Organising English Lessons as an English Tutor

Organising English Lessons as an English Tutor English Tutor Jobs: Your Guide to Teaching English Classes ChaptersA General Way to Organize English ClassesPlanning Primary School lessonsPlanning Secondary School English LessonsPlanning lessons for A-levels, GCSE EnglishTutoring jobs for English tutors can vary greatly depending on the classes they give. The qualifications required for teaching primary, secondary, university students vary greatly.Teaching in a university requires a higher level of education and some certifications might be needed to teach students for test prep, psat, tefl, Gmat etc.Different years have different syllabus and the teaching strategies also change according to the age groups. The planning of English lessons should be carried out keeping the age group in mind.Just like any other classes, an English lesson should be focused on a specific topic and should include several activities to help improve learning and make the lesson more interesting.While planning the lesson, the English tutor should keep in mind the questions such as how much time would be required for a lesson and what activities would be conducted during that class.What should be the sequence of topics of discussion  be and how should you end the lesson to ensure that the students remember new information from the lesson?The two key factors while organizing the lesson should be time and the activities. Time for English classes is usually limited so the English tutor should use it wisely and in the best possible way.You should make sure that you complete each activity and that students grasp all the concepts of the lesson before you move on.Plan your lessons before hand. ( Image Source: Unsplash) CalumDrama School Entrance Teacher 5.00 (15) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ToriSpanish Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors OliviaSchool support Teacher 5.00 (2) £21/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkESOL (English) Teacher 4.76 (17) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors YuweiChinese Teacher 4.33 (6) £19/h1st lesson f ree!Discover all our tutors JenniferMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors LouiseAutoCAD Teacher 5.00 (3) £60/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RickyPercussion Teacher 5.00 (7) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors NicolasGuitar Teacher 5.00 (2) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MyriamOrganic chemistry Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JonathanEconomics Teacher 5.00 (9) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Oluwakemi imoleMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AlexPhysics Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors AdamSinging Teacher 5.00 (14) £48/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ValentiniMusic reading Teacher 5.00 (2) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MilenaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RashmiEconomics Teacher 5.00 (1) £35/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tu torsA General Way to Organize English ClassesBefore we dive into the organisation  of classes, let us discuss some common ways that you, as the tutor, can organize any class irrespective of what grade you are teaching.Language tutoring could involve teaching primary students, high school students or tutees found online. You could also be a varsity tutor, or giving private tuition in a learning center.Whether you are a private tutor, looking for online teaching jobs, providing your tutoring services in a tutoring center or any starting a tutor jobs London, these points remain valid in all cases.1. Review After starting your class with a warm greeting, it is prudent to do a review of the previous lesson or the previous day. You should inquire with the students about what they learned from the last lesson.You should ask them to summarize the content of the last class. Apart from that, ask them to come to the white board and write some examples from previous topics.Reviewing the previou s lessons before starting another lesson helps students concentrate on English and stay connected to whatever they have learned in the previous lesson. And this is not just true for English but also for Calculus, Algebra, Math science, trigonometry, computer science etc.2. Introduction Starting the lesson without an introduction can leave your pupils in a confused state of mind. They will develop lots of questions in their mind and it would take them much longer to understand what you are teaching.Always start the lesson with proper a introduction. Explain to your students what they are going to study in that lesson. Jot down the list of topics on the board. For example, if you are about to give a lesson on verbs and adverbs, explain to them what verbs and adverbs are.Tell them about the uses of verbs and adverbs in sentences and how they can convert an adjective into an adverb. In other words, just give them a brief overview of the lesson before you get into the nitty gritty detail s of the topic.3. Activities Now, the kind of activities you design, depends on what age group you are teaching. Activities play an important role during the lesson, as they help students retain the information in the long term. Whatever activity you conduct, it should be designed in such a way that it enables your students to use the new skills you have just taught them.If you gave them a lesson on clauses and phrases, distribute work-sheets with exercises on them.If your lesson was on a poem, ask your student to paraphrase any verse from the poem. Give them tasks to analyze the poem and write a summary etc.Ask more questions from students to check what they have learned. ( Image Source: Unsplash)If you are teaching kids at primary school, make them act out poems, stories and plays. Dynamic activities like role playing can energize the classroom and make the students more active.4. EndingThe last minutes of the lessons should be reserved for a wrap-up. Ending a lesson abruptly is n ot good for the students retention of information. Whether you are a biology tutor, Math tutor, French tutor, Spanish Tutor or tutor of any other subject, this applies to all.Ending the lesson with a short review of what you have taught, is a good way to ensure that the students grasp everything firmly. Ask questions about what they have learned during the lesson. Can they come up with new sentences using the grammar skills you have just taught?Summarize the lesson. One-to-One lessons require you to engage with students more often. Check their writing skills by testing them on a short writing task.Scheduling your lesson in this way will ensure that you have a big impact on your students and that they'll climb the ladder to academic success one lesson at a time.Planning Primary School lessonsPrimary education focuses on the age group of 5 to 11 years. The curriculum at key stage 1 focuses on rapid development of reading skills. Their lessons should revolve around ensuring that the st udent can pronounce and amalgamate unknown words easily and accurately using the knowledge of phonemes along with their existing skills.Base your lessons around grapheme-phoneme correspondences and also revise the previous teachings. Apart from this, develop in them the skills of producing sounds of words and the ability to read without reluctance.Make them practice via reading books and keep developing their phonic knowledge and skills. They should be able to identify the unusual correspondences between sound and spellings and their place of occurrence. Teach them to fluently read words containing -es, s, -er, -ing, and -est endings.They should be taught to spell words having 40+ phonemes that have already been taught to them along with the exception words, days of the week, letters of the alphabets in correct sequence etc. Your lessons should also be focused on teaching them the skills of adding prefixes and suffixes, applying the rules of spelling, pronouncing words and grammar.A t this young age, the English tutors are also required to teach the kids handwriting.Train them to sit correctly at a table and hold the pencil the right way. They should be taught to write numbers, letters etc.Planning Secondary School English LessonsSecondary schools comprise of key stage 3 and key stage 4 with students  aged 11 to 16. At this stage, your lessons should be organized such that your students are developing an appreciation and love of reading. Teach them to read new, challenging material. Introduce them to fiction and non-fiction along with whole books on poems, plays, stories, covering all kinds of genres.Introduce English literature to them along with the Plays of Shakespeare. Train them to understand challenging words and texts by teaching them new vocabulary and checking their understanding to ensure they are able to understand what they read.Tutor them on the know-how of the language, vocabulary choice, correct use of grammar, structure of texts etc. Their writi ng skills should flourish and they should now be able to plan, edit, proof-read and draft.Ensure that your students are focused on what you are teaching. ( Image Source: Unsplash)The topics of your lessons could revolve around active voice, adjectives, adverbs, antonyms, auxiliary verbs, clauses, phrases, conjunctions, consonants, nouns, objects etc.Learn to to manage teaching students with dyslexia here.Planning lessons for A-levels, GCSE EnglishIf you are an Educator, tutoring A-level students you will be dealing with teens of age 17-18. The English lessons will be more advanced at this stage. Organize your lesson to impart skills of developing arguments, researching and managing information, and analyzing complicated text in various styles and form.Your students should be tutored to understand language and use it for imparting information and persuading. Aim your lessons to develop in them the ability to respond to different styles of text and establish a firm foundation for furt her study of linguistics.At age 16, students usually take the standardized General Certificate of Secondary Education and if you are a certified teacher tutoring them, your lessons would be based upon the pattern of the test. Organize your lessons such that they focus on enhancing the skill-set of your students.Take short quizzes and tests frequently. Take oral tests and tests that would teach them to analyze fiction and non-fiction and make them adept in punctuation, grammar spelling, writing and reading skills etc. Test taking allows you to monitor their progress.If you are an online tutor, or home tutoring etc. math tutoring, English tutoring etc. you can get innovative in the way you organize your lessons. If you have basic knowledge of computer science, you can use technology to organize even better lessons.Even as a college or school teacher, you can include various aspects of technology to amplify the learning. Find out where to find students and what your students are passio nate about. Produce supplemental content for your lessons. Take testimonials and feedback from your students to improve more! Learn how to set your English tutoring tariffs here.

What Should I Expect From Online Bass Guitar Lessons

What Should I Expect From Online Bass Guitar Lessons Suzy S. Interested in online bass guitar lessons? Here, online teacher  Justine D.  shares what to expect in your bass guitar lessons, how to prepare, and more: If you’re curious about playing bass but can’t find a teacher in your area, online bass guitar lessons may be right for you! Video-chatting technology like Skype and Google Hangouts make it easy to connect with a teacher and start making music from your own home. You may be wondering what to expect from online lessons, whether you’ll be able to hear or see your teacher, or how you’ll get feedback on your playing. I’ve been teaching online bass guitar lessons for two years and have worked with students of all ages and all learning levels. In this blog post, I’ll walk you through how online bass guitar lessons work, whether they are right for you, and what to expect from your first lesson. Why should you consider online bass guitar lessons? They’re convenient. You won’t need to travel to your teacher’s studio or carry around your bass and amp. This saves you money on gas or transportation and time. Take lessons anywhere. All you need is a computer or tablet, an Internet connection, and your instrument! Just make sure that you choose a room or location that’s quiet and has good lighting. And if you want to continue your lessons while on vacation, you can! They’re affordable. Online bass guitar lessons are often slightly cheaper than in-person lessons. This is mostly because you wont receive the same kind of physical feedback or adjustments as with in-person lessons. Are online lessons right for you? Because the tones produced by a bass guitar are lower than other instruments, it’s especially important that your computer or tablet has a good quality microphone. And if you don’t play an acoustic bass guitar, you’ll also need an amp in your home. You might need to turn the volume up a little louder than you’re used to, too. This will make sure your teacher can see and hear you well. If you have a slower Internet connection, you may experience problems like dropped calls and video or sound lagging or freezing. Most video-chat issues are easily fixed by restarting the call, but slow connections can make this happen more regularly than you’d like. Lastly, online bass guitar lessons are great for independent students. You should feel comfortable following directions, making small changes in your hands, body, and posture, and be able to ask questions about anything that may be confusing. How do online bass guitar lessons work? After you sign up for online bass guitar lessons, make sure that you add your teacher to your contact list. Most online teachers will use Skype or Google Hangouts, free video-chatting software for computers or tablets, to teach. Talk to your teacher to find out more about what he or she recommends. Make sure there’s enough room in front of your computer or tablet for your chair, yourself and your bass, and your amp. An armless chair or stool is best so you can fit yourself and your instrument on it comfortably. You should also be able to easily reach your amp in case your teacher asks you to make adjustments to your sound so he or she can hear you more easily. Once you’ve started your lesson, I recommend always double-checking the video you’re sending (the smaller screen or video) to make sure that your teacher can see both your left and right hand. Because bass guitars are often bigger instruments, you may want to scoot back to get everything in the picture. Ask your teacher if he or she can see enough of your playing! The exact format of your online bass guitar lesson will vary based on your teacher and your musical goals, but rest assured that you and your teacher will still be able to hear and see each other, just like in an in-person lesson! Your teacher can help you tune your bass at the beginning if you don’t already know how to tune. I often play with my student at the same time, either on my bass or guitar, though I sometimes do ask students to play by themselves so I can really focus on what they’re playing. There’s many different ways for you to get and study your learning materials online, too. Screensharing lets your teacher show you music, charts, or other materials that they have open on their computer. Your teacher can also email you files or links to review or recommend books or sheet music for you to purchase. Some of my students like to print out their materials, while others open their files on the computer and practice in front of their screen. It’s up to you! Conclusion Online bass guitar lessons are an affordable and convenient way to become a better bass guitar player! Your teacher will walk you through the best way to set up in front of your screen, help you choose your volume and amp settings, demonstrate new techniques, and play along with you. You’ll learn new musical concepts, study your favorite songs, and become a video chatting and bass guitar playing pro! Good luck with your bass guitar playing! Justine D. teaches guitar, bass guitar, upright bass, and music theory lessons in San Diego, CA, as well as online. She received a double major in  in music and psychology at Kalamazoo College, and joined the TakeLessons team in 2011. Learn more about Justine here!   Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo  by  kohrogi34

Why was English Wikipedia black last week A English Listening Exercise

Why was English Wikipedia black last week A English Listening Exercise Websites, including Wikipedia, that protested last week.Last week, you may have noticed that the English language version of Wikipedia was blacked out last week. Other sites, like Google, The Oatmeal, Craigslist and Wired magazine did similar things to their websites last week, protesting the proposed SOPA and PIPA laws that the U.S. congress was working on.So what was congress doing that was such a problem that Wikipedia, Google and other important websites would protest? The issue is somewhat complicated, but Salman Kahn of the Kahn Academy  does a great job of explaining the bill in the video below. After the video youll find a series of listening questions._____ ____ that youre the owner of some kind of copyrighted material.What is he asking you to do in the previous sentence?What does he say the purpose of SOPA is?What does he say the problem is?What kind of companies within the U.S. might be hurt by SOPA?When does it get creepy according to Kahn?Why does it get creepy?What are some examples of how this law could be misused?What this allows them to do is _____ first and _____ later.What does he mean by the previous phrase?What does he say is the creepiest thing about the bill?Id be _____.

New Tutoring Test Prep Option in California

New Tutoring Test Prep Option in California Improving Academic Performance MyGuru is excited to announce the launch of our presence in several new cities. We are anxious to extend the success we’ve experienced in building an elite team of tutors in the Chicago area. We now have tutors available in California (Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco), Minneapolis, MN, Champaign, IL, Bloomington, IN, Boston, MA and New York, NY. We’ll bring the same commitment to recruiting and working with only extremely talented and accomplished tutors, delivering a high level of customer service, and building a results-driven culture. However, whereas outside California we are slowly building our presence with our Chicago-based management team, in California we are taking a different approach. Our team of tutors in California is being built by our new Managing Tutor for West Coast operations, Ethan Castro. Ethan graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a double major in English and Humanities at the University of Colorado. He also holds a Master’s degree in Education from Loyola Marymount, a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. He worked as a strategy and management consultant at a top consultancy prior to joining MyGuru. Perhaps most importantly, Ethan spent several years as a high school English teacher prior to going to Northwestern University to study for his JD/MBA degrees. This gives him a unique and valuable perspective and set of capabilities that spans the worlds of business and education. We are excited to have Ethan aboard, and look forward to bringing the same quality academic subject tutors and ACT, SAT, GMAT, GRE, MCAT, LSAT, CPA, CFA tutors to Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco, as we have already brought to the Chicago area.

A Complete Guide to Renters Insurance

A Complete Guide to Renters Insurance pexels.com What is renters insurance? Costing about $10 to $20 a month, renters insurance protects renters against possible loss or damage to their personal property. It also insures renters in the case that someone else is injured while on their property. What does renters insurance cover? Renters insurance covers a wide variety of potentially disastrous things that could happen to your rental property and/or your belongings. According to Insure.com, a super helpful site explaining the basics of renters insurance, there are 16 different perils covered by a policy called the HO-4. Some of these perils include fire or lightning, explosions, windstorm or hail, damage caused by vehicles, smoke, falling objects, vandalism, and theft, just to name a few. For the complete list, visit Insure.com if you want to check all 16 conditions that are covered by renters insurance. What does it not cover? While renters insurance certainly covers many different perils that could befall your rental property, there are unfortunately some conditions that are not covered. For example, your insurance won’t cover such natural disasters as earthquakes, mudslides, and landslides. Further, events such as natural floods, war, nuclear hazards, government seizure of your property, intentional destruction of property, and failure to save your property either during or after the time of loss, are not covered by renters insurance. To get coverage for such events as earthquakes or floods, you may need to purchase a separate insurance policy. Also, be aware that even your pets can become a liability. For example, if you have a dog and it bites or injures someone  who is on your property, the harm caused will not be covered by your renters insurance policy. As a result, if you do happen to have a dog (or any other pets that could potentially cause harm to others), you might want to consider purchasing a separate policy that will cover animal bites. Infographic by Kailey Walters What are the benefits of having renters insurance? Have you ever heard of the saying, “Better safe than sorry”? Well, that saying definitely applies to your decision to get renters insurance. Some people might hold themselves back from buying renters insurance because they think it’s not worth it â€" perhaps they don’t feel like shelling out extra money each month, or they think their personal belongings aren’t valuable enough to warrant protection. However, at about only $10 to $20 a month, renters insurance is certainly affordable and a worthy investment to make to protect your property. In fact, the  National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)  reported that the average cost of a renters insurance policy was $187 annually in 2011 â€" not a bad price for protecting your most prized personal possessions, especially when considering how much more expensive it could potentially be to replace any lost or damaged items out of pocket. Ultimately, the actual cost of your policy depends on a number of other factors as well, such as where you live and the type of coverage you choose. Especially if you intend to rent the same property for an extended period of time, making sure that your property and personal belongings are protected against any possible damage is certainly a smart idea. In the event of a disaster or something unfortunate that happens unexpectedly, you will have peace of mind knowing that your belongings are insured. Particularly if you think you cannot afford to replace any lost or damaged belongings, having renters insurance is a safety net to cover replacement costs. Further, if someone happens to be injured while on your property, they could potentially bring up liability issues by suing you. Having renters insurance can consequently save you a lot of headache in terms of dealing with paperwork and a whole slew of unnecessary legal issues. Another advantage of having renters insurance is that it may possibly  cover additional living expenses. For example, if something happens to your rental property (i.e. one of the 16 perils mentioned previously) and you can no longer live there, your insurance may cover the costs of temporarily living elsewhere, which includes your food, and other expenses. Especially when you think about how much it would cost to temporarily stay in a hotel for even a few nights, or how anxiety-inducing it is to find a place to stay on such short notice, you’ll be glad that you have a renters insurance policy. To make sure of the details, check with your specific policy. Can you rely on the landlord to protect your possessions? Unfortunately, no. A common misconception held among renters is that their landlord’s insurance will cover their rental property and their belongings, which is why many renters ultimately choose not to purchase an insurance policy. However, the landlord does not have you covered in this situation. While your landlord’s insurance covers damage to the building and the grounds, it does not cover your personal possessions or any damage you may have caused to your property, such as a fire in your own kitchen. With that being said, it is definitely smart to stay informed about what your landlord can and can’t do for you, and to know exactly what you are responsible for protecting. As a result, having your own renters insurance can be quite useful in protecting your property and in allowing you to know what to expect, so that you arent hit with any nasty legal surprises. In fact, some landlords might even require you to have your own renters insurance policy. If you are not sure about this or need assistance finding coverage, ask your landlord for some guidance. He or she should be willing to help you out and clear up any questions. What are the different ways that your belongings can be covered? There are two ways your belongings can be covered generally: actual cost value (ACV) or replacement cost coverage. ACV coverage will only pay for what your property was worth at the time of loss or damage, minus the deductible. This means, for example, that if you bought an electronic device for a certain amount of money ten years ago, ACV coverage will only pay for what it was worth back then â€" even though today, that electronic device would most likely be worth less. The other option, replacement cost coverage, will reimburse you for what the item costs according to current market prices, minus the deductible. While this option costs a bit more than ACV coverage up front, it may be more worthwhile in the long run, especially for more expensive items that you own. So, when it comes to how you want your belongings to be covered, you have a couple of options to choose from.  Again, definitely check with your specific policy to make sure of the details. What kinds of coverage are involved in renters insurance policies? There are three basic kinds of coverage to consider when you start shopping for a renters insurance policy: personal property, liability, and additional riders. Personal property coverage is fairly self-explanatory â€" it covers your personal possessions, such as clothing, furniture, etc., which is usually a minimum of $2,500 worth of coverage. Liability insurance protects you against liability claims, such as lawsuits for bodily injury, while additional riders provide coverage for belongings that are of higher value, such as jewelry and electronics. Where should you get renters insurance from? According to Value Penguin, some of the best renters insurance companies of 2018 include State Farm, Erie, Allstate, Lemonade, and USAA. So, if you want to get the most bang for your buck and rest assured that you are being covered by an effective policy, take a look at these companies. What’s more, Uloop is certainly a great resource to turn to for your renters insurance needs while still in college. Under the “Renters Insurance” section of Uloop, you will find a form that you can fill out to get a quote for renters insurance. You will also find information on the GradGuard College Renters Insurance Plan, which provides a number of useful features â€" such as theft and fire protection, or liability protection â€" that can be of great help in protecting your personal belongings and your property on campus. pexels.com What else should you do to be smart about renters insurance? Definitely one thing you should do is to take a complete inventory of all of your valuable personal belongings. Doing so will help you keep track of everything valuable you own and ensure that you are properly compensated for anything that is lost or damaged. Create a list of all your belongings and their monetary value, and make sure to keep the list in a safe place.  (It’s up to you whether you keep an electronic or a physical version do whatever works best for you!) It’s also a smart idea to keep receipts for everything, as well as to take pictures of your belongings and keep them as your own photographic records. Leave no stone unturned â€" after all, when it comes to your belongings, you want to do everything you can to make sure your stuff stays protected. Even if youre not a particularly organized person, there are a number of resources out there to help you stay on track with cataloging your stuff. One resource is the myHOME Scr.APP.book set up by the NAIC, which allows you to photograph images, barcodes, and serial numbers that you can then store electronically. Another good resource is the Allstate Digital Locker app, which also allows you to take and store photos of your belongings. Also, while this may seem a bit tedious, it’s a good idea to go through your policy with a fine-tooth comb to check for any limitations or specific items that are not covered. For example, many policies may not fully reimburse you for particularly expensive items such as jewelry and electronics. In those cases, say if you have a favorite piece of costly jewelry or a flat screen TV that you cant stand the thought of losing, you may want to consider getting further coverage beyond what the standard policy can offer, just to be safe. How can you save money on renters insurance? Although renters insurance is already fairly affordable, there are still ways you can get discounts on your insurance policies. If you have another policy (e.g. car insurance) with a certain insurance company, they might offer you a discount on your renters insurance. According to the Insurance Information Institute, you might also be eligible for a discount if you have a security system, use smoke detectors, use deadbolt locks, have good credit, stay with the same insurer, or are over 55 years old. Ultimately, if you rent property, it’s definitely a good idea to take the necessary steps to insure yourself against possible damage or loss of your personal belongings. When it comes to your possessions, you’ll want to make the most responsible decisions to ensure that everything you own and your property remain safe and sound!

4 Tips to Survive your Final Exam Study Group

4 Tips to Survive your Final Exam Study Group How to Survive your Final Exam Study Group?? (4 Tips) How to Survive your Final Exam Study Group?? (4 Tips) Now that AP exams are over, it’s time to focus on finals. College Prep students are pretty much exhausted at this point in the year and who can blame them? Students who are in their sophomore through senior years have been working on academics almost non-stop since January. Most students will already be part of a study group (and if they arent they should form one ASAP) but at this point in the year many study groups focus more on complaining or distracting each other than they do on academics. However, there are a few ways students can keep their study group on track, survive the rest of the year, and still maintain friendships with the members of the group. 1. Keep everybody in the loop It’s not advisable to text one person thinking that theyll tell everybody else if there is a change in study plans. At this point of the year, its almost a guarantee that somebody will be accidentally forgotten or left out. This leaves a lot of time wasted explaining to a friend why they were not invited when that time is better spent on academics. Todays social technology offers any number of ways for students to keep in touch. Google Hangouts and Snapchat are just two of many options. 2. Get organized and stay organized With each member of the group mentally exhausted, organization is more important than ever. Each member should take turns dividing up tasks or at least keeping track of them. The organizer of the day can help break up different parts of the assignment or study, keep track of time, help the other members of the group avoid distractions and so on. Because the organizer will have additional mental fatigue at the end of the session, it’s important that the responsibility is rotated amongst each member of the group (READ: How to Get an A Before the End of the Term). 3. Break up tasks If five students are studying five chapters, theres no reason for every single person to read every word of every page. Study groups are advised to break up the amount of work and have each person quietly focus on their section and present it to the group. Because finals can be extremely stressful, its important that each person does their fair share to make it easier for the group as a whole. Five minds are better than one! 4. Follow up on your own Friendships are often lost when one member of the group finds out another didnt take high-quality notes. If students find out that they missed important information on the day of the exam, they will often be angry with a member of their study group and blame them for their lack of preparation. However, its important to understand that everybody is fatigued, and everybody will forget to write down essential information at some point. It’s also important for students to remember that, ultimately, they are responsible for their own work. Each member of the study group is encouraged to follow up on information from the study guide on their own or with their private tutor to figure out if anything is missing. It only takes 15 or 20 minutes to look through the class study guide, the bolded or highlighted terms in the textbook, or a self-made study guide. Its definitely worth the time to make sure each and every concept was covered than to find out that major pieces of information are mis sing on test day (READ: The Students Guide to Study Breaks). In Short Students are encouraged to hang in there as best they can through the end of the academic year while still doing their best on exams. Study groups can be extremely effective and helpful, but stressed-out students will often forget important information or pick a fight with a friend over a misunderstanding. Students are encouraged to make their academics a priority but also understand that their friends and classmates are only human, and they will want to have their healthy and happy friendships intact at the end of June. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write. 4 Tips to Survive your Final Exam Study Group How to Survive your Final Exam Study Group?? (4 Tips) How to Survive your Final Exam Study Group?? (4 Tips) Now that AP exams are over, it’s time to focus on finals. College Prep students are pretty much exhausted at this point in the year and who can blame them? Students who are in their sophomore through senior years have been working on academics almost non-stop since January. Most students will already be part of a study group (and if they arent they should form one ASAP) but at this point in the year many study groups focus more on complaining or distracting each other than they do on academics. However, there are a few ways students can keep their study group on track, survive the rest of the year, and still maintain friendships with the members of the group. 1. Keep everybody in the loop It’s not advisable to text one person thinking that theyll tell everybody else if there is a change in study plans. At this point of the year, its almost a guarantee that somebody will be accidentally forgotten or left out. This leaves a lot of time wasted explaining to a friend why they were not invited when that time is better spent on academics. Todays social technology offers any number of ways for students to keep in touch. Google Hangouts and Snapchat are just two of many options. 2. Get organized and stay organized With each member of the group mentally exhausted, organization is more important than ever. Each member should take turns dividing up tasks or at least keeping track of them. The organizer of the day can help break up different parts of the assignment or study, keep track of time, help the other members of the group avoid distractions and so on. Because the organizer will have additional mental fatigue at the end of the session, it’s important that the responsibility is rotated amongst each member of the group (READ: How to Get an A Before the End of the Term). 3. Break up tasks If five students are studying five chapters, theres no reason for every single person to read every word of every page. Study groups are advised to break up the amount of work and have each person quietly focus on their section and present it to the group. Because finals can be extremely stressful, its important that each person does their fair share to make it easier for the group as a whole. Five minds are better than one! 4. Follow up on your own Friendships are often lost when one member of the group finds out another didnt take high-quality notes. If students find out that they missed important information on the day of the exam, they will often be angry with a member of their study group and blame them for their lack of preparation. However, its important to understand that everybody is fatigued, and everybody will forget to write down essential information at some point. It’s also important for students to remember that, ultimately, they are responsible for their own work. Each member of the study group is encouraged to follow up on information from the study guide on their own or with their private tutor to figure out if anything is missing. It only takes 15 or 20 minutes to look through the class study guide, the bolded or highlighted terms in the textbook, or a self-made study guide. Its definitely worth the time to make sure each and every concept was covered than to find out that major pieces of information are mis sing on test day (READ: The Students Guide to Study Breaks). In Short Students are encouraged to hang in there as best they can through the end of the academic year while still doing their best on exams. Study groups can be extremely effective and helpful, but stressed-out students will often forget important information or pick a fight with a friend over a misunderstanding. Students are encouraged to make their academics a priority but also understand that their friends and classmates are only human, and they will want to have their healthy and happy friendships intact at the end of June. All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at pr@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us write.

How to Handle a Stressful Work Environment

How to Handle a Stressful Work Environment Photo by Pedro Figueras from Pexels Find Healthy Outlets If you are finding yourself feeling stressed at work, you need to find ways to blow off steam. That way you can avoid having a breakdown of any sort, whether that be physical, mental, or emotional. You never want to let yourself get to the point that you feel like you cannot do or take anymore. You do not want to give up on a project you are working on, or yell at a co-worker, or even feel like you need to leave work and just get up and go. Instead, find healthy outlets to help you de-stress periodically throughout the day so that your frustration and stress do not build up to a breaking point. They can be small tasks so that you do not get in trouble for not doing your work. Maybe once an hour, you spend one minute doing deep breathing exercises. Every other hour, you take a pause and drink a cup of water. Every couple of hours, you get up and walk around the building for five minutes just to get your blood flowing and your heart pumping. Set yourself a goalâ€"if you meet this deadline, you can watch a three-minute video of puppies rolling around. Take the moments that you need so that you do not end up needing a long recovery time instead. Really Take Your Lunch Break One key strategy to help you handle a stressful work environment is to make sure you have clear breaks between when you are working and when you are not working. Some people like to have a working lunch. They will sit and munch on some food as they go through their work tasks and sort of stretch out their eating. Do not do this. When you have a lunch break, actually take your lunch break. Do not do work during it. If you do not feel like you cannot take the full amount of time you are allotted to eat (whether that be half an hour, an hour, etc.), then you can shorten it, though it is recommended that you take the full time. The law has set that time aside for you to have a break for a reason. But if you cannot, you can take whatever time you want or need instead. Just make sure that you are not doing work during it. This is applicable to breaks other than lunch breaks as well. Do Not Take It Home Continuing on with this idea, do not take your work home with you either. You are not getting paid to work on it at home, or even to stress or worry about it outside of work. So don’t! Do not take work-related calls, do not check your email after 9 p.m., whatever rules you need in order to keep yourself grounded. In fact, a truly great way to help yourself avoid stress is to avoid having your work email on your phone. That way, you cannot be bombarded constantly. When you are at work and on your work email, then you will see it. And there is never a work emergency that is worth your own health. Photo by energepic.com from Pexels No matter what your work throws at you to stress you out, you want to be able to stay on top of your own health and manage it, whether it be physical, mental, or emotional health. You need to put yourself and your health first, over any job. If you are not doing this in the first jobs that you take, even as a college student, then you may never do so. Set the precedent and make handling a stressful work environment in a healthy way a habit now so that you do not have to struggle as much in each new job you take.