Building Your Art Portfolio for Art School Applications. New blog post! A photo of an art student painting and another art student creating a ceramic bowl.

Building Your Art Portfolio for Art School Applications

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Building Your Art Portfolio for Art School Applications

Building Your Art Portfolio for Art School Applications. New blog post! A photo of an art student painting and another art student creating a ceramic bowl.

If you’re a prospective art school applicant, you might already know about or even have your own art portfolio. After all, your portfolio is 90% of your application to schools, according to HLM educator and professional artist Gwen Hollingsworth. Gwen graduated from the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture in 2020 and now works professionally as a painter and art instructor in Los Angeles.

While UCLA was her chosen school, she is also familiar with the application process for the Art Center College of Design, Yale School of Art, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), and California Institute of Arts. She can also help review art portfolios for high school programs such as LA County High School for the Arts.

We spoke with Gwen about the importance of your art portfolio, when you should have one compiled, how a professional review can prepare you to speak about your work, and what a portfolio review workshop might look like.

Q: What are the steps students must take to apply to art school?

  • A: It depends on the school, but most include a portfolio, a personal statement, and an application. It’s important to make sure you have a strong body of work that is continuous and cohesive. You’ll also need a good statement describing your work and practice and why you want to attend the school you’re applying to.

Q: How important is it to have a developed and polished art portfolio?

  • A: Your portfolio will be 90% of your consideration for art schools. Keep in mind though that while your portfolio is important, they’re also not expecting professional-level work. They really want to see that you have potential.

Q: What goes into developing and polishing an art portfolio?

  • A: It depends a bit on the schools you’re applying to because different schools have different requirements. However, for every school, it’s important to show a story and progression in your portfolio. You want to make sure all pieces of work are tied in and connected. It’s also important to craft your technique and show you know what you’re doing and that you do it well.

Q: How can you specifically help students develop their art portfolios?

  • A: I have a lot of experience talking about and critiquing artwork. I’ll ask students questions about why they’re making what they’re making. It’s important to be able to talk about your work. I also have experience with the application process and getting into a selective program. I know what schools are looking for and can help students meet those requirements. I can also help students refine and perfect their technical skills.

Q: How will students be better off after working with you on their art portfolios?

  • A: They’ll have a more realistic understanding of the application process. I also want to make sure they aren’t making random pieces. Instead, they’ll have a body of work that’s more put together and ready for review by an academic committee.

Q: What kinds of students, in terms of level and subject area, can you help?

  • A: I can help students of all levels and in different mediums, including painting, illustration, sculpture, ceramics, photography, and TV & Film Editing.

Read more about the Hodis Learning & Music Art Portfolio Workshop, which we’ll be offering soon! And learn more about Gwen or schedule a session with her today.

Building Strong Study Skill Series: Effective Note Taking. Students studying with a tutor.

Building Strong Study Skills Series: Effective Note Taking

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Building Strong Study Skills Series: Effective Note Taking

 

Building Strong Study Skill Series: Effective Note Taking. Students studying with a tutor.

 

Note: This series details how to study smarter, not harder, to help students succeed in their academics. All information in this series draws upon principles from psychological research on learning and memory.

Students often ask me about how to take better notes. I often notice that these students use the outline method, where they write their notes bullet-by-bullet and organize the notes with headings.

While the outline method is not terrible, it also isn’t the most effective way to take notes. A better option is the Cornell method, which is one of the most effective note taking techniques.

Proper Technique

Create two columns on a page. The left column should be 2.5” wide and the right should be 6” wide. And leave a 2” tall space at the bottom. Don’t agonize over these proportions, though.

Take notes in the right column. And add comments, questions, and key terms to the left column. Then write a brief 2-4 sentence summary of the notes at the bottom of the page.

Comments can look like “important!,” “will be tested on this,” “this relates to concept x,” etc. Write a question in the left column when you don’t understand something. Or write questions that test for understanding.

Tips for Success

There are two very important tips when it comes to notetaking. Write the notes in your own words. And, review your notes repeatedly until your test. Always review notes on the same day that you took them. Then review them the next day and every few days after that.

Don’t write everything you see and hear in lecture. This is a surefire way to get overwhelmed and miss content. At the same time, don’t write too little. If your notes are too sparse, it will be difficult to study from them.

Write short, succinct sentences. To save time, try using abbreviations and symbols that you will understand later when you are reviewing your notes.

Handwriting your notes is more effective for learning than typing notes. However, if you have handwriting that you have trouble reading, then typing your notes will be just fine.

Why It Works

Cornell notes are extremely organized, which helps organize your understanding of the material. The structure of the notes provide the perfect study guide, too! Use those comments, questions, and key-terms written in the left column to test yourself on the content in the right column. And be sure to review your summaries at the bottom of the page.

Summary

The Cornell note taking technique is highly effective and doubles as a study guide. It can be challenging to use at first, but will become easier with practice.

Keep up with our weekly Building Strong Study Skills series to learn the most effective study strategies and succeed in your academics. Schedule a session with one of our expert tutors today to receive all the information and guidance you need to gain a deeper understanding of your academics and perform better on your tests! Building effective study habits takes time, so the sooner you get help, the better prepared you will be by the time finals roll around.

Read Other Articles in The Building Strong Study Skills Series

Sources:

  • Terry, W.S. (2018). Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures, Fifth Edition. New York, Routledge, a Taylor and Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-13-864591-2.
  • Rhodes, M.G., Cleary, A.M. and DeLosh, E.L. (2020). A Guide to Effective Studying and Learning: Practical Strategies from the Science of Learning. New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-021447-0 (pbk).
How parents can help ensure successful tutoring sessions.

How Parents Can Help Ensure Successful Sessions

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How Parents Can Help Ensure Successful Sessions

 

How parents can help ensure successful tutoring sessions.

While not all our students are K-12, a lot are, which means parents are involved in their student’s education. We understand that you are making an investment when you book a tutor with Hodis Learning & Music, which is why we want to offer some tips for how you can help us have productive tutoring sessions. These productive sessions will ultimately lead to your student’s success in the classroom and beyond!

Help Us Create a Quiet, Focused Learning Environment

HLM tutors and educators can meet wherever is best for you and your student. Sometimes that’s in your home and sometimes that’s a public location like a coffee shop or library. When choosing the location of your sessions, think of where would be the best for your student. While it’s convenient to have an educator come to your home, make sure there is a quiet space with limited distractions for us to work. Perhaps a busy kitchen where siblings and parents are coming in and out isn’t the best location. Instead, have us work in an office, or a different room and make sure TVs, phones, tablets, and toys are put away or turned off. If we as educators notice in-home sessions aren’t productive, we might suggest moving sessions to a library where students can focus.

Share Information and Expectations with Us Before And Throughout Tutoring

As educators, we appreciate hearing how a student is performing in school and outside of sessions. The more information we have, the better we can focus our lessons to ensure students are getting the most out of our time together. If you received feedback from a teacher, let us know. If a student performed poorly on a test, we want to know about that and what concepts the student didn’t understand. While we as educators try to empower students to be responsible for their work and education, sometimes they don’t always tell us about homework, tests, or areas they need help with– they themselves might not even know because it feels overwhelming. As a parent, you have insight into how your student is feeling and performing.

Be Mindful of Reasonable Expectations Of Tutoring

Along the lines of tip #2, we want to gently remind parents to maintain reasonable expectations. If you want your student to score well on an exam, but you tell us about the exam the day before, there is only so much we as educators can do in one session. If exam scores are important to you and your student, let us know in advance. Even if you tell us weeks before the test, we will write down the date and plan our sessions accordingly! If you communicate an expectation to us, we want to support you, which might mean sharing our expert opinion on how that goal can be achieved reasonably.

 

If you’re considering hiring a tutor, call us or email us to learn more.

Building strong study skills: active reading. Students sitting around a table with their tutor.

Building Strong Study Skills Series: Active Reading

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Active Reading

 

Building strong study skills: active reading. Students sitting around a table with their tutor.

 

Note: This series details how to study smarter, not harder, to help students succeed in their academics. All information in this series draws upon principles from psychological research on learning and memory.

Have you ever read a chapter in your textbook and later realized that you missed a lot of important points? If so, you’re not alone. Reading a textbook can be challenging, especially when dozens of key points are interspersed throughout 15-20 pages of material. Many students read quickly and don’t stop to ask questions, which leads to ineffective learning. This is called passive reading.

Learn how to get more out of your reading with the following tips for active reading.

How To Employ Active Reading

  • Predict: read all of the headings and subheadings in the chapter and take note of the key terms. Use this information to predict what each section will discuss and how they will all relate to each other.
  • Externally process: read aloud or think aloud. Some students have an easier time reading aloud. Some students find it helpful to alternate between reading out loud and in their head. And thinking aloud can be a great way to connect ideas for most students.
  • Activate: connect your reading to prior knowledge. Take a second to stop after a main idea and see if you can connect the information to other topics in or outside of the course.
  • Infer: while reading, think about how what you’re learning relates to the main ideas of the course content.
  • Clarify: if you don’t understand a part of the text, pause to clarify the confusion before moving on.
  • Visualize: as you read, picture the content in your mind.
  • Question: ask yourself questions about the content. Use these questions to predict, activate, infer, and clarify. And use questions to test yourself as you are reading.

Why It Works

Active reading helps you understand the individual parts of your material while also providing a framework to integrate the information into a holistic understanding.

Summary

Active reading may be challenging to implement all at once. Try introducing one or two active reading strategies at a time until you are comfortable using them all together. Active reading may take more effort and time than passive reading, but it is worth it!

Keep up with our weekly Building Strong Study Skills series to learn the most effective study strategies and succeed in your academics. Schedule a session with one of our expert tutors today to receive all the information and guidance you need to gain a deeper understanding of your academics and perform better on your tests! Building effective study habits takes time, so the sooner you get help, the better prepared you will be by the time finals roll around.

Read Other Articles in The Building Strong Study Skills Series

Sources:

  • Terry, W.S. (2018). Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures, Fifth Edition. New York, Routledge, a Taylor and Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-13-864591-2.
  • Rhodes, M.G., Cleary, A.M. and DeLosh, E.L. (2020). A Guide to Effective Studying and Learning: Practical Strategies from the Science of Learning. New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-021447-0 (pbk).
Hodis Learning & Music jazz trio at the eclectic music festival

Hodis Learning & Music Jazz Trio at the 2022 Eclectic Music Festival

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Hodis Learning & Music Jazz Trio Set to Play the City of Hope Central Stage at the Eclectic Music Festival

 

Hodis Learning & Music jazz trio at the eclectic music festival

 

Come see our musicians perform at the Eclectic Music Festival on April 30 at 8:45PM!

Our lineup:

  • Tim Fenton (bass)
  • Deen Anbar (guitar)
  • Lauren Ellis (drums)

Hodis Learning & Music representatives will be at the event to answer questions and hand out informational materials.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Educator spotlight: Gwen H. teaches art, painting, illustration, photography, ceramics, sculpture, film & TV editing.

Educator Spotlight: Gwen H.

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Educator Spotlight: Art Instructor Gwen H.

 

Educator spotlight: Gwen H. teaches art, painting, illustration, photography, ceramics, sculpture, film & TV editing.

 

What Subject Areas Do You Teach?

  • Art Lessons: Painting, Illustration, Photography, Ceramics, Sculpture, and TV & Film Editing
  • Academic Tutoring: SAT Prep, English, Social Studies

Where did you receive your education?

  • University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. in Art and Art History
  • Educated in fine arts: drawing, painting, photography, ceramics, sculpture

What’s the most rewarding part of being an art teacher?

When things click for students, students start implementing techniques on their own. It’s rewarding seeing the things you’ve taught taking effect.


What are the most common areas you see your students struggling? How do you help them in art lessons?

A lot of times it’s the creative aspect– pushing students to create what they want to create instead of copying what other people do or what they think they should do. To help with that, we’ll do visualization and creative method activities.

I also see students struggle with technique. To help them, I like to teach by doing, and I’m also patient. Students will get it if they keep working on it.


What do you enjoy doing outside of art lessons?

Making my own art, reading, gardening, hanging out with friends, going to the farmers market, and cooking.


What do you think makes Hodis Learning & Music a great service and company to work for?

I think the individual nature that HLM emphasizes when working with students makes it unique and great. You get so much more working one-on-one with students than you would in a class because each student is different.

 

Read more about Gwen here.

Building Strong Study Skill Series: Flashcards. Students studying with a tutor.

Building Strong Study Skills Series: Flashcards

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Building Strong Study Skills Series: Flashcards

 

Building Strong Study Skill Series: Flashcards. Students studying with a tutor.

 

Note: This study skills series details how to study smarter, not harder, to help students succeed in their academics. All information in this series draws upon principles from psychological research on learning and memory.

Flashcards were probably one of the first study skills you ever used. They’re relatively easy to make and easy to study from. But many students don’t use flashcards to their full potential. In this article, we’ll talk about ways to use flashcards more effectively to optimize your study time.

Proper Technique

When a student uses flashcards properly, they naturally employ the self-testing technique:

Flashcards work best when the questions and answers are self-created. To do this, write questions that you came up with and write the answers in your own words. Don’t simply copy questions and answers from your book.

If you have a study guide with written questions, then at least write the answers to those questions in your own words on your flashcards. However, to make your set of flashcards more effective, consider adding self-created questions.

Tips for Success

Write free-response questions instead of questions that elicit multiple choice or true-false answers.

Why It Works

Students encode the information through the very process of making flashcards. Students further encode that information when they come up with answers to their questions. Also, research shows that the most powerful type of learning occurs when students retrieve information from their memory. 

Summary

When used properly, students use flashcards to self-test. Self-testing and spaced practice are the two most effective study skills. But they’re not the only study skills, and should still be used with other techniques:

Keep up with our weekly Building Strong Study Skills series to learn the most effective study strategies and succeed in your academics. Schedule a session with one of our expert tutors today to receive all the information and guidance you need to gain a deeper understanding of your academics and perform better on your tests! Building effective study habits takes time, so the sooner you get help, the better prepared you will be by the time finals roll around.

Read Other Articles in The Building Strong Study Skills Series

Sources:

  • Terry, W.S. (2018). Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures, Fifth Edition. New York, Routledge, a Taylor and Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-13-864591-2.
  • Rhodes, M.G., Cleary, A.M. and DeLosh, E.L. (2020). A Guide to Effective Studying and Learning: Practical Strategies from the Science of Learning. New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-021447-0 (pbk).
Photo of a smiling sun and text saying Hodis Learning & Music celebrates 1 year in business! Hodis Learning & Music is an academic tutoring, music lessons, and art lessons company in the Pasadena area.

Hodis Learning & Music Celebrates 1 Year in Business! | Message from the President

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Hodis Learning & Music Celebrates 1 Year in Business!
Message from the President

 

Photo of a smiling sun and text saying Hodis Learning & Music celebrates 1 year in business! Hodis Learning & Music is an academic tutoring, music lessons, and art lessons company in the Pasadena area.

 

This week, Hodis Learning & Music is celebrating its one year anniversary of being in business! It has been an amazing year full of service, learning, and growth, and I could not be more proud of our team and students.

A little over a year ago, I developed a great vision: an educational connections business that operated by a philosophy of kindness and expertise. Every step that we have taken as a business has stemmed from and further promoted this philosophy.

We developed a rigorous interview process to select the most exceptional candidates for our tutor and teacher positions. We expanded the number of subjects offered so we can help more students in their academic, artistic, and musical endeavors. Our philanthropy has flourished and we now give 20% of our profits to SPEF and PEF. We have helped dozens of students pass milestones, get good grades, and hone their skills. Our website launched a resources page full of insightful articles with topics about study skills and tips for success. And we kept our services at fair and affordable rates throughout all the changes.

HLM could not have grown so much in the past year without our community. We thank all of our students and parents for their patronage. All of us at HLM have thoroughly enjoyed serving you and helping you succeed in academics, music, art, and beyond!

We are very grateful for our Director of Marketing, Rachel Hanks, and our Outreach Coordinator In-Training, Wuzhi Lou, who have been integral to our success by spreading the word and building client relations. We are very proud of our expert tutors and teachers for doing such great work and we are grateful to have them on our team. And we owe many, many thanks to Steven Lawrence at the South Pasadenan News and Nexusplex Business Production Agency for his guidance and wisdom.

We look forward to continuing to serve our wonderful community. Here’s to another year of Shining Brighter with Hodis Learning & Music!

Hodis Learning & Music proudly supports PEF (Pasadena Educational Foundation) and the South Pasadena Educational Foundation (SPEF)

We Now Donate 20% of Our Profits to SPEF and PEF! | Message from the President

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We Now Donate 20% of Our Profits to SPEF and PEF! | Message from the President

 

Hodis Learning & Music proudly supports PEF (Pasadena Educational Foundation) and the South Pasadena Educational Foundation (SPEF)

 

When I started up Hodis Learning & Music (HLM), I set out to create a business that embodied my philosophy of teaching which builds off of two basic but essential principles: expertise and kindness.

Since our founding, every business decision has been made with these principles in mind. We handpick expert educators to provide students with top-quality academic tutoring, music lessons, and art instruction. These educators receive competitive pay and our students receive services at fair and affordable prices. And we give back to the educational institutions our students attend.

We have donated to the South Pasadena Educational Foundation since September 2021. We started giving to the Pasadena Educational Foundation (PEF) a month ago. We now donate 20% of all net profits to these organizations. These changes come as HLM experiences growth in our population of Pasadena clientele and in our overall business.

As an integral part of our identity and purpose, our giving will only increase as we continue to grow. Over the next few years, we plan to contribute to existing scholarship funds and eventually award HLM-sponsored scholarships in the community.

HLM could not have made it here without our students, parents, educators, business partners, contractors, and supporters. Thank you all very much for helping make HLM the strong and kind business that it is today.

Sign up for expert academic tutoring, music lessons, or art instruction today. It’s a double-win: your money will go towards expert educational services while simultaneously supporting important educational foundations.

Building Strong Study Skill Series: Self-Testing. Students studying with a tutor.

Building Strong Study Skills Series: Self-Testing

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Building Strong Study Skills Series: Self-Testing

Building Strong Study Skill Series: Self-Testing. Students studying with a tutor.

Note: This series details how to study smarter, not harder, to help students succeed in their academics. All information in this series draws upon principles from psychological research on learning and memory.

Throughout this series, we’ve covered a broad range of study skills. According to effect sizes in the literature, some of these skills are not very effective (Study Habits You Should Knock Part I and II), while others are moderately effective (Interleaved Studying, Self-Explanation, Elaborative Interrogation). By far, however, spaced practice and self-testing are the most effective study techniques.

So what is self-testing and how do you do it?

Proper Technique

Self-testing consists of testing your knowledge independently. It can take many forms: answering questions at the end of the chapter, flashcards, online review quizzes, etc.

Tips for Success

Self-testing is most effective in a free-recall format, as opposed to a recognition format like true-false or multiple choice questions.

Creating your own questions for self-testing increases the effectiveness of this study technique even further!

Why It Works

Research shows that the most powerful type of learning occurs when students retrieve information from their memory.

Summary

Self-testing is a straightforward study technique that most students already use. For the best results, try creating your own free-recall questions.

Keep up with our weekly Building Strong Study Skills series to learn the most effective study strategies and succeed in your academics. Schedule a session with one of our expert tutors today to receive all the information and guidance you need to gain a deeper understanding of your academics and perform better on your tests! Building effective study habits takes time, so the sooner you get help, the better prepared you will be by the time finals roll around.

Read Other Articles in The Building Strong Study Skills Series

Sources:

  • Terry, W.S. (2018). Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures, Fifth Edition. New York, Routledge, a Taylor and Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-13-864591-2.
  • Rhodes, M.G., Cleary, A.M. and DeLosh, E.L. (2020). A Guide to Effective Studying and Learning: Practical Strategies from the Science of Learning. New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-021447-0 (pbk).