"Inspiration exists, but it has to find us working." - Pablo Picasso

Business Update

Spring Break

If you haven't already, please email me or Alexis with any cancellations or re-scheduling of regular appointments.  

Website

As you may notice from the tabs above, the website is technically live.  As you may also notice, it looks like a student in a beginner web design class created it.  It is functional and will soon be prettier, as I've hired another web designer to take over.  Stay tuned for instructions on how YOUR CHILD can create his or her own username and password to access the educational materials database.

Resources

Summer Resources

I've added a "Summer Resources" page to the blog.  The link is at the right.  It includes bulleted information about recommended summer programs for community service, language immersion, and college experience.

Affordable Proctored SATs with Wonderfully Detailed Reports

Revolution Prep's "mock tests" are available to students who are not enrolled in their classes:

• 5 exams for $75 or $15 each
• Reports include breakdown of areas of strength and weakness as well as answer key.
• http://www.revolutionprep.com/

Tips & Strategies

Keep the Woo and the Hoo at Bay

I know it's spring.  I know it's about to be Spring Break, (as in "Spring Break - Woo Hoo!").  It doesn't matter.  Aside from your concerns about your grades, college applications, getting content knowledge you'll need for next year, and SAT II subject tests, remember that every page you read, every lecture you hear, every conversation with a teacher can be a source of inspiration of passion for learning for you.  See the title of this blog.
 

News & Research

Itawamba, Mississippi Must Be the Worst Place in the World

A Mississippi federal court ruled that school officials violated a lesbian student’s First Amendment rights when it canceled the high school prom rather than let the student attend with her girlfriend.  However it denied the student's and the ACLU's request for a preliminary injunction stopping the Itawamba County School District from canceling the prom.  The Court supposedly refused to force the school district to hold the prom because of assurances that an alternative “private” prom is being planned by parents and will be open to all students.

Department of "Duh" but Needs to be Said Anyway

Bill Maher, whom many of you know is my hero, made these two very important statements on his show:

1. "The number one predictor of a child's academic success is parental involvement."

2. "It's been proven that just having books in the house makes a huge difference in a child's development."

'Nough said.

Autism and Creative Genius

A professor of Psychiatry at Trinity College in Dublin, said that the relationship between creativity and autism is not a myth, and argued that the characteristics linked to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) were the same as those associated with creative genius.

Cancellation Policy Change, SAT II Link & Big Education News

Business Update

• I'm very excited to welcome Ernie Foote, a fantastic and experienced math, Spanish and SAT tutor, to the PEC team!   He's been an educator for years, including teaching in Los Angeles high schools and tutoring for the Princeton Review.

• IMPORTANT: Cancellation Policy Change 
• I understand that kids get sick and families don't always know 24 hours in advance that their son or daughter needs to get to bed!  At the same time, because our client sessions are limited to after-school hours and Saturdays, last-minute cancellations make it challenging, in general, to accommodate client scheduling requests.  Also, because students are at school all day and therefore unreachable, (and quite busy), a last-minute cancellation generally cannot be re-booked.  Hitherto, we've charged a full hourly fee for no-shows and same-day cancellations.  In order to be more understanding of our clients' needs, we're now launching a trial compromise solution: a flat $45 fee instead of the full hour.  Keep in mind also that if a child is up to it, I'm happy to do a session over the phone or through Dim Dim, an virtual meeting venue.

Resources

Taking or planning to take AP Literature?  

From what I found, this book has received more positive reviews than the others.

Are you taking Biology?  

Are you planning to take the Biology SAT II Subject test?  If so, you must decide whether you'd like to take the E version or the M version. 

• Take Biology E if you feel more comfortable answering questions pertaining to biological communities, populations, and energy flow.
• Take Biology M if you feel more comfortable answering questions pertaining to biochemistry, cellular structure and processes, such as respiration and photosynthesis.

Tips & Strategies

Don't Fall Victim to Spring Break!  

Every year I see kids begin to unravel the weeks or months of hard work they've done.  Stay focused, stay committed, stay honest.  If you're feeling overwhelmed, consider me your "organization sponsor" - call me, email me if you feel yourself slipping or feel overwhelmed.

News & Research

Teacher Calls Student a "Loser"

A teacher writes "loser" on a student's papers.

Accurate Red, Creative Blue: Color Counts, Study Says   

"The color red can make people’s work more accurate, and blue can make people more creative. . . . Researchers at the University of British Columbia conducted tests with 600 people to determine whether cognitive performance varied when people saw red or blue. . . . Red groups did better on tests of recall and attention to detail, like remembering words or checking spelling and punctuation. Blue groups did better on tests requiring imagination, like inventing creative uses for a brick or creating toys from shapes."  It's an article from last year, but so, so interesting.

Big, Big News about Standardizing Education Nationally

"A panel of educators convened by the nation’s governors and state school superintendents proposed a uniform set of academic standards on Wednesday, laying out their vision for what all the nation’s public school children should learn in math and English, year by year, from kindergarten to high school graduation."

Map Games, Spanish Class - in Costa Rica!, and Some Good Jersey Learnin'

New Subscribers, Welcome!  You will receive a blog update once each week. 

Resources

Olympics, Shmolympics!  These Here's Learnin' Games!

If you have to study geography of any kind, in any part of the world, this site offers fun games at every level (complete with audio audience to cheer and say, "Awwww!").  If you noodle around the site using the menu at the top, you'll also find an chemical elements quiz, and a whole list of vocabulary games (scroll down)! 

Forget to Read or Study for a History Test?  

These two sites out of jolly ol' England give you only the most important facts in a very readable style:

• The first covers the shaping of "Modern Europe" from the 16th through the 18th centuries. 
• The second covers the end of the Roman Empire through the Byzantine Empire and beyond. 

I'm not going to lie - the navigation is not the most user-friendly, but the information is valuable, easy to understand, and even INTERESTING!

Tips & Strategies 



Build a House, Save a Turtle - Just Stay off the Couch!

Start thinking about what you'd like to do with yourself this summer.  All of you have to complete some sort of community service-type hours. Consider how (and where!) you'd like to give to a community.  There are all kinds of programs all over the world where you can build community gardens, repair or build houses, work with disadvantaged youth, etc.  Contact me if you're interested in something specific, or just want to brainstorm.  I have a few contacts and resources.  If you're just interested in some foreign fun, though, I did some Spanish training in Costa Rica with these folks, who do a teen Spanish program that looks like an incredible 2 weeks. 

The Bookmarks are In!!!!

The first batch of bookmarks for fiction texts has finally arrived.  When you come in, make sure you take at least one, and use it!  Use it to keep track of characters, deadlines, and "textual evidence," those pesky quotations you can never find when you need them.

News & Research 

Stuck Deciding Between the SAT and the ACT?

“The bright underachievers who are bored and get through school using one quarter of their brains will do better on the SAT, because you just need good reasoning skills for that,” says Mr. White. “And the overachievers . . . will do better on the ACT.”  This NY Times article breaks down the differences in format, skills assessed, student success rates based on student type, etc.

Metacognition - Jersey Style!

"All 428 sixth graders at Linwood Middle School in North Brunswick, N.J., are charting their own academic path with personalized student learning plans — electronic portfolios containing information about their learning styles, interests, skills, career goals and extracurricular activities.  These new learning plans will follow each sixth grader through high school, and are intended to help the students assess their own strengths and weaknesses as well as provide their parents and teachers with a more complete profile beyond grades and test scores."  Very, very cool. 

 

Business Update

• I'm happy to help!  When you send me drafts of writing to review, please let me know what type of feedback you'd like and when the final draft is due.  
• Spring Break is coming soon.  Please let Alexis or me know as soon as possible if and when you will need to cancel or re-schedule sessions.
• Check, read, share, comment on, make requests for this blog!