TWOS anaylsis for 2 companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

TWOS anaylsis for 2 companies - Essay Example The company’s capital market investment performance gives it more financial capital growth. This can allow Milaha to seek opportunities in non-maritime activities. The company’s standardization will save costs, allowing for better capital availability to diversify services to different industrial segments. Milaha is also introducing new innovations in fleet capability that allows for greater service provision including subsea maintenance and firefighting. With growth in capital produced by a strengthening investment portfolio, the company can seek contracts with major oil companies to provide maintenance to oil rigs. The corporate governance team is not fully equipped to understand how to structure a new diversified service business. This weakness, however, can be overcome by practicing benchmarking of other companies in these industry sectors that will build a best practice framework throughout the entire value chain. An existing focus on primarily the Maritime & Logistics business also requires changing mindsets of executives to decentralize the business to provide for more effective collaboration. Divestiture of under-performing assets (such as real estate holdings) could improve the cash position of the business. Standardizing will provide the firm with many cost advantages. Threats of new market entrants that could offer lower pricing will allow Milaha to compete more effectively if price-sensitivity impacts contract procurement. Competitive rivalry is a threat if an emerging competitor becomes a cost leader and economies of scale can be a market barrier if achieved effectively in standardization of processes. New market entrants could make Milaha lose market share. However, the governance board is not familiar with how to develop competitive marketing strategies to build preference for this company’s brand in key pillar divisions. This threat can be overcome by building a governance committee focused on competitor analyses to

An Investigation into How a Student with ASD Could Use Media as a Way Case Study

An Investigation into How a Student with ASD Could Use Media as a Way to Inform Others about How This Affects his Life - Case Study Example At the end, a suitable conclusion has been rendered. The Case Daniel is a nine years old boy, who studies in the local special education school. He has been diagnosed with classical autism (a form of ASD) four years back. Daniel continuously has difficulty in making eye contact. According to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, this is a typical autistic behavior. Atypical eating habits are also a prominent symptom as has been pointed out by Filipek and his colleagues (483). Moreover, lack of social and friendly behavior is another side of the problem (Burgess and Gutstein, 80). Daniel does not prefer to be alone but he is unable to make friends. His eating habits are unusual too. Outline of Support and Related Discussion Daniel has a number of repetitive and restricted interests and activities, although his learning ability has increased through the last year. Computer assisted instruction (CAI) has been an excellent support mechanism for last one year. CAI helps in â€Å"significa nt gains in reading, phonological awareness, verbal behavior, and motivation†, as has been pointed out by the Committee of Educational Interventions for Children with Autism, National Research Council (US) (63). In school, he has lessons in SULP (Social Use of Language Problem). It uses a combination of verbal interaction in discussion format and CAI can be embedded by using audio visual media. Moreover, SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) is also being utilized, which is ensuring development of emotional intelligence along with IQ. According to the Committee on Educational Intervention for Children with Autism, use of frequent student to student interaction is particularly helpful in this regard (63). Further analysis and critique: The educational intervention techniques applied so far have been rather effective. The relation between the measures of instruction and the child’s performance is proportional in the sense that the intensive socialization and lin guistic intervention approach is helpful in speech and cognitive development. The SULP and SEAL involve choral responding, interaction between students, rotation of materials, and random simulation programs that are effective in teaching language and developing emotional intelligence. Particularly in SEAL, class-wide peer teaching can be helpful to foster friendship among the children and gradually help them to achieve behavioral maturity. Peer tutoring can replace traditional teaching instruction and help to achieve better results. In this context, Weiss and Delmolino further state that these practices can be adopted both at home and at school (104). Using Media to Help in Explaining ASD In this section, we will look at the option of using media in the form of a PowerPoint presentation as an effective way to help a pupil explain his ASD to others. Two questions will be discussed in this milieu: 1. What is the rationale of the intervention and how does this fit with current understa nding of ASDs? 2. To what extent does the intervention address the needs of the pupil in the areas of communication, social understanding, and flexibility of behavior? Using PowerPoint: PowerPoint is a simple MS Office software application that can be taught with relatively less complexity. PowerPoint provides a platform, where text,

The Social Patterns of Children During Play

The Social Patterns of Children During Play The purpose of the current study was to determine whether children exhibited a preference for solitary play, same gendered play, or opposite gendered play. The hypothesis was that both males and females would spend more time in gender-segregated play than engaging with opposite-gendered peers or in non-interactive play. Play is a vital contributor to the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children (Chea, Nelson, Ruben, 2001). One important component of childhood play is early peer interactions. The choices a child makes with regards to peer selection contribute to their development by determining the quality of their early social interactions. A number of factors must be taken into consideration when evaluating childrens social situations. Children can either play alone or with one or more peers. Solitary play can take a variety of forms, each carrying a different implication for the childs social experience. Social play can involve interactions with same gendered peers or with opposite-gendered peers. Each of these components contributes to the unique social experience each child encounters. Recent work has suggested that solitary play is not always an indicator of poor social skills. Motivations for solitary play vary and could include self-reflection or regulation, task-oriented motivations, personality characteristics, or an inability to engage with peers. Work by Moore, Everston, and Brophy (1974) has found that the majority of time children spend in solitary play is engaging in goal directed activities. These activities are beneficial for development. The researchers suggest that rather than being an immature and developmentally harmful method of play, this type of solitary play represents independence and task orientated behaviour that should be seen as indicating maturity. It has been suggested that the category of interaction that Parten (1932) referred to as parallel interaction is a more immature form of play than solitary play rather than an intermediate step towards cooperative play (Johnson, Ershler, Bell, 1980). This type of interaction is more frequently exhibited in younger children. Research suggests that in many situations it acts as a bridge to cooperative group play, and is often only engaged in for a very short period of time (Smith, 1978). The parallel interaction initiates communication with the child and leads to cooperative play. If the attempt to open up an interaction fails, the child may resort to parallel play again. Extensive time spent in parallel play may indicate poor social skills (Pellegrinin Bjorklund, 1998). As children develop, they generally spend more time in cooperative play with their peers. Research by Smith found that solitary play decreased throughout the preschool period. Another study by Rubin, Watson, and Jambor (1978) found that preschool children engaged in significantly more solitary play and less group play than children at the kindergarten level. As a child spends more time in cooperative play, peer selection becomes an important component of their social experience. The decisions a child makes regarding those they play with contribute to their development by determining the quality and characteristics of their social interactions. Participants The participants in the study were 10 students from Dr. Mary J. Wright University Laboratory School. The 10 participants consisted of 5 males and 5 females. The students were from the Five-Afternoon Kindergarten class and all participants were four years old. All of the participants were Caucasian and from the middle to upper socio-economic class. During all four of the one hour observations there were approximately fourteen children including the participants and approximately six adults were present. There were child-initiated activities which included playing with Lego or blocks, drawing and colouring, and playing with various toys. There were also teacher-guided activities that included book reading, show and tell, and arts and crafts. Observational Procedure The participants were observed using a play partner index, which catalogued the different play partners that the children engaged with. This index had six different categories, which were: same gender play, opposite gender play, male parallel play, female parallel play, goal oriented play, and non-goal oriented play. The participants were timed in 30-second intervals using the stopwatch program on a cell phone. All of the participants were monitored from an observation room, which contained headphones, chairs, a writing table and a one-way mirror used to observe the children without disturbing their play. The students were observed in the Mary Wright Classroom during the child-initiated and teacher guided activates. Each child was observed one child at a time for 20 intervals of 30 seconds, and recorded the category of play that the child was engaging in. For example if a student was near another female student but not directly interacting with her, it would be recorded as female par allel play. Results The type of social play that each target student engaged in was recorded in 20, 30-second intervals for 10 minutes. The total numbers of intervals were added up for each participant and the participant was labeled by the condition that they spend the most time in. In the single case of an equal number of intervals between two categories, each category was assigned 0.5. There were no significant differences that were reported between the play categories for males or female. Both genders spent the majority of their time engaging in solitary play. There was only one child who demonstrated any sort of preference for opposite gendered play, and even in that case, only 50% of the participants total interactions within the ten-minute period were within this category. These results can clearly be seen in Figure 1 on the tables page at the end of the paper. There are many possible reasons for the failure to demonstrate significant results, such as sampling issues, environmental factors, and the transitory characteristic of the age range observed. Discussion The hypothesis was that that both males and females would spend more time in playing with children of their own gender than interacting with opposite-gendered peers or in non-interactive play. The results failed to support the hypothesis. No significant relationship was found between the categories for males or females. Research by Smith (1978) has demonstrated that solitary play decreases throughout the preschool period, as children begin to engage more with their peers. The children were in their later years of preschool and they failed to show this preference for social interaction. It is possible that the children in the current study have not yet made this transition. The age range considered represents the transitory stage, and this may contribute to the lack of significance in the results. Furthermore, research by Rubin, Watson, and Jambor (1978) considered preschool aged children compared to kindergarten children, and found that kindergarten aged children spent much more time in group play than the preschoolers. The children in the current study were on the older end of the age bracket for preschool but had not yet reached kindergarten. These children may have been too young to begin to demonstrate the preference for cooperative play that was exhibited in these studies. This research is of significant value to schools, daycare, parents, or anybody interacting with children on a regular basis. Being aware of the dominant social patterns for each age group can allow caregivers to identify children who may be diverging from the norm. If children fail to engage in positive interactions with their peers or tend to engage in long periods of parallel play, they may be developing poor social skills. Caregivers who can identify these children can then assist them in working towards positive relationships with their peers. Knowing the beneficial forms of solitary play can allow caregivers to provide children with stimulating activities that can assist them in their development, and monitor children for extensive periods of time spent in non goal-directed behaviour. Each child has independent needs when it comes to social behaviours. Being aware of the trends and risks can allow caregivers to meet the unique needs of each child. There are many extensions that can be made to provide further insight into social patterns in children. For example, the family situation and siblings in particular may influence social preferences exhibited in children. Some children may enjoy playing by themselves because they come from a larger family of many siblings and desire time alone. The opposite may also be true. In regards to gender preferences, children may gravitate towards peers that are the same gender of their siblings. For instance, a young girl who has three brothers and no sisters may demonstrate a preference for male play partners. The impact of being an only child could be considered, as well as the effect of a participant with mixed siblings. Patterns between siblings and peer interactions could be investigated. As research continues to shed light on the social patterns of children, caregivers of all kinds will become more able to meet the needs of each child. Their unique traits can be appreciated and specific personal weaknesses can be attended to. As social beings, it is vital that humans be socially adjusted in order for them to reach their full potential and experience overall wellbeing. This research allows for increased insight that can ensure children are provided with the opportunity to achieve this goal and experience a positive social environment that is beneficial to their development.

A Day at the Norton Simon Museum Essay -- Norton Simon Museum Painting

A Day at the Norton Simon Museum It was the day of April 13, 2000. I woke up at exactly 12 o’clock because my boyfriend was to pick me up at 1 like we planned the night before. The day looked quite nice, but I was in a fowl mood. I got into a car accident the night before and had a huge argument with my parents about the car. I finally dragged myself into the shower and got ready in half an hour. Then I went downstairs, sat on my couch, and repeatedly told myself the day would hopefully turn out better than last night. At around 1:15, my boyfriend came to pick me up. We took the 5 freeway to the 57 since it was the only way I knew how to get there. As we approached the 134 freeway, my girlfriend veered to the right, taking the 210 which was wrong way and got us lost. So, we exited the freeway and got back on the right track. Then finally, before long, we reached Norton Simon. As we reach the museum, the exterior was very beautiful. The first things I saw were the bronze statues in the front. We took a couple of pictures in front of them and in front of the Norton Simon. The entrance where the glass doors had sat was very unique and elegant. The glass walls that the glass doors were attached to, added to the elegance and beauty. When I had first walked in, I was very shy, timid, and unwilling to go on, this was due to the more mature audience that I had seen when I had first entered the museum. I was still unsure on how to act in a museum, being this my first time, so I was very calm, cool and reserved, but as time went on I saw college students my age probably doing the same thing I was doing. So I then I felt more at ease. Plus my girlfriend was with me so I was not alone. We walked and walked looking at each art piece, which were all well displayed. Then as I looked at the back wall, a large oil canvas painting looked right back at me. I could feel its pain and so then, I decided to do my paper on this piece. The painting was The Ragpicker by Manet. (The Ragpicker. Edouard Manet.1865.Oil on canvas.) The painting was so enormous that it was hard to miss. Such a huge painting for one man, it almost looked life-like. The dimensions of this work is 76.75† x 51.25†. This scene seems to take place of a lower-class man late in his age, probably near his seventies, appears to be looking out of the corner of his eye. The ... ...the eye because the fabric of his shirt and the roughness of his jeans appear to have texture but they do not. If you actually touch the painting, you will find it to be flat and it does not have that feeling of thick application of paint. The painting has realistic 3 dimensional space by the use of linear perspective and chiaroscuro. It also looks to be 2 dimensional as well, because it almost looks like some influence on the Japanese print, like flat patches of paint. The lines converge from the edges of the paint to the center letting off the effect of a background and a foreground. It looks as though the trash is in the foreground and the man is in the background. In the back of the painting, it is darker which also adds to the effect of the 3 dimensional space. My first experience at the museum was a good one. I had so much fun even after we were done with the Norton-Simon. Being a business major, I did not know that art could speak to me as it did. It has not influenced me so much as to change my major, but it did open my eyes to a whole new world. Now when I look at art, I do not just see a pretty picture, but what the artist is actually trying to say.

Women in Power: Queen Elizabeth

Women in Power: Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth I was the most remarkable women leader in English history. She was born on September 7, 1533 at Greenwich Palace. Her birth was not celebrated; instead it was a bitter disappointment to her father King Henry VIII, who was highly anticipating the birth of a son. Her mother was executed for treason shortly after her birth Elizabeth lost all heredity to the throne. After Henry VIII’s third wife Jane Seymour died, however, Elizabeth was placed back in the order of succession after Edward and Mary by act of parliament.When she came into power, Elizabeth I had to clean up the big mess that was left by her sister Mary’s five year reign. Mary had abruptly changed the national religion from Protestantism to Catholicism, and she was not going to hear any objections. She mercilessly hunted down and executed Protestants who refused to convert. After Elizabeth I took the throne-she switched back to Protestantism and, as Miriam restored religious order in England. Under Elizabeth I, religion and nationality were almost the same.Her first act as Queen was to form a loyal government: she replaced the Privy Council with qualified advisors such as nobles, lawyers, and businessmen. Although she had an excellent board of advisors, she did not allow them to dominate her decisions. Elizabeth was determined to set up a safe and stable government. During Queen Elizabeth’s forty-five year reign, England prospered considerably. Her reign witnessed a wide increase in literacy and achievements in the arts. Famous writers such as Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe emerged.England also expanded significantly overseas. Elizabeth encouraged explorers like Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Francis Drake, and Sir John Hawkins. Her sponsorship of explorers like these led to the establishment of English colonies around the world. Under her rule, a middle class of merchants, tradesmen, and craftsmen flourished. Elizabeth I embraced the new scientific thinking of the Renaissance and important scientists such as Sir Francis Bacon and Dr. John Dee emerged. Her leadership established England as one of Europe’s leading nations.Elizabeth’s economic achievements were not her only ones; she also had many triumphs in the battlefield, the Spanish Armada being one of them. In 1588, King Phillip of Spain set out to invade England. His plan was to sail one-hundred ships down the English Channel and meet up with the forces of Duke of Parma, who was making their way from the Netherlands, and hopefully overwhelm England. But Elizabeth’s men were keeping watch on the shores of England, and as the first ship was spotted the fighting began. While English soldiers and sailors were out fighting for their country, Elizabeth was on her way to Tilbury.She was not going to sit trembling inside a guarded Palace while her people fought, but was going to go to the coast of the battle and ‘live or die ’ with them. This is where she made one of her most famous speeches, the Tilbury Speech, â€Å"I know I have the body of a meek and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a King, and a King of England, too. † Queen Elizabeth I truly cared about her people, and she was not afraid to defend them. Spain suffered a humiliating loss, and England proudly celebrated their victory.The victory was especially remarkable, considering Spain was the most powerful country in the world in the sixteenth century. Queen Elizabeth I managed to stay alive even though she was the target of many conspiracies and scandalous rumors. Before she even became Queen, she was accused of being involved in the Puritan rebellion by her half-sister, Mary. She was held prisoner in the Tower of London and suffered through torrential questioning. Elizabeth was also the center of a vicious rumor that she allegedly took part in romantic activity with her step-mother Katherine Parr’s husban d, Thomas Seymour.This could’ve easily ruined her reputation, but the rumor was waved off and gossip soon stopped. Assassination conspiracies were also a threat to the Queen. Mary of Scots firmly believed that she was the rightful heir to the throne, and she had constructed several plots to kill the Queen. The fact that Elizabeth had survived through all this turmoil is very remarkable. Queen Elizabeth I had truly earned the love and devotion of her people. Before she was crowned, most people did not believe that a woman could take on the responsibility of ruling a country; Elizabeth proved them very wrong.Her accession day, November 16, even became a national holiday. Queen Elizabeth I developed her image of the devoted ruler who courted her subjects’ opinions and as Gloriana, the goddess around whom England revolved. Queen Elizabeth I was the strongest monarch in English history. Throughout her reign she proved that she really did care about her country and the peopl e in it. She successful in keeping the country together and safe, as many before her had failed to do. Even after four-hundred years, the people of England still love and remember her.

Folk Dance History in the Philippines Essay

It is impossible to know when exactly dancing became a part of life in the Philippines. Many traditional dances were designed to thank the gods for natural and agricultural events, such as rain and harvests. The dances were performed during festivals and remembrances of past military victories, and still are performed at celebrations of births and weddings in modern times. Many modern folk dance festivals still feature ancient dances performed in costume of the tribal period of the Philippines. Some dances such as the Palok and the Lumagen are performed with traditional percussion instruments such as the gangsa (a small copper gong), a tobtob (brass gong) or a hibat (a gong played with a soft wooden stick). For many tribal dances there are no external musicians; the dancers generate their own accompaniment with stomping and hand clapping. Later Dances in Philippine History More recent dances done in the Philippines derive from historical events such as the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century and the conflicts with the Moors. While certain words and movements from those cultures have been integrated into the dances, the Filipino dance genre remains true to its ancient tradition and roots. * Touch: Bring your free foot to your lead foot, then touch the floor without taking a step or putting weight on the free foot. * Toe: Touch the toe of the free foot to the floor without shifting weight to the free foot. * Heel: Extend the free foot forward, then touch the back of your heel to the floor without putting weight on your heel. * Tap: Touch the floor with a sharp motion with your free foot, but do not take a step or put weight on the free foot. * Stamp: Stomp the flat of your free foot on the floor, but do not put weight on the free foot. Noise can vary based on the type of shoe you’re wearing and the type of floor. * Point: Extend the free foot forward or backward and touch your toe to the floor. The ankle should be stretched and the instep arched. Do not step or put weight on the free foot. * Press: Step forward with your free foot, putting partial weight on the ball of your foot. Your supporting leg should be straight and your pressed leg (free foot) is bent with some pressure (partial weight) on the floor. Your body should be leaned forward just a bit. * Brush: Touch the toe of your free foot to the floor, then move it a short distance toward the supporting foot or move it against the supporting foot, but do not put weight on it. * Draw: Touch the toe of your free foot to the floor far from your supporting foot, then move it toward your supporting foot without putting weight on it. * Drag: Stretch your body up, then touch your toe to the floor far from your supporting foot and move it toward your supporting foot without putting weight on it. * Flare: Sweep your free foot in an arc, making sure to keep your toe in contact with the floor without putting weight on it. First position- raises arms to a circle in front of the chest. Second position – open up arms sideward, raised below shoulder level with a graceful curve. Third position – raise one arm overhead while other arm remains in 2nd position. Fourth position – raise one arm in front of chest in a half circle, while one arm remains overhead. Fifth position – raise both arms overhead in a graceful curve. Feet Positions: First position – bring heels close to touch; toes apart. Second position – bring feet apart sideward. Third position – bring the heel of one foot to touch the instep of the other foot. Fourth position – bring one foot in front of the other foot to walk strike. Fifth position – bring the heel of one foot to touch the toe of the other. 3/4 plain polka waltz sway balance with raise mincing redoba three steps and point mazurka cross waltz plain waltz 2/4 Touch Step Step Point Close Step Slide Step Step Swing Step Hop SUBLI Subli is the dance portion of a devotion performed in honor of the Mahal na Poong Santa Cruz, a large crucifix of anubing wood with the face of the sun in silver at the center. The icon was discovered in the early decades of Spanish rule in what is now the town of Alitagtag, Batangas. It is the patron of many towns in the area, notably the ancient town of Bauan, Batangas. The subli consists of a long sequence of prayers in verse, songs, and dances, performed in a fixed sequence. The verse recounts the first journey of the early manunubli ( subli performer)through the fields, hills, and rivers of Batangas in search of the miraculous cross. Sections of verse are sung to a fixed punto or skeletal melody, which may be elaborated on in a different way by a different subli troupe. About five of these punto are used in a complete subli performance. These sections may be divided further into various fixed dance patterns involving one, two or eight pairs of men and women. These numbers seem to be the norm in Bauan, although other towns may have formations involving three pairs at a time. The stances, gestures, and movements of the male dancers are freewheeling and dramatic, consisting of leaping, striking the ground with kalaste (wooden bamboo clappers held in both hands), and other movements suggesting the martial arts. The women circle on half-toe, performing the talik (small refined gestures with wrists and fingers), their fingers grazing the small-brimmed hats and alampay (triangular scarf worn loosely over the shoulder)that are the essential parts of their costume. They dance and sing, to the rhythm beaten out by a stick on the tugtugan, a goblet-shaped, footed drum of langka wood with a head made of iguana skin. -E.R. Mirano

ACT Tutor for You

How to Find the Most Effective SAT/ACT Tutor for You SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Tutors are an investment in both time and money. Just because someone calls themselves a â€Å"SAT tutoring expert† doesn’t automatically confer the skills of that title upon them. (If it did, I would have become a master dinosaur expert by age 4.) Bad or ineffective tutors can actually hurt you and your potential SAT/ACT test score in two ways: 1) Financially: bad tutoring takes away from your budget and limits the resources you can spend to recoup your loss. 2) Time-wise: the time you spend on ineffective tutoring takes away from the time you could be spending better elsewhere. So what makes a tutor effective? In this article, I’ll go over the key qualities of the best SAT/ACT tutors. Top image: SAD_Hortons_Kids 8 by US Department of Education, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. 1: The Most Effective Tutors Have Taken The Test†¦And Aced It. It may seem obvious, but one of the most important things to look for in a tutor is someone who has aced the test you are studying for, whether it is the ACT or SAT. A tutor who has read up on the SAT/ACT is not the same as a tutor who has taken the test and gotten a 99th percentile score. This is true regardless of your own level – a tutor who scored a 2400 (or 1600 on the new SAT) or a 36 on the SAT or ACT is almost always better than a tutor who got a 2000 (or a 1300 on the new SAT) or a 30, even if you yourself have a target score of 1500 or 21. Scoring in the 99th percentile on the SAT/ACT takes more than just being smart and knowing the material – you have to know the tricks of the test. In fact, the reason test prep is necessary is that the tests AREN’T just testing knowledge or aptitude – they’re testing how good you are at taking the test. If you don’t realize this, it doesn’t matter how smart you are, how good you are at math, critical reading, writing, or science – you can still get tripped up by the test. making bunny ears by woodleywonderworks, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. If only test prep were this easy. An example of a little known strategy that can make a big difference: if you’re a 600 scorer on the SAT, you should skip the hardest 25% of questions and only answer the easier ones (for more tips like this, click here). Knowing about and using this strategy has nothing to do with being inherently smart – it has to do with knowing the way the SAT is constructed. In general, the best proof that a tutor truly knows the test is if they've gotten a perfect or near-perfect score on it. But this alone isn't enough... 2: The Most Effective Tutors Are Experts At Teaching The Material Just because someone is an effective tutor in other areas does not necessarily mean they will be an effective SAT/ACT tutor. Why? Because you need familiarity with teaching the specific test material in order to be able to explain the way the tests will try to trick you and strategies you can use to counteract that. Just because a tutor knows what the tricks are doesn’t necessarily mean that he can explain it well. This aspect of tutoring is so important, we've divided it up further into the specifics of what expert tutors provide. Tutoringthat's completely customized to your weaknesses The best tutors know how to tailor their teaching approach to each student’s needs, especially when it comes to teaching people who don’t think about things the way they do. At PrepScholar, this involves using the Socratic method, where the tutors are working WITH, not teaching AT, students. Take the following sample ACT Math question: A bad tutor might approach the problem this way: "Here’s how you solve the question. It’s an isoceles right triangle, so you know the most reduced Pythagorean triplet you’re going to use is 1, 1, √2. Since the two sides that are equal are 10 ft long, the hypotenuse must be 10√2 feet long. Does this make sense?" If you're the student, you're going to feel pressured to answer â€Å"yes,† even if you doesn’t fully understand. The tutor isn’t assessing your understanding at each step, which prevents him from understanding where you need help. Here's an example of what a GOODtutor would do, illustrated by a series of questions: "What answer did you choose? Why did you do this?" "What is the question asking for?" "What information does the question give you? What more information do you need to get to the answer?" "Great - so you know that in an isosceles right triangle, the sides are the same. How would you figure out the length of AC?" "Let's review the new points that we learned just now." Notice that a good tutor examines the student's thinking at every step and makes no assumptions about how the student's thinking about the problem. This process is critical to good teaching: two students who miss this question may miss it for entirely different reasons. One student might have forgotten what an isosceles right triangle means. Another might have known this, but forgotten the Pythagorean theorem. A good tutor will identify the exact weaknesses of his student and create custom strategies to overcome these weaknesses. When you interview a tutor, you should figure out whether the tutor is capable of this style of teaching (more tips on vetting tutors here). Effective use of tutoring time Most tutors will waste your time and money. Someone who just sits there watching you do practice tests isn’t a tutor – that's basically nothing more than a babysitter, or a source of radiant heat. During the session, this is deceiving because it seems like you're learning a lot, but the reality is that the tutor is missing major weaknesses. In contrast, a good tutor will accurately diagnose your weaknesses and prioritize the biggest gains to your score. Excelling on tests like the SAT and ACT requires mastery of skills at different levels: Behavior: are you motivated to study for the test? Do you review your mistakes correctly? Do you have the right attitude toward the test? Test Strategy:do you know how to budget your time in each section? Do you understand the best skipping strategy for your goals? Do you know how to attack each type of question? Test Content:where are your weaknesses in all the different subjects on the test? How do we make sure you have the right resources to improve these weaknesses? A great tutor will constantly be assessing these weaknesses and structuring tutoring sessions around where you can make the biggest point gains. This type of teaching requires mastery of the test as well as deep insight into student weaknesses. That's why as part of PrepScholar tutoring, we equip our tutors with technology to analyzestudent weaknesses across the entire test. Your tutor will have access to every homework problem completed before the session, so the tutor will come prepared with lesson plans designed to improve your score fastest. Comprehensive test prep guidance Good tutors know it’s not just about what you do in the tutoring session. For every hour you meet with a tutor, you might spend 10 hours on your homework. Therefore,a good tutor's influence is not limited to just the teaching session - it extends across your entire prep program. The best tutors will do much more than answer your questions during tutoring sessions. They'll help you stay motivated to study. They'llshow you the most effective way to review missed questions, and they'll increase the effectiveness of your study time outside of tutoring session. When you work with a tutor, your tutor should be able to plan a complete study program and assign specific sets of homework. The tutor should be able to justify exactly why that homework is assigned, and why that's the best thing for the student to improve the score. unicycles doughnuts by Robert Couse-Baker, used under CC BY 2.0/Cropped from original. Not a PrepScholar Tutors-recommended use of study time. 3. The Most Effective Tutors Come Recommended by Trustworthy Sources But wait, just because someone says they have experience teaching and aced the test doesn’t mean it’s true! This is where quality control and recommendations come in. For tutors, this often comes via word of mouth: you hear about people you know who had good (or bad) experiences with a tutor or tutoring service. Another way to prescreen for quality tutoring is by going through an organization with a reputation for excellence in SAT/ACT tutoring. Quick plug: check out the PrepScholar tutoring site for a great example of tutors who are pre-screened to be effective teachers. So How Do I Find An Effective Tutor? When you’re looking for a tutor, you need to approach it like a job interview...except YOU are the interviewer. Why? Because you are making sure the tutor is the right person for the job of tutoring you to reach your maximum potential. It’s easy to be intimidated by potential tutors because they seem so knowledgeable, charismatic, or authoritative. Just because they will be teaching you, though, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be able to ask them questions and make sure they are the best tutor possible for you. In fact, it makes it all the more important that you find an effective, expert, and reputable tutor. The most recent analogy in my own life was at the beginning of grad school, when I was trying to decide on the right composition teacher. I was a little (okay, a lot) in awe of how much each of the three teachers I was choosing between knew, but I ultimately had to make sure that the professor I chose was going to be able to teach me what I needed to learn to be a better composer. To help you out in your quest for the right tutor, we’ve come up with this handy worksheet, containing a list of questions to ask any potential tutor (and space for you to write in the tutors’ answers). Click here to download it, or click the image below. The Bottom Line To sum it all up, here are the main attributes to look for in a tutor: They’ve taken the test and scored in the 99th percentile, so they know how to ace the SAT/ACT. They have expertise in tutoring effectively for the SAT/ACT. They have references from reputable sources. I hope these guidelines were clear and informative. You are now ready to go forth and shop for the right tutor for you! Shopping Cart by SunKing2, used under Public Domain. What’s Next? Find out more on how to find the best tutor for YOU here. Interested in online tutoring? We offer a variety of online tutoring packages right here at PrepScholar. If you want to read more about what each package entails, co-founder Fred Zhang goes into detail about each option in this article. Questions about our tutoring programs? Contact us through our website.