Free Reading Speed and Comprehension Test

Do your students do well on the reading comprehension section of standardized tests? Practicing for these kind of exams and getting accustomed to the format and the type of questions asked can help boost scores. Here’s a website that offers a free Speed Reading Test. I suggest having students use it once a week or so, and see how quickly they can boost their reading speed. Read more

SAT* Score Reporting, FAQ, Essay Workshops, & EIL 1 is HERE!

Beginning with the March 2009 administration of the SAT, the College Board has implemented a new policy that should make a lot of people very happy. According to the website, the new policy “will give students the option to choose the SAT scores by sitting (test date) and SAT Subject Test scores by individual test that they send to colleges, at no additional cost.” Read more

Test Prep Workshops and a Few Special Links

I saw the first yellow leaves falling today; the pinks, hollyhocks, and marigolds are all setting seed; and homeschool groups are scheduling SAT and Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshops– fall must be on its way! It really seems too soon. It seems as if we’ve just settled into our evening ritual of circling the garden and sampling its delights– cherry tomatoes were the treat du jour. The figs aren’t even close to being ripe!

Because I’m still working with this pinched nerve, I’ll just let you know about the workshops that have been scheduled, and share a few announcements. Short, but I think you’ll find something of interest here. And please- enjoy the last remaining days of summer!

Announcements Read more

SAT* Workshop and Teenage Proofreaders

I’ve been putting together a worktext to go with the three-hour audio workshop I recorded in April, and all the pieces are finally coming together. The thing that has taken the longest is getting the live audio mastered into the proper format, but it’s happening today, and I believe I’ll have it duplicated and ready to go for the HEAV convention, which is less than two weeks away! www.SAT-Workshop.com

One thing I discovered- or actually re-discovered– I realize it every time I write a book or article- is that it’s nearly impossible to proofread my own work. Because I know the material so well, I tend to read what I think I wrote. Someone with a fresh eye can catch small typos and transpositions that I’ve overlooked, just as I can catch the errors in other people’s writing.

My first choice for front-line proofreading is always one of my own boys. If you write anything at all, I suggest that you ask one of your students to proofread it for you. They may or may not be naturally gifted in English, but it’s amazing how much they can catch. I am always touched by the amount of care and thought they put into the process. Even if the subject isn’t intrinsically interesting (66 pages of test prep tips, techniques, and strategies for the SAT isn’t exactly Lord of the Rings!) they know it’s important to me, and they invest the time to do their best. Read more

The Darkling Thrush by Thomas Hardy (and SAT Essay Prep)

I leant upon a coppice gate
When Frost was spectre-gray,
And Winter’s dregs made desolate
The weakening eye of day.
The tangled bine-stems scored the sky
Like strings of broken lyres,
And all mankind that haunted nigh
Had sought their household fires. Read more

Our Students Need to Write More

During the past decade, I’ve spent a fair amount of time evaluating student writing and teaching SAT prep essay workshops and online high school literature classes. I’ve had the chance to read hundreds of papers from students all over the country, and I’ve discovered one small key to success in writing: Write More...

That’s a directive that easily questioned– write more what? Words? Minutes? Pages? My response is simple– YES to all of the above. Students who write often, tend to write better and more easily than students who are rarely required to pick up a pen (or turn on the computer). Read more

Perfectly Parsed Piffle- The Writing Evaluator’s Dilemma

As parent-teachers, we’ve all seen boring writing assignments– a grammatically-correct report that simply paraphrases an encyclopedia entry or a five-paragraph essay that piles one trite cliche on another, and concludes without a glimmer of an original thought. If you’re anything like me, you may even remember writing a few of those! The cause of such frightful compositions usually lies in an inadequate reading foundation (input) or in a poorly-thought-out writing assignment.*

I’ll write about how to remedy the causes another time, but today, I’d like to discuss how to evaluate this kind of writing. To a parent, perfectly parsed piffle often poses a dilemma. If there are no obvious mechanical errors (spelling, punctuation, grammar, word usage), does the student’s work deserve an ‘A’? How do you grade a paper for shallow content and lack of originality– and should you even do so? Read more

Homework Insanity- This Emperor has No Clothes

Did you see Jeff Opdyke’s column on homework in Sunday’s Wall Street Journal (How Homework Is Hurting Our Family, September 30, 2007)? It was heartbreaking. He vividly described how their family life is “a constant, stress laden stream of homework and tests and projects [that] overshadows everything we do, always hanging over our head… [affecting] our weekends, our meals, our vacations, our work time, our playtime, our pocketbooks.”

Is this crazy, or what? Opdyke goes on to describe how homework stress affects each one in the family, short-circuiting tempers, straining schedules, and causing his wife Amy to feel like the “worst mom in the world.” He has talked to other parents who have ended up with kids on anxiety medications in order to cope with the stress. His own son is showing signs of intense stress– sleeplessness, anxiety, forgetfulness under pressure, and distress over less than outstanding grades.

Frankly, this sounds like a new wrinkle in the enabling syndrome. Middle-class parents enable schools to not only institutionalize their children for the majority of their waking hours, but also to consume the remaining hours of family time– all in the name of potential future success. Think about it– it hasn’t always been this way. Read more

Essay Workshop in Woodbridge, VA

If you’ve been waiting for the next Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop, it’s scheduled for Wednesday, June 13, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. This popular SAT prep writing workshop will prepare teens for the timed essay on standardized tests, as well as those found on college exams. You can read more about it and find registration information on my website! We may, if there is enough interest, follow the student workshop with a one-hour parent workshop on Evaluating Writing. Just let the hostess know if you are interested when you sign up.

This is one of the most rewarding and fun workshops I do. Students often come in feeling uncertain of what is required for the SAT essay and unable to write quick essays, but they almost always leave with a feeling of genuine accomplishment. We write two timed essays during the day, and the students take home a little handbook that will help them continue to practice. It’s a lot of fun, and I hope to see you there!

Enthusiasm- It Makes Learning Stick!

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Have you ever thought about the part that enthusiasm plays in the learning process? I have noticed that when I’m interested in something, I learn it so much more easily than if I’m not enthused about the subject. Interest fosters attention and focuses the mind, making learning a truly delightful experience. Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop

I witnessed enthusiasm in action on Saturday when I taught a lively group of teens how to write a timed essay for the SAT or ACT (at a Beat-the-Clock Essay Workshop). Throughout the four+ hour workshop, these delightful students remained focused and interested. There was so much participation that we could have gone on for at least another hour!

When the teens passed in their class evaluation forms at the end of the workshop, the comments were enthusiastic and positive. One teen, when asked what she liked about the workshop, wrote “Everything! I had a blast!”

Imagine that. Cooped up inside on a spring morning, writing timed essays, and she really had fun!

Another teen, in answer to the question about what could be improved, wrote “More essay writing.” Oh my– most teens who had to write two essays in a day would be more than ready to quit!

What was up with this group? I’ve taught this workshop in many places, and some groups are so quiet and unresponsive that we could easily trim the very same material by almost an hour. These students were so engaged and enthusiastic that the day just flew by (and no, I don’t think any of them are available for adoption!).

I don’t know the source of their enthusiasm– they were mostly, but not all, homeschooled high school students. They asked questions, they offered to read their essays aloud, they made the most of their time with me. And guess what? I’d be willing to bet that because they participated actively, they will remember what they learned.

Enthusiasm is a wonderful motivator, and if you can trigger your student’s interest, and encourage participation, the labor of learning is suddenly reduced. Enthusiasm makes learning fun!

On a personally enthusiastic note, I just uploaded the e-book edition of the new third edition of my book, Transcripts Made Easy. I’m happy that it’s finally done!