by Rebecca Mayer | Jun 29, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
Learning Your Learner-
For students who need a lot of help comprehending a certain topic, one-on-one tutoring is a good way to go. For these types of students, I have learned that it is best to work at their pace and to reiterate things as many times and in as many different ways as they need. Repeating things and asking them to repeat something you’ve said helps you make sure they understand something, and helps them realize they understand something themselves and will be able to remember it.
It takes a while to learn exactly what the student needs and how they learn, and it is important not to force a learning style on them and to use what they know. It takes some time to figure out what a student’s certain learning style is, and when they get that aha moment, it’s easy to tell you’ve found the right style.
During my time as a tutor, I’ve found that the most common type of learning style is asking questions. This helps the student figure things out for themselves and allows them to find answers without you telling them. It can also make them feel very accomplished when they reach their own aha moment by themselves, then you know they’re truly comprehending the topic.
With patience and understanding, I have been able to learn the learning style of many of the students I tutor. You have to try out different methods to see how well they respond and how engaged into the topic they feel. It may take a while, but with time, finding out how a student learns best will definitely pay off and allow them to get the most out of tutoring.
by Chuck Summers | Jun 29, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
The ideas expressed in this blog are certainly not new or original to me. I would like to give credit to Chris Brady, CEO of Life Leadership for these ideas.
I am an electrical engineer by training and practice. I know a lot about circuit design, digital signal processing and software design. One thing I was never taught in school, or as an engineer, however, is what Chris Brady calls the “checkpoint race”.
A checkpoint race requires participants to pass certain checkpoints in order to proceed in the race. There are no short cuts: every checkpoint has to be passed.
At MaThCliX®, we must meet certain checkpoints if we are to be successful tutors. Those three checkpoints are 1) Make a friend, 2) Find a need, 3) Meet that need.
To be effective as a tutor, I have to convey to the student that I truly care for them as a person. This cannot be faked. If you do not have a sincere concern for the well-being and success of your students, you either need to find a way to develop it or quit tutoring, because you will not have much success as a teacher and may, in fact, do more harm than good. There is saying that applies here: “They won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
One way of approaching this is to view a problem a student may have as a common problem, one in which you are working together to solve. At MaThCliX®, we first demonstrate how to solve the problem, then solve the problem with student, then let them solve one by independently. We are not there to show the student how much we know, but rather listen with humility to discern what problems they are having.
Listening is somewhat of a lost art. You will be amazed at how much more effectively you will become at helping students when you master this skill. When you listen carefully you can pick up on seemingly unrelated things that will greatly impact a students comprehension.
An extension of the quote above goes like this, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care, but then you had better know something! ” At this point the student is ready to hear.
Finding the need is important because we don’t won’t to help the student with a problem they don’t have. This is an area I struggle with because there are areas of math that I get really excited about. It is real easy and enjoyable for me to spend time talking about those things, but I have to work hard to find their problems or concerns and not my own.
Once the needs are identified, we use multiple techniques geared to a student’s learning style to help the student understand solutions that they can embrace. Of course, you know their learning style because you have been actively listening and picking up on their visual and auditory cues (part of making a friend).
These three steps or checkpoints are applicable to a host of other endeavors and are the basis for successful sales and leadership. You may not realize it, but anytime you are trying to get your point across, you are selling and influencing. So, every time you interact with a student you should make a friend, find a need, and help them solve a problem.
by Jeff Skinner | Jun 6, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
Life is exhausting. It’s as simple as that. We are constantly finding ourselves venturing off into new activities and making new commitments, while we already have a chaotic life waiting for us at home! Adults have work and taking care of their children, while students have 8 hours in a building learning and then going home to do even more work! It gets pretty crazy, and some days can have a major toll on our bodies and disable us from doing all that we need to do. When I was in high school, it seemed like every day all I wanted to do after school was nap. My usual basketball game after-school with my neighbors turned into me putting on pajamas and falling asleep to some poorly rated movie on Netflix. Why was this happening? Why couldn’t I find energy to do my homework and necessary studying?
It took a whole lot of ignorance and zeros on my assignments to realize that I needed to knock off my new after-school rituals and come up with an active plan to keep myself awake and motivated. I started making goals for myself and rewarding myself when each of those goals was done. For instance, if I had to write a five page paper I would write 2 pages, and then reward myself by playing a video game for half an hour or going outside and playing with my friends. I found that this was a really good way to plow through my homework, because it actually made it enjoyable and I had something to look forward to. This can easily be applied at a learning center like MaThCliX also. We like to stay really focused on work for about 45 minutes and then spend just a few minutes socializing and talking about things other than school with the students. This really keeps them engaged and lively and has been really effective. I know how hard it is for some of these younger student also who just want to eat a thousand pixie sticks and run a marathon, but using this method really seems to work with them. Academic endurance is important because it keeps students engaged in their work, and we all know how hard it is to put yourself in a hole with assignments and try and climb out!
It’s as simple as making a few goals with your homework and figuring out the best way to tackle all your work before starting. This can make all the difference and can cut down study time tremendously. With a little self-motivation and encouragement from others, we can all pick up the pace with our work and get it all done!
by Rebecca Mayer | Apr 23, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
The Socratic Method is a form of discussion based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking. When teaching a student a new topic, it is important to make them think about what they are learning rather than just firing information at them that they may or may not absorb. If you go about teaching as more of a discussion, then not only does the student retain more knowledge, they also feel more included in their own learning.
When using the Socratic Method with tutoring or teaching, asking questions to fuel the students’ thoughts helps them explore the topic further to reach a better understanding. In addition to this, asking questions that require more than a yes or no answer will help the student create their own thinking process to figure out questions rather than you just telling them the answers. This way, when they end up in a situation where they don’t have your help, say when taking the test, they will have already established their own process for solving the question and won’t feel lost without your guidance.
Another important aspect of the Socratic Method is checking students when they get answers wrong. Rather than just telling them they’ve arrived at an incorrect answer, ask them why they think it’s incorrect and what they think they did wrong. This will help them later to be more aware about when answers are wrong so that when taking a test, they will be able to see their mistake easier and know how to fix it, or they will remember correcting their mistake during tutoring and won’t even make it. Teaching about wrong answers is just as important as right answers. If a student is just constantly told that they are getting incorrect answers, they won’t be able to understand where they make mistakes or how to get them right.
Question asking is an effective way to keep students aware of their learning and to let them be a part of it. They feel more involved, like they are even teaching themselves a topic. It is much easier to remember something if you came up with it on your own instead of someone simply telling you step-by-step how to do it.
by Katie Boswell | Apr 11, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning, Testing
A Little Gold Star
How many of you parents remember the work you would do for one of those little foil stars? I can remember practicing a song on piano over and over in hopes that it would gain me that tiny little seal of confidence. And when I did earn one, the next week I’d practice twice as hard because I knew I could earn one and had to prove myself once again.
What was it about that star that made me work? It certainly wasn’t it’s monetary value or glamour. It was the pride that came with knowing I could do something. Every other week I accomplished my songs, but that week, I was a star!
Do you know the role your positive words play in your students’, friends’, coworkers’, spouse’s, tutor’s lives? Your role is huge in your child’s education, even if you never look at a piece of homework. Encouraging them to score their best, without berating them over less than stellar grades can make all the difference in the world. I would never be where I am today without my mom telling me how proud she was of my grades, piano playing, crafting, etc. Now I was never good at cleaning my room, so she chose not to focus on that flaw, as she knew I could make it to adulthood with clothes on the floor, but I couldn’t without my education.
As MaThCliX test prep coordinator I spend quite a bit of time encouraging students to use their own abilities. I find so many of the skills a student needs to excel on the ACT and SAT are within them, they just don’t trust their instincts and chances are, someone along the way chose to point out all of their mistakes and not their strengths. I am not at all saying students do not need to know their mistakes or to work on where they struggle (that’s why we’re here!), but the approach is key. A conversation started with confirmation of what is done right, is going to be received a whole lot better than one that begins with everything someone fails. I see students with the same abilities and different confidence levels score drastically different.
I want to close with some tangible ways you can encourage your children, coworkers, peers:
1. Commend good behavior
2. Spend more time with praise than discouragement
3. Work on things like vocabulary together as a family, make it fun, a joke even and laugh together when you use it!
4. Talk about areas of weakness as how you can improve, rather than focusing on it being a poor area
5. Don’t use powerschool only to ground your child, but also as a bragging point
6. Ask your child’s tutor what they did well, so you can discuss
7. Keep in mind, we all have different skills and abilities. If one child isn’t doing what another did, encourage them to do THEIR best and do not compare to others!
by MaThCliX | Apr 2, 2015 | Math, Teaching and Learning
When I was a graduate student, I was very serious about my work and committed to making A’s and doing my best. While taking a graph theory course, I remember working hard daily to learn and Learnunderstand the many proofs coming at us each week. I knew that I would never be able to reproduce any of these proofs on a test if I didn’t learn them and understand each step involved. To help me with this endeavor, I purchased the poster-sized Post-It Notes and carefully wrote out each proof in different colors. I hung them all over my apartment walls; they became my wall art for the time being. I studied them day and night as I spent time at home. I practiced writing them out on my own to see if I truly understood it and to discover what I might not understand. I think it is safe to say that I put forth a great amount of time, effort, and sacrifice. However, it paid off because I made very high A’s on all four tests and was exempt from having to take the final exam! In addition, I can honestly say I learned the content of the course.
I currently teach college algebra and while helping my students get prepared for their upcoming test, I was telling my students the above story about my efforts in graph theory. I was using it to demonstrate that to learn something we must work and put forth effort. Afterwards, one student even made the comment, “You’re like someone on the Big Bang Theory or something!”. Of course I laughed and took that as a compliment.
It occurred to me, at that very moment, that there are so many students out there who haven’t a clue what it means to work hard. It may sound simple, but for me, it was one of those “a ha” moments—-Learning requires time, effort, and sacrifice and it is every bit worth our time, effort, and sacrifice! The knowledge and experience that we gain and the discipline it takes to acquire it is invaluable and can build our character in ways nothing else could. I look back on my college days of hard work and stress and many moments of confusion and cherish it as a special time that shaped who I am today.
I encourage all students working towards a worthy goal to know that it will all be worth it in the end! Keep going!
