The PSAT is over now what

The PSAT is over â€" now what Parents of high school juniors, you may be wondering what your student should be doing to prepare for the SAT now that the PSAT is over (or almost over, if your student is taking the test on Saturday). PSAT scores don’t come out until December, so many students put off further test preparation until after winter break. However, it can be academically beneficial and stress-reducing to get a head start on test preparation for spring!Students can use the time between now and when PSAT scores come back in December to take a practice SAT and ACT and see how they do on each test. Colleges accept either the SAT or ACT for admission. We here at AJ Tutoring recommend that students take both the SAT and the ACT â€" after all, that gives you two chances to succeed!If your student would like some help preparing for the tests from our fabulous AJ tutors, it’s a great idea to complete a few tutoring sessions before winter break. This schedule allows the sessions to be spaced out before th e March SAT or April ACT. And with high schoolers’ incredibly busy schedules these days (I’m thinking of my student who plays two sports, participates in student government, and takes 4 APs), spreading out the tutoring reduces stress and allows ample time for academics and other activities.We know that junior year is a busy year, especially at competitive high schools like Paly, St. Francis, Los Gatos, Saratoga and many others, where college preparation starts early and never lets up. Joe and Aaron, the co-owners of AJ Tutoring, are experts at developing tutoring and testing plans that work for students’ individual needs and schedules. Email or call them today (info@ajtutoring.com, (650) 331-3251) to discuss your student’s game plan now that the PSAT is over!To summarize, juniors waiting for PSAT results should: • Take a practice SAT and ACT and compare the test scores • Continue to excel in academic courses at school • Talk to Aaron or Joe about a testing schedule for junior and senior year • Complete three or four tutoring sessions before winter break

Creating A Scholarship Game Plan

Creating A Scholarship Game Plan Parents of high school students have plenty on their minds, but at the top of the list is paying for collegeand for good reason. The cost of college has risen steadily for the last three decades.* While many families plan on taking out federal loans to help cover the cost, teens should absolutely apply for scholarships. That gift aid (free money) can make the cost of college a little or a lot more affordable. There are thousands of scholarships out there that can come from many different sources: the federal government, state government, colleges and universities, private organizations, nonprofits and even businesses. It is definitely worthwhile to search and apply for scholarships, but in a methodical, organized way. Here are a few tips on creating a scholarship search game plan: Create a spreadsheet for tracking research. Before teens start researching scholarships, its a good idea to develop a system for keeping track of them. Many of the popular scholarship engines out there have a dashboard of their own that allows students to manage their scholarship matches and application progress, but its wise for teens to have their own database too since they might apply to different scholarships from different sources. A simple Google Sheet or Excel spreadsheet will do the trick. Research. Too often, high schoolers disregard the idea of scholarships, thinking theyre reserved only for the highest achieving students. However, there are scholarships for students from many backgrounds with various skills and in different niches. Students should do their research, keeping several things in mind: Get to know the guidance counselor. Sign up for any college platform or email list recommended by the high school guidance counseling office (such as Naviance), which is likely to be the best way to keep on top of deadlines for scholarships the school advertises. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), which is used by both state and federal agencies (and colleges use the FAFSAs Student Aid Report to determine the financial aid award they offer, which might include scholarships). Keep small scholarships in mind, as they tend to be less competitive and can add up quickly. Start early, as many scholarships require elements like letters of recommendation and essays. Find ways to be efficient, like reusing/revising personal statements and essays to fit similar but slightly different scholarship applications. In addition to the guidance counselors office, there are many other places to look for scholarships: Scholarship databases like scholarships.com and fastweb.com Local foundations, community organizations, businesses and civic groups Library resource desk Dedicate time each week to scholarship research. There are lots of scholarships available to students, but those who earn them are dedicated and diligent. Teens should make time every week for researching scholarships and applying to those for which theyre qualified. Log progress. Teens should update their scholarship spreadsheet regularly, which will keep deadlines top of mind and keep them motivated to continue the effort. Heres an example of how a tracking system might look: Name Provider Website Deadline Award Criteria Other Status Johnson Scholarship ABC Foundation ABCFoundation.com 11/1/2019 $5K - $10K per year for tuition + fees in-state schools 3.75 GPA New Freshman, Top 10% of class Average SAT 1300 Average ACT 30 Letter of rec Interview required Requested letter from Ms. Smith 8/10/2019 Started online application 9/1/2019 Applying for scholarships takes effort, but the task is much less stressful when teens stay organized. Parents, encourage your teens to approach the job in a disciplined way, which will make it easier to apply widely and streamline the application process. * Trends in College Pricing 2017, published by the College Board, states that over the past three decades, the dollar increases in published tuition and fees (in 2017 dollars) ranged from $1,550 (from 1987-88 to 1997-98) to $2,690 (from 2007-08 to 2017-18) at public four-year institutions and from $5,860 (from 1987-88 to 1997-98) to $7,220 (from 2007-08 to 2017-18) in the private nonprofit four-year sector.

What Life Skills Do I Need Before University

What Life Skills Do I Need Before University Many students who head off to university for the first time have never before lived on their own, which can seem intimidating. There will probably be a lot of things that your parents did for you that you'll now have to do for yourself. Before you head off to university, here are some life skills to keep in mind. (They'll come in hand day-to-day and may even impress your roommates and friends at the same time!) Organisation Learning organization skills sounds silly. Many students may wonder what being organised even looks like. To help you visualize it, grab a planner. Start writing things down. Planners are especially useful with keeping deadlines straight. Learn to take note of homework assignments, test dates, and any upcoming academic or social events you may want to attend. Luckily, smart phones and countless apps can replace paper and pen if that's more comfortable for you. Study skills The majority of us have to work at mastering writing, studying, and other academic skills. Since everyone is different, each of us may have to approach the art of studying differently. Find out how you learn best: whether that's utilizing visuals, words, or activities. Adapt your study sessions to accommodate the way you best take in information. If you're a visual learner, make colored note cards before a test. Find a space conducive to studying that offers the materials you need. The library is a great place to start, especially if you have loud roommates! Cooking Making food at home is often more affordable, tastier, and healthier than ordering takeaway. It may take a few tries to master simple recipes, but don't lose heart. Watch cooking shows, and follow recipes to the letter with your first attempts. Start with foods that are impossible to screw up: like an omelette or a simple pasta dish. Work up to more complex meals, and try to cook with what's in season or what produce looks good at the grocery store when you visit. Money management Chances are, even if you receive financial aid for tuition and housing, you probably have a personal bank account that you'll use for miscellaneous bills - things like food and entertainment. If you work a part-time job during school, take note of how much you make monthly and budget out your spending accordingly. Allow yourself some luxuries, but don't get caught up at the shops, especially if you have friends whose parents constantly replenish their bank accounts. Money is a personal issue, and one that you should be honest and mindful about throughout your unviersity career. You're sure to master countless other skills while away at school. Start by mastering these few things and you'll probably have a leg up on the majority of your classmates. Share your knowledge, and have fun!

Take part in our second live Twitter chat on Thursday, November 20

Take part in our second live Twitter chat on Thursday, November 20 We’ll be hosting our second live Twitter chat on Thursday, November 20 from 8 - 9 pm GMT with our Placement Coordinator, Kathy Deady. Just like Alexandra did last week, Sean will be taking over the @teachaway Twitter account for 1 hour to answer any and all of your questions.Sean has been working as a Placement Coordinator with Teach Away for just about a year. Before that, he lived in China and Korea and has traveled to 16 countries throughout Asia. As one of our Placement Coordinators, he is currently working with schools in India, Qatar, the United States, Rwanda, and Abu Dhabi. When he’s not working to find teachers their ideal teaching overseas experiences, he’s enjoying a hockey game or fixing his family one fine meal (he’s also trained as a chef!).  Our live Twitter chat is your chance to ask Sean anything to do with teaching overseas in one of the countries he focuses on, or about his own personal travel and teaching experience in Asia.Just like last week, if you’d like to participate, all you have to do is tweet us your question by including the hashtag #askteachaway. Sean will retweet the question before he tweets his answer, that way everyone can follow the Q&A.If you’re not on Twitter, click here to sign up. Once you’ve signed up, or if you already have an account, just follow @teachaway.Following the Twitter chat, we’ll be sharing everyone’s questions and answers on our Teach Away blog, so if you can’t participate, you can check in there.

Xabia International College

Xabia International College Xabia International College The Xabia International College is an Independent, International school offering the British National Curriculum from Primary to A level. It is based in the beautiful coastal town of Javea on the Costa Blanca. There are 24 different nationalities, with British and Spanish as the main two. Classes are restricted to 20 as a maximum; allowing pupils easy access to their teachers and teachers more time to support each and every student. This key to our success is the caring environment within which our students and staff can work in unison to ensure both succeed in fulfilling the ambitions of our youngsters. We prepare children for the challenges they will face in a modern and fast changing world. We can embrace the variety of talents in our students through the dedication of highly experienced teachers using modern methods in small classes. It is an exciting journey; one that offers opportunity and a refreshing perspective towards the daily trials faced by our young people. The College is a happy and caring place in which all children are given a wide range of opportunities to develop their full potential whilst carefully nurturing their self-belief and confidence. We give each student time and space, respect and encouragement. They need the warmth and security which allows them to develop their own special talents and personalities. Most importantly, we have developed ways in which we can listen to the needs and aspirations of the students and support their needs at every stage. We help to give children confidence so that they can make important contributions to many areas of College life. XIC is a happy place where pupils can attain high academic standards whilst feeling valued and encouraged as individuals. We encourage independence and initiative and help children to develop the attributes and values of being courteous, responsible, pro-active and engaging. We are a family school and place enormous importance on this vital aspect in the lives of our students. A close synergy with the home provides an excellent base supporting all we aim to invest in the lives of those within our community. We are extremely proud of our students at all levels of the community and celebrate their achievements constantly. In XIC friendships are made and lessons learned that will last a lifetime! View our Brochure

How to increase engagement in your online classroom

How to increase engagement in your online classroom Online teaching is really taking off, but it can be an adjustment for teachers who are used to being in the classroom. Connecting via webcam isn't always easy! In fact, you might find that you need a completely different teaching skillset online than you would in-person. With most students taking online lessons outside regular school hours and at home (a.k.a surrounded by potential distractions!) keeping them engaged, motivated, and interested in their English lessons can be one of the biggest challenges online teachers face. So how do you motivate students online? Luckily there are plenty of tips and tricks to help you... Make sure your timing is on point Timing is really crucial in online teaching and you might find you need to break up your online lessons differently than you would face-to-face ones. As a general rule, it’s a good idea to keep a fast pace and break down information into small, easily digestible chunks. In practical terms, this means to steer clear of long-winded explanations and slides with too much text! Mixing up the tempo of your lessons by adding a variety of activity types is also a great way to make the time fly by for your students. Adapt your activities to the virtual classroom In a face-to-face class, it’s typical to give students some quiet reflection time to work alone or read a text. But these kinds of activities don’t translate well in online classrooms. Long, dense texts are really difficult to read on a screen (see earlier point about breaking things into chunks ) And, silence just doesn’t translate that well in virtual classroomsâ€"in fact, it provides the perfect excuse for a student’s attention to drift elsewhere! Planning activities that keep your students actively clicking, typing or talking throughout the lesson is the way to go. You can do this by asking lots of questions, including games and making sure learners have to physically do things like use drawing tools or typing in dialogue boxes. And when you’re planning your lesson remember it’s advised that as an online teacher you make sure your student has to say something every three minutes or so. Make real connections online For students studying in online classrooms, isolation can be a huge factor in making them feel demotivated. They might think that no one will notice or care if they miss a class, or find it all too tempting to not log in to the classroom if they’re feeling tired. The best way online teachers can help remedy this is by making their students feel valued in the classroom. How do I do that, you ask? Here are some suggestions… It’s a basic one, but learn your student’s name and use their name throughout the lesson, and make sure they learn yours Follow up on what you did in previous lessons so your students know that you’re on top of what they’re learning (and they should be too) Find out about your student’s interests and incorporate them into the lesson where possible Give regular feedback on your students’ work Aim to be a positive, encouraging presence Set goals and help your students stick to them Another way to help online students stay on track with their studies and keep a sense of purpose is to set goals and remind them of their progress. Setting goals for online learners One simple way to introduce short-term goals into your online classroom is to make sure each lesson has a clear outline that you share with your student so they know where they are in the learning process and the context for any activity they are doing. Then think about how you might reward students for finishing tasks (or, even better, for working hard) during a lesson. You could try positive feedback, badges, points, playing games or doing other fun learning activities your students would like. When it comes to long-term goals, going too far into the future might not be effective, but try taking time every now and then to check in with your students and set goals together for the next month, three months, or six months down the line. Sign up to Teach Away today for access to the latest teaching jobs around the world. Progress checks for online learners For short-term progress checks, make sure you build continuity between lessons by doing quick revisions or quizzes on previous topics. A great way to remind students of their long-term progress is by building up a portfolio of work with them so they can look back themselves and see how far they’ve come. One way of doing this online is to start an achievement page. If you are teaching kids, every time they achieve something you can go to the achievement page and ask them to draw something that reminds them of what they’ve learned (you might want to make it an achievement tree they can add to or a trophy shelf.) With teens or adult learners, you might prefer asking them to write something. As the course progresses the page will fill up with reminders of successes and proud moments for your students. Use technology to your advantage! Teaching online comes with its own challenges, but it also put a whole load of really cool tools at your fingertips. Whether it’s discussion boards, pointers, virtual games, text editor, drawing tools, file editors, breakout rooms or screen-sharing tools, you can use the technology you have to add variety to your lessons and keep students on their toes. First of all, make sure you know how to use these virtual tools and take time to explain them to students so they feel confident with them too. Then think about how you might use them to liven up your lessons. For example, you could use them as a reward (there is no kid out there whose eyes don’t light up at the prospect of 30 seconds of free play on a drawing tool!) or engage different senses and skills among your students. Present your best (online) self All teachers need to think about how they present themselves in the classroom. Looking neat, organized, and confident will inspire a certain amount of respect from your students. But online teachers might need to approach this slightly differently than in-person teachers... Visuals If your students can see you via a webcam make sure that not only do you look presentable, but the location you’re in does too. And that’s just the first step! If students can see your face, it’s going to be 100 times more motivating for them if you look engaged and interested in what they are saying (even if sometimes this requires all your saintly teacher patience!) Also, it’s important that your visual materials are up to scratch, so make sure your slides look clean and clear and any videos you use are good quality. Audio A one-note lesson will quickly become boring. So try changing the tone of your voice to introduce new activities or mix up the tempo of your class. Practice different skills like telling stories, giving instructions, and giving praise out loud to see how animating your voice can make a difference. And, again, make sure any audio clips you plan to use a good quality. Finally, this might be stating the obvious, but make sure you can teach your online lessons from somewhere with a reliable internet connection. Nothing will have students switching off quicker than a crackly connection that keeps on cutting out. Bring it back to your students As a teacher, you already have plenty of practice in working out what makes your students tick. So the good news is, just like in any face-to-face classroom, the real key to getting your online students involved is to find out what motivates them and give them their own reason to be engaged in the classroom. Whether it’s music, chatting about a particular subject, connecting what you’re doing to the real world, or just being allowed to go to town on the drawing tool, don’t be afraid to try different things with your students until you find something that works for them.

Learning Chinese is Easy When You Have A Chinese Tutor

Learning Chinese is Easy When You Have A Chinese TutorFor those who are interested in the Chinese language, there is no doubt that the easiest way to learn the Chinese language is to hire a Chinese tutor in Bellevue. Language specialists can be found in any part of the world and will offer your personal assistance while you are learning Chinese. The basic reason why the Chinese language is so popular around the world is because it's one of the most beautiful languages in the world. There are millions of people who are learning the Chinese language every single day and this means that it's one of the few languages that are likely to become more common than English or Spanish over the coming years.Learning the Chinese language is not something that is an easy thing to do. In fact, learning this language can take a long time. That's why it's extremely important that you choose a tutor who is known for his proficiency and work experience in the field of Chinese language. It's a lot easie r to learn Chinese with a person who has studied the language extensively and knows a lot about it.Once you have a qualified teacher or expert, you need to be sure that you will get the level of instruction that you require. Whether you're having a very basic level of Mandarin, or you're having an advanced level of it, you must make sure that the instructor will help you achieve the level of learning that you are aiming for. By doing so, you will achieve the level of success that you wish to achieve.Teaching is a hard job, especially if you're teaching children. The language is different from others and most importantly, the syllabic system and word structure that are used are unique to Chinese.A great Chinese tutor will teach you how to speak, read and write Chinese with the aid of a computer program that can give you a good idea about the language. If you're trying to learn a variety of things including business skills, budgeting, and negotiation, then you may need a tutor who has worked in that particular area before. A good tutor will also be able to know where the right place to practice the language should be. And a good Chinese tutor will have experience in working with children as well.When you hire a tutor, make sure that you check out his background. You can find many on the internet who are willing to offer you their services. The best way to go about this is to contact your local chamber of commerce and see what other businesses there are in your area who are willing to offer this service.Tutors are available at most establishments in Bellevue and you can call them for more information. Hiring a tutor has never been easier.