Choosing an English Tudor House Plans

Choosing an English Tudor House PlansIf you are a first time home buyer or looking for an English tutor to come and teach your children, your options are limited when you do not know where to begin. If you are fortunate enough to find a college that offers a course in English language teaching, your options may be limited. You can also take your child to the local library for free or take your kid to a local play center for a fee.If you take your child to a school that does not offer the English language program, it is important to make sure your child is learning the same thing as all the other students in the class. Some students may be able to pick up the concepts from home, while others may need a teacher at the local library or a tutor in a house. It is important to make sure that the curriculum is similar so that your child is not learning a different curriculum than the other students. There are a few important things to look for when choosing an English tutor house plan.The f irst step when you are choosing an English tutor house plan is to find out what your child's schedule is like. This means that you will have to work with the tutor to find out the times that you can meet with your child. You may find that a tutor has too many restrictions on the times that you can meet with your child, such as no more than two hours a day. It is up to you to find out what your child can and cannot do with their tutor. Some of the most popular options are those that allow the tutor to meet with your child for long hours at night or weekends.The second thing to look for when choosing an English tutor house plan is the materials that the tutor uses. This means that you will need to find out which materials will be used and if they are subject specific or general. What is best for one child may not be the best for another. A common choice for parents is to get an ESL textbook that contains general lessons and does not include any special lessons or content. Once you hav e decided on the materials, you will need to find out the tutor's price for a lesson.There are two ways to find out how much the English tutor charges for a lesson. One is to make sure that you ask the tutor directly if they charge for a lesson. Another way to find out the price is to get a listing from the school on the Internet. This way, you can compare the price and prices of a few different English tutor house plans.When you have found an English tutor who offers a price that you can afford, you will need to make sure that they have a website. While you may have a list of available tutors, it is important to make sure that the websites of these tutors are all of the same quality. Some of the websites can not be trusted and you may want to be aware of the fact that they can not be trusted. Finding the right website is important because this will give you an idea of what is going on with the tutor's reputation.Choosing an English tutor is important. In order to find the best Engl ish tutor, you need to research your options and make sure that you choose someone that is right for your child. Having a good relationship with the tutor is essential to your success, so don't take it lightly.

Greg Norman and the Science of the Choke

Greg Norman and the Science of the Choke Consider two seemingly unrelated scenarios:1.   A professional golfer in the prime of his career, poised to finally win his first Masters, blows his six-stroke lead. Everything begins to unravel with a bogey on the 9th hole, and he eventually loses the tournament by five strokes.2.   A 17 year old high school student takes the SAT for the first time in March. She feels totally comfortable with the test. Her reaction afterwards: I was really happy that I did tutoring when I was sitting there with the test in front of me. I could just start answering questions instead of thinking really hard and wasting time. [an actual quote from an AJ Tutoring student who took the March 2016 SAT]If you followed golf in the 1990s, you may have recognized Greg Norman’s epic 1996 Masters choke in the first scenario. Johnette Howard recently profiled Norman’s collapse for ESPN, applying 20 years of cognitive and sports psychology to explain what happened on the course that day.Norman after narrowly m issing the 15th hole with a chip shotOn the surface, our high school student and the Great White Shark may not appear all that similar. Not so! Both are competing in intense, pressure-cooker situations where the psychology of the competitor is just as important as his knowledge or skill.Norman turned pro in 1976, so by the time of the 1996 Masters, he had logged countless hours of practice and tournament time. He knew the ins and outs of the course and which shot to take when. But sometimes head knowledge and skill just isn’t enough to go the distance.As Howard notes in her article, the choke often begins when people become anxious about their performance. Anxiety causes them to think too closely about actions that, at this point in their training, should be automatic. Emotional and physiological responses cascade from anxiety and overthinking, eventually handicapping the competitor’s motor skills and his ability to think clearly and calmly.Identity threat and a fixed mindset ca n contribute to a collapse as well. Norman’s rival in the 1996 Masters, Nick Faldo, had already won the Masters twice (while Norman had been runner-up twice). Norman later commented that “Masters champions are there for a reasonthey understand all those little crazy quirks of what Augusta National can deliver.” Although Norman was a golf pro, top-ranked in the world, he didn’t see himself as a member of the group that could win the Masters. He assumed there was something inherent or fixed in the persona of the “Masters champion” that allowed them to win the tournament and Norman didn’t think he had what it took.After our extended foray into the world of golf, let’s return to more familiar territory standardized testing and test preparation. Anyone who’s tutored for any length of time is likewise familiar with the choke. We work with a student for several months leading up to test day. She participates in tutoring sessions, does all her homework and completes four timed practice SAT tests at our office. Her practice test scores are improving and we’re excited! All signs point to a great performance on the real SAT.Then scores come back, and there’s not much improvement. Obviously this is a disappointing outcome for everyone the student who was hoping for a great score, the tutor who feels personally invested in the student’s performance, and the parent who invested resources into the preparation. So what happened?Often when this situation happens (which is fortunately rare!) and we talk with the family afterwards, it comes out that the student experienced severe anxiety on test day. The student will comment that she was so anxious that she “just couldn’t think”, “didn’t recognize the problems”, or couldn’t finish sections on time. Her test scores don’t accurately reflect her true knowledge and ability, much like Greg Norman’s performance at Augusta back in 1996.A fixed mindset person believes, Im either good at this or not. They say, If I fail, its because theres something missing from my total package here. But the trouble is, its not a growth mindset. Having that fixed attitude limits your ability to cope with the things that are happening to you.-Fran Pirozzolo, neuroscientist and sports psychologistBy contrast, consider the student in our second scenario above. Although we don’t have her scores yet, she felt calm, confident, and prepared. Most students with that attitude achieve great score improvements on the SAT. Notably, she commented that she “could just start answering questions” on the SAT “instead of thinking really hard and wasting time”. Our SAT student experienced the flow that occurs when actions become automatic and overthinking is absent.And this is the million-dollar question: how do we convert our anxiety-ridden student into the calm and confident test-day superstar? How do you turn Greg Norman into a Masters champion?While it’s true that some people are more anxi ous by nature and others are cool and collected under pressure, it’s possible for anyone to take a few steps to improve their mental state on game day. Here are a few proven suggestions:Prepare. Nothing reduces anxiety like the knowledge that you’ve seen this golf course, this SAT question, this math problem a hundred times before. You automatically know the steps to solve the problem, so you can “turn off your brain” and run on autopilot. How do you prepare? Tutor with an expert (we’ll show you the questions that show up again and again). Do your homework so you know how to do the work yourself. Take timed, proctored practice tests so you’re used to the timing of the test and the pressure.Sleep/eat/exercise. It seems like every high school student has an ultra-intense schedule these days. While we don’t advocate neglecting assignments or skipping school leading up to the SAT, you should make sure that you’re getting as much rest and nutrition as you can in the week before test day. All the preparation in the world won’t be much help if you’re tired or hungry. And try to get some exercise, even if it’s just a short walk. Getting the endorphins flowing helps brain function on test day.Warm up. This doesn’t help everyone, but many students benefit from knocking out a few practice SAT problems over breakfast on test day. The point of this is not to learn new material it’s to warm up your brain and establish your confidence the morning of the big test. Don’t even check your answers remember, the point of this exercise is not to learn something new!Breathe. Sounds goofy, but when your cortisol and adrenaline kick in and you’re in full “fight or flight” response, your heart rate increases dramatically and breathing becomes shallow. These physiological responses hamper performance in athletic and intellectual competitions. On test day, keep a few simple breathing exercises or relaxation techniques handy to calm down and refocus you r brain. Try closing your eyes and breathing in for 10 counts, then out for 10 counts.Bring a lucky pencil or chew gum (quietly!). Use the same pencil to take your practice tests, then bring it to test day. Chew gum while you’re taking your practice tests, then chew gum when you’re taking the actual SAT. Creating a physical link between your practice performances and test day will help lower your anxiety and remind you that you’ve done this before.Visualize your success. To combat identity threat, picture yourself confidently completing every section of the SAT on time. You’re reading passages and understanding them, and you’re acing all the math problems. You’re in a state of flow. Rest confidently in the knowledge that you’ve done the work to prepare for the test, so there’s nothing standing between you and a great performance.Turn the page and leave each section behind. This is a tough one, but the ability to compartmentalize while you’re taking the SAT (or golf ing) is a valuable skill. What do you do when you know you bombed a section or bogeyed on the 9th hole? Leave it behind. Your performance on that section doesn’t have to affect your performance on the rest of the test. Students are remarkably bad judges of how many questions they actually missed, and they tend towards catastrophic thinking. If you think you had a bad section, try your breathing exercises, stretch, pull out that lucky pencil and get going on the next section.Maintain perspective. Even if you don’t get the score that you want, chances are you’ll be able to retake the test. We recommend that students plan on taking the SAT or ACT two or three times in order to work out the kinks and maximize their score. Very few students achieve their goal score on the first test, and every actual test you take gives you valuable test-day experience, helping you stay calm and confident the next time. And if you never get that perfect 1600 or 36? Life goes on. You’ll still get into a good college and the SAT and ACT will be a distant memory, just another learning experience along the way to becoming an adult.While the merits of the SAT and the ACT continue to be debated in national media, it’s indisputable that these tests provide a valuable training ground for how to thrive in high-pressure situations. Rather than shrinking away from the challenge, we encourage students to seize this opportunity to practice their “game day” skills, which will surely serve them in good stead later in life.

10 Common Mistakes to Avoid During a Job Interview

10 Common Mistakes to Avoid During a Job Interview via Pixabay 1. Show up late The minute you show up late to a job interview is the minute the interviewer will not take you seriously. If you’re on time, you’re late. Try to show up about 10 minutes early to show that you are eager to have this job interview and are excited about the position. This also gives you a chance to sit in a waiting area and to get a little bit of a feel for the environment of the office and how it operates, at least on the surface. via Pixabay 2. Dress inappropriately Dress for success! To show your interviewer that you take the chance to interview for the position seriously, make sure to dress professionally. You are never too overdressed for an interview. Keep it simple, yet add a touch of yourself to the outfit. It can be difficult to decide what is business professional and what is business casual and it doesn’t help that there are different expectations for both men and women. So make sure to do some research before going to your interview. via Pixabay 3. Sit before being offered a seat Keep in mind that you are a guest in your interviewer’s office. Never be presumptuous and sit down before being offered a seat during a job interview. You don’t know if this is the room you will be staying in, if there are other people coming in to interview you, or if your interviewer has a specific preference on where they like to sit. This is a common mistake interviewees make, so keep it in mind! via Pixabay 4. Avoid eye contact It’s understandable that you may be nervous or intimidated during a job interview, but that doesn’t mean you can avoid making eye contact with your interviewer. Though it may just be nerves, the interviewer may take it as you have something to hide or you are untrustworthy. It can be difficult to control your body language, especially if you are trying to convey something different than what you are feeling. Take a few deep breaths and relax. It’ll make it much easier to keep eye contact. 5. Give one-word answers Come prepared with what you may say during your job interview. Your interviewer is asking questions to get to know you and your experiences better, so if you give just one-word answers, they will not come away with a good feel for you as a person or worker. Before your interview, think of some stories and relevant experiences you can talk about that pertain to the position and its responsibilities. If you’re feeling nervous, practice telling a friend these stories and answers. via Pixabay 6. Give too many details You may be one of those people who doesn’t get nervous for a job interview and is completely comfortable with talking about themselves. If this is the case, be careful not to give too many irrelevant details. Remember, this is a job interview, not a coffee date. Keep your stories and answers concise and to the point without embellishing or giving too much personal opinion. 7. Brag about yourself It’s a fine line between talking about yourself and bragging about yourself. You don’t want to seem arrogant while recalling specific experiences or act like the company needs you more than you need them. It’s important to realize that you are confident that you can do well in this position, but that you still have a lot to learn about the industry and the company. 8. Use your phone If you receive a call or a text during a job interview, ignore it. Do not pull your phone out in the middle of your interview and answer it. All of your attention should be on the job interview and the interviewer. Before entering the building of your interview, it is best to put your phone either on silent or airplane mode and keep it in your pocket or handbag until after your interview. via Pixabay 9. Not shaking hands It’s a common courtesy to shake your interviewer’s hand at the beginning of the interview and at the end. It shows that you are polite and know the etiquette required when attending a job interview. It should happen naturally. If your interviewer doesn’t reach out their hand, make sure you offer yours. via Pixabay 10. Not sending a “thank you” note After an interview, it’s important to make sure you send a “thank you” note or email no more than a day after. Keep in mind that the interviewer is probably very busy and interviewing you is not the most important thing they need to do that day. Sending a note is polite and shows that you are considerate of the time they spent meeting with you. It will definitely put you ahead of other candidates if they do not send one.

3 Steps to a Successful School-Year, Experienced tutor and elementary-school teacher in the Baltimore, MD Area

3 Steps to a Successful School-Year, Experienced tutor and elementary-school teacher in the Baltimore, MD Area Boy, has the summer flown by! Too fast for us educators, and I’m sure not fast enough for a lot of parents! With the approach of another school year, there are some key steps that you should take in order to ensure a successful school year:1. Start Early! With the first day of school quickly approaching please start to get your child back to the “school-year” routine. Begin to reinforce those earlier bed times to ensure that your child is not that kid struggling to stay awake once that first day full of learning appears. As an educator, I know that instruction begins on day 1, and the biggest struggle during the first two weeks of school is keeping all those sleepy-heads awake. 2. Make Your Presence Known From Day 1! Although the first day of school will be hectic for everyone involved (parents, students, and the teacher). You must find a way to introduce yourself to your child’s teacher and begin a working relationship with him or her. A really cool and easy way to do that is by sending a small note with your child the first day of school that introduces yourself, provides your contact information, and maybe a concern and a goal you have for your child this school year. This cuts down on the traffic within the classroom on the first day, but also gives the teacher an opportunity to get to know you and your child. It will also help build that ever important working relationship. 3. Routine, Routine, Routine! Make a routine and stick with it. Being both a parent and a teacher, I understand the importance of structure and routine. Set a morning routine to help prepare for school, this may include dressing themselves for younger kids or walking the dog for older children. Also set an afternoon routine for immediately after school. These activities should include completing homework and any household chores before other activities. Finally, find an evening routine, including activities like making their lunch for the next day, brushing their teeth, and getting to bed on time. Believe it or not children love structure, and by setting routines this will set clear expectations for everyone involved. To hold your child accountable for following those routines, consider creating a simple chart with their daily tasks. Reward them with a sticker or a check mark for each task that is completed. At the end of the week, count up their stickers or check marks and give them a more tangible reward (i.e. an extra snack for 5 stickers or extra TV/Game time for 20 stickers). Modifications can be made to the chart for older children by having them complete a spreadsheet of their daily responsibilities. Have them keep track of their progress in order to help them become self-starters, and provide them with age-appropriate rewards.There are only a few short weeks left before our children are back into the classroom for the next ten months. Follow these three easy steps for children of all ages to ensure a smooth and productive school year!

The beginners guide to teaching abroad in the Middle East

The beginner’s guide to teaching abroad in the Middle East Are you considering teaching in the Middle East? If your answer is yes, then we’ve got some good news for you! There are a wealth of teaching opportunities for teachers at all levels in the Middle East and each country in this fascinating region has something unique to offer. From average teacher salary and benefits, to typical start up costs and the cost of living, as well as the most popular areas to find teaching jobs in each country, we’ve done the research on teaching in the Middle East so you don’t have to! Read on for more information on teaching in the UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan. Country Average Teacher Salary Benefits Start up Costs Cost of Living Teaching job hot spots (urban/rural) UAE (United Arab Emirates) $2,400 - 5,500 USD Airfare, health insurance, housing, tuition, end of contract bonus None Housing costs are high Abu Dhabi, Dubai Egypt $2,300 - 4,500 USD Airfare, housing allowance, health insurance None Low Cairo, Alexandria Saudi Arabia $4,500 USD Airfare for teacher, spouse and dependents, housing allowance, relocation allowance, end-of-contract bonus None Medium in urban areas Riyadh Qatar 9,000 - 14,000 QR (approx. $2,400 to 3,700 USD) tax free Airfare, housing allowance, health insurance None High in urban areas Doha and other rural areas Kuwait 792 KWD (approx. $2,600 - 4,000 USD) tax free Airfare, housing allowance, health insurance None High in urban areas Kuwait Jordan $3,000 - 3,800 USD Airfare, housing allowance, health insurance, professional development None High Amman

If You Want To Speak A(ny) Language Dont Learn It

If You Want To Speak A(ny) Language Dont Learn It From time to time I feel a great temptation to share my own learning and teaching experiences with other people. The way we learn something is critically important to the final outcome. How do we learn languages? Normally, we memorize some basic words and phrases, then we learn some grammar rules and try to compose phrases using wrong words and making predictable mistakes since the interference from the native language is so strong. Why is it that after years of studies many still fail speaking fluently? Do they fail because they are stupid and lazy? Definitely not. At the very beginning of our lives we learnt our native languages perfectly well, so we are capable of learning languages. Probably, the way we acquire a new language is not the most efficient. Most likely, it is quite inefficient. We didnt learn the native language as a sum of vocabulary and grammar rules. We never thought about the grammar at all, and yet we succeeded. Photo source: Nina How do kids acquire their first language? They use it from the very first minute. They hear voices of people around and react to them. Meanwhile their brains collect statistics of the word usage, grammar structures and pronunciation (neurologists believe every healthy human brain has a capability to collect and analyze the language statistics by nature). Then kids try to express their emotions, needs and wants with sounds mimicking the speech of other people and adjusting their grammar and word usage according to our reaction to their speech. So the more a kid speaks the better he gets at it. We have to learn from our own childhood experience how to acquire a language; after all, it was successful once. Of course, it is impossible to recreate the circumstances of our early pre-language childhood, but what we can do is to change our learning strategy. Stop learning and start using seems to be a more efficient way to acquire a new language, and this is not so hard to do. First of all, it is useful to remember that there is a difference between using a language passively (listening and reading) and actively (speaking and writing). When learning a new language, one should develop both active and passive language skills. It is relatively easy to improve reading and listening in our age of the Internet. Passive skills are all about consuming language. For developing listening skill, you can watch movies, listen to online radio broadcasting and the music you like, memorize lyrics with no efforts (this is, actually, how I learnt English). It is not a big deal to find a good book to read (please note that this should be the book you really want to read) and/or to subscribe to blogs on topics that are interesting to you. Active language skills means that you produce some text (oral or written) and address it to your audience. Finding an audience that is ready to help a non-native speaker with corrections is not so easy, but again, there is the Internet with its powerful resources like  iTalki. I would also suggest a website  www.forvo.com  that is a social pronunciation dictionary. I use it each time when I hesitate how to pronounce this or that word. So why not use the advantage of the Internet epoch? Why be so persistent in methods that rarely lead to success instead of trying a natural way of acquiring a language? If you want to learn dancing you go to the dancing studio, pick up a partner and dance, improving gradually. Buying a book “Waltz and Tango course” instead would be ridiculous, wouldnt it? Language is a practical skill too, just like dancing, however, nobody has found learning a language from books absurd. Let us be like children, forget that learning is hard work (it is!) and enjoy discovering a new language, tinkering with it, exactly like we tinkered with our first language many years ago. About the author: Eugenia  is a Professional Russian and English language teacher.  Eugenia enjoys explaining complicated grammar things with simple words. She helps people acquire a new language naturally simply by talking about interesting things.  Eugenia has a 5-star feedback rating, and has  taught over 161 sessions on italki. If You Want To Speak A(ny) Language Dont Learn It From time to time I feel a great temptation to share my own learning and teaching experiences with other people. The way we learn something is critically important to the final outcome. How do we learn languages? Normally, we memorize some basic words and phrases, then we learn some grammar rules and try to compose phrases using wrong words and making predictable mistakes since the interference from the native language is so strong. Why is it that after years of studies many still fail speaking fluently? Do they fail because they are stupid and lazy? Definitely not. At the very beginning of our lives we learnt our native languages perfectly well, so we are capable of learning languages. Probably, the way we acquire a new language is not the most efficient. Most likely, it is quite inefficient. We didnt learn the native language as a sum of vocabulary and grammar rules. We never thought about the grammar at all, and yet we succeeded. Photo source: Nina How do kids acquire their first language? They use it from the very first minute. They hear voices of people around and react to them. Meanwhile their brains collect statistics of the word usage, grammar structures and pronunciation (neurologists believe every healthy human brain has a capability to collect and analyze the language statistics by nature). Then kids try to express their emotions, needs and wants with sounds mimicking the speech of other people and adjusting their grammar and word usage according to our reaction to their speech. So the more a kid speaks the better he gets at it. We have to learn from our own childhood experience how to acquire a language; after all, it was successful once. Of course, it is impossible to recreate the circumstances of our early pre-language childhood, but what we can do is to change our learning strategy. Stop learning and start using seems to be a more efficient way to acquire a new language, and this is not so hard to do. First of all, it is useful to remember that there is a difference between using a language passively (listening and reading) and actively (speaking and writing). When learning a new language, one should develop both active and passive language skills. It is relatively easy to improve reading and listening in our age of the Internet. Passive skills are all about consuming language. For developing listening skill, you can watch movies, listen to online radio broadcasting and the music you like, memorize lyrics with no efforts (this is, actually, how I learnt English). It is not a big deal to find a good book to read (please note that this should be the book you really want to read) and/or to subscribe to blogs on topics that are interesting to you. Active language skills means that you produce some text (oral or written) and address it to your audience. Finding an audience that is ready to help a non-native speaker with corrections is not so easy, but again, there is the Internet with its powerful resources like  iTalki. I would also suggest a website  www.forvo.com  that is a social pronunciation dictionary. I use it each time when I hesitate how to pronounce this or that word. So why not use the advantage of the Internet epoch? Why be so persistent in methods that rarely lead to success instead of trying a natural way of acquiring a language? If you want to learn dancing you go to the dancing studio, pick up a partner and dance, improving gradually. Buying a book “Waltz and Tango course” instead would be ridiculous, wouldnt it? Language is a practical skill too, just like dancing, however, nobody has found learning a language from books absurd. Let us be like children, forget that learning is hard work (it is!) and enjoy discovering a new language, tinkering with it, exactly like we tinkered with our first language many years ago. About the author: Eugenia  is a Professional Russian and English language teacher.  Eugenia enjoys explaining complicated grammar things with simple words. She helps people acquire a new language naturally simply by talking about interesting things.  Eugenia has a 5-star feedback rating, and has  taught over 161 sessions on italki.

AP Chemistry Writing Tutor

AP Chemistry Writing TutorIf you have been interested in AP Chemistry Writing, you know that it can be a challenging course. There are a few basic concepts that must be mastered first before you can move onto more difficult and advanced subjects.AP Chemistry Writing requires you to use a guide to assist you as you write your essays. A good guide is essential in any course. A student with enough knowledge about the subject should always know how to prepare and what is appropriate for them to write.Before you can begin writing on a topic, you will need to know where you are at with the area and a reasonable level of understanding on that subject. This will allow you to fill in all the blanks to make an effective essay. Remember that it is the student who will carry the bulk of the workload in class.One of the best ways to improve the overall grade in AP Chemistry is to read through your assigned papers and identify areas you feel are lacking. You might want to go back to the assignment and see if you changed anything that didn't work. After identifying the areas, check to see if you found some things from the reading and essay that you could improve upon.Aid can be purchased from your school's bookstore. Or you can hire a professional to do the work for you. The latter would usually cost a few hundred dollars but you might find this to be well worth the money if you are consistently struggling to get a satisfactory grade in the course.Be sure to ask about the aid packages before you sign up for any of these. They can vary in price from school to school.The role of a science teacher is important in helping students learn science and then excel in it. In addition to making them know what the subject is about, a chemistry writing tutor will also help them with getting their work published so they can earn points towards their degree.