Great Free App for Foreign Language Basic Skills

Duolingo is a great free app that teaches Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Portuguese. It makes learning fun as it is in the form of a game, but also includes a lot of repetition in order to help children, teens, and adults learn a new language.  The lessons are designed in short blocks and you can only reach the next level by beating the present level.  The goal of Duolingo is not designed to drill you in , but it’s meant to help you develop  conversational skills over the course of months. By the end of the B2 level you have become an upper intermediate user. You will understand the spoken language well, be able to read books and watch movies, but you won’t sound like a native with perfect grammar. Duolingo could supplement more formal tutoring and is great app to motivate younger children to learn and practice a foreign language.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/duolingo-learn-languages-for/id570060128?mt=8

Ready or Not: Check out the Changes to The “New” SAT

As of 2016, the College Board will be making changes to the current SAT in an effort to make it more reflective of students’ ability to succeed in college. Students will no longer be required to take the essay portion of the exam so the top possible score will once again be 1600 as it was for many decades.

            In addition, some of the other changes to the test include making the math problems less theoretical and more closely related to real life. Students will no longer be allowed to use calculators so that the SAT will also test their math fluency and calculation skills.

            For the English portion, there will be less obscure vocabulary and more commonly used vocabulary that students will see in their everyday lives.  The optional essay will be more closely linked to the texts presented to students to test their analyzation skills include less personal opinion.

            Other changes will include a change in the scoring. Students will no longer loose points for incorrect answers. They will only be given points for correct  answers. In addition the new SAT will be connected to the new Common Core teaching standards so they will have to apply their knowledge to problem solve. Finally, the SAT will start offering an online form as well as traditional paper form.

The changes to the SAT were brought about due to the criticism that the SATs did not accurately predict performance in college as well as the assertion that students from privileged backgrounds have an advantage in that they can take expensive prep courses. As a result the Khan Academy will offer a free series of practice exams and videos about good test-taking practices. 

Please check out more educational blogs on our website at http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com. Private In-home Tutoring by real teachers!

"Go Public: A Day in the Life of an American School District" Movie Premier at Redondo Galleria AMC March 4th at 7:30pm --Ticket sales End this Tuesday Feb 25th

Hello All!

 

I hope you have had a chance to get your ticket but if you haven’t you have until next Tuesday the 25^th. Please support public education. We only have 49 tickets left!

The theater will not show the film unless all tickets are sold. Help support public education!!! Hope you can join us on this special night!

 

 

I am sure you are wondering who made this film and why????

 

 

Dawn and Jimj O'Keefe co-produced Go Public. They have been married 28 years and have four children who attended public school in Pasadena. 

 

They made the film to bring people into the public schools so they would have a more informed understanding of the complexity and beauty as well as the challenges that are very real due to the repeated budget cuts. They wanted to create informed advocates so next time a community faces decision s about whether to pass a parcel tax or bond measure, there will be an appreciation for our schools and for what the accomplish every day.

 

The film shows public education is working, but also facing many challenges. They want people to see the movei to become advocates for public education. All the decisions made about public schools are made by people who are not living the public school experience. 

 

This is a special event. The film is only shown in limited release and there will be a limited amount of seats! Tickets  will be first come first serve until they sell out. Ticket sales will end FEB 25th!!!  Please tell your friends and families and anyone that cares about children, teachers and education:)!!!! Look forward to seeing you all there!

 

Check out the link below to view a trailer of the movie and to purchase your tickets:

 

https://www.tugg.com/go/czpcdf

You can also learn more about the movie at http://www.gopublicproject.org. I have also attached a poster.

Thank you again for your support:)!

Ivie Sherman, Special Educator

Founder of Beach Cities Tutoring

http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com

Speaking, Listening and the Common Core Curriculum!

In addition, to reading, writing and math, the Common Core curriculum will acknowledge the need for students to be a proficient speakers and listeners. Although written communication is important, the US workplace places a high value on speaking and listening skills as well. With the advent of texting, proper, formal speech barely exists; however, it is important that students be able to properly communicate with coworkers and superiors in the workplace.

The Common Core will focus on the following skills:

·      How to communicate with adults who are older than they are with sufficient interest and respect to encourage mutual conversation and interaction.

·      How to raise an issue with a superior or colleague without resorting to emotion or inappropriate language.

·      How to negotiate when they aren't getting what they want or feel they deserve.

·      How to deal with difficult people whose communication skills are not as good as their own.

·      How to use humor to relieve tension and to make communication more enjoyable.

These skills will be recognized and valued in the Common Core as teachers prepare students for college, the workplace and society.

For more educational blogs, please visit our website at http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com

"Go Public: The Day in the Life of an American School District" Movie Premier Limited Engagement at Redondo Galleria on March 4th at 7:30pm

I am so excited to present the new education documentary "Go Public."

"Go Public" features a day in the life of an American school district including snapshots from the lives of students and families beginning from sunrise to bedtime on May 8, 2012. The videographers recorded 50 subjects and visited 28 schools in a single day throughout a diverse district. Unlike other documentaries, snippets of the school day speak for themselves. There is no narrative or commentary. Interactions with students are captured in a series of moments that weave together in a way that is mesmerizing, mundane, dramatic, funny and gripping. Go Public is a layered, moving and inspiration film that communicates a call to action to support public schools everywhere despite their dwindling resources. It celebrates the challenges and treasures while reminding us that their main goal is to help our children succeed

This is a special event. The film is only shown in limited release and there will be a limited amount of seats! Tickets will go on sale today Jan 29th and will be first come first serve until they sell out.  Please forward this email and tell all your friends and families and anyone that cares about children, teachers and education:)!!!! Look forward to seeing you all there!

Check out the link below to view a trailer of the movie and to purchase your tickets:

https://www.tugg.com/go/czpcdf

You can also learn more about the movie at :

http://www.gopublicproject.org

Thank you for your support!

Ivie Sherman and Beach Cities Tutoring

How Will Teaching Writing Differ with the New Common Core Curriculum?

As teachers prepare students for performance based tasks that include the interpretation, analysis, and application of data, the amount of writing they assign in class will increase; however, due to the lack of time teachers have to grade long writing assignments, students will begin taking a much more active role in revising their own work as well as the work of their peers.

Teachers will may scan all papers quickly and assign them in order from best to worst and put them into three piles: average, below average, and above average.

She/he may then identify some general themes and categories of weakness to address and teach a mini lesson on and create a self-analysis checklist. She would then hand the papers back with no grade or teacher comments, but instead with the self-analysis sheet that contains the common errors and problems she identified earlier. Students would review their own papers first and do peer review to learn from their mistakes. Students would then revise their paper based on their self-analysis sheet. Finally, students would then hand in a final paper of high quality that the teacher would review to verify the quality and commend students with comments of encouragement but not a detailed mark- up.

             This process would prepare students to be more independent when they get to college and have to write papers. It would also help them take ownership of and responsibility for producing quality writing.

The information from this blog can be found in Getting Ready for College, Careers, and the Common Core by David T. Conley. 

More educational articles can also be found on our website at http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com. 

What You Should Know About The New Common Core Math Assessments

The New Common Core Assessments will differ dramatically from the old CSTs in the format as well as in the types of knowledge they test.  They will be taken exclusively on the computer, and students will have to be able to type sentence responses for some parts. This could pose problems for students who type more slowy.

Students will be expected not only to perform arithmetic operations, but also to be expected to analyze and apply their knowledge to solve complex problems.  There will be 5 different types of questions:

Selected Response- involve answering yes/no questions about a specific problem rather than multiple choice. There may be more than one correct answer.

Constructed Response-open answer questions

Extended response- open answer questions that include having the student type an explanation for how they arrived at the answer

Technology enhanced-solving a problem by moving numbers around (click and drag)

Performance task-Long open-ended story problems in which students have to plan and use multiple operations and steps. They may have to draw diagrams and apply their knowledge to solve complex problems. The new assessments ask students to apply concepts from 2 previous grade levels below their current grade level but vary in complexity to reflect the student’s current grade level.

In addition to the differences in the assessments, high school math classes will differ even though their names may stay the same.

Common Core 8^th grade Math- will include Pre-algebra, some high school Geometry and some of Algebra 1A (first semester hs Algebra)

Common Core Algebra 1- will begin with Algebra 1B (second semester Algebra) and do Algebra 2 first semester and some of AP Stats

Common Core Geometry- HS Geometry, Transformational Geometry and some AP Stats

Common Core Algebra 2-Second semester Algebra 2, Trig, Math Analysis,  some Stat AP

These assessments will take some getting used to; however, on a positive note students should be better prepared for college and careers in the global economy. Educators hope that students will be better able to compete with their counterparts around the world.

If you would like to read more educational blogs, please visit our website at http://www.beachcitiestutoring.com, written by credentialed teachers.