November - Giving Thanks

Working with six students is so much fun.  I need to decide when I have enough students to no longer sub.  I do like subbing though.  It keeps me current and updated to what is going on in our schools.  I would love to see some input about San Diego Unified Schools…

I do need to set policies about canceling a tutoring session.  I understand when a student is sick but I would like them to reschedule not just drop me for the week without notice.  But that is something to work on later.

I attended my first meeting as a member of the board for Point Loma Association.  7:30 am is early in the morning.  If I could have a job at 9 am I would take it but the two that called were 7:20 am and 8:20 am.

I enjoyed taking the class Digital Literacy's 2 though the district.  I learned some cool things.  I made my first pod cast.  I like it.  I also made this video using screencast-0-matic, You Tube and Caption tube.

It Takes Time to Build a Busines

All summer I had only one student as my customer base.  I worked twice a week with him.  In one week I now have five more students.  I am excited about all the new students.  I am working with three students for 7th grade math and one student in pre-calculus. I also want to sub in the local school district.  It is a way to see how the material is being taught.  I like to make relationships with the teachers to supplement what they are doing in the classroom.

I have joined a few local organizations to make contacts- The Point Loma Assembly and the Point Loma Association.  I also attend the La Playa Trail Association meetings.  I enjoy learning about the community where I live.  I also like to learn.  I think I bring the love of learning into to my tutoring business.

I still have not purchased the Woodcock-Johnson general intelligence test because of its $1,600.00 cost. I would like to purchase a portable printer to bring on the road with me at students' houses.  My home computers seem to run slower and slower so I need to remember I will have to replace my technology equipment on a regular basis.

I set up a new and separate checking account and credit card account.  I hope to keep my records in better order.  I paid my business tax online so I am set up for another year.  I still have a lot of work to do on my web site.  I am enrolled in a technology course through San Diego Unified.  This is helping me set up more technology for my business.  I have Google+ for Point Loma Tutor as well as a facebook page.  I learned how to do a screenshot and sent a lesson to one of my clients when he was away on vacation.

So I am making progress but it still seems slow.

Web Site

I thought I was taking it easy by hiring someone to set up my web page.  But she got a real job!!  I would like to have the admin password so I can finish my web site.

Check out my site at www.pointlomatutor.com  Please offer any comments on how to make it better. I am using word press to make my site.  I have found some good videos on you tube on how to do a word press website.  But I am stopped as I never received the admin password.

So far I have been emailing her each day asking for some response.  Ok it has only been three days but it is breaking my determination to complete my web page.  I guess I should work on the things I can change and pray I will receive the admin password soon.

I have a few comments to add from happy clients.  I am going to a business swap next Tuesday so it would be great to make some major work done on the site.  It will take discipline to finish but I need to do it.

My dad just got an iphone.  I am so excited.  I hope to teach him how to use it.  The phones are free now at the AT&T or Verizon stores if you want the 4S version.

Summer Tutoring

So far I only have one student but three others are interested.  Now I just need to find times that work for the others.  I thought 1/2 hour would be enough for a seven year old students.  But one hour flies by.  I break each 15 minutes into interesting segments.

For example today we started working with sight words.  We do ten every session.  First the student writes them on three by five cards.  We read them together.  I use them in a sentence.  We review them.  Next we worked on phonics.  We are practicing short vowel sounds.  It is so hard to tell the different sounds with the contestants.   It was getting hard and then the time was up.  We switched to blocks with the short vowel sounds to make words.  We worked on rhyming words,  We wrote the words down.  Next we started to write a story about what the student wanted to do for the rest of the summer.  Tutoring was not on the list.  We will work on the story, add pictures, and then add words from our sight word lists.  I am enjoying the time.

I still need to have my web site finished.  I emailed Irene who is helping me to complete this project but so far no response.  I thought being housebound for a month I would have completed the web page but that did not happen.  So it is still a work in progress.

Another Month Gone

I subbed one day in May at Dana Middle School.  It was a fun day.  I helped each group go to the auditorium to have spring pictures taken.  I was team teaching so I just hung out in classrooms and listened to the regular teacher teach.  It is interesting how San Diego Unified meets the needs of the Special needs students.

I also tutored a sixth grader on percents, decimals and fractions.  I only had two sessions to review material with her.  I loved working with her but her grade was not good.  I tutored Wednesday and Thursday and her test was Friday.  She might also have test anxiety.  I hope to work with her over the summer.

Big plans- I have started to work on my web site again.  I actually met with my web designed once.  I then picked out pictures to use for my site.  Now I could write the text.  So it is up to me to push the web page on.

I had foot surgery on Wednesday, June 5th.  My foot has not been right since Dec 5th when I went out to visit Becca.  At that time the ball of my foot hurt.  I just wore thick socks and sneakers and I could hobble easily.  When I returned and made it through Christmas, I saw my doctor who ordered an x-ray.  Then I saw a podiatrist.  He felt it was a naroma so he gave me a shot of cortisone.

Well the shot really didn't help. In fact I could see a white line growing up my leg.  So after a month I went back to the podiatrist. My second toe was curling.  My foot hurt when walking far.  My doctor said to wear Birkenstock sandals. the podiatrist said this was all due to my bunion.

So I scheduled surgery.  Then I was scared so I asked for a second opinion from an orthopedic at UCSD who specializes in feet.  She said to wait a month and come back so she could check it out.  She said I would need full bunion surgery.  My podiatrist felt shaving off the bunion and then using a metal strip to tie the first and second toe bones together would work.

So now I have two weeks of just putting my foot up.   No real walking, shopping, exercising, etc.  So I think I will be able to finish my web page because I can't do much else.

I finished the Day of Service and we had around 500 people in our church and community participate.  I will also try to write up a summary about that while I am relaxing.

It is May and There is Work to be Done!

Today I am meeting with my web designer again finally.  I want to get my new web site up and running.  I have been checking out jobs at the nearby universities but nothing has caught my eye.

I enjoyed working with a new student.  She is in 6th grade and was having some troubles with percentages and fractions and decimals.  I only had two sessions before she took her test,  The results were not good.  I think she may have some test anxiety as well.  I would love to work with her over the summer to see if I could prepare her for 7th grade math.

I have another student to prep for 8th grade math.  It might make sense to run some math clinics over certain weeks in the summer and have three to four students come at a time.  I feel students learn much better with others around.

So I hope in May to

1. finish my web page
2. find a tax accountant
3. work on the start of a marketing program
4. advertise in local newspapers
5. advertise on craigs list.

Article from Vanderbilt on Autism

Humanoid robot helps train children with autism.

This story explains that children with autism are able to follow the humanoid robot better than a person.  Drs. see this as a start or an additional support for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Today there are more children than ever diagnosed with ASD.  The resources to help them all is limited so this humanoid robot might be a break through to helping more children.

Vanderbilt engineers help design and make this robot.  Children wear a special hat which has sensors to see their head movements in response to commands from the robot.

Children spend more time viewing the robot that looking at a person's face.  So the designers of this robot hope that it can be a tool to speed up the process for ASD children to gain social skills.

Need my Web Page Finished

I have not worked hard on finding clients because my web page is still not complete.  I need to coordinate with Irene on a time that works for both of us to complete this web site.

Irene now has a full time job.  I have been doing a lot of traveling and having company.  But now is the time to complete this project.

I think emailing back and forth is hard.  Sometime what you say in an email is not how the other reads it or understands it.

I had the opportunity to have Stephanie Bettman and Luke Halpin stay for two nights. I love their music.

My daughter and family came out for eight days.  Both she and her husband were sick so I had fun with my grandson Connor. I also had fun holding Sebastian.  Andrew came down from San Fransico for Easter and we had a good time.  He had to sleep on the couch.  I was out of beds.  Sebastian had the library for his room.

The day Becca and Ben left, my friend Debbie Baker came with her boyfriend.  They were here to dance but we had great times together.

Dyslexia Workarounds

Yesterday there was  a great article written by Melinda Beck, "Dyslexia Workarounds: Creativity Without a Lot of Reading".  (April 2, New York Times.) Many people have dyslexia up to one in five.  Of course there are various degrees of dyslexia.  It seems the people with higher mental capacity have the option of working around this disability.  Dyslexia just means the person has trouble with reading.  It really has nothing to do with intelligence.  Some people listen to their books on audio.  Some students memorize everything.

Dyslexia runs in families.  My husband has it as well as my oldest son.  My son never understood phonics.  For a few grades he did quite well in spelling.  He just remembered the order of letters his teacher felt were important.  He did not understand the sound letters make or how the blends work.  He finally read in fourth grade.  His fifth grade teacher said his writing was not very good.  When I explained he learned to read last year, the teacher was shocked.  While in college, he never missed a class, attended every study session, and read as little as possible.  He became a very good writer but still would rather watch a show than read a book.

As Melinda states in her article, Dyslexia can't be cured, but programs that help children learn sequential sound-letter relationships can help.  I have a special program to help dyslexic students to read and would love to help students over the summer.  In fact Henry Winkler, the guy who played Fonzie on "Happy Days" has written a book about a fourth grader who has dyslexia.

Remember as an adult, there are no more timed reading tests.

Too Busy?

I have a student to tutor but  keep going out of town.  This time we left for Denver.  Here we helped clean Marion and Dave's apartment.  Marion is recovering from a broken pelvis.  She spent one month in rehap center.  She is doing well but uses a walker for additional support.  We cleaned their carpets, found there were leaks in the apt. so we hired a plumber and left for skiing. 

We spent Friday - Monday skiing at Beaver Creek.  There was fresh snow every day.  Sunday was a bit like a white out but I skied anyway.  Monday was the best and more families were out on the sloops.  We left early around 2 pm to head back to Denver.  We had pizza with the entire Smith clan.  Bill and Rebecca's family keep Kosher so they ordered a specialty pizza without the bacon.  Their daughter is engaged.  Her finance is going to basic training next month.  They hope to marry when he finishes then go to his first assignment together.  She is 17. but will turn 18 in a few months.   She has no plans to go to college.  She was home-schooled all her life.  It will be interesting to see if she never pursues higher education.

I met with the principal of Cabrillo Elementary School.  I was shown four projects the Day of Service might complete for him.  He would like us to deep clean 5 classrooms, clean the carpet in the auditorium, clean up two garden areas, and remove staples left up on the wall, (floor to ceiling). We are hoping to have sign ups from the community after Easter.

I picked up my daughter and her family in the afternoon.  I have been playing with Connor who is almost four.  I love holding the baby who is four months old.  He cries.  So far Connors, favorite toy is the pirate boat by Playmobile.  He also likes the Fisher Price house.  These are all toys I saved from my children.  We are down in the grandma room.  Josie has decided she does not like the airplane.  (also by Fisher Price)  I knew there was a reason I kept some of my children's toys.

Web Site questions

So why am I having trouble finding clients?  I need to get my cards out in the community.  I need to finish my web site.

Here is my old one: https://sites.google.com/site/pointlomatutor/

Below is the design for my new site.  I realize I need a much better picture for the home page.  Please offer advice!!  It should be on the site Pointlomatutor.com  soon. :)

Article from New York Times Dec 16, 2012

Some Tutors are Sholdering a Wider Load
By Abby Ellin

Large tutoring centers are helping student in college who start to feel overwhelmed.  The example was about a Austin Learning Center where a tutor spent 30 hours helping the client become more comfortable in her new life.  Tutors are being hired to just be "general life support".  Now this only happens in households where money is not an issue.

Now tutors are become more that helpers for academics.  They are becoming:

• counselors
• mentors and personal cheerleaders
• and a liaison between student, the college and parents.

Another client spook about his tutor as a therapist and a personal assistant.

"The tutor is not just a tutor anymore" said Dr. Sanki Ayaz from the National Tutoring Association in Lakeland, FL."  They find themselves certifying tutors as academic coaches.  The tutoring industry is now a $50 billion industry.

Math Ideas

Somehow it is 6:30 pm when I am finally writing.  Today I worked on the Day of Service Project and did some Easter Shopping.

Math  - I ran across the article from the Teacher Network and thought about how to make teaching math exciting and relevant.

This less was titled: "My best lesson:turning maths pupils into second world war codebreakers by Charlotte King.  Wow, how exciting.  Of course I would tie this in to a book written during the second world war.  I feel combining math with language arts helps make math come alive.

In this article, the teacher states as the students walk into her classroom, "It is no longer 2013 it is 1940 and the class just entered Hut 8 : Station X.  The supply ships needed mathematical skills from the class to protect the ships.  Wow, the class was engaged.

She stated with the most basic code, the ceasar shift code.  Then she switch to the pigpen cipher.  Then an urgent message from headquarters, "The German army is using a new codebreaking technique.  All personnel must be retrained."

Now math seems relevant and can connect to social studies or language arts.  "The Art of Keeping Cool" and the Diary of Ann Frank are novels which connect to this math assignment.

I also made up lessons for percent and decimals using "date night".  Students had to go on a date and buy an outfit online, include tax and shipping.  Use transportation to get to their destination, and pay tip.  Buy a meal for two and calculate tax and tip.

Hands on manipulatives also help with understanding fractions, percents and decimals.  I think when math is more relevant to the student there is more engagement and of course that helps the student, "Learn MATH!"

Busy

It is Tuesday and I missed blogging on Monday.  Where does my time go?

8:00 am picked up house so housekeeper can clean house

• put away laundry
• did breakfast dishes
• piled up papers to file 

8:30 worked on technology

•  updated iphone with latest software
• downloaded a book, TV show, and a song (all free)

9:00 bible study book of Romans at church

10:30 worked on Day of Service

• met with Karla 
• scheduled room for Sunday's meeting
• met with Ed
• added people as leaders for projects

 11:30 worked on church database

•  met with Don to learn what he wanted
• met with Kris whom I will work with
• updated records
• updated master directory

12:30 worked more on Day of Service

• overwhelmed so pack up 
• print out updates
• bring work home to do

 1:00 eat lunch


1:30 phone rings become travel agent

• book trip to Denver
• find rental car and order
• check out hotels in Denver
• check out hotels in Avon
• Rush out of house

2:30 Dogs to Vet

• Hershey needs shots
• Hershey receives estimate for $1000 for procedures needed
• Hershey gets nails trimmed
• Hershey gets ears cleaned and medicine
• Josie gets checked for bladder infection. (She has been peeing in my house :( Bad Dog!)
• Pay $350

 3:45 Dogs to Dog Park

• Cleaned up after Hershey three times :(
• Threw ball for Josie (too many times to count)

4:30 Home ready to rest check emails

4:45 off to library

• Books due
• Book on hold ready for pick up

5:15 Ready to start working on business

• Too tired
• Missed exercising today :(

Things I need to do this week:

1. Plan for dinner party on Sunday
2. Buy food for dinner party
3. Buy decorations for dinner party
4. Plan for meeting for Day of Service on Sunday
5. Update excel list of projects for Sunday
6. Create leader responsibility form
7. Create agenda
8. Plan homeless project for Day of Service
9. Follow up for high school room remodel project to start in July
10. Make hotel room reservations for Denver
11. Confirm pet sitter for trip
12. Blog three more times this week and it should be about my business!!
13. Plan for for dinner
14. Buy food for week
15. Deposit check from tutoring job
16. Follow up with next tutoring appointment.
17. Work on web page for new business
18. Write my mother-in-law who has a broken pelvis

I am sure there is more but I am getting too tired to think.  Maybe I can get more done tomorrow.

Wonderful Friday

Wow, what a wonderful day in San Diego.  I did not work on anything for my business today.  I enjoyed the weather.  I did yoga for the first time in a long time.  I will find out tomorrow if I am sore.  I took the dogs to the bay and let them swim.  I threw balls for about one hour.  Great day!

So I guess this means on Saturday I need to work on my business.  I did work on my pile and made it smaller yesterday.

I spoke with my son who is leaving for a tour in Afghanistan in June.  He would like us to visit him in June to help him prepare for being away from his car and sublet room in San Francisco for one year.  We should make plans to visit him in August in El Paso when he will leave the country.  We talked about him visiting his grandparents one time before he leaves.  He may join us in March in Colorado.  He might also go to Indiana to see grandparents and attend his cousin's Eagle Court of Honor.

I don't know if my husband can go because they want him to work all the time.  It seems like they are to work every weekend.  He felt like he left work early yesterday when he came home at 8:15 pm.  What a life?

I guess I should feel guilty as I am not working.

A Regular Thursday

I wonder what a regular Thursday is actually.  Today I am trying to not do too much so I can recover from my cold.  Did I get this cold from being on the airplane where my seatmate coughed the whole way from Dallas to Ft. Meyers?

I tried to connect my blog to the Facebook page of for Point Loma Tutor.  I would like people to read this if they are interested in autism, starting a new business, or just tutoring.

I found I need a better whole punch.  The one I had is not adequate when you have many papers to put in a binder.  I updated the excel spreadsheet for Day of Service.  I tried to use google docs but found people could not open them.  They said that cox wouldn't let them.  I think they forgot to make a google password.  So now every time I update it, I get the file the date on the end.  Hopefully this will help everyone have the same information.

I still have a overwhelming pile of papers to file.  Why do I keep putting those off? My in basket is two inches over the top.  So I guess at this point you could call it a pile.

Good News

Today I received a phone call from my nephew in Indiana.  He has been diagnosed with aspergers syndrome. He was accepted at Marion College.  I think he also was awarded a scholarship -  Wow, this is so exciting.  The phrase it takes a village to raise a child comes to my mind.  Nick would not be here today if it wasn't for the wonderful teachers, counselors, church contacts, boy scouts, and especially his parents.  I have seen his maturity over the last years of high school.  I am glad there was a college who saw his improvement over the last four years.  Yeah for Nick!!!

Traveling has brought me a wonderful cold so I feel like I have cotton in my ears.  I never heard my husband come home from work at 1 am.  He was using a tester and from 7 to midnight was their time to test.  Of course that was after working a full day.  He finds many mistakes being made when engineers are directed to work fast.  I also wonder about their cognitive abilities after so few hours of sleep day after day.  Is this the example parents was to show their children?  Do we have a sweatshop here in the US? This company has been around for 30 years.  Is it time to stop acting like a start up?  I wonder what the turnover is with this company.  So far there have just been two deaths by engineers jumping off the parking structure.  I wonder how many more will jump before the company thinks they have a problem.

I have not heard from my graphic designer on my new schedule for my web page.  She now has a full time job so it will be more complicated.

I hope to recover from my cold quickly.  I had a great time in Florida seeing my parents.

Return from Naples, FL

I am in the Dallas Airport waiting for my flight back to San Diego.  I received an email from my web designer.  She wants to finish the project.  I was suppose to finish in December but three skiing trips and one trip to visit my parents but a dent in my time.  I have decided I need to work on my business on a daily basis.

Running your business from your home means you can always find something to do other than work. I do that a lot.  First I have been working on a photo album for my grandson.  I try to do at least two pages per day.  I also take time out to walk my dogs.  I also am trying to fit in exercising.  I always try to find an excuse to not do that but I feel to be the best I need to  be in great shape myself.

I am in charge of the Day of Service Project for Point Loma which is happening June 1. I am working with the community as well as the church on this.  It is exciting but requires discipline  to keep on top of it.  Currently we have monthly meeting but it will be ramping up.  I also said I would do the treasure job for the Point Loma Association.  It will be great to meet the people of my community.  So I hope this helps my business in the end.

Currently I have one student I tutor.  I also try to work as a sub one day a week.  I just wonder how I raised three children, worked full time and attended school.  I was involved with scouts, church choirs, soccer teams, swim teams.  I am busy now but I have no idea how I did it all then.

To Do List:

1. Figure out how to do Hoots..
2. Find out how to do newsletters on line.
3. Pass out three business cards per week to people I know.

Now the announcement went on that there is a gate change for my San Diego departure. :)