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| A+ Test Prep and Tutoring Newsletter |
October 2011 |
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Featured Student: Amanda Fleming
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 This month we are pleased to profile Amanda Fleming, a senior at William Penn Charter School. Amanda first took the ACT in June of her junior year, and then again this past September. Although her original score was an already strong 30 out of 36, Amanda elected to do an A+ test prep tutoring program in order to better understand the ACT and to have access to more practice tests. With her diligence and enthusiasm, combined with the tutors' one-on-one attention and instruction, Amanda became progressively faster at completing the practice tests and didn't feel rushed when she had to complete the real test. She learned the tricks for test taking and mastered the recurring concepts and techniques that the test makers like to include. It is no surprise that Amanda's overall score rose to a 33! Congratulations to Amanda on her achievement!
Amanda appreciated that her tutors offered valuable advice on time management, a critique of the types of mistakes she made on practice tests, and direction on specific concepts that needed work. Carolyn Scott, Amanda's verbal tutor, offered the following glowing praise: Amanda he has a fine mind--organized, methodical, fact-checking, highly capable--and a lovely calm, collected manner. The way she writes her ACT essays indicates her strong organizational skills: the reader will always see transitional words such as moreover, further, lastly. The content of her essays reveals that same organization; for example, she emphasized the need to schedule well when participating in extracurricular activities, like her field hockey. It was a pleasure to work with such a fine student and lovely person as Amanda."
Melissa Nash, Amanda's tutor for math and science, commented: "Amanda was so enthusiastic about the entire process. She practiced so intently; it was possible to see how she applied strategies that we worked out together. I don't feel that I needed to teach her anything about math or science (she is very knowledgeable in both) but that I was her coach for taking the test. It was a great experience for me and I hope for her."
Amanda enjoys all of her classes in school, although science is her favorite subject. In addition to rigorous academics-- AP Chemistry last year and AP Biology this year--Amanda plays field hockey and is captain of the school's lacrosse team. She is also a writing center peer tutor and senior page editor for the yearbook. In her free time, this busy senior makes wrap bracelets and sells them in her mother's store, an activity she began by making and selling ribbon headbands, belts, and hair bows with her sisters and cousins.
Amanda's top college choices are Haverford, Davidson, and Washington and Lee, and she will also be applying to Amherst, Princeton, University of Richmond, and Bucknell. Although Amanda does not yet have a specific career goal, she knows that she would like to pursue something in the sciences.
Finally, Amanda would like to send "a thank you to my tutors and A+ Tutoring for all the help and support they provided me!"
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Homework: Is All the Quantity Adding Up to Quality?
|  As depicted in the film "Race to Nowhere," there is mounting evidence that heaping mounds of homework on anxious, time-strapped students is not providing any real benefit to schoolchildren. How effectively do children's after-school assignments advance learning? A new study coming out in the Economics of Education Review underscores that enriching and reinforcing classroom learning requires making homework smarter, not shorter or longer. Thus it is the quality of homework that is important; not the quantity. Evidence shows that although the amount of time that American children spend on homework has risen over the last thirty years, our country's students are still stuck in the middle of international rankings. In a 2009 survey of 65 countries*, the U.S. was 17th in reading, 23rd in science, and 31st in mathematics. A recently formed discipline is devoted to understanding and improving the ways in which children absorb, retain, and apply knowledge. The innovations that have been implemented in some classrooms have not yet been applied to homework, but the methods are easy to understand and carry out. Following are several evidence-based techniques that research has demonstrated to have a positive impact on learning: - Spaced repetition: students encounter the same material in briefer sessions spread out over a longer period of time, rather than one chunk of information on one subject on Monday, and another on Tuesday, and so on. The science behind this method is that exposing the brain to information repeatedly over time fixes it more permanently in the mind.
- Retrieval practice: employs testing in a new way, not to assess knowledge, but to reinforce it. Every time a person accesses a memory, it becomes stronger and more lasting; so testing doesn't only measure, but also changes learning. Simply highlighting material or taking notes doesn't have this effect. The self-quizzing involved in retrieval practice is simply an effective way to focus on challenging one's brain to come up with the information.
- Desirable difficulties: it is a misconception that if information feels easy to absorb, we retain it better. In fact, the opposite is true; when the brain works hard to recall the information, we remember it better (think about when you have been introduced to someone with a very common name, versus meeting a person with a moniker that you needed to repeat a few times). The extra effort tells the brain that the knowledge is worth filing away.
- Interleaving: a type of desirable difficulty where the assignment mixes situations or problems to be worked out rather than grouping them by type. In this way, the student's brain has to work harder to find the solution because they don't know in advance what kind of knowledge or strategy will be required. The result is that the students learn the material more thoroughly.
So now the question is, how can we as educators and parents use this knowledge in a practical manner? "Teachers should devote energy to creating homework that is stimulating and provocative rather than banal," says Howard Gardner, Harvard professor and creator of the theory of multiple intelligences. "And parents or mentors should go shoulder-to-shoulder with youngsters, helping to motivate them, thinking of ways in which to help them without giving the answer, and being aware of the child's special gifts and weaknesses." Many teachers agree, but highlight that an obstacle to this ideal is the fact that many students don't have that parent or mentor sitting next to them after school. The National PTA and the National Education Association guidelines recommend approximately ten minutes of homework per night, starting in first grade, with an additional ten minutes added each year. Thus, for children in grades kindergarten through two, homework is most effective when it does not exceed ten to twenty minutes each day. Children in grades three through six can handle 30 to 60 minutes a day. If educators and parents expect homework far out of line with these recommendations to result in big gains in test scores, they are likely to be disappointed. Furthermore, experts stress the importance of teachers' addressing the issue of assignment quality, since 10 minutes of challenging work-incorporating one of the techniques described above-is more valuable than 30 minutes of busywork. *according to results from the Program for International Student Assessment released on 07 December 2010 |
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Cook Your Way Through the SAT
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 | | Cook Your Way Through the SAT |
Wondering why onions STIMULATE the LACHRYMAL glands? Then you need to read Charis Freiman-Mendel's new book Cook Your Way Through the SAT.
Freiman-Mendel, a 9th grader at Choate Rosemary Hall, in Wallingford, Connecticut, has just published a new cookbook which includes 99 of her favorite recipes and 1000 SAT vocabulary words.
Charis was home-schooled by her mother, Jennie, for 7th and 8th grades. She decided to write a cookbook in order to meet her home-school art requirement. As she was working on the book she also began to study for her high school entrance exam, the SSAT. She recalls "I love to cook and my mom was trying to find a way for me to study for the SSAT." That is how the idea of a cookbook including SAT vocabulary words was born.
Charis started working on the book at the age of 12 and took two years to complete it. She has just self-published it using the online service createspace.com. Charis and Jennie are using online public relations and marketing to publicize the new book.
After each recipe in the book, there is a blurb about the recipe and the ingredients used to make it. The SAT vocabulary words are contained in the blurbs, which illustrate proper usage of the words. An example of one of the recipes and it's blurb can be found here.
Charis became interested in cooking at an early age, " I always watched my dad cook, and I wanted to get involved by chopping, etc. I was probably about 7 or 8 when I started helping." When asked where she found the SAT words for the book, she said that she researched cooking topics, ingredients, and recipes, and then tried to find a tie-in with SAT and SSAT vocabulary words. "I found a way to plug them into the blurbs by using a thesaurus. I also used my older brother's SAT books to find vocabulary words."
Charis' goal for book is "For people to learn words and retain them for these tests by using them in context, which is the best way to learn words." She also wants kids to learn how to cook. "A lot of cookbooks for kids are too easy, and kids should try harder recipes. I wanted to include more challenging recipes."
When asked whether she is planning to write more books, she DEMURRED. "Right now I am in high school and thinking about college. So I am not really think about that, but I wouldn't rule it out." She is SANGUINE about the all attention her book is receiving. "More and more people are looking at the book on Amazon, on my Facebook page, and on my website. Its really, really exciting."
You can find Charis' website here. The website contains sample recipes, cooking demonstrations, and an alphabetical list of the 1000 SAT vocabulary words used in the cookbook. The book can be purchased on Charis' website and is available on Amazon.com. You can help Charis get the word out by "liking" her book on Facebook.
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$200 A+ College Book Scholarship Awarded
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Congratulations to Ryan Little of Lansdale! Ryan, a senior at Methacton High School, is this year's winner of The A+ College Book Scholarship. Ryan will receive $200 towards the purchase of books at the college of his choice. He was chosen at random from all those who completed client surveys following their test prep programs in the 2010-2011 school year. We were so happy to have worked with Ryan, and we wish him success in college!
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SAT and ACT Proctored Exam
Schedule for October, 2011
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Free, no-obligation, proctored ACT and SAT practice exams are open to current students and to members of the community.
The following exam dates are scheduled:
Penn Wynne Library 130 Overbrook Parkway Wynnewood, PA 19096
Date: Saturday, October 22, 2011
10:00 AM to 2:15 PM
St. Paul's Church 120 N. Easton Road Glenside, PA 19038
Date: Saturday, October 22, 2011
9:00 AM to 1:15 PM
Wrightstown Library 727 Penns Park Rd Wrightstown, PA 18940
Date: Sunday, October 23, 2011
1:00 PM to 5:15 PM
This is a great opportunity for students to take the ACT or SAT in a simulated test center environment prior to sitting for the "real" thing. Students will receive a detailed score report which includes an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses on the exam.
These free tests are offered by A+ on a no-obligation basis. Space is limited, though, so call our office today at 215.886.9188 or 610.520.0537 to register.
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Thank you for your interest in A+ and our newsletter. Feel free to contact us at 215.886.9188 or on the web at www.aplustutoring.com.
And don't forget to visit the A+ Blog, which is updated weekly with articles relating to a variety of education-related topics including college admissions, test prep, learning disabilites, reading skills, and more.
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Daniel Ascher
A+ Test Prep and Tutoring |
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