Mira Costa students oftentimes step in with these colossal texts, and they report that they do not understand anything from cover to cover. Study Hut understands that AP Biology is extremely difficult but the process of absorbing the information does not always have to be painful. Geometry is just a bunch of lines, trigonometry is sin, cos, and tan, and calculus is a stretch. HS students are generally good with simple memorization and arithmetic calculations, so what is preventing them from scoring well on exams? Students largely lack the skills to study, prioritize, and break down complex information into absorbable energy. Study Hut is a catalyst in that we assist in making things simple and easy to understand. Students know the material, they understand the general concepts, but the learning process stops at simple understanding. We assist students in achieving the next couple steps — we assist students in absorption, digestion, distribution, and finally, regurgitation and waste management. We use simple memorization to facilitate the absorption process, but when it comes down to digestion, it requires a bit of reverse engineering. We assist students in approaching the concepts through different perspectives — that is exactly what exams ask for — a different perspective. Continuing, distribution is achieved through using the information to bulldoze through the coursework, testing for weak points and patching up where patching is needed. Ultimately, the zenith of the learning process is regurgitation — Study Hut aims for this point in that students will only exceed the average academic expectations when they are able to do what we do — spit the information back out so that others can understand it! Waste management comes last. Mira Costa HS students always come in with glitches. We assist in flattening out the wrinkles in the information, fixing the glitches, making sure they understand the formula to the dot so that they will not use the wrong one on exams, checking they understand that DNA and RNA are not just different strands of nucleotides. Study Hut makes studying easy.
High school Costa focus
December 8th, 2011Admissions into Four year Universities
November 19th, 2011Getting into colleges and universities is becoming more and more difficult nowadays. The mean accepted GPA, SAT/ACT scores, and the number of extra-curriculars expected are becoming more difficult every year. Although all these elements are critical in one’s application, another important but often forgotten aspect is the personal statement. Not only can the Study Hut help you with your GPA and standardized test scores, but we’re also prepared to help you write the best possible personal statement you can. We tutors have been in your shoes before, we’ve all gone to college, and some are also in the process of applying to graduate schools. Needless to say, we’ve all written personal statements in one form or another, and know what colleges and universities are looking for in their candidates.
However, coming to the Study Hut for help on your personal statement does not mean we are going to write it for you. Rather, we are going to guide you as to the rules and tactics of writing a good personal statement, and give you the tools to make the perfect personal statement for yourself. A good personal statement has multiple aspects to it. It is both professionally written, but also genuine and personable. You are telling the admissions committee what makes you YOU, and why they should want YOU to study at and represent their institution in the future. All this may seem like a tall order for a one or two page statement about yourself, but with the right guidance, it’s very possible to do. So feel free to stop by the Hut at any step in your process, from planning your essay, to a final review before you submit it.
PVHS AVID update
November 16th, 2011Wednesday is a tutorial day in AVID. Also, your SAT homework is due. Please have that ready to be turned in to the bin. Hand it in after you go over it with our SAT tutors. The SAT plan is as follows:
1) go over “Plug in the numbers” assignment from two times ago,
2) review any questions on the internet/computer problem assignment (although those were meant to be on the easier side….not to make you feel bad if you got them wrong….).
3) a new lesson will be taught with a new assignment. New assignment will be due on Wedneday November 30.
Tutorial to follow SAT prep.
Friday we will:
1) meeting with tutors (please have your planner for the meeting)
2) finish the 60 Minutes
3) read some Lone Survivor
4) catch up on some recently ignored vocabulary
5) take a long since promised excursion to the market in the last 40 minutes of class
Guest speaker was rescheduled for that date.
Tuesday before Thanksgiving:
Notes due. Guest speaker. Read some Lone Survivor
Monday after Thanksgiving:
Nothing due. Tutorial was cancelled.
Important dates:
Jan. 11, 12 and 17: after school tutorials from 3:00-4:00 with PVHS teachers
Jan. 14 (Saturday): Study sessions from 9:30 to 11:30 and 12:30-2:230. Attend one or both. Taco Man coming from 11:30 to 12:30. Everyone to be fed. This is a reward for an amazing job on the car wash!
Study Tips and Strategies from Study Hut Tutoring
November 8th, 2011While the key to doing well on any exam at Mira Costa High School, Manhattan Beach Middle School, Pacific School or American Martyrs school is to conceptually understand the material backwards and forwards, there are some tips you can employ to give you
an edge and make your time spent studying as efficient and effective as possible.
What kind of learner are you? Everyone is different in the way they learn and
absorb information so its best to identify what kind of learner you are when
deciding on what study strategies to use.
Cramming doesn’t pay! Don’t wait until the night before a test to review all your
materials. Space out your studying up to several days or weeks before your exam
which will keep you from getting overwhelmed and increase the likelihood you will
understand and recall the information you need to.
See, Write, Say! – Experts maintain that your chances of recalling information
increases greatly when you look at a given piece of information, write it out again in
your own words or way, and then say it aloud to yourself.
Summarize information, concepts, and big picture ideas in concise charts, graphs,
or outlines. This will make the information easier to recall and extrapolate upon to
answer critical thinking type questions.
Study actively! It is best to study during daylight hours. Don’t study in your bed to
avoid being tempted to fall asleep. Also ask yourself questions as you go through the
material to keep yourself actively engaged in the material at hand.
Avoid distractions! Find a place away from things you’re easily distracted by. A quiet
room away from the computer, television, and disruptive friends or siblings is an
ideal study location. Sometimes music such as jazz or classical may help keep you
more interested and stimulated if complete silence is unappealing to you.
Take a break! It’s good to periodically take a short break from long periods of
studying. Get up and walk around to get your blood flowing or go and make yourself
a nutritious snack. Your brain may only account for 2% of your overall bodyweight,
but it consumes 20% of your calorie intake. While studying, this figure can increase
to nearly 40%! Snacks rich in nutrients such as nuts or fruits are great to munch on
while studying to keep your brain working at full capacity.
Why tutoring rocks
November 7th, 2011Why Tutoring Can Turbocharge Education Outcomes
It seems obvious that having the advantage of personalized tutoring gives a student a distinct advantage. What’s better than one-on-one direction by someone who understands the educational materials and has the ability to effectively transmit that knowledge? But the benefits of tutoring actually go way beyond that. There’s a special magic in collaboration that fuels the speed of learning and the ability to retain information for longer periods of time. It’s no secret. Ever since Professor Sugata Mitra conducted his famous learning experiments in India, we’ve had definitive proof that when you introduce technology and collaboration into the learning process, something magical happens. And the reason tutors are so effective isn’t just because they’re academic superstars who relay good information and study techniques to students. Tutors are the most effective when they act in a collaborative fashion with their students. It’s less about pushing knowledge and more about providing friendly and gentle nudges toward an education outcome and then giving students the tools they need to get there.
New Tools for Tutoring
There’s been a recent trend toward online education options, especially in post-secondary education. Although touted as an alternative to traditional classroom models which offers a lot of flexibility, there’s reason to believe online learning environments actually offer a lot more than that. In a study released by the U.S. Department of Education, online learning actually came out ahead of the traditional classroom model in terms of slightly higher education outcomes. “Students in online conditions performed modestly better, on average, than those learning the same material through traditional face-to-face instruction.” But an interesting finding relevant to tutors is the results about blending an online educational aspect with the human element. A mixture of face-to-face interaction and online learning conditions provided the best outcomes of anything the study could measure. And that means that tutors have a new tool at their disposal.
The Technology Factor
Tutors can already capitalize on their unique ability to work collaboratively with students to achieve better learning outcomes than traditional classroom time alone. But what this study highlights, just like Professor Mitra’s experiments did, is that where technology and collaboration collide, magic happens. This gives tutors another valuable tool to work with to accelerate knowledge acquisition as well as long term knowledge retention. Individual students have different needs and strengths, and good tutors who are flexible can adapt strategies to accommodate that. Teachers who use Moodle in the classroom to reinforce knowledge acquisition from materials initially presented in lectures find that the online element helps cement the information in a way that lectures alone can’t accomplish. Introducing an online component to the tutoring process increases the ability to adapt and fine-tune what works best for each student. Collaboration is a huge part of tutoring success. But when good tutors use collaborative tutoring methods and introduce the technology factor inherent in an online learning environment, students will continue to perform better. And reaching true student potential is what tutoring is all about.
Biology project!
November 2nd, 2011I don’t know who manages the Hut’s Facebook page, but could you forward this picture to him or her? It’s Alex’s awesome cell diorama for her bio class . . . and it’s a cake!
Staying on task
October 31st, 2011Here at Study Hut in Manhattan Beach, we know that there’s more to academic success than simply knowing the material. Organizational skills and general study tricks are perhaps the most important “subjects” we teach, because without them it’s difficult to stay on top of the ever-growing workload of high school.
We, the super smart and super awesome tutors of Study hut, develop customized study plans for every student that walks through our doors, based on their own habits and personalities. However, here are a few basic strategies that can work for anyone who’s having troubles with procrastination (read: everyone).
1. Designate Goof Off Time
Nobody is a machine. Sometimes you’re lucky enough to find a subject that you love so much that homework is actually fun (yay physics!)
However, a lot of the time you’re going to have to deal with subjects that you straight up don’t like. And that’s alright! However, there’s a physical limit to how much loathsome boredom a human can take before they get distracted and goof off.
And that’s alright, too!
The trick is to actually portion off part of your day to goof off – that can mean facebook, video games, TV, or whatever else.
These things are fine in small quantities, and they make your life more fun! So give yourself over to them, but for a set period that you’ve planned for ahead of time.
The other way – checking facebook every time you feel like it during your problem sets – is incredibly distracting, hinders your progress, and thus ends up stressing you out even more.
2. Page Blockers
If you’re having troubles staying off of fun pages, try downloading a page blocker. There are lots of them online, but a few great ones are “Concentrate” and “Self-Control”. They work by physically disabling your browser’s ability to visit certain sites for a pre-determined amount of time.
This serves as a sort of guardrail; if you feel like procrastinating for a tiny bit they’ll help keep you on track.
However, they aren’t cure-alls: just like real guard rails, if you’re really determined to go off the trail you’ll be able to hop over them easily enough. However, they do serve as reminders about where your priorities should lie.
3. Enjoy the process!
It is much easier to work if you enjoy the process. Sometimes that’s difficult, but there are things you can do to improve it. Choose a room that’s pleasant to you, one that you will enjoy working in.
Playing music while you study can be a big help. It can be marginally distracting, but sometimes that’s a sacrifice that’s worth making. If you have to choose between working at 90% efficiency because you’re listening to music, or working at 5% efficiency because you’re constantly getting bored and taking breaks, then that’s not really any choice at all, is it?
Enjoy the process, or if you can’t, make it enjoyable.
4. Healthful snacks in small quantities
Lay off the sugar and junk food. Small doses of healthful foods keep your energy up and keep you focused. Almonds, walnuts, carrots, broccoli, and dried fruit are all great choices. Overly sweet things like candy or poptarts send your blood sugar into a tail spin, and release hormones that make staying focused difficult. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot with a poor diet.
5. Don’t use these tips to procrastinate.
This is the important. It’s easy to think that “applying” tips like these is productive work. And to a certain extent that’s true.
But, if you find yourself spending twenty minutes reading reviews about the best page blockers, or preparing a gourmet snack tray, or meticulously organizing your iTunes folder into different playlists for each subject, then, well… We see the problem here, yes?
Apply these tips, but bear in mind that the final goal is to actually get your schoolwork done.
That’s it for now! Call Study Hut in Manhattan Beach for more information about how to study right and slaughter your coursework and SATs
AP Biology, AP Phyisics and Chemistry
October 23rd, 2011The sciences can be some of the most difficult classes in high school. From basic chemistry, to AP Bio and AP Physics, students often struggle with understanding the facts and concepts taught in classes, and using them to ace their tests. There are some serious science nerds, including myself, here at the Study Hut ready to help you flourish and learn in these difficult, but very important classes. But, for effective tutoring, the sciences are dealt with in a slightly different manner than tutoring math or history.
Classes such as math are learned through repetition of problems, usually through homework. The concepts, although important, usually take a back seat to the problems themselves. To get tutored in math, you can simply show up and do your homework with a tutor, learn the material, and ace your test. But studying for the sciences are much different. The sciences, especially biology, are much more conceptual, than problem based, and concepts take longer to effectively teach than doing problems. If you are struggling in a science class, it can more often than not be pointed to a shaky understanding of the broad concepts which connect all the facts and anecdotes learned in class. So this presents a unique challenge to tutors; It is almost impossible to effectively teach the material if a student comes in expecting to learn a whole chapter’s worth of material in an hour. To get the best help possible, students should read the text, go over their notes, attempt problems, and then come to tutoring in order to clarify and solidify the shakier concepts.
So if you are struggling in a science course, study ahead of time, know your weaknesses, and then come to the Study Hut as often as needed to stay on top of the material.
