<p>Okay, so tons of people at my school have been asking me to tutor them for the SAT, and as a member of the national honor society (president :) ), I am obligated to do so. While I have no problem with tutoring people, I'm not exactly sure how to go about it. </p>
<p>So, could those of you who tutor people for the SAT give me some tips. Keep in mind that i'll be working with students who score b/w 300-400 on each section. </p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>~you'llsee...</p>
<p>i've never tutored individual students but groups of three or four. the math teacher gave us her SAT prep books and we just went through the most basic algebra 1 problems and i'd have them do the ones they know. most people knew the basic 2x-2=6 problems. from there i'd go on to slightly more advanced math like 5(2x-2)>6. i made sure they knew how exponents and basic square roots work, like how sqrt25=5 and 6^2=36. from there we did graphing and how to find the slope of a line. that's usually as far as we got. the people i helped went from around a 430 to around a 480. if the students don't know much at this point, keep in mind that you can't teach them three years of math in a few hours, so mostly make sure they understand the basics.(also, i'd recommend they try the ACT as well because they don't deduct points for wrong answers... although then there's the pretty difficult science section)</p>
<p>I would start by introducing the structure of the test and explain the importance of leaving questions blank and the penalty for guessing. for reading i would recommend assigning vocab words they can learn and have them do prep books. for passages they should point out where the got the answer in the passage. for writing, work on how to structure an essay (how many examples etc) and teach them the most frequent sentence structures that appear on the SAT (simple grammar rules). math go over individual programs they have troubles with and as brieb08 mentioned graphs, gradient, etc. Just loads and loads of practice books and then going over them.</p>
<p>(a) follow a practice book and teach the strategies...even if they don't know all the math in the sat, they can still learn how to plug numbers into the question etc.
(b) be nice to them. it's critical that you build their confidence and point out their strengths instead of their weaknesses, otherwise even if they're decent students they'll get really nervous on test day. even if they're really stupid compared to you, you have to make them think they're smart :)
(c) lots and lots of practice tests</p>
<p>good luck and have fun</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>any other advice?....</p>
<p>surely there are more people who have tutored for the SAT....advice is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>...........................</p>
<p>yeah, i go over their practice tests with them and help them work through the math problems they didn't get the first time. most of the kids i tutor range from the 400's to the 600's. i try not to just tell them how to solve the problem, but instead (assuming they have basic algebra down) i ask them questions or give them hints so that they will figure out how to solve the problem, rather than listening to me solve it. i mainly tutor math though, so sorry i can't really suggest anything for CR or W.</p>
<p>also i second the advice to be encouraging...a lot of the kids understand the math, but lose confidence and leave the question blank.</p>
<p>^ thanks!</p>
<p>More advice!!!</p>
<p>Perhaps you should go over the TYPES of questions asked (especially for students struggling in CR/W) and how to approach each type of question.</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>tips tips tips! please.</p>
<p>I would say to let them take a practice test first, and then go over the practice test. When you go over it, what I do is ask people who understood the question, and who didn't. If one person, didn't understand while other classmates did, I let the classmates show the person how they got the answer. Then, I also let the other students, show the student different ways to get the same answer, that way the student who doesn't understand now has multiple ways to solve the question and can choose the method best for him or her. Also, I agree with going over the structure and the type of questions on the SAT. If you find that they forget the basics, start off with something simple, then start to become more advance in the topics, gradually.</p>
<p>^thank you</p>
<p>after having them do the practice test of each section, see what they specifically find hard, it is essential to correct them in the specific area, many people are fantastic at math and appauling at english (or vice versa) so definately study their achilles' heel not just everything "to be safe" =)</p>
<p>(NHS president here too! <em>highfive!!</em>)</p>
<p>I usually just have them do a pt and go over ALL the answers (right and wrong) with them. It's really important to talk things out so it'll be easier to remember later.</p>
<p>Rinse and repeat! Drive your tutoree up the wall with too many pt's! =D</p>
<p>What I've done in the past is first have them take a diagnostic test (only 25 minute ones) in each section so I can get a general idea of what kinds of problems they miss. Then, I review basic strategies for the test in general, then narrow it down to specific sections. We'll find some practice problems, and I'll walk them through each one. Then, I'll have them take a another practice session. After each page, I grade them, and we review the ones they miss. As patters emerge, we'll begin to focus on the problems they've missed. My whole philosophy is to keep tackling weaknesses (probably 75% of time spent) but maintain strengths (25%). If I had a long term tutoree, then I would probably even have them take at least 2 full practice tests a month (timed, of course) for pacing. </p>
<p>But note this is over a couple sessions. Usually I've just done about 3 sessions. I try to keep them at most an hour and a half, since I know that's the absolute longest I can focus. (the people I'm tutoring might have shorter focus spans...)</p>
<p>Ironically for me, however, I can say I pretty much know how to score very high. (possibly 2300???) Thing is, I have a bit of test anxiety and so many ECs I'm already tired the morning I go in to take the SAT. Sucks to know you can pull it off, but can't do it on the real thing. (I got a 230 on a Practice PSAT from the College Board a while back, but didn't even make National Merit on the real thing...) Oh well, SATs a thing of the past, so I'm moving onnn</p>
<p>more more more!!!</p>