What do you do if you’re a Mira Costa High School student and your finals week didn’t go like you had hoped?
If you’re a student who didn’t pass 1 or more of your classes this last semester there is still hope! Credit for classes not passed can be made up via Independent Study offered through Brigham Young University. BYU offers a wide array of high school courses that allow you to independently make up credits without falling behind. The courses consist of between 6 and 8 instructor-graded assignments (referred to as speedbacks) that are submitted either online or through the mail, as well as 2 midterms and 1 final (which must be taken at a credentialed proctoring center). Conveniently, Study hut tutoring not only offers BYU independent study tutoring but also is a BYU accredited proctoring center.
BYU Independent Study is undoubtedly a great opportunity to get a 2nd chance to make up for class with a non-passing grade. Courses are however completely independent some students find it difficult to stay on track and not fall behind. Not to mention there is very little additional instruction if a student is struggling with a particular lesson of the course.
Study hut’s wide array of friendly tutors and its BYU accredited proctoring services make it the perfect environment to help your high school student make up credits for courses with non-passing grades.
BYU Independent Study vs. Study Hut Tutoring
February 6th, 2012Post Finals
January 31st, 2012Finals are OVER! Sound the bells, raise the banner, and sing it to the heavens. That wretched time of year is gone, and shall never darken our door again! So, now you’re probably saying to yourself, “Self, you don’t need to study anymore. All the hard work is behind you, and it’s smooth sailing from here on in.” Oh, if only this was true. But, the fact of the matter is that this is when the real work begins.
Finals aren’t just an opportunity for teachers to make you nervous and lower you’re grade. (That’s only an extra perk.) Finals are also a major indicator on how well you’ve been learning throughout the first half of the year. They tell you which subjects you need to dedicate more time to, and which ones you’re clearly acing. Which means, you have a major opportunity here. An opportunity to get it all together before June comes along.
Getting a bad grade on one of these tests can be paralyzing. You see that test, and the effect is has on you’re overall average, and just assume the fight is over. Don’t give in to this feeling. Nothing’s over until you win or give up. The bad grade is in the past. There’s nothing you can do about it. But you can LEARN from it. Among the things you can do:
-Get your test from the teacher. Go through all of the wrong answers and see if you can correct them. Among other things, it makes sure you don’t make the mistakes again.
-See if there’s any relationship between the questions you got wrong. (Were they from the same chapter? Were they from a week you were absent?) Go back to the book, and relearn that material. It WILL come up later in the semester, and you don’t want to be caught twice.
-Compare what material you studied BEFORE the test, and compare it to the material that was ON the test. Did it match up?
Above all, remember this: A bad grade is not the end of the world. But it should be motivator to get your butt in gear, and make sure that the same mistakes aren’t made again. Because guess what? Finals will be back in June! The only difference is, next time you’ll know exactly what to expect, because you’ve already done it. Get mad, get mean, and get those grades up.
Now that finals are OVER, a Few Musts:
January 30th, 2012It’s a happy time of year, that time of year where you can finally relax and say to yourself, “At least I’m done with finals.” Hopefully you all did well, and if not, take solace in the fact that you made the effort to do well- by coming in to tutoring and studying hard. So give yourself a pat on the back.
This time of year also presents itself with a fresh start. Everybody inevitably finds themselves playing catch-up during the semester, but you can minimize the level of catch-up by making an effort to plan your studies more and doing a little everyday, rather than procrastinate and cram. So take this opportunity to start fresh with your tutor as well. Keep your planner updated and make a thorough game-plan as to how you’re going to study for your various tests. Hold yourself accountable to get what you need to get done before going out or playing video games. We all know the pleasure from those little things is no where close to the stress you feel when you have a chemistry test and you’ve forgotten what a nucleus is.
The message is this: whether you’re in middle school, high school, or college, the method to doing well in your classes is the same. It all comes down to a daily balance. Yes, a balance, between work, school, and personal time. To succeed in the school part, you have to balance it, not cram it, and make sure you save time for yourself in the process, because no one can ONLY work or study.
So grab this opportunity by the reigns, follow your planner, and use your tutor as a resource and guide to both success, and having a good time.
SAT Critical Reading tutoring
January 26th, 2012Today in AVID 10 at Palos Verdes High School, Rob and SP introduced our first lesson for the Critical Reading section of the SAT. Training for the SAT can be very difficult, and for many students, the vocabulary component of the Critical Reading section can be extremely daunting.
In an effort to keep things simple, but at the same time teach students a new and complex concept, Rob decided to start the SAT tutoring with the “plus-minus-neutral” approach, a strategy that can help students eliminate incorrect answer choices by assigning a value or feeling of worth to the blank space, as well as each of the answer choices.
Students then practiced eliminating wrong answer choices and making educated guesses about which vocabulary words would and would not work in each sentence. The process was rigorous and slightly painful, but I think we all walked away from the experience with a new tool in our quiver of SAT strategies.
Here is an example of a question students will see on the Critical Reading section of the SAT. You will probably understand why training is the only way to attack a test that contains hundreds of problems like this:
1. Today Wegener’s theory is ____ ; however, he died an outsider treated with ____ by the scientific establishment.
A. unsupported – approval
B. dismissed – contempt
C. accepted – approbation
D. unchallenged – disdain
E. unrivaled – reverence
Please let Study Hut know if you need any tutoring or training for the SAT, specifically the Critical Reading section. We have excellent SAT tutors who earned great scores, went to top universities, and follow our streamlined approach to no-nonsense SAT training.
Finals can be stressful
January 18th, 2012Finals are the most stressful and overwhelming time of each semester. It was hard enough studying for each test the last couple of months, but how are you supposed to study for a test in every class covering everything you have learned! It’s a tall task, but it is manageable with the right tools and preparation. The tutors at the Study Hut are ready to arm you with the weapons necessary to conquer the dreaded week.
Probably the most important key to studying for finals is budgeting time. You have to have realistic expectations for each class and weigh the pros and cons of time spent studying for each class. If I have a C+ in math and need to nail my final to get a B, I’ll put more time into that class than in English which comes easy to me and I have a solid A. Once you decide how important each final is, now you have to make sure you set time aside for each, and work both diligently, and effectively.
A second key to studying for finals is simply knowing WHAT to study. Believe it or not, finals are usually far easier than the individual chapter tests. This is because on the final, the teacher is going to test the big concepts from each section, not the nitty gritty details like those tested in a chapter test. With the help of your Study Hut tutor, you can go through your old tests and assignments and realistically pick and choose what you must dedicate more time to studying.
So remember: Don’t panic, stay organized, take your tutors advice, and study diligently. Good things will come. Best of luck to you all.
No Wonder Students Like our Tutors at Study Hut Tutoring
January 12th, 2012Adding an extra year to the original high school requirements is unnecessary for students. Although education is important to succeed in life, forcing students to attend an extra year of school does not guarantee that it will be beneficial. Instead of pushing for students to spend more time in school, they should be preparing for what they are going to be doing in their future. In other countries, students already know what they are going to pursue as a career when going into their fourth year of school. They spend the majority of the year preparing and getting accustomed to what they will be doing in the future. If these students had to attend another year of school, it would delay plans that they already have, and keep them from achieving what they want. Some students already know that going to college will not be an option for them. In Wisconsin, many teens will be taking over their parent’s farms or businesses. Attending an extra year of school is not necessary for the profession they will be going into, therefore it would just be a waste of time. I personally feel that attending another year of school would not be helpful, because students would not be motivated to attend or pay attention while they are in class. High school initially feels like it goes on forever, with an extra year of classes to attend, students could lose interest and not take academics as seriously as they did the first four years. If this results in a drop of a student’s GPA it could ruin their chances of getting into a college they could have originally attended. I believe that making high school five years, instead of the initial four, is unnecessary. Going to another year of school in retrospect might sound like a good idea at first, but in reality it is not beneficial for all students.
PV AVID Finals tutoring
January 11th, 2012Study Hut tutors could not be more excited for the big Finals push. We have students from AVID coming in for private tutoring all week, but we also have a huge event scheduled for Saturday. As in years past, we will be hosting an all day tutoring and study session on campus at Palos Verdes High School. We will have access to multiple different classrooms, and tutors will get to go into different rooms and help students with the specific subjects they need most help with.
This year, there will undoubtedly be math tutoring, science tutoring (including biology tutoring and chemistry tutoring), history tutoring, from World History and EHAP to U.S. History, Government, and Economics tutoring. Math tutoring will include algebra tutoring, geometry tutoring, algebra 2 tutoring, pre-calculus tutoring, trigonometry tutoring, and maybe even some calculus and FTS tutoring.
We will also, of course, have English tutoring, writing tutoring for students with an upcoming final paper, Spanish tutoring (all levels), and probably a few other subjects as well.
The event is free (and required!) for all AVID students, and speaking from past experience, it is an extremely productive event for all students involved. The teachers always come to support, supervise, and offer their knowledge as well.
And best of all, we are getting El Taco Man ordered, so he will be showing up with his cart, and all the tacos any young man or woman can eat. Does it get any better than this? I think not. See you on Saturday.
PV AVID back in action in 2012
January 6th, 2012I hope everyone had a relaxing break and come in fresh for a 2 week push before finals (in the 3rd week back). I look forward to continuing to work with you to meet your academic goals/potential. This is a critical stretch we enter here in 2012. By this time next year you will be knee (or thigh or waist) deep in junior year, on the cusp of taking your SAT and ACT and a semester away from college applications (started in AVID class in spring of junior year). Your preparation now will prepare you for these not too distant academic challenges.
I encourage you as we enter the 2nd semester and then into the summer to create a plan for SAT/ACT study. I think weekend mornings are particularly good right now (30-60 minutes on each weekend day would be outstanding). Then, in the summer, you should ramp up your time commitment to SAT/ACT prep and some of you may even consider doing a prep class. We will commit to SAT prep on a weekly basis next year but an hour or two in AVID class should be a great supplement to additional spent at home (or even with an outside SAT prep class or tutor).
And while I am on the subject of the summer, plan to visit some universities this summer as part of a already planned summer vacation or as a college visit specific trip. There is no need to go crazy on this front but it’s really great to have a few visits under your belt so that by fall of senior year you have a nice idea of your likes and dislikes, and perhaps you’ll even see some schools that you’re excited to apply to!
Again, happy new year! This is a very exciting time of your life. I also know it can be stressful and so I am here to help you work through problems and I hope AVID helps to (sometimes) alleviate some of the stress that comes with being a high school student. Naturally, the biggest thing you can do to alleviate stress is to continue to plug away at the homework and be as proactive as possible with your studies. Let me know if you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance to you.
New banner at the Hut
December 15th, 2011
Our awesome tutor MJ has been working on a new banner for Study Hut. Who knows where he finds the time, between Palos Verdes High School AVID tutoring, Peninsula AVID tutoring, tutoring in the math classroom at PV High, and then holding down the gnarliest schedule at the Hut. What can you say, MJ is a beast. Feel free to critique, but it doesn’t really matter, because we sent it to press last night. I hope there aren’t any spelling errors!
