Today was a little bit of a difficult day. I worked with Peter, and he has a Biology test
tomorrow. Peter’s teacher was nice enough to provide him with a study guide, but Peter
decided to wait until his session at Study Hut the day before to fill it out. I was hoping Peter
had a strong understanding of the material and that’s why he waited so long, but unfortunately
that was not the case. Peter was confused with some of the questions, and tried to answer
them just to get the questions done. I could tell Peter really didn’t want to be here and just
wanted to finish his study guide so he could get out of here. So, we went over each question
together and found the answers to the questions in the text. Peter also, would try to answer
each question with only one sentence. That’s not gonna suffice in a High School Biology class,
so I tried to get him in the habit of writing at minimum 5 sentences. By the end of the session I
still wasn’t confident that Peter had a solid understanding of the material, so I emailed Rob and
told him about our session. He also felt Peter would need some more help and we’re trying
to get him to come back in for some extra help. I tried to tell Peter that he’s so lucky when the
teacher gives him a study guide for his tests and he should take advantage of that. It narrows
down the amount material, and half the time they use the same questions. It doesn’t make
sense to not complete the study guide or wait until the night before the test to study. You can’t
really retain all the information if you study the night before. Hopefully Peter can make it back to
Study Hut tonight so we can prepare even more for his test tomorrow.
Calling Mom and letting her know about the big Biology Test
April 13th, 2011Study Hut Tutoring: Making the team stronger
April 3rd, 2011My favorite part of tutoring at Study Hut is working with the students. However, my second favorite thing is working with the other tutors. Knowledge and experience is integral to the job, but Rob and Sean only hire people who are friendly, positive, and play well with others. This is good for our students, but it’s also good for us – the same traits that make us good tutors also make us good friends and coworkers.
Once a week we all try to meet after work to play a few hands of poker. It’s a fun time with nice people, and some of these guys are pretty good at it, too. All that work that goes into teaching AP probabilities and statistics apparently lends itself really well to counting odds on the fly.
After awhile, we’re not just playing cards with our coworkers; we’re playing cards with our friends. And that means that we’re going to work with our friends, too. All this adds up to a learning environment that is vibrant, fun, and full of people who know and trust each other. We know implicitly that we can rely on one another to pick up the slack when needed, and together deal with the most challenging problems any school can possibly throw at us.
West LA feelin’ the Hut
March 29th, 2011This blog goes out to all the Hut peeps and all the potential Hut peeps that live in West LA and surrounding areas. At Study Hut, we’ve been shocked at how many new parents and students have been calling our brand new El Segundo office from towns other than El Segundo. Specifically, Westchester, Playa del Rey, West LA proper, and Hawthorne have been feeling the Hut. The buzz has been awesome on the internet, where many current clients and new clients alike have been clicking on www.studyhut.com to learn more about our services, and to set up tutoring appointments in El Segundo.
Just this morning, we signed up two new students. The first is a young man in the 5th grade from Eucalyptus Elementary in Hawthorne. I spoke to his mother on the phone, and he needed a tutor to help him with math concepts, and also with science tutoring. The second new student needed help with advanced algebra at Westchester High School. The mother really liked that our tutors are young and local, and she liked that many of us have degrees from Loyola Marymount University.
I am officially announcing our first blog promotion. The first parent or student from St. Bernard High School in Playa del Rey to call the El Segundo Study Hut for tutoring (310-648-8526) will get two free hour-long tutoring sessions. We can tutor almost any subject, and we are looking to spread some positive vibes at St. Bernard, since two of our best students ever used to drive all the way to our Manhattan Beach location back in the day. Best of luck to everyone!
You Are Not the Subjects You Study
March 28th, 2011 As a parent, you know that your child is a complex individual, full of surprises. You know their dreams and aspirations, their fears and dislikes, what influences and what motivates them. You know that though they may grow bored at school, frustrated with teachers or affected by their peers, that if someone could find the key to tap into your child’s potential they would shine as brightly as they do in your eyes. It is this uniqueness that we try to cultivate. There are a few special ingredients that make Study Hut such a sweet place to learn and one of them is that we recognize each student’s individuality. Tutors are paired students that allow us to foster genuine connections and have a real positive influence. That’s why we enjoy being tutors. While many of our tutors can teach multiple subjects, Study Hut takes the time to place students according to their personality and ambitions. Seeing our students strive for the same goals we’ve have sought to attain inspires us and we pass this inspiration onto our students.
A real understanding of who your child is also helps us tutor more effectively. Biology becomes a basketball team, physics becomes skate boarding and statistics becomes the probability the Lakers will win the championship (100%, of course!) Students are no longer just another face in a sea of students but part of the Study Hut family. Every child learns differently, and relates differently. Parents know this for their children; tutors should know this for their students. We don’t just teach a child, we teach your child.
Balancing Equations in El Segundo
March 28th, 2011El Segundo High School students that need chemistry tutoring are in luck. Study Hut tutoring in El Segundo is going to get you going where you want to go. We are experts in every subject, with tutors who’s knowledge is and teaching style is tailored to each of the students who come in for subject help and test prep. Take a look at this breakdown from Andy, our UCLA bio/chem major who dominates science like nobodies business (but ours!):
Sometimes balancing chemical equations is easy….unfortunately it can also be
a nightmare! When all else fails there is one way to balance an equation that will
always work; with ALGEBRA! Who ever said learning math wasn’t useful?
To solve balance chemical equations using algebra start by assigning a variable
to each part of the reaction. For example if we had the unbalanced equation
NaHCO2 + C6H8O7 ——-> CO2 + H2O + Na3C6H5O7
First we assign a value of 1 as the coefficient of the first compound. We then give
letter designations to the other coefficients.
(1)NaHCO2 + (A)C6H8O7 ——-> (B)CO2 + (C)H2O + (D)Na3C6H5O7
Now we can establish relationships between the variables based on the different
atoms.
Sodium: 1=3D
Hydrogen: 1 + 8A = 2C + 5D
Carbon: 1 + 6A= B + 6D
Oxygen: 2 + 7A = 2B + C + 7D
Now we solve these equations starting with Sodium
1=3D ——–> D=1/3
We then plug D=1/3 into the Hydrogen and Oxygen equations and solve for C
and B respectively:
1 + 8A = 2C + 5D ———> C = 4A – 1/3
1 + 6A = B + 6D ———–> B = 6A -1
Finally if we put these into the Oxygen equation we can solve for A:
2 + 7A = 2B + C + 7D ———–> 2 + 7A = 2(6A-1) + (4A-1/3) + 7(1/3)
This give A = 2/9. Now we can go back to Hydrogen and Oxygen and solve for C
and D.
C = 4A – 1/3 —–> 4(2/9) – 1/3 = C
C = 5/9
B = 6A -1 ——–> 6(2/9) -1 = B
B= 3/9
This give us: (1)NaHCO2 + (2/9)C6H8O7 ——-> (3/9)CO2 + (5/9)H2O + (1/3)
Na3C6H5O7
To get whole numbers we multiply by 9 giving us the solution!
(9)NaHCO2 + (2)C6H8O7 ——-> (3)CO2 + (5)H2O + (3)Na3C6H5O7
This method may seem complex, but it is guaranteed to work for any chemical
equation!
Tailored Tutoring at Study Hut: A tutor’s perspective
March 23rd, 2011Today was very exciting day at Study Hut Tutoring. My first student, Jordan, came in
with some math homework. He was having a hard time understanding what side of the graph to
shade in on linear equations, so we tried to plug values in for x and y and see where they relate
to line. This made things very clear. Jordan realized he could just shade in the region of the
graph that makes the original equation true. With the key concept making more sense, the rest of
the homework was a breeze. We also talked about cool dissections that we’ve both done in our
various science classes. Jordan talked about how much he hated taking earth science, but really
enjoyed the life science class especially because of the dissections. Jordan heard that students at
PVHS get to dissect a sheep’s brain in their anatomy class, and it sounds like he’s really wants to
go there.
My second student, Matthew, came in with an assignment from his Police Academy
program. He has to format his notes in a precise order, and any mistakes would mean he has to
restart the entire page. Matthew got a 98% on his Geometry test and an 89% on his history test,
but he really wanted to complete his Police Academy assignment before his training on
Saturday. Unfortunately Matt made a spelling mistake, at the very end of his page so he had to
rewrite the entire page. Matt and I also talked about better note taking techniques for English
class. He was given a reading assignment, but there were no highlighted or underlined words. I
told him to make sure he makes marks or notes on the pages he reads, so when it comes time to
study or right a paper he can find his annotations a lot faster.
My third student of the day, Robbie, also came in with math homework. Robbie might
have enjoyed a little too much of the delicious Study Hut candy, because he had a lot of energy
tonight. He would fall a little off task, but he was still able to complete all of his math
homework and most of his spelling. Robbie had to multiply fractions and he had a strong grasp
of the overall idea, but was a little confused when to cross multiply in order to reduce the
fraction. But, after the clarification he breezed through the rest of the math problems and started
his spelling packet. Robbie didn’t understand the point of spelling homework, and that reminded
me of when I used to complain about getting tons of homework. Just a torture device teachers
hand out. He wasn’t able to complete the entire packet during his session, but he has enough
time tonight to finish it at home.
Unfortunately, my fourth student, Montana, couldn’t make it tonight. But, that gave me
enough free time to write about my day, so I guess it was a positive after all.
Study Hut is Scholar Quiz
March 22nd, 2011Study Hut Tutoring is proud to announce its involvement in this year’s Scholar Quiz at Palos Verdes High School. As many people in the South Bay know, Study Hut has been sponsoring the Scholar Quiz at Mira Costa High School for several years now. And with our involvement level as high as it is with the Palos Verdes High School AVID program, it only makes sense that we are now sponsoring the PV High Scholar Quiz tournament.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Scholar Quiz, it is a fast-paced academic tournament in which students on teams of four are asked to answer questions as quickly as possible. It is a lot like Jeopardy, except students can stop the reader and answer the questions at any time.
Scholar Quiz represents all that is Study Hut. We love trivia, we love studying, and we love when students work hard and receive the recognition they deserve for all of their efforts. One of Study Hut’s founders, SP, made it to the semis at Mira Costa’s 2003 tourney. Today, many of our tutors volunteer as readers, timers, and scorekeepers for the Scholar Quiz at Mira Costa, and the Scholar Quiz at Manhattan Beach Middle School. MBMS’s Scholar Quiz is always fun, because oftentimes parents come to support their kids, and even students who are not signed up for the program still visit various teachers’ classrooms to root for their friends’ teams. Teachers are always excited to host all of the students in their classrooms, and some teachers get really into it, reading questions and facilitating the tournament in their classrooms like professional referees.
We are as excited as ever to be entering the Scholar Quiz season, and for those of you who go to Mira Costa or PV High, we hope you enjoy the t-shirts this yea.
