At The Hut, we know that all students learn differently and come to tutoring with unique expectations. For those high achieving high school students who are immersed in Advanced Placement courses, SAT practice, and extracurricular activities, time management is key.

Junior and senior year of high school are the most academically demanding years of the four. This is the time when students are mastering those tough classes (AP Euro, Bio, US, Chem, Spanish…) and special skills (soccer, music, community service…) that will make them competitive at the university of their choice. With little sleep and less free time during the day, what these teens need is a schedule.

Mira Costa junior Danny came to The Study Hut in need of a little planning. With a full schedule of electives and extracurriculars, Danny had no trouble learning the material; he just needed to find the time to do it. During tutoring sessions, Danny and I spent time organizing his schedule for the week – ensuring that he would have time to do the activities he loves as well as the focused studying that he needs to ace information-dense AP Biology. With a realistic amount of time blocked out every day for biology review, and the creation of specific goals for the completion of assignments, Danny’s test scores immediately improved. With the continued use of these organization techniques, as well as weekly concept review at The Study Hut, Danny’s grades are steadily improving. By the time of the AP Biology exam, he had drastically improved his grade in the class and his ability to retain large amounts of information.

One hour of one-on-one tutoring for high school students is not only an excellent way to clarify difficult concepts, it is also a way to keep busy students on track all week long. Short-term study techniques will prepare a student for an upcoming test, but organization and planning skills with a long-term focus are the key to improving a student’s ability to learn information, retain information, and succeed in the analytic-based learning that is in their future. The commitment to a regular schedule allows students to anticipate assignments and plan their schedules accordingly. This reduces stress, which in turn makes test-taking less of an ordeal. Less panic means better decisions and higher scores. Period.

If a student can stick to a study plan and stop relying on last-minute cramming, they are guaranteed to see positive results. And a little more sleep never hurts either…

One-on-one tutoring has many advantages over group tutoring. One-on-one tutoring is more focused and versatile than group tutoring. With group tutoring, tutors focus on more general concepts. They often have to teach material some of the students already understand. Its hard for the tutor to explain the concepts in a way each student can understand. With one-on-one tutoring, the tutor can develop a study plan to strengthen the students’ weaknesses . If the student is having trouble understanding a concept, the tutor can spend more time explaining the concept in a way that the student can understand. The tutor also helps to build an infrastructure for studying at home that best suits the student own preferences for learning. Students can also get help with more than one subject with one-on-one tutoring. If they have and a math and a chemistry test the next day, but feel strongly on about math, they can quickly go through the math concepts that aren’t understood and spend the rest of the time focusing on chemistry.

One on one tutoring keeps students focused and engaged in the lesson, allowing the students to use their time more efficiently. When in groups, many kids are overly self-conscious of what their peers think. They do not ask as many question and they do not engage in the conversation for the fear of feeling stupid or being laughed at. As many teachers would contest, students are also more likely to get distracted by their friends and engage in side conversations. One-on-one tutoring cuts out these distractions, giving students more bang for their buck.

Another benefit of one-on-one tutoring is that each student can choose a tutor that best suits his or her liking. The session is a lot more enjoyable and more can be accomplished if the if the student likes the person who is tutoring him/her. The students will stay more focused on their work rather than how much they dislike the tutor.

April has been the boldest month of 2010 at the Hut. To motivate students to finish out the year strong, we have turned up the heat and let loose the competition. Study Hut’s “Student of the Month” award has just been instituted and the first draft winners have been chosen. Our high school winner was one of my most successful students because she has shown such vast improvement in the short amount of time I have tutored her. Paige first came to me with unspeakable grades in her algebra class. At first, I was confused because she understood most of her homework but showed a plethora of poor test grades.

Through talking to her about her thought process, we discovered that she had a mild form of test-taking anxiety. After consulting my boss about an effective approach with Paige, we went to work. She increased her visits from one to three sessions per week with me in order to allot time for timed practice tests. My approach was to do her math problems alongside her and compare our answers instead of watching her do all the work by herself. She worked exceedingly well with my “team” approach because it helped her correct her own mistakes and take control of the session.

After working with Paige for several weeks, I have seen rapid improvement in her comprehension, retention, and esteem. She craves the practice problems because she has seen the positive results for herself. After she brought in her first ‘A,’ I jumped at the chance to nominate her for this award. Since then, she has walked through the door with two more ‘A’ test scores and higher expectations for herself. I look forward to our sessions and when she brings in her tests, I vicariously feel like an ‘A’ student all over again. Students of the month keep this job rewarding and engaging. Keep the good grades rolling!