ACT Reading Tutor

What Makes for An Effective SAT/ACT Reading Tutor SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You'd think that with a name like â€Å"Critical Reading† or just plain â€Å"Reading† that the best tutor for these sections of the SAT and ACT would just be someone who is good at reading critically. Alas, it is not that simple. For instance: I love to read and aced the SAT Critical Reading section when I took the test lo so many years ago, but because it comes naturally to me, I haven’t ever had to think of alternate ways to approach questions. I actually have to work much harder at tutoring Reading than I do at tutoring subjects that I had to put more effort into learning (for me, SAT Math). Read on for more specifics on what makes the most effective SAT/ACT Reading tutor. And if you want specific advice on SAT/ACT Math tutoring as well, don't worry – you can read more about that here. feature image credit: Reading by Pedro Ribeiro Simà µes, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Effective SAT/ACT Reading Tutors Scored Well On The Test The best SAT/ACT Reading tutors are the 1%: at a bare minimum, they've scored in the 99th percentile on the test. At PrepScholar, we take it one step further. Not only do we exclusively hire 99th percentile scorers, but many of these tutors were perfect scorers on the sections that they tutor. Why is this important? Because in order to be able to customize teaching, a tutor must have mastered the material. This doesn’t just mean knowing the content (like vocabulary). Tutors need to understand HOW the SAT/ACT will question you on reading. SAT/ACT Reading in particular is a difficult subject to improve, because it requires skills the student has practiced over a decade. It's not easy to teach critical reasoning and logic in a short amount of time. How do effective SAT/ACT Reading tutors do it? Read on! Effective SAT/ACT Reading Tutors Can Pinpoint Your Weaknesses The best SAT/ACT Reading tutor will be able to understand exactly WHERE students are making mistakes. When all is said and done, a particularly tricky reading question can involve over half a dozen components, any of which could be your Achilles' heel. Let’s use the following passage and question as an example. There are many complicated steps you have to take to answer this question Understand the question: what’s this weirdly-worded question actually asking? Where in the passage is the information you need? How much time are you spending reading the passage? What information does the passage give you to answer the question? How do you use this information to answer the question? What answer choices can you eliminate? Why? How can you confirm the right answer is correct at the very end? A student who misses the question could be tripped up by any one of these steps. How should a tutor address this? A mediocre tutor will just make sure the student understands how to get the answer to this particular question and move on. Why is this bad? It’s inefficient – it’s highly unlikely this particular question will show up on the SAT/ACT, and so the assistance given is not generalizable. Furthermore, it doesn't identify the student's actual weaknesses - it just patches over serious problems with a quick fix. The best tutor will pinpoint exactly where the student is having issues, then work on weaknesses until there are no longer any issues. A student who doesn't understand how to identify the information in the passage that answers the question needs very different help from a student who is spending too much time re-reading the passage when answering this question. If the tutor doesn't identify these weaknesses and address them, the student will find it very hard to improve her score. Darts by Richard Matthews, used under CC BY 2.0. All your tutor's efforts should be directed towards the bullseye of your weaknesses. Effective SAT/ACT Reading Tutors Will Customize Strategies To You The best tutors will understand optimal strategies and be able to teach them to students, customizing the strategies to a student's particular level. Read on for an example of two different strategy suggestions: one suggestion is for someone aiming for a 600 on the SAT or 26 on the ACT and the other is for someone aiming for a perfect score on the SAT/ACT). Students who are aiming for a 600 or a 26 or a can skip hardest 20% of questions and instead focus on easier ones. For more strategies like these, read our articles on how to improve your SAT Reading Score or how to improve your ACT Reading score. If you're aiming for the perfect score, on the other hand, you might need to take note of time management. Take a timed practice test, and if you run out of time, mark the questions you answer with extra time. Compare your scaled score with extra time with your realistic score (the score that only includes questions answered during the normal time period). If your score differs by more than 50 points (on the SAT) or 1 point (on the ACT), you have serious time management issues. Are you generally slow at reading passages, or were there particular questions that slowed you down? For more time management tips and other strategies, read our articles on scoring an 800 in SAT Critical Reading or 36 in ACT Reading. Actions To Take The best way to get a sense of any tutor’s teaching style is to get her to demonstrate how she’d explain the process of answering a difficult question. PROTIP: Pick out a question ahead of time that you previously missed and have had trouble with from a real SAT and use it every time, so you can compare the explanations of multiple tutors. I’ve also compiled a list of sample questions parents and students might want to ask potential tutors. Click to download the PDF, or click on the image below. Use the answers to these questions to assess how a tutor teaches and whether or not her particular teaching style and method will be effective for you. What’s Next? If you haven’t already, read our article on the key qualities of an effective SAT/ACT tutor. How do you find the best tutor for you? Learn about what tutors actually do during SAT/ACT tutoring and how to find the best tutoring match for your situation. Want to get serious about improving your SAT/ACT score? Our tutoring service is designed to be the most effective in the nation. We hire the best tutors from across the country. This is then paired with our exclusiveonline drillingprogramthat gives your tutor complete insight into your progress to design the most effective sessions. Think about what improving 160 points on your SAT, or 4 points on your ACT, can do for you. Learn more about tutoring now:

Battle of Paardeberg in the Second Boer War Battle

Battle of Paardeberg in the Second Boer War Battle Battle of Paardeberg - Conflict and Dates: The Battle of Paardeberg was fought between February 18-27, 1900, and was part of the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Armies Commanders: British Field Marshal Frederick RobertsLieutenant General Herbert Kitchener15,000 men Boers General Piet CronjeGeneral Christiaan de Wet7,000 men Battle of Paardeberg - Background: In the wake of Field Marshal Lord Roberts relief of Kimberley on February 15, 1900, the Boer commander in the area, General Piet Cronje began retreating east with his forces. His progress was slowed due to the presence of a large number on noncombatants that had joined his ranks during the siege. On the night of February 15/16, Cronje successfully slipped between Major General John Frenchs cavalry near Kimberley and Lieutenant General Thomas Kelly-Kennys British infantry at the Modder River fords. Battle of Paardeberg - Boers Trapped: Detected by mounted infantry the next day, Cronje was able to prevent elements from Kelly-Kennys 6th Division from overtaking them. Late that day, French was dispatched with approximately 1,200 cavalry to locate Cronjes main force. Around 11:00 AM on February 17, the Boers reached the Modder River at Paardeberg. Believing that his men had escaped, Cronje paused to allow them to rest. Shortly thereafter, Frenchs troopers appeared from the north and began firing on the Boer camp. Rather than attack the smaller British force, Cronje inadvisably decided to form a laager and dig in along the banks of the river. As Frenchs men pinned the Boers in place, Roberts chief of staff, Lieutenant General Horatio Kitchener, began rushing troops to Paardeberg. The next day, Kelly-Kenny began planning to bombard the Boer position into submission, but was overruled by Kitchener. Though Kelly-Kenny outranked Kitchener, the latters authority on the scene was confirmed by Roberts who was in bed ill. Possibly concerned about the approach of Boer reinforcements under General Christiaan De Wet, Kitchener ordered a series of frontal attacks on Cronjes position (Maps). Battle of Paardeberg - The British Attack: Ill-conceived and uncoordinated, these assaults were beaten back with heavy casualties. When the days fighting ended, the British has suffered 320 dead and 942 wounded, making it the single costliest action of the war. In addition, to make the attack, Kitchener had effectively abandoned a kopje (small hill) to the southeast that was occupied by De Wets approaching men. While the Boers suffered lighter casualties in the fighting, their mobility had been further reduced by the death of much of their livestock and horses from British shelling. That night, Kitchener reported the days events to Roberts and indicated that he planned to resume attacks the next day. This roused the commander from his bed, and Kitchener was dispatched to oversee the repair of the railroad. In the morning, Roberts arrived on the scene and initially desired to recommence assaulting Cronjes position. This approach was resisted by his senior officers who were able to convince him to lay siege to the Boers. On the third day of the siege, Roberts began to contemplate withdrawing due to De Wets position to the southeast. Battle of Paardeberg - Victory: This blunder was prevented by De Wet losing his nerve and retreating, leaving Cronje to deal with the British alone. Over the next several days, the Boer lines were subjected to an increasingly heavy bombardment. When he learned that women and children were in the Boer camp, Roberts offered them safe passage through the lines, but this was refused by Cronje. As the shelling continued, nearly every animal in the Boer lines was killed and the Modder became filled with the dead carcasses of horses and oxen. On the night of February 26/27, elements of the Royal Canadian Regiment, with assistance from the Royal Engineers, were able to construct trenches on high ground approximately 65 yards from the Boer lines. The following morning, with the Canadian rifles overlooking his lines and his position hopeless, Cronje surrendered his command to Roberts. Battle of Paardeberg - Aftermath: The fighting at Paardeberg cost the British 1,270 casualties, the majority of which were incurred during the February 18 attacks. For the Boers, casualties in the fighting were relatively light, but Cronje was forced to surrender the remaining 4,019 men in his lines. The defeat of Cronjes force opened the road to Bloemfontein and severely damaged Boer morale. Pressing towards the city, Roberts routed a Boer force at Poplar Grove on March 7, before taking the city six days later.