Billed as the first interactive website for teachers that allows teachers to create, search and share educational resources, Teachade has positioned itself among social networking sites (like MySpace or Facebook) as one of the most helpful teacher sites on the internet.  Unlike other teacher web sites, however, Teachade is completely free to use, with no strings attached.

It would be a pretty cool site even if it was just a place for teachers to network and share with each other, but I’ve recently discovered that it offers quite a bit more.  Teachers can post resources, lesson plans, and other educational tools, and then use the full featured calendar tool to schedule their entire school year! It also includes everything else you’d expect in websites for teachers, such as individual blog accounts and community groups and forum pages.

Since a lot of the tutors which either read this blog or participate on TutorMatch are also full-time licensed and professional teachers, I hope you’ll check out the Teachade.com site and let me know what you think about it.

This article is about the best method for ensuring that a student succeeds in math and benefits from the tutoring experience.  The primary thing for the tutor to keep in mind is that, while the parent may be paying the bill, it is the student who is the primary client.  The student’s needs may sometimes be at odds with what the parent perceives as the best approach to getting a better grade.   The tutor’s focus should always remain on the student. 
 
My strategy is a “two step” approach:
 

Step 1:

 
Regardless of how poorly a student is currently performing in class, I always immediately start every new client by teaching the student “ahead” of the class.  In other words, I teach the course material that the student has not yet been taught by the teacher.  Why?  Because one of the biggest problems with most students is that they are “lost” in class.  They do not understand the material that is being presented to them by the teacher, and they are reluctant to raise their hand due to concerns about how they will look in the eyes of their classmates.  Their natural fear is that they will look foolish and that they will be the only ones who do not understand the material.
 
The way to conquer this fear and build up the student’s confidence is for them to hear the material first from me in the privacy and safety of their own home.  Here they can freely express their thoughts on whether they understand the material without fear of looking “bad” in the eyes of their classmates.    I also have the student demostrate their proficiency by doing problems in front of me, so that I can be sure they really understand what I am teaching them.
 
The power of this approach is that when the student then hears the material from their teacher, they are already familiar with it.  This yields two very important benefits.  The classroom experience is now a positive one instead of a negative one.  The student develops more confidence and less anxiety about attending class.  Most importantly, the teacher now becomes my ally in teaching the student new concepts.  Now I do not have to play “catch up” by attempting to teach material that the student has already heard in class, but did not understand.  Instead, the teacher reinforces concepts that the student has already learned from me. 
 
This approach has been extremely effective at building up the student’s confidence, and enhancing their understanding of the material presented in class.
 

Step 2:

 
Many of my students are already “under water” with a poor grade and a lot of confusion about the material.  So, it is important to also go back and review prior material that the student did not grasp the first time through.  Since mathematics tends to be cumulative, it is important to fill in the missing gaps.  So, I try to spend time each session to go back and review old material. 
 
This two step approach has been extremely effective.  The humorous analogy I use with my students is that they are a little bit like a sinking ship.  We must keep the ship sailing along (by working ahead of the class), but we must also pump out the water that is already in the hold (by going back and filling in the missing gaps from prior material). 
 
The students love this tutoring method because it immediately builds up their confidence.  The classroom experience becomes more positive, the teacher becomes a valuable ally, and the students invariably improve quite dramatically in their academic performance. 
 
To my fellow tutors, I hope that you will consider trying out my approach.  I think that you will find it very effective. 
 
In a future article, I will outline my approach to SAT training, which is very different than the approach outlined in this article.

About the Author: Glen D. is a math professor at a local Boston area college and a math tutor on TutorMatch.com. His expertise is in math tutoring for elementary through college students of all ages and abilities. He also offers a very successful SAT training program. Glen lives in Natick, Massachusetts with his wife and two children. He does most of his tutoring in his students’ homes. He has turned many frustrated “C” students into confident “A” students by using the approach outlined here.

According to the report, the rising cost of college, even before the recession, threatens to put higher education out of reach for most Americans.  Published college tuition and fees increased 439% from 1982 to 2007 (adjusted for inflation) while median family income rose 147%. Student borrowing has more than doubled in the last 10 years, and students from lower-income families (on average) get smaller grants from the colleges they attend than students from more affluent families.

The report, Measuring Up 2008, is one of the few to compare net college costs — that is, a year’s tuition, fees, room and board, minus financial aid — against median family income. Those findings are stark. Last year, the net cost at a four-year public university amounted to 28 percent of the median family income, while a four-year private university cost 76 percent of the median family income.

“This study reveals that higher education is becoming a roadblock, not a gateway, to success for low-income and middle-class students,” says Gov. James B. Hunt Jr., chair of the National Center For Public Policy And Higher Education board of directors and former four-term governor of North Carolina. “States must confront these roadblocks to ensure that the United States can remain competitive with other industrialized nations that have made expansion of opportunity and affordable higher education national priorities.”

Repetition is especially useful when tutoring as children may not have been given the chance to repeat the information that was learned within the classroom setting. When the child is tutored using repetition they are given the chance to use the information learned in the classroom setting and combine it with the practice that they have been exposed to during the tutoring session.

In the past few years learning by repetition has been associated with forming the connection of synapses in brain cells.  This assists in not only learning the information, but in recalling that information throughout the lifetime of the child. Once this information has been committed to memory with the use of repetition, this information may be more easily recalled in the future.

Many skills that are learned through childhood homework assignments are skills that are going to be called upon for further learning. The pyramid of learning that is created can be based upon the repetition of the skills that children learn in their formative and early years.

Repetition is not the end all be all of learning. The learner begins with a limited amount of information (be it words or concepts), and adds in concepts as the process goes along. Gradually, the child will need less and less repetition as he or she learns the concepts which are built upon in the future.

Repetitive teaching techniques can be extremely useful with homeschool tutoring.

1. Provide a quiet place for the child to study and review the concepts that have been learned that day. This could be a time after dinner when the table is clear or any another designated study area within the home or the bedroom.

2. Keep track of assignments. The more you are involved in the child’s school schedule, the more the child is going to consult about it with you. Remember when assignments are due, when assignments need to be started and when any tests or quizzes occur within the classroom.

3. Help children with basic skills including math skills like addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These basic skills are required for any further math concepts to become developed throughout their academic career.

4. Use everyday situations to help your child learn math, English and scientific principals. This will ensure the child will realise the importance of the lessons that are being taught while reinforcing the information that has been covered in the classroom setting. Repetition ensures that the child will retain the information.

5. Use worksheets, computer software and educational games to further develop and practice the concepts that have been taught within the school. Using the skills learned on a daily basis will help to solidify the lesson within the child’s brain.

And finally, don’t be afraid to seek professional tutoring help if you’re in over your head or if your child is simply struggling too much.  Tutor Match has thousands of Math tutors, English tutors, and Science tutors available either in your neighborhood or offering tutoring services online.

1.  The saying is “for all intents and purposes,” NOT “for all intensive purposes.” You can check out Wiki Answers on this if you don’t believe me, but it’s an old legal saying from English law.  It is used to compare two different acts, such as “He just asked me to sign the divorce papers, which for all intents and purposes means our marriage will soon be over.”  You can think of it as “for all practical purposes” or “in effect.”

2. Irregardless is a word.  That’s right, I said it - according to the Merriam Websiter online dictionary, irregardless is a word, just not a very good one.  A nonstandard form of the more proper “regardless,” “irregardless” originated in the early 1900s and is still popular today.  Most people will correct you if use it in a sentence because it is basically a synonym of “regardless,” which is the preferred spelling.

3. You do well; Superman does good.  When someone asks you, “How are you doing?” don’t answer them with “I’m doing good,” instead say “I’m doing well.”  Unless, of course, you happen to be foiling a bank heist when they ask you.  The difference is you (as a person) can do something well, but things (inanimate objects) are good.  The notable exception is Superman, who “does good,” meaning he is performing acts of goodwill.

In case you’re looking for more assistance with your grammar, or just anything else related to English language studies, check out some of our many online English tutors over at Tutormatch.com.  Or visit TutorMatch to find a tutor locally near you for private tutoring sessions.

I felt it was such a valuable site that I sent the owner, Linda, a few questions to answer about the site so you could get a better idea about what GrammarNOW.com is all about:

Please tell our audience a little about what GrammarNOW.com is all about:

GrammarNOW! is a site dedicated to offering resources that help with grammar and writing. I offer a Q&A Club that answers individual grammar or writing questions, a Tip of the Week by email, an editing service, and a wide variety of resources for all kinds of writers: students of all levels, teachers, business professionals, fiction and nonfiction writers, and many others, including those who are just curious or have a nagging grammar question. In addition, there are links to language discussions (e.g. jargon), and software or other products I have researched and think will be helpful to my visitors.

When did you start GrammarNOW.com and why?

I began the site in 1998 because I saw a need to help people with grammar. I originally just offered free answers to questions, but eventually I had to begin the Q&A Club because the demand became overwhelming. The site has evolved over the years to offer the many resources that it does today.
 
Please tell us a little about yourself, and your background:

I taught English at the high school, junior college, and mostly university level for 25 years, primarily composition and literature. After that, I began freelance copy editing, which I still do, and enjoy very much. I have clients from around the world and get to read a wide variety of materials. My resume is online at http://grammarnow.com/resume/. (I also have a web design and development business that began about the same time as the grammar site. When I started teaching writing students to create simple web pages for their personal or collaborative writing projects—this was in the early days of creating web pages for all of us - I learned html myself and, well, things just took off after that in unexpected ways.)

What kinds of service does grammarnow.com offer for students and/or teachers?

Aside from the Q&A Club, which offers immediate replies to individual grammar and composition questions, both students and teachers will find very helpful relevant links in my Resources list and in the software offered on the site. I am very selective when choosing resources, trying to make sure that they are useful for my visitors. Just to reassure teachers, my copy editing service is not available for students who are graded on composition or for essay writing classes. It is only available for upper-level students in fields other than English or for graduate students.

How often do you update the site, and where do you get new content and ideas from?

I update it whenever new content becomes available. People write to me asking to be included in my resource list or to advertise on the site. I analyze my stats in detail so I know where my visitors are coming from and what they’re looking for. So when someone new requests inclusion on the site, I research them and consider whether they’ll add value to the site, and then add them if so. Otherwise, I may update my resume or testimonials. Just this week, I added a new resource (yours!) and a new advertiser to the site to provide more value for visitors. I am always updating the Tip of the Week. Sometimes I consider redesigning the site, and have done so once, but who has time?

Are you planning any new additions or features to the site?  What’s next for grammarnow.com?

The next big step is my searchable CD of grammarNOW! Tips. Right now, visitors can sign up for a free weekly grammar Tip of the Week by email. I am working toward putting about 200 of them on a CD that can be searchable by word or phrase. Anyone who is signed up for the Tip of the Week will receive a notice when the CD is ready for purchase.

Q. Please tell our audience a little about what TeachersServant.com is all about:

Teacher’s Servant is a web-based service for self-employed teachers and tutors. The luxury of being your own boss requires the burden of wearing many hats.  Not only are you the tutor but also the accountant, scheduler, marketer, and sales representative. Teacher’s servant steps right there and minimizes managing overhead of tutoring. Teacher’s Servant provides easy student, class, schedule, payment and expense management services. We offer a free plan, so teachers and tutors could start using Teacher’s Servant without any commitments and expenses right away. Our integrated schedule gives an ability to have personalized schedule linked to student and classes. On top of the “typical” scheduling capabilities Teacher’s Servant helps keep track on attendance, payments and expenses. Teacher’s Servant also gently “reminds” with notes from the previous lessons and helps stay organized with integrated To-Dos. Reach reporting functionality gives teachers and tutors instant outlook on any data that they might need – from simple invoice for a student to a complete “Income vs. Expense” report that would minimize tax preparation or just help analyze financial performance.

Q. When did you start TeachersServant.com, and why?

The idea of the service belongs to my wife Marina, who is a private music teacher. She was overwhelmed with papers, spreadsheets and calendars and was looking for a simple to use integrated solution to manage her teaching data. After extensive marketing research we’ve discovered that this need is really unaddressed despite substantial interest from the tutoring and teaching community. So, we’ve decided to fill this niche and in August 2008 Teacher’s Servant was launch.    

Q. Please tell us a little about yourself, and your background:

I have more than 15 years of experience in IT industry where I worked as a developer, architect and for the last 10 years as a project manager delivering customized solutions to my clients. Recently, I have established my own company – ZoomOnTime, Inc. The first product ZoomOnTime launched was a web-based timesheet solution for small and medium size businesses. ZoomOnTime also provides time management consulting.

Q. What kinds of service does TeachersServant.com offer for students and/or teachers?

Teacher’s Servant is oriented for teachers and tutors. We currently don’t provide direct services for students (however, they could receive automated lesson reminder from tutor’s calendar).

Q. How often do you update the site, and where do you get new content and ideas from?

Being relatively new service, we have new releases quite often (usually once or twice a month). Teacher’s Servant is customer oriented service, so majority of ideas are coming from our customers – teachers and tutors. We receive direct request/ideas from our users and also periodically reach out them soliciting feedback. Also we are actively working with local tutors and teachers in one-on-one and interest group set-ups to better understand their needs and challenges.

Q. Are you planning any new additions or features to the site?  What’s next for TeachersServant.com?

We have a number of minor additional features in our pipe-line that are scheduled for roll-out in the next 4 months. Among them are email reminders for To-Dos, reminder integration with SMS, automatic student invoicing and a number of reports. For mid-term future we are considering to provide our users with personalized web-pages, student collaboration services and lesson plans integration. We a looking for our teachers and tutors to help us prioritize these additional features so we can deliver what is mostly needed first.

The Tutor Mentor Connection (http://www.tutormentorconnection.org/) describes their mission as dedicated to improving the availability and quality of comprehensive, long-term, volunteer-based tutor/mentor programs in high-poverty areas of the Chicago region and other large US cities through an ongoing, dynamic exchange of ideas.

“Our organization feels it’s time to give back to the Tutoring community, ” says Diane Palumbo, a press representative for TutorMatch.  “We’re in a helping industry - we connect tutors with parents and students who need additional education.  We can’t forget that there’s plenty of parents who need these services but simply can’t afford them.”

TutorMatch is an online tutor referral service.  Tutors can create a profile about their tutoring services on the website for free or get a premium listing for a small yearly subscription fee.  In turn, parents and students can search the database of thousands of online and local tutors for free.  Tutormatch protects their privacy and doesn’t even require them to register or sign up with the site.  Parents and students then interview potential tutors online and have their choice to meet with them one-on-one in their own neighborhood, or hire them for online tutoring services.

“For there to be tutoring/mentoring in poverty areas we don’t just need tutors, ” says Daniel Bassill, President of the Tutor Mentor Connection. “We need donors who help pay the rent and other costs of making a tutor/mentor program available.”

That’s where TutorMatch decided to step in.  “We’re a small online educational resource site, so we can’t compete with the international conglomerates commercially, ” says Palumbo.  “But we feel it’s just good corporate responsibility to provide support for the most important resource our country has to offer - children in need of education.”
TutorMatch Tutoring and Homework Help is an online tutor referral service which has been connecting students and tutors online since 1996.  Besides their primary online referral service, the company also offers the Homework Help Today blog for both students and tutors.

Math Anxiety

Nationwide statistics shows that math scores have been dropping year after year for all grade levels. Students of this tech savvy generation start to fear math as early as the beginning of middle school level. Being the world leader in science, technology and innovation, this country cannot afford to have its next generation so detached from math. It seems as if unlike other countries such as China and India, the society here as a whole is not laying enough emphasis on the importance of math. Students that perform well in school are considered geeky and “uncool”, adding to the already mounting isolation from math as a subject of choice.

A recent article in the NY Times outlines results of most difficult math competitions for young people, including the American and International Mathematical Olympiads for high school students, and the Putnam Mathematical Competition for college undergraduates. The results show that American students that excel in these competitions are immigrants from other countries. People in countries like India and China still consider math to be imperative for growth, both academically and professionally. It’s no wonder that teachers from India are now teaching students here in the U.S. online. More and more online math tutoring companies are hiring tutors in India to teach U.S. students online. Providing low cost one-on-one tutoring services serves the dual purpose of effectiveness and affordability.

Parents, teachers and educators all around should start emphasizing the importance of math in real life and make learning math easy and fun by providing individual attention whenever possible.

About our Guest Blogger and Author:
Aish Agrawal is a math tutor in Boston, MA on Tutormatch.com.  He also works with http://www.clickandclimb.com which provides live online math tutoring to students in grades 3-12. For the latest information about online math tutoring and to solve the problem of the day visit http://blogs.clickandclimb.com