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. :)