What Is Ochem Peer Tutor?

What Is Ochem Peer Tutor?Most people have a desire to achieve their goals but lack the confidence to try out on the path that will take them to success. Ochem Peer Tutor is a virtual tutoring program developed by a group of university graduates.What they have created is a tutoring service which allows students to discuss their concerns and encourage them with encouragement and tips. The program helps to motivate individual students to achieve their goals without worrying about procrastination. It is a powerful tool to help individuals find their own way to reach their goals.The companies behind these tutoring services have worked hard to ensure that their programs are simple to use and that the learning process is consistent with the overall goals of the tutors. Since the clients are not limited to only one subject area, they can try to use their different tutoring services in combination.Ochem Peer Tutor was launched in 2020 with the intention of providing quality online services fo r high school students. At that time, the group of university graduates were working with tutors from India and Nepal to prepare them for a career as a teacher. They were able to analyze the requirements of each individual student and make sure that the program complied with their individual preferences.The tutors were equipped with all the skills training that they needed in order to teach other students. These skills training include communication, writing, interpersonal skills and technical and other relevant knowledge.To keep these students busy and motivated, they provided a variety of learning activities, which allowed them to have fun and develop their social life as well. The tutors are now members of Aweber and remain online all the time to interact with the students.Ochem Peer Tutor has partnered with video conferencing, which allows them to chat with the students anytime and anywhere. This feature provides a great opportunity for communication for the tutors and also serv es as a great help to the students.An Ochem Peer Tutor is a key player in the process of goal achievement. They are instrumental in helping a group of students reach their professional goals. However, it is important to remember that there are many different types of programs to select from, so you need to make sure that you take into consideration factors such as your budget, curriculum, time and availability of your subjects for teaching.

Mango Languages Review A Practical and Comprehensive Look at the Program

Mango Languages Review A Practical and Comprehensive Look at the Program Mango Languages Review: A Practical and Comprehensive Look at the Program How about a language learning software that learns you instead of you learning it?Adaptive algorithms: that’s the Mango Languages promise. Mango Languages is an online and mobile learning resource thats said to evolve with you as you progress through the course. So what you get isnt just a self-paced language instruction, but a highly individualized learning experience that adapts to your study habits.No doubt that’s a big task.But has Mango actually delivered on that sweet promise, or has it turned sour in the process?Well, let’s find out.  Read on to see our Mango Languages review and find out if the program is right for you! What Is Mango Languages?Mango Languages is an award-winning, language-learning platform based in Farmington Hills, Michigan. It was founded in 2007 by a team of four ambitious innovators who wanted to leverage technology to bring down linguistic and cultural barriers.Mango aims to deliver practical conversational skills through proven methodologies so you can rapidly transition from a non-speaker to someone who can hold meaningful interactions in a foreign tongue.The folks behind Mango believe in organic language acquisition, so they created a product that doesn’t deal too heavily with grammar or vocabulary building. Focus is placed instead on pragmatic conversations, with grammar and vocabulary stealthily learned in the background. The idea is that as you progress through the course, your intuition and feel for the language increases.The company offers courses in over 70 languages, including the different regional branches of Arabic (Egyptian, Iraqi, Levantine and Modern Standard) and Spanish (Castilian and Latin American). There are also specialty language courses that focus on particular fields of work (eg. Business Spanish, Medical Spanish and Legal Spanish).If you want to learn about culture, like the Irish St. Patrick’s Day or the German Oktoberfest, there are short courses about those, too!And hey, if you or your frien d are learning English, Mango Languages is one of the best sites that can get the job doneâ€"what with their English course being taught from over 20 source languages.Mango Languages is available online and in app form for both iOS and Android devices. You can sync your progress across all devices for that seamless learning advantage. So whether you’re on the go, in a coffee shop with your laptop, or in bed with “night mode” turned on, you have Mango lessons on the ready.Mango is suited both for individual and institutional users. Educators can use Mango Classroom as a 24/7 teaching assistant helping organize class activities and assessments. Global businesses and government agencies (like the military) have utilized their software to help employees and personnel get a better grounding in the language and culture of their international assignments.The software is made available for free to countless partner public libraries around the world, as well.This Mango Languages review will focus on the program as experienced by the individual language learner.Mango Languages Subscription OptionsPersonal SubscriptionA personal subscription to Mango will set you back $17.99 a month. This price includes access to all the 70+ languages on offer. Youll be asked to pick a language as a take-off point, but don’t worry: You can switch and explore other languages anytime you like.You can create as many as five profiles. So if you’re a family of language enthusiasts, or among like-minded friends, you can go ahead and learn languages together. In addition, your subscription includes 24/7 support, progress tracking and parental controls.You can get onboard with a two-week free trial. You just need a credit card number and you’re good to go.From time to time, they do have promos to encourage new subscribers. For instance, as of this writing, Mango is priced at $7.99 for the first three months of subscription instead of the regular $17.99. Keep an eye out!Library Subscr iptionThere are actually thousands of local libraries that offer Mango for free. Yep, that’s right! For free.The question is: Is your local library one of them? Head over to the Mango website to find out. At this link, youll be able to search the Mango system by typing either the name of your library, the city or the zip code of your location. So for example, if you type “New York,” you’ll be given the list libraries in the area that offer the program.If you happen to have an account with a library that offers Mango Languages, you can have free access to the program ‘til the cows come home. All you have to do is link your library account to your Mango account.How to Link Mango Languages to Your Library AccountBefore you start these steps, make sure you have a Mango account. You can do that over on the main Mango Languages website.Via Browser:In the right-hand corner of your dashboard, youll find the user icon. Hover over it and choose “Edit your profile” from the pop-u p list.Click on “Settings.”On the left side of your screen, you’ll see the option which says, “Organizations.” Click on it.Next, click on the button which says, “Link an Account.”Now do a search for your library by either typing its name, your city or the zip code where its located (US or Canada). Click on your library in the search results.Enter your library card number and your PIN number. Then click “Connect.”Some users might see the “Launch Authentication” button instead of “Connect.” If youre one of those users, just click on “Launch Authentication” when the option appears.On the next page, simply enter the login details youre asked for. This will typically involve, again, your library username, library card number and PIN number.Manage that, and you’re now connected to Mango for free!Via Mobile:Download the Mango app.Open the application and tap on the “Try Free Sign Up” button. Create your profile.After going through the process of creatin g your profile, your home screen will show the “Your Profile” icon in the upper right-hand corner of your screen. Tap on it.Next, choose “Upgrade Account.”Then tap on the “Get” button, right next to the word “Free.”Youll then be asked to type in the name of your library, your city or your zip code. Tap on your library from the search results.Enter your library card number and tap on “Access Mango.”“Success!” You can now enjoy the unlocked features of Mango.And youre in!Now lets take a look at everything the program has to offer with our Mango Languages review. Enjoy!Mango Languages Review: A Practical and Comprehensive Look at the ProgramStandard Language Learning Program FeaturesInteractive LessonsThe standard Mango course is comprised of four or more “Units.” Each unit is broken up into “Chapters” and the chapters are further subdivided into “Lessons.” Major languages like English and Spanish have more content than the usual, compared to, say, N orwegian.Each lesson hits on the four main language skills: listening, reading, writing (typing) and most importantly, speaking. The lessons are interactive and come in the form of a slide deck, with each lesson containing 20 or more slides to run through.Lessons usually open with a dialogue containing target words and phrases. These are then presented in bits and pieces, with each subsequent slide adding more concepts and complexity to your understanding of the original dialogue.The slides build on previous ones. So you will, for example, go through individual words before you’re introduced to phrases, sentences and conversations. (The experience is often seamless.)Each screen involves some sort of activity or drill. It can be as easy as listening to how a new word is pronounced or a sorting task where you craft a sentence by rearranging words.Every now and then, cultural or grammar notes will land on your lap and help you get a firm grounding on the concepts presented. Sometimes , a picture or two might appear in order to illustrate a point.Going through each deck and working on the drills is said to increase your linguistic intuition and comprehension.Youll never be at a loss, either, because redundancy is built into the slides. Everything is “triple-layered.” This means that you’ll always have the word/phrase/sentence in lively fonts and colors,  its English translation and the audio pronunciation of the word/phrase/sentence.Recaps, Reviews and ReinforcementsAs mentioned, redundancies are built into the whole system. In addition to the repetitions and drills in the lessons itself, there are reinforcement exercises in each chapter and unit. These make sure that the grammar and conversational goals have been successfully integrated by the student. (These goals are shown at the start of every lesson.)The dashboard, which gives you everything you need to know at a single glance, shows your progress through the course so you can immediately pick up where you left off. The fact that you can also synchronize across devices means you won’t have any problems doing so.Also, the adaptive algorithms in place ensure that the daily review prompts received by individuals are very relevant to their learning needs.This should be a familiar concept if youve worked with FluentU before. If you havent, and you like the idea of a learning program that learns as you do, youll enjoy using both Mango Languages and FluentU. (Well talk a bit more about this power duo later in this post).Working with Native SpeakersMango courses are developed by expert linguists and passionate native speakers who pronounce the words, phrases and sentences, and who animate the conversations and dialogues in the lessons. The audio is the result of professionally-produced and studio-recorded sessions that ensure crisp and clear inputs.If at any time during the lesson you need to hear what a word or a phrase sounds like, you merely need to click or tap the green speaker ic on which you always find dead-center on your screen. This will get you a native speaker pronunciation.You can practice your own pronunciation by tapping on the orange microphone icon found next to the speaker icon. You can actually see your recorded voice patterns. You can then compare your recorded wave patterns to those of Mango experts. (The closer in form your wave patterns are to a native speaker’s, the better!)Unique Mango Languages Features and FunctionsThe previous section mentioned standard features that may be found in many other language courses. These next ones are somewhat unique to Mango:Autoplay FunctionAs a self-paced learning platform that relies on slide decks, Mango totally leaves it up to the user when to move to the next slide. Just click on the “right arrow” icon when you’re ready.But sometimes, like when you’re driving or busying yourself in the kitchen, you don’t have free use of your hands.Mango has you covered. With its autoplay function, you ca n progress through a lesson without smearing ketchup on your phone. With its preset timing, Mango can play in the background as you multitask to fluency.Literal and Dynamic TranslationsThere are many words and phrases in languages that dont have direct or meaningful translations into other languages.Idiomatic expressions are fertile grounds for these. The Spanish phrase “estar como una cabra” literally means “to be like a goat.” This could mean anything, from smelling like one or exclusively eating greens. The phrase actually means “to be a little crazy.”Instead of divining its meaning from the heavens, Mango gives you both the literal equivalent of the words and also their intended meaning. That way, you can avoid getting a little crazy!Mango MoviesMango has a small collection of authentic movies that you can use for immersive study. The films are only available for the most popular languages, though, and are pretty limited in number.If audio-visual input with rich cont ext is what you’re after, FluentU houses a large repository of authentic videos  to learn with. The program takes real-world videos such as music videos, interviews, movie trailers, news clips and much more and imbues them with the latest language-learning technology.Your simple video clip is then clothed with all the wonderful tools learners love. This includes interactive transcriptions, instant translations, pronunciation keys, usage examples and flashcard review. So suddenly, a simple video interview in, say, Italian can be milked for all the language lessons and insights it contains.Since FluentU relies heavily on visuals and Mango Languages relies on text, the two programs complement each other perfectly. You can get a feel for a language and its grammar on Mango, then head to FluentU and hear it in real time. Now thats a powerful combination of natural language learning!Now that we know what to expect from Mango Languages, here’s an honest review of what worked and didn†™t work for me about the program.Mango Languages: The ProsBeautiful and Intuitive InterfaceOne of Mango’s main strengths is its sleek interface. The screen features fonts, colors and design that are easy on the eyes and light on the mind. And the team has recently (in 2019) updated the software for an even more intuitive and streamlined experience.Your dashboard gives you a well-thought-out layout of everything youd want to do with Mangoâ€"from lesson progress to review prompts.The color-coding it employs in every lesson is a winner, too. Theres a correspondence between the font colors used for sample sentences and their English translations.For example, if the verb in the Spanish sentence is in red, its corresponding English verb will also be in red. Learners are able to intuit, without explicit grammar rules, how the elements in the sentences translate from one language to another. Cool!Robust Content for Major LanguagesFor major languages, like English and Spanish, there’s pl enty of content to pick up. You can easily spend 80-100 hours learning the target language.And, even better, Mango is continually adding lessons in their lineup so the units will only get better with time.Lessons Are InteractiveWith Mango, youre not just a passive recipient of information. The lessons get you to do something, engaging you to work actively with words and phrasesâ€"letting you manipulate their order in a sentence, prompting you to speak into the microphone or letting you in on a native speaker conversation.Mango lets you learn organically by practicing listening, reading, writing and speaking in the target language.Focus on Repetition and DrillsMango works with spaced repetition technology so it can tailor the lessons and review to your needs. When weak spots are identified, like a missed vocabulary word, the software’s algorithm ensures you get to work with that word a little bit more, so it’ll often come up in the review.New words and phrases are continually bei ng introduced so that youre always picking up something new, while at the same time reinforcing earlier presented words and phrases. With drills and repetition, a bridge is effectively made between the old and the new.Google Translate IntegrationThough far from perfect, Google Translate is the big daddy of the translation game.Mango Languages integrates with Google Translate. Thanks to this, you can fetch the translation for practically any word using whats probably the most advanced translation platform available today.Mango Languages: The ConsLack of Images and Video ComponentsMango Languages started with very few images to bolster their lessons. They’ve tried to rectify this with some recent visual additions to some of the courses, but there’s still plenty of room for more graphics, images and video content for the units.Having these elements embedded in the lessons would bolster the programs effectiveness, especially for the more visually-oriented learners.Visual learners wo uld benefit even more from that power duo we mentioned earlier. If you get tired of looking at the (admittedly lively and colorful) text, log on to FluentU and do some visually engaging learning, instead.This comes in the form of videos, but also every word has an associated image and checking a words definition even let you see it in use in other videos. This is a great way to get engaged with the vocabulary, but its also an excellent way to get more context.So heres what we recommend: Learn a few new words or phrases on Mango Languages. Then, head over to FluentU and reinforce those words and images through visually appealing content. Its win-win.Light Content for Minor LanguagesTo be fair, this is probably not just an issue for Mango, but for major language companies that offer a wide array of languages, in general. Its often the case that popular languages get a disproportionate investment in course development compared to the less popular ones. That’s very understandable but its something to be aware of.So, if youre studying a minor language, you’re usually better off going to native speaker websites that are focused and specialized just in the language you’re interested in.Grammar Content Could Be ReinforcedThe folks at Mango believe in organic language acquisition, and this belief is translated into how the courses are conducted.Youll realize that there’s not a lot of grammar instruction in Mango, save for some insightful grammar notes. Instead, youre expected to learn grammar implicitly by working on the drills and interacting with the slides.But for those who wanted an explicit, point-by-point tutorial on rules of grammar, you might want to look somewhere else.Over-repetition Can Prove Tedious“Repetition” is one of Mango’s advantages. But its actually a double-edged sword and that’s why it’s also listed as a “con.”Sometimes, the drills get too repetitive. For some learners, working with the same words and phrases over and over, e specially in the earlier lessons, can get too tedious and monotonous. They may not be encouraged to progress to more challenging lessons.That doesnt mean its not worth your time. Rather, you might want to break your learning up into chunks.So dont forget to take a break from Mango Languages and employ a number of different study methods so you can keep things fresh and fun. Read a bilingual story, make a study-date with a fellow language learner or do a five-minute mini-lesson on a topic you really enjoy watching with FluentU.Do whatever you need to do to keep going and keep enjoying the process!Lack of Content for Advanced Language LearnersMango Languages is a good learning resource if you’re an absolute beginner in the language you’re interested in. Theyll take you by the hand and slowly show you the ins and outs of the language.But if you’re an advanced student in need of more complex stimulation, Mango isnt for you.Lessons usually cap off at the intermediate level. Finishi ng a Mango course makes you knowledgeable about the languageâ€"not native speaker-fluent, but you’ll be able to navigate a foreign country adeptly. Don’t expect the course to be your only companion to fluency.As weve been suggesting throughout this post, Mango works best as part of a whole cocktail of books, audiobooks, language courses, and  one-on-one tutoring that you should get yourself into. Luckily, FluentU does have plenty of content for both intermediate and advanced learners, so thats also an option.So, after all that’s been said and done, was Mango Languages able to deliver on its promise?I’d say that theyre delivering on it.There are adaptive algorithms at work that can give you a personalized and tailored route to learning a new language.As a product, Mango has a bright future still ahead. The Mango staff is continually learning, and theyre learning the right stuff. In fact, theyve recently rebranded this year (2019), bringing in more features and functionalities to their system. Awesome!Something tells me we havent seen the last iteration of this variety of Mango.

Send us your photos and get featured! Plus, you have 3 chances to win a $50 Amazon gift card!

Send us your photos and get featured! Plus, you have 3 chances to win a $50 Amazon gift card! We love receiving your photos and travel stories and we love sharing them with the Teach Away online community. And we’re creating a photo album with all your photos from around the world! We’ll gather our favourite photos from the ones you submit and share them every month on our Facebook page.This month, we want you to submit your favourite photos for three chances to win a $50 Amazon gift card.For a chance to win, make sure you submit photos with the following themes:November 3-9: The most awe-inspiring landscape shot taken during your travelsNovember 10-16: You “striking a pose” in front of any national monumentNovember 17-23: A snapshot of you having fun with your new teach abroad friendsShare with us your teach abroad photos and each week, we’ll randomly pick a favourite photo of ours, and the photographer will win a $50 Amazon gift card. Every photo submitted counts as an entry, so submit as many photos as you want to increase your chances of winning!Ready to share y our photos with us? Submit them here.*Full details: From November 3rd to November 23rd, 2016, submit your teach abroad photos for a chance to win a USD $50 Amazon gift card. Winners/Prize: A total of three winners will be picked via random draw on November 9th, 16th, and 23rd and contacted via email. The winners will receive a USD $50 Amazon gift card, and the prize must be claimed within 48 hours or the prize may be forfeited at Teach Away’s discretion. The photograph, in its entirety, must be a single work of original material taken by the Contest entrant.

A Chemistry Teacher and Ta Job Description

A Chemistry Teacher and Ta Job DescriptionA chemistry tutor and Ta job description include two major categories, assistant or full time, for academic sciences and the market. But first, in academia, tutors are called instructors, providing courses for students or teach courses. A tutoring assistant is not only an adjunct or part-time instructor but more often, a professor. On the other hand, the profession of the teacher and a tutor is a popular career choice.Tutors help professors in their classes to teach using a wide variety of teaching tools, from blackboards to laptops, software, and even DVD players. While tutors focus on academic teaching, instructors teach individual topics within a single subject. In a classroom setting, the professor acts as the instructor, only with less formal obligations and often fewer regulations. In many universities, professor's responsibilities as an instructor includes supervising classes, grading papers, keeping notes, giving lectures, and holding office hours. Students need to have the instructor's permission to contact other students who have been assigned to the same class or those whose grades are due.The job duties for a college teacher job are typically outlined in a university's syllabus. College teachers teach courses in their universities, primarily in an instructional capacity. It's important to note that college teachers are often divided between course teaching, written work, and research. Academic work as a college teacher will normally include a lot of class instruction and will involve additional tasks like class quizzes, homework, and report writing.A college teacher job may involve the ability to teach mathematics and science. The person will usually be expected to supervise a group of students and assign individualized homework or tests. In some institutions, the math is pre-calculus, while others require calculus as a prerequisite. In all institutions, chemistry instructors are expected to help students wi th laboratory assignments, understand their needs and use resources, and respond to requests for consultation. Chemistry instructors, whether adjunct or full time, usually study chemistry for a few years before entering the field.Chemistry tutors are often hired for the benefits they bring to universities. For instance, they bring an international flavor to teaching the subject in an American university. As such, there is a shortage of university chemistry tutors. Depending on the nature of the university and the individual institution, chemistry tutors also help shape their university's marketing and promotional plan. Some universities make use of tutors and develop programs, like the Chemistry Educator Program at University of Oregon, to build their chemistry department and chemistry teaching department.Some colleges require a chemistry tutor and a job description. In order to become a certified tutor, one must undergo a licensing exam and must pass the examination if he/she wishe s to obtain a certificate. Certification consists of an exam where students, with a supervisor, are tested on their knowledge of chemistry fundamentals, students are asked to submit assignments based on knowledge obtained during the course, and students are evaluated based on how well they understand the concepts. Certification is required by many colleges and universities, so, it's always recommended to take an exam prior to becoming a tutor or professor. It helps both the tutor and student alike.Regardless of the profession, the tutoring and Ta job description, students and educators should seek out these two professions. Studying chemistry is fun and intriguing, and having the knowledge is a valuable resource for teachers, students, and citizens.

Tips To Find A Good Online Chemistry Tutor

Tips To Find A Good Online Chemistry TutorMany students choose to enroll in an online chemistry tutor with their personal computer. If you are new to the world of online education and want to take your science courses further, then you may also consider enrolling with a desktop computer tutor who can take your online courses with a live lecturer. This way you can have a hands on teacher to guide you through the coursework. These websites are also often known as classroom programs as well as classroom software which make them ideal for many of the online learning methods like Live Text, online lectures, interactive forums, online assessments, and video-based lectures.When choosing a desktop chemistry tutor for your online classes, there are some important factors that you need to consider. First of all, the website you will be signing up with should be well-known. They must also be very well-built to ensure that your grades and progress reports are always accurate.It is always better to choose a tutor with a proven track record, and who has previously had success in the field. Try to find a tutor with a good and long-standing reputation in the field, so that they can provide you with quality support and instruction. You may also want to check the qualifications of the individual who is teaching you, if this individual has the qualification and experience to teach you. If you would like to save money, then you could opt for a tutor who does not have any form of certificate or degree.The best thing about taking online courses is that you do not have to join a classroom full of fellow students and teachers to learn everything you need to know. These computer tutor websites have a chat room where you can communicate with other students in your class and you can also ask any questions you have that you think they may not have answers to.You can also consider whether the tutor you are signing up to have a syllabus for you to follow. Often these individuals will also h ave tests that you need to take so that you can earn a certificate to prove your progress. The more complex the courses, the more formal and detailed the test will be.Next, you need to look into the fees and expenses for the tutor. These are fixed by the tutor and will vary depending on the level of training and certification that they have. You can get a sample of how much it will cost from the website you are signing up with, but you can also consult the sites' terms and conditions to see what it has to offer.Lastly, when choosing a personal computer tutor, you must decide how far you are willing to go online to advance your studies. Taking online courses on your own time is great, and many of the instructors who have signed up with the websites have also provided personal tutorials as well.

All About University of Denver Tutoring

All About University of Denver TutoringThe University of Denver Tutoring Service is one of the many student based, not-for-profit institutions that have opened up throughout the United States. Founded in 2020, they currently offer online and on campus tutoring. They have been in business for only five years but are currently the third largest student-based education service. They have established a very successful reputation for excellent customer service, personal attention, and personalized learning for their students.The tutoring services at the University of Denver are supervised by dedicated professionals who are also highly qualified. They offer a range of different types of tutoring from pre-school to graduate school and they have tutors on staff at all times. If you would like a program tailored to your particular needs, you can speak to a tutor at anytime. They offer Skype consultations to help you plan your classes as well as a wide range of other services. Each of their st aff members are licensed, have extensive experience, and hold a Master's degree in their area of specialization.Not everyone is comfortable going into a tutoring setting because they may be shy or feel they do not know what they are doing. The tutors at the University of Denver will give you a thorough program, taking time to help you get comfortable. They understand that sometimes that initial anxiety can lead to lapses in concentration and mistakes. They strive to make sure that your academic progress is maintained at all times.Tutoring is a huge advantage to those who have already completed a bachelor's degree. Being able to find the resources you need for a refresher course upgrade can also be an advantage to any student. There are many more benefits of tutoring than just the fact that you have people who are trained and certified to provide tutoring, however.When you are looking for an online or on campus course, you have to consider a number of factors in order to choose the r ight one. In addition to teaching you a specific topic, they can also provide you with assignments, which can help prepare you for your classes and assist in your study. Students that are able to get a program started will benefit significantly in the future.Tutoring can be stressful, especially if you are juggling your schedule around school. When you have your own tutor you can focus on your course work and avoid the stress associated with having to manage your own schedules. As well, there is the added benefit of having a knowledgeable and committed teacher to work with and help you through difficult subjects.Tutoring is something that has become increasingly popular in recent years. It is important that you take the time to find the best online, on campus, or traditional classroom facility in your area. You want a high quality service that will serve you well for many years to come.

Should I Go to University of Illinois at Chicago

Should I Go to University of Illinois at Chicago The tutors behind Varsity Tutors are not just here to teachtheyre sharing their college experiences as well. Emily is a Seattle tutor who earned her bachelors degree in biological sciences and psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She specializes in GRE tutoring, English tutoring, algebra tutoring, and several other subjects. See what she had to say about her time at University of Illinois at Chicago: Describe the campus setting and transportation options. Emily: The University of Illinois at Chicago is in the heart of downtown Chicago it is super accessible by bus, train (CTA/Metra), car, and even bike (for those that live in the surrounding neighborhood). What I loved was the proximity of the school to the amazing cultural landscape that Chicago had to offer. From museums to the Shedd Aquarium to the Civic Opera House, everything was close to the campus! How available are the professors, academic advisers, and teaching assistants at University of Illinois at Chicago? Emily: Most of my professors had an open-door policy; they wanted to help students grow and develop intellectually and made themselves available for that purpose. I even had one professor mandate a one-on-one meeting with each of his 300-some students to individually discuss final projects. Cultivating relationships with professors is incredibly helpful in terms of figuring out what you are truly passionate about and want to do in the long term. It also does not hurt when it comes time to get recommendations for graduate school, professional school, internships, et cetera. A great deal of my professors had teaching assistants with a similarly open attitude about working with students. Additionally, each student in the Honors College was assigned a pre-professional advisor and mentor. I was able to touch base with this person on a quarterly basis to discuss my goals and future directions in the program. How would you describe the dorm life rooms, dining options, location, socialization opportunities with other students? Emily: The UIC dorms were a blast! Some of the people I met in my student housing years I still hold as dear friends to this day. It was extremely liberating going from a fairly rural hometown to living smack-dab in the middle of Chicago; you do not realize just how many opportunities there are to expand your individual horizons until you find yourself in that atmosphere. In terms of the actual dormitory facilities the dining hall, they were fairly standard for a university. If we didnt like the food on a particular night, we always had the option of running over to Greek town or Little Italy. Which majors/programs are best represented and supported? Emily: Engineering, medicine, and pharmacy were the major programs at UIC. Almost everyone in the Honors College fell into one of those three programs. In my first year, I was studying biology and chemistry when I realized that I had an immense interest in the biology of the brain. At the time, there was no neuroscience major (although there is now and it is wildly popular), so I decided to double major in biology and psychology. My advisors were very supportive of the move and helped me choose classes that would best fit my interests. How easy or difficult was it for you to meet people and make friends as a freshman? Does Greek life play a significant role in the campus social life? Emily: Its pretty easy to meet a core group of friends while living in the dorms. There are social events that the resident assistants coordinate in order to break the ice. Many times, however, you have classes with some of the same people and you build relationships from there. Greek life was moderately influential at UIC, although it was more about volunteer work (at least when I matriculated). I always saw the Greek organizations hanging out in the quad or running fundraisers. How helpful is the Career Centerand other student support services at University of Illinois at Chicago? Emily: The Career Center keeps busy throughout the year, running job fairs and other such events. They get companies throughout Chicago and the Midwest to come speak with students. There is also independent career counseling for students who are about to graduate. How are the various study areas such aslibraries, the student union, and dorm lounges? Emily: Especially during finals week, study areas can get crowded, but you can always find somewhere on campus to study. There are little nooks and crannies in some of the buildings that make for excellent study spots. You just have to know where to find them, which can be easily accomplished by enlisting the advice of an upperclassmen. Describe the surrounding town. Emily: UIC is right in the middle of Chicago, so it is definitely not boring. It is about a 10 minute L-train ride away from what is classically considered downtown, so students generally venture out. Recently, though, the area south of UIC has completely changed face with new bars and restaurants. I imagine that students patronize this area as well. How big or small is the student body? Were you generally pleased or displeased with the typical class sizes? Emily: Class size really depends on the class itself. With the intro-level courses, such as General Chemistry, classes are pretty huge, but are supplemented by a discussion section of about 10-15 students. The more advanced courses, like Developmental Biology, had a lecture section of about 30 students. I never took issue with class sizes because professors and teaching assistants were always amenable to taking classes and having discussions about the material. Class size was never an impediment to my education. Describe one memorable experience with a professor and/or class. Perhaps one you loved the most or one youregretthe most. Emily: I had an ecology professor who worked with wasps in his research and he was, perhaps, the most hilarious educator that I have ever had. He had tattoos of the wasp species that were at the center of his research and wore a floor length leather trench coat around campus. I had this professor for two other biology courses and he seemed to have a really great rapport with all of his students. His courses were tough, but you learned a lot. And, above all, he had a passion for what he studied. For me, he was at the intersection of science and rock-and-roll. I wanted to be at the intersection of academics and rock-and-roll. I wanted to figure out what I loved to study so much that I would tattoo it on my arms. Eventually, I did find a discipline that I am so passionate about that I moved across the country to study it! Check out Emilys tutoring profile. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

When to Push or Back Off to Help Pupils Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills

When to Push or Back Off to Help Pupils Develop Higher Order Thinking Skills Higher Order Thinking: Should Tutors Push Those Skills? ChaptersThe Back Story: Teaching VictorHigher Order Thinking and Academic LearningTutors Can Encourage Higher Order ThinkingHigher Order Thinking QuestionsPrivate tutors are in the enviable position of having great influence in helping their students develop, cultivate shape their thought processes.Unlike school teachers who, in spite of their best efforts, may feel constrained by the limitations on their pedagogy imposed on them by the Department for Education, tutors have the leeway they need to encourage students to think about what they’re learning.Anyone who has any formal dealings with the DfE â€" teachers who spend their nights and weekends tutoring, for example, may experience growing frustration with the processes currently in place to impart knowledge and assess mastery of such.Because of the well-publicised propensity these current curriculum standards force for teaching to the test, little room is left for teachers to help students develop critical thinking skills or pr oblem-solving skills.That means that students must learn creative thinking and how to solve problems outside of the classroom.There’s nothing wrong with that. After all, humans are capable of thought long before their first brush with formal schooling.However, the disconnect between the acquisition of knowledge and thinking about it; finding connections from one subject to the next often keeps students from higher academic achievement.That is where private tutors come in.Tutors fill the space between cognitive knowledge and comprehension of concepts. Where there are missing links between academic subjects, say between maths and science, tutors are the ones who point out the complementary nature of those disciplines.The question is: how far should a tutor go to instal and develop students’ capacity for summarizing, classifying and understanding what they learn?Should cultivating thinking skills be a tutor’s primary objective?Or are students truly better served by a tutor restat ing school lessons rather than one asking open-ended questions and employing instructional strategies that will encourage the student to think?How much is too much before the tutor has strayed far beyond the boundaries of what s/he has been engaged to do?This is a thorny issue. Let’s take a look at all of the facets involved in higher-order thinking skills before presenting our thesis.Noble Savage theory â€" that humans, unbound by social mores and general education would be kind, selfless and enlightened in their own right.Victor, having completely missed out on any nurturing as well as  early childhood education, and his entire young life spent being wary of harm, failed to cooperate or perform as expected.The clinicians â€" whose instructional design left a lot to be desired, had put all of their hopes into this abandoned child. Needless to say, were disappointed at being unable to prove their Noble Savage theory.Seeing no further reason to work with him, they shipped the boy t o Paris to be institutionalised. There, Dr Itard rose to the challenge of educating a child that everyone had deemed incapable of learning.It took quite a while for that educator to teach the boy social norms and even longer to teach him empathy. Once those concepts were mastered, Dr Itard resolved to educate the child, now somewhat behaved, in how to speak.Here his pedagogical skill met with abysmal failure and, after all of his best efforts had come to nothing, he turned away from the child altogether, effectively abandoning him anew.In these events, we see perfectly well how much is too much.Victor, desiring â€" perhaps not to learn so much as to please his mentor, simply did not have the psychomotor development necessary to learn how to speak after so long of being nonverbal.Critics of Dr Itard postulate that, had he employed other means of student engagement; maybe if he had taught the boy sign language, perhaps Victor could have learned to communicate.As Victor displayed a str ong affective inclination, music might also have been an effective teaching tool.Besides making a fascinating case for the need for differentiation in education, Victor’s story gives the strongest proof of the validity of Blooms Taxonomy: that there are three distinct domains that educational faculty and staff must address to guarantee student achievement.It also clearly underscores the importance of faculty development in schools so that teachers can recognise and meet students needs.Finally, it offers a cautionary tale to tutors who might be inclined to push their students toward independent thought in a manner for which they are not yet ready.Join the discussion: doimpact students' ability to master higher-order thinking?Reading skills are essential for learning but they don't make a problem solver! Image by balancepft from PixabayHigher Order Thinking and Academic LearningHigher-order thinking is comprised of equal parts of critical thinking and problem-solving.To an extent, e ssay writing is an exercise in critical thinking: the student must take in information, analyse it and draw conclusions from it.While essay writing or report writing provides an opportunity for learners to think critically and draw conclusions, chances to think critically about other academic subjects are minimal.It is quite unfortunate that many perceive critical thinking to be an exercise in which the practitioner must find fault in whatever is being examined â€" in other words, to criticise.Quite the contrary! Critical thinking involves the suspension of personal bias; it requires a dispassionate view of the topic at hand and the ability to discern fact in a sea of fiction.Developing such skills requires a fair amount of time and mental agility.In crowded UK classrooms, the first is decidedly in short supply and the second is a diverse proposition because not every student has the same level of academic aptitude.What about problem-solving? Here, teaching strategies are also lacki ng.Again, not through any fault of hard-working teachers!Today’s curriculum and instruction mandates leave little time for teachers to plan co curricular activities that would permit the development of problem-solving skills.Tutors see the fallout: unused to thinking critically throughout the academic year, learners struggle with higher level thinking outside of the classroom.Tutors Can Encourage Higher Order ThinkingIt would be safe to say that nobody, tutor or teacher, ever went into the field of education to become rich or famous.However, anyone could believe that both tutors and teachers have made education their life’s work because of their passion for learning and a desire to impart that knowledge.Oddly enough, for all that they have the same motivations for instructing, teachers’ and tutors’ overall direction seems divergent.Whereas teachers must follow the learning standards set forth by their schools, a tutor’s imperative is to improve student learning capacities. To that end, one of the most effective tools a tutor can use in determining a student’s readiness for thinking questions is by conducting a formative assessment.Naturally, your initial interview will assess your pupils’ learning skills overall but, as time goes on, your constant evaluation of their cognitive skills should signal when they are ready for more complex concept formation.In providing academic support, tutors need to apply a bit of educational psychology:Define ‘learning’: one does not acquire a breadth of knowledge only through rote learning; understanding and making sense of things also play a vital partMake the lesson relevant: cultivating an interest in subject matter is a step in the right direction; revealing the interrelationships between the student and the material being studied is the hallmark of a master teacherReinforce the learning: find at least three ways to use the new information, preferably through different learning activities.What happens if yo u employ all of these learning strategies,  as well as others,  and your student still doesn’t grasp the concept at hand?This is where a real danger of pushing for a successful outcome lies. As you may have already experienced, it is not a good idea to go beyond that point, lest you risk students’ progress.Perhaps it is time to revise your lesson planning to include more student-centered activities...  you might, perhaps, focus more on the problem-solving aspect of higher-order thinking.Open ended questions are far better than multiple choice questions because they make students think! Image by balancepft from PixabayHigher Order Thinking QuestionsOverseeing writing assignments and helping prepare your pupils for a math test are fundamental tutor obligations to ensure student success.Unless it was specified when you were hired - ‘please teach my child how to think!’ - a tutor’s actual duty lies in providing learning services.Said services should include project-based learn ing, active learning and activities that will foster metacognition â€" the awareness and understanding of one’s thought processes.So, once you complete your initial assessment of a student and determine their learning goals, the course you chart should be pretty clear... right?If we were in it for the money, that assertion would be spot-on.However, upon ethical reflection, we tutors have taken a silent vow to strive for educational success with everyone we teach.Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to not only provide learning support but also provide 21st-century skills â€" a continuum of services that will provide a rich student experience.Content knowledge to appease an assessment system or thinking stems to cultivate higher order thinking?Rote memorization of facts can only take students so far.Asking them the types of questions designed to gauge their depth of knowledge and how they use what they’ve learned is the recipe for fostering thinking humans, but must be done in such a way that they become thinkers, not turned off from learning altogether.Bottom line: knowing when to push, how to push and what to push on is as integral to a tutor’s professional development as it is essential for student development.Your turn to chime in: how would you define higher-order thinking?

Measuring A High School With Graduates Successes

Measuring A High School With Graduates Successes Some high school students will now be able to view how well their schools graduates are doing in college, according to The Washington Post. The National Student Clearing House has created a database with information from over 93 million college students and over 3,300 colleges across the nation. This information allows The National Student Clearing House to present some high schools statistics on their graduates college success. The Washington Post published the statistics of one of the schools involved in the study. The school's 2004 graduating class was used to analyze results. 23.8% of students graduated from college; 15% were still attending college; 28.5% dropped out of college; 3% returned to college after dropping out, and 29.4% of students were not in the database. High School administrators can use this data to view the records of individual students. These high school administrators can see the classes that their most successful graduates took while in high school. Over 76% of high school students who scored a 3 or higher (a passing grade) an AP exam graduated from college. Also, 59.4% of students who took an AP exam and received a 2 or lower (a failing grade), which is still a much higher statistic than the 24.7% college graduation rate for students who did not take an AP exam. These numbers are not representative of all high schools. They only pertain to the unnamed high school that article cited. However, these numbers are likely to be very similar to most high schools statistics through The National Student Clearing House. This is very valuable data to high school administrators because they can build their curriculum around what helps students succeed in college. Also, these numbers can allow high school administrators to encourage students to take AP classes. Administrators could cut classes that are not helping students and spend more for the beneficial classes. Also, high school students can locate the specific classes that have been the most beneficial for previous students.