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Planning Makes for Better Scores

May 13th, 2010

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…

History Tutor: AP European History

March 19th, 2009

History is a demanding subject, particularly when it comes to AP European History. History in itself is basic memorization and correlations, but the key to succeeding in this class is good organizational skills. With the right study habits, any student can be guaranteed a passing AP score. Study Hut Tutoring has the ability to provide students with the necessary regimen that will lead to a three or above!
The first step is to read the entire chapter and outline it. The act of writing and reiterating the main points allows for better memorization. It is important for an outline to highlight key events and contain the important W’s (who, what, where, when, and why?).  The outline should be followed up by a constructed time-line and flow chart that presents the main ideas of the chapter. This will provide the student with a big picture and will aid immensely in future studying for any class tests and the AP test itself. Read the rest of this entry »