Saturday session schedule. Due to the developing rigors of the course, on par with what I have taught at the college-level, the frequency of meetings was subsequently expanded...

This current summer season has been particularly productive in terms of successes achieved with students who either enrolled in fast-paced Organic I and II courses or desired a jump-start for Fall Organic I.

A variety of concepts were dealt with, including nomenclature, acidity and basicity rankings, conformational analysis, stereochemistry, resonance stabilization, reaction mechanisms, functional groups, synthetic routes, and spectroscopic analysis (IR, C-13 and proton NMR, mass spectral). The frequent focal point for clarifying discussions was a list of core General Chemistry I and II topics...

I most recently achieved 500 HOUR status on my WyzAnt profile. This hallmark wasn't even on the radar screen back in April, 2011, when I began with my very first tutoring clients. Persistence, high-level energy, reliability, and finesse in nurturing long-term relationships with the students all combined to produce this special milestone. The overwhelming majority of the students who partnered with me from early in the school year and for 7 months or longer on a regular basis earned A's in either a math class (such as Algebra 2) or advanced chemistry (pre-AP, AP, or EARLY COLLEGE HS DUAL CREDIT)...

As this current 2011-2012 school year is rapidly drawing to a close, it is instructive to reflect on how tutor preparedness, particularly when having dealt with long-term clients, has proven to be highly beneficial.

On numerous occasions, having had at hand backup textbooks, lecture notes, assorted visuals, test banks, and even graph paper has enabled students to have more effectively mastered challenging concepts.

For example, students have found themselves solving additional chemistry problems ranging from levels 1 through 5 in difficulty from a college-level test compendium and in preparation...

First Lady Michelle Obama took her "Healthy Eating" message to the students of the Dallas Independent School District on Friday, February 10, 2012. Before leaving the Dallas event she gave the students one more message for not only controlling childhood obesity but also increasing their brainpower in the classroom: "It's important to eat right, it's important to get your exercise, but it's more important to be a good student-that all of these things add up. It is very hard to focus at school if you don't have good fuel in your body. And that is the truth."

I concur entirely with the First Lady...

As this new academic year approaches, begin your studies successfully by providing your brain with the proper dietary nutrition needed to enhance concentration, thinking ability, and recall.

A very small molecule, nitric oxide (NO), is produced in the body from the amino acids arginine and citrulline. Both are provided in ample amounts in many of the types of foods emphasized in my factsheets "The Maximum Mental Health Diet". WyzAnt clients receive a complimentary copy of this information at the first tutoring session. I follow these recommendations, myself, and have observed positive results...

The first part of the above title is more than just an arbitrary phrase. It gets right to the core of defining my very approach (as stated in my profile) toward successful tutoring in these subjects. One would not set out on a long road trip from a familiar starting point to an unfamiliar locale without having first mapped out an accurate and sequentially-detailed route. Likewise, this tends to be the case when solving many problems in both math and the various chemistries. A few specific examples will illustrate this idea.

In algebra students are called upon to solve many different types of...

Based upon the academic performances of many math and chemistry clients over the years and leading right up to the present, the following factors have been vital for my students to have substantially bolstered their achievement levels by the end of their particular courses of study:

1) Both the tutor and the students approached every session with enthusiasm and a positive attitude.

2) Students were prepared at each session with adequate resources and a clear sense of what they wanted to accomplish.

3) The tutor was also prepared with backup resources(alternate textbooks, notes, appropriate...