3 Tips to Keep Your Student Reading Over the Summer. A new blog post on Hodis Learning & Music, an educational connections company that provides academic tutoring, music lessons, and art lessons.

3 Tips to Keep Your Student Reading Over the Summer

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3 Tips to Keep Your Student Reading Over the Summer

3 Tips to Keep Your Student Reading Over the Summer. A new blog post on Hodis Learning & Music, an educational connections company that provides academic tutoring, music lessons, and art lessons.

Reading is important for developing literacy, improving vocabulary, building social-emotional skills, and learning about the world and others.

Without school, it can be easy for students to avoid reading for three months, especially if it’s something they already struggle with and don’t like doing. However, it’s important that they continue reading to build their skills and ensure they don’t fall behind in the next school year. Below are 3 ways you can keep your student reading over the summer!

1. Join a Summer Reading Challenge

A reading challenge can be a great way to incentivize students to read during the summer months. Check with your school or local library to see if they have a challenge and how to join. Rules and prizes may vary, but the general idea is that participants keep track of how many books they read, or how many minutes per day they spend reading. You might even be able to create your own reading challenge at home to inspire your student. Use competitive spirit to keep your student reading throughout the summer!

2. Read With Your Student

This strategy might work particularly well for students who are still learning how to read or struggle with reading on their own. Encourage your student to pick the book you’ll read together. They might become more engaged once they have a say in the book they’re reading, rather than reading one assigned by a teacher. You and your student can alternate between reading each page or different paragraphs, depending on the book.

3. Have Your Student Find Books They Like

Take your student to a bookstore or sign them up for a library card and let them explore! As mentioned in suggestion 2, students might find reading more enjoyable when they have a say in the books they are reading. Your student might find they love fantasy series or graphic novels– books they don’t normally get to read for school. While it is important to make sure your student is reading at their grade level, allowing them to read books they choose and are excited about can help them build confidence and learn to enjoy reading. This will ultimately help them improve their reading skills in the long-run.

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End of Term Checklist for Students

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End of Term Checklist for Students

 

New Blog Post: End of Term Checklist. Final tips for the term, study advice, and how tutors can help

 

Congratulations, students! You’ve almost made it through another school year, and a year that hopefully felt more exciting, comfortable, and, well, normal than the previous two school years.

With the end of term approaching, so too are final exams and projects. Here’s a quick checklist for you to follow before you end the year.


1. Check your Grades

This is to ensure that you won’t be surprised when final grades come in. This is also a great opportunity to see if you can make up any work or see what you might need to do on your final assignments to get the best grade possible.


2. Talk to Your Teachers

If you’re behind in a class, missing assignments, or just want to make sure you’re prepared for your final exam or assignment, check in with your teacher. Talking to them now will allow you adequate time to catch up on assignments and prepare without needing to rush. Your teacher will also appreciate hearing from you earlier rather than right before or after the final assignment. Read our guide on talking to your teacher.


3. Create a Timeline

Create timelines to help you approach studying or complete those last assignments for the term. Breaking down your studying will help you retain information better and won’t feel as overwhelming. This same method will help if you’re trying to complete a final project or paper. Trust me, spending just 30 minutes writing every day to finish an essay will be much better than trying to write the whole thing right before the deadline!


4. Book a Tutor

Tutoring sessions will be much more effective and helpful if you have a few weeks to work with a tutor rather than just the day before. Plus, tutors aren’t just for studying or academic classes– book someone to help you write or edit your final research paper, or find an educator who can help you prepare for a year-end musical performance!


5. Plan for Summer

If you truly feel like you might have fallen behind in a class this year, it’s not a bad idea to think about scheduling tailored sessions to help you catch up before next year. You can also schedule summer activities that aren’t academic! Consider music lessons or art instruction, or even a portfolio workshop if you’re looking to take your art skills to the next level.

We wish you the best of luck as you approach the end of another school year!. 

Spring Cleaning for Students. Picture shows students walking across campus.

Spring Cleaning for Students

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Spring Cleaning for Students

Spring Cleaning for Students. Picture shows students walking across campus.

Flowers are blooming, days are longer, pollen is swirling through the air, and for students, the end of the school year is in sight! But don’t start slipping in your study habits yet! If anything, now is a great time to tidy up your study and school routine so you can finish the semester strong. Below are tips for spring cleaning up your school habits:

Clean out your backpack:

Okay I get it. If you’re on spring break, the last thing you want to do is touch or even look at your backpack! It’s probably been stuffed out of sight under your bed or in a corner not to be thought about until Monday morning after break.

But may I gently suggest– perhaps Sunday night, as you sadly set your alarm to wake up early for school the next day– take your backpack and clear everything out of it. All those papers, food wrappers, books, anything else that you’ve left in there. I recommend setting a timer for 15 minutes to just clear everything out.

Set aside the books, binders, notebooks, and anything else you’ll need for the next day of classes. Throw away trash or anything you don’t need. Set aside past assignments that you think you might need for finals studying.

This physical act of cleaning serves a couple purposes. First, it might help you feel productive and slightly more organized for the start of classes. Additionally, you can start to think about what you need to finish the semester on a good note. Do you see an assignment you didn’t do well on? Instead of throwing it away, hold onto it so you can discuss the assignment with your teacher.

Check your grades:

Perhaps you avoided thinking about your grades for the last couple of weeks. However, now is the time to really take a look at where you are in your classes and what it will take to improve your grades, if that’s something you need to do. Are there any large assignments coming up at the end of the term? Perhaps your last graded exam will be the final, which you need to ace. Start planning and preparing for what you need to do to get the best grades you can. Set a S.M.A.R.T Goal, hire a tutor, or prepare to use the study skills described in this blog series.

Use a planner:

If you have a planner that you’ve diligently been using to track assignments and due dates all school year, keep it up! If you haven’t or if you’ve fallen off of using your planner, now is the perfect time to start or get back into it. Start tracking your assignments and activities. Block out study times and plan which days you’ll be doing your work. Now is the time to stay on top of your assignments and it’s certainly not the time to fall behind on due dates because there are limited opportunities to make up that work.

Evaluate your habits:

Finally, take a bit of time to reflect on your study and work habits from the past semester. Were there things you were doing that didn’t really help you or made things more difficult? If so, think about how you can take action to change those habits. Perhaps you were regularly going to bed way too late, which made you consistently late to school and tired in your classes. Commit to going to bed earlier during these last few months of school. Did you only study the night before a test? Set a study schedule for yourself, or talk to a teacher or tutor about how to best study before your next exam.

Schedule a session with one of our tutors today!

Check out our tips for staying productive over Spring Break!

Three Changes You Can Make to Improve Your Academic Experience

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Three Changes You Can Make to Improve Your Academic Experience

It may not seem like it, but what we do and how we take care of ourselves outside of school and work can impact how we perform in those settings. Below are three self-care tips you can use to improve your academic experience and help you do better in school or in your tutoring sessions. 

Sleep More

I remember when I was in high school, I used to go to sports practices right after school, then sometimes another activity like volunteering or a club meeting, then do homework and study until midnight. I’d wake up the next day at 6:30 AM to start all over again. I’m shocked to think that I sacrificed so much sleep during that time. I made it through, but I remember countless days of dragging through classes and “studying” late but not retaining information. 

Sleep is so important, especially for our younger students, who need significantly more sleep to support their growth and development. More hours of good quality sleep will make you feel more energized, you’ll be able to retain information better, and your mood will be improved.

Some ways you can improve your sleep are to keep a regular bedtime, limit screen use before bed, and limit light and sound exposure. 

Cut Back on Processed Foods

The food you eat can directly correlate to your brain function and mood. If you’re just looking for a simple place to start, try to cut back on the amount of caffeine and soda you consume. Try to add a serving of vegetables to at least one meal a day, then increase that to two meals a day. And pay attention to when you crave that bag of chips or those vending machine candies. Are you hungry, or just tired and bored? 

Even those small shifts can start to make an impact on how you feel and perform in school, work, and your daily life.

Get Outside

We spend a lot of our time sitting inside whether it’s for work or school. Moving around outside can improve your mood, help you sleep better, and give your mind a break from sitting and thinking. Try to get outside for about 30 minutes every day. Maybe you can go on a short walk, or maybe take small breaks to stand and stretch in the fresh air.

Final Thoughts

While these are just general, small self-care recommendations that we have found to improve our own performance as tutors and teachers, we are by no means doctors or nutritionists. If you want more information or you’re trying to make larger lifestyle changes, we recommend you consult your physician!

When it comes to expert-level tutoring, music, and art lessons, Hodis Learning & Music offers the best and most affordable options! And we always want to make sure we’re encouraging success and confidence beyond the classroom, which is why we offer tips and advice like the article above. Schedule your first session today by calling us at 626-227-1149 or by submitting a form on our contact page.

5 Tips for Talking with Your Teacher

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5 Tips for Talking with Your Teacher

5 Tips for talking to your teacher. Photo of a tutoring session with a smiling tutor and a student on her laptop.

A resource we believe should be utilized more is talking with your teachers, especially the one who teaches the subject you are trying to improve in. 

Your teacher is likely familiar with the subject they are teaching. They also have been trained in school how to identify and share the most important information in effective ways. While some teachers are better at making school fun and exciting, all teachers assign homework and tests which means they know what information is important for you to know and how you can do well on assignments. 

Your teacher also sees you more frequently than a tutor does, meaning they know what aspects of their class you are struggling in- perhaps you are doing well participating in class, but your test scores aren’t very high.

Many students find the idea of talking with their teacher intimidating, or unhelpful, but we’ll share tips below for how you can talk with your teacher and get more out of class.

Tip 1: Your Teacher is There to Help You Learn

Remember a teacher’s job is, well… to teach! They are supposed to help you learn. So instead of thinking of your teacher as someone who is out to get you, make you look bad, or fail, think of them as a resource. Many teachers choose their profession because they like working with students and enjoy seeing their students succeed.


Tip 2: Start by Asking for Clarification or Advice

When you get a test or assignment back and your teacher has included feedback, ask them to clarify or explain. This can give you a better idea of how you can improve on the next assignment. You can ask questions like, “What can I do to improve on the next test?” or “What did you mean by this comment on my paper?”

Tip 3: Be Honest If You’re Not Understanding Something

Perhaps you just can’t understand Romeo and Juliet, no matter how many times you reread the passages. Tell your teacher that you aren’t understanding it. Tell them what you’ve been doing so far, and they should offer alternative suggestions. 

They might say instead of rereading a passage several times, you should take notes, or try to summarize the paragraph then reference your summary with an online Shakespeare translation guide. Once your teacher knows you are struggling in a specific area, they can offer advice for how to improve or learn in a different way.

Tip 4: Ask If You Can Review Your Last Test

Not all teachers will allow you to take your test home, so ask if you can review your test with them after class. You can see the specific questions you missed and ask your teacher to show you how you could have gotten the right answer.


Tip 5: Be Proactive; Don’t Wait Until the Final Exam to Ask for Help

Some students make the mistake of falling behind in class and then attempt to cram for the final in order to get a decent grade. This very rarely results in a great outcome. Not to mention, you won’t retain the information as well if you cram it. 

Your teacher will likely be very busy before the final exam with other students asking for help, and the teacher’s own responsibilities to finalize grades before the end of term.

Your teacher will appreciate your motivation if you contact them earlier for help, and you are much more likely to retain information and set a strong foundation so your final isn’t your last chance to get a good grade.

And consider getting a tutor to boost your grade. Hodis Learning & Music has expert tutors on staff who can help with all subjects K-12 and college. Call us at 626-227-1149 or email us here.

A better mindset to achieve success in tutoring, music lessons, or art lessons

Shine Bright and Start Strong Series: A Better Mindset to Achieve Success

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Shine Bright and Start Strong Series: A Better Mindset to Achieve Success

A better mindset to achieve success in tutoring, music lessons, or art lessons

So far in this series we’ve addressed:

In this final installation of the Shine Bright and Start Strong Series we’ll discuss how to cultivate a better mindset to ensure effective sessions, and ultimately, your success.

We understand that sessions can be stressful. Whether you are struggling with:

  • A challenging school subject, 
  • Scaling up your musical skills, or
  • Learning an art technique

There can be frustrations, stresses, and days when it just plain doesn’t make sense.

The key is to not let your frustrations get to you. And this simple technique can help you when the stress of a session is too much.


STEP 1: Close your eyes and take a deep breath in, then exhale for eight seconds.

Really control yourself to slow the breath for the full eight seconds. Repeat this breathing 5 times.


STEP 2: Identify what’s frustrating.

Do you keep forgetting the same vocabulary words? Do your fingers keep stumbling over that one part of the song you’re practicing? Identify it and verbalize it. Say “I’m frustrated because…”


STEP 3: Give yourself some perspective and kindness.

If this is your first time doing something, it’s going to be challenging. You’re not supposed to be an expert on the first try, and no one expects you to be. 

If you were listening to your best friend getting frustrated over something, you’d make sure they weren’t beating themselves up. You’d try to make them feel better, right? Give yourself the same grace and kindness.


STEP 4: Give yourself some encouragement.

Keep pretending you’re talking to your best friend and trying to make them feel better. Give yourself a positive mantra, like some of the ones below:

  • Today’s been hard, but tomorrow will be better.
  • I am doing my best, and that’s enough.
  • I didn’t get it at first, but I will get it.
  • I got this!

Never forget that your tutor or educator is there to support you. If something isn’t making sense and you’re feeling upset about it, let us know! We’ll try a new approach and help you through this activity to make sure you’re learning.

Schedule your first session with Hodis Learning & Music today and keep an eye out for our next blog post!

shine bright & start strong series: getting smart goals

Shine Bright & Start Strong Series: Setting SMART Goals

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Shine Bright & Start Strong Series:
Setting SMART Goals

 

shine bright & start strong series: getting smart goals

 

The start of a new year often inspires us to commit to new habits, practices, and ways of life to improve ourselves. However, studies have shown that resolutions often fizzle out after a month, or sometimes even in a matter of days or weeks. 

Our Shine Bright & Start Strong Series will provide content all month long focused on how to set goals, improve organizational skills, and create better study habits so our students can start 2022 on the right foot and find lasting momentum to carry them well beyond January.

scrabble letters for English tutoring

Make SMART Goals: 

For any goal that you’re setting, it’s best to create goals that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant/Realistic, and Timely. These can be New Year’s Resolutions, or goals you set for yourself each week or month. And while SMART Goals work in any area of life, we’re going to explain how they can help you in your academic, music, language, or artistic pursuits.

Specific: Make your goal as specific as possible. Many people have a tendency to make general goals or resolutions like “I want to learn a new instrument” or “I want to get better grades.” These goals are hard to accomplish because there are no specifications. It’s fine to start with a general idea like the ones listed above, but then dig deeper and define your goal more clearly. 

  • “I want to learn a new instrument” becomes: I want to learn how to play guitar
  • “I want to get better grades” becomes: I want to get better grades in my math and science classes

Measurable: A goal is more easily accomplished when there are metrics. Metrics give you a number or place to work towards and a point of comparison. To explain this better, we’ll use our goals from before.

  • “I want to learn how to play guitar” becomes: I want to learn how to play one song on guitar. Suddenly our general goal is even more specific! We can see an outcome- learning one song. If you’re a beginner who has never played guitar before, this goal is realistic and possible.
  • “I want to get better grades in my math and science classes” becomes: I want to get B’s in my math and science classes. Now, you’ve defined the subjects you want to get better grades in and the grades you want to achieve.

tape measure for math tutoring

Attainable: Make sure your goal is attainable. If your goal isn’t realistic or attainable, it might be discouraging if you aren’t able to achieve it. For example, if you have never played guitar before, you probably shouldn’t expect to play guitar like a rockstar in your first few months of learning the instrument.

If you struggled in math and science classes last semester and you don’t remember the previous lessons, it might not be attainable to achieve A+ grades in those classes. 

It doesn’t mean those things aren’t possible at some point, but be realistic about your progress and starting point in order to set goals that you can actually accomplish.

Relevant/Realistic: It’s worth asking yourself at any stage of the goal-setting process if your goals are relevant and realistic to you, your stage of life, and your lifestyle. 

The way to answer those questions and to get to the heart of your goal reasoning is to ask yourself, why. Why do you want to set this goal? Why is this goal important to you? 

If your answers have more to do with other people, is it really a goal worth pursuing? For example, if your goal is to learn a new instrument because you want people to be impressed with you, that might not be sustainable motivation. 

That could be one reason you want to learn a new instrument, but maybe you also dream of joining a band. Maybe you want to challenge yourself and learn something new. 

Those are perfectly good and relevant reasons, but just be clear in your intentions because those will drive you to keep working towards your goal even when it’s challenging.

If you are a student and reading this, you might feel like some of your academic goals are determined by your parents. You might think because other people want you to improve your grades the goal isn’t relevant to you.

If you feel this way, I encourage you to think about how improving your grades might help you achieve your own goals. Do you want to go to a specific college? Do you have a dream job?

You also have the power to determine if the goals are realistic. Maybe your parents want you to be valedictorian, but you know you would be adequately challenged working towards a 3.0 GPA. Talk with your parents and set a realistic goal that will challenge you and allow you to work towards your own dreams.

Timely: The final step in making a SMART goal is setting a time frame in which you can reasonably achieve your goal. Be realistic and honest with yourself about your starting point. Also be realistic and honest about how much time you’re going to spend working towards your goal each day and each week. So let’s make our original goals timely:

  • I want to learn how to play one song on guitar by June 1, 2022. Make sure you also set a reasonable timeline for how often you will practice, and how frequently you’ll meet with a guitar teacher who can help you learn the song.
  • I want to get B’s in my math and science classes in the spring semester. This is a great goal! Again, make sure you are putting in time throughout the semester to achieve this goal. Schedule regular sessions with a tutor early in the semester to start working towards your goal right away.

clock for timing tutoring sessions

Additional Tips to Make Your SMART Goals Stick:

  • Tell someone about your goals: Telling a trusted friend, tutor, coach, teacher, parent, or mentor is important when setting your goals because they can keep you accountable. They can provide motivation when you don’t feel like working towards your goal and remind you why you set your goal in the first place.
  • Evaluate your progress regularly: Use a calendar, journal, or spreadsheet to track your progress. Check in regularly to determine if you will be able to achieve your goal within your set time frame. Your goal and time frame can help you determine how often you assess your progress, which could be every day, once a week, or once a month.
  • Don’t be afraid to adjust your goals: Regular evaluations will help you determine if you’re on track to achieve your goal within your set time frame. 
    • If you haven’t been practicing guitar regularly, perhaps you need to set a new completion date. Again, be realistic about your time and also make the necessary adjustments to achieve your goal. Perhaps you need to commit to practicing more often in order to learn the song on guitar. Set new practice times and stick to them. 
    • Adjusting your goal is also important if you find you can exceed it or reach it in less time than you thought. Maybe halfway through the semester you realize you’ve gotten A’s on all your math and science exams. Don’t be afraid to change your goal of getting B’s to getting A’s in those classes. Write it down, tell your friend, teacher, or mentor, and track your progress towards that goal the same way as before.
  • Reflect on your goals after you achieve them: After you’ve achieved your goal, celebrate your success and reflect on it! Writing down your thoughts in a journal can be helpful. How did you feel working towards your goal? How did it feel to achieve your goal? If you had to adjust your goal, how did that make you feel? Do you want to expand upon your goal, and use it to set new ones?

Our series continues with how to be more organized and efficient and cultivating a better mindset to achieve success.