My first term with the Tutorfair Foundation - Joss Story

My first term with the Tutorfair Foundation - Joss' Story This September saw Joss joining the team as Foundation Director. As we approach the end of his first term, we asked him to reflect on his first few months here and tell us what to expect from the year ahead. I’m so excited to have joined the Foundation this year. I’ve admired Tutorfair’s socially responsible model since I first came across it on a school visit in 2017, and I’m delighted to have the opportunity to lead a wonderful organisation in making a real difference. As expected, the first term has been a busy one. The Foundation had been without full-time leadership for the year before my arrival, so there was work to be done organising its various activities into a clear strategy and finding the best route forward into 2020. Over the last two years, the focus has been building and delivering Tutorfair On-Demand as a way of scaling volunteer-led tutoring nationally. Now that Nesta’s Click Connect Learn  has come to an end, we can once again invest in our network of partners and increase the number of local programmes running in London and Birmingham. And we’ve started well this term, supporting nearly two hundred students across various projects and bringing lots of new tutors into the community - including the Foundation’s 1,000th volunteer. What a milestone! We’ve got plenty more in the pipeline for the New Year, with new programmes and partnerships getting underway from January. All of this is made possible by three things worth reflecting on as we head into the Winter break. Firstly, the passionate and positive volunteers that give their time and energy to make our programmes work. These wonderful people have been the greatest surprise to me in my short time here â€" from those who are joining us now to those who are returning for a second or third year with the Foundation. We’d be nowhere without them and simply cannot praise them enough. Secondly, the generosity of everyone who gives to the Foundation â€" mostly those booking through Tutorfair, but also the organisations and individuals who sponsor individual projects or open doors for us. Every penny that comes to our charity is the result of a choice that someone’s made â€" and the cumulative effect of those choices means we get to drive our mission forward. Thanks to everyone who’s helping to keep us going. Finally, the fantastic group of people who work or have worked for the Foundation â€" not least Tas who I suspect is responsible for the steady and inevitable turning of the Earth. Thanks to everyone for their passion and support through a fantastic first term with The Tutorfair Foundation. Here’s to many more. If you would like to volunteer with the Foundation you can sign up here.  If you’re interested in working with our volunteers or supporting our fundraising, get in touch with the team at foundation@tutorfair.com.

Last Minute SAT Study Guide - by TutorNerds

Last Minute SAT Study Guide - by TutorNerds Last Minute SAT Study Guide From an Irvine SAT Tutor The SAT is this Saturday so what you do or don’t do this week will make a significant difference in your score (our Irvine SAT test prep tutors are always here to help). For some of you this is the first time you are taking the SAT and you have multiple more times to take it, for others this is it. Try these last minute tips to give you the best chance of success this weekend. 1. Don’t overestimate yourself. You may have mastered the long passages or the triangle problems long ago but if you haven’t reviewed them within the last two weeks, you should do so now. Go over all of the sections that you were doing well on and do at least one of each throughout the week. Make a list of all of the sections where your expected success rate has dropped and do a second one by Thursday. 2. Tackle those really hard sections. Perhaps you have given up on graphs or sentence corrections, thinking that you will pick up enough points on the sections that you excel in. It’s not too late to go through the explanations in the back of your test prep book and see what you are missing. Picking up even 2-3 points per section could make a huge difference in your composite score (READ: 5 Awesome SAT Apps). 3. Know when to omit. If you always get the ‘except’ questions wrong, and every single strategy you have ever tried and everything your tutor has ever told you still isn’t working, then it may be time to admit that these questions aren’t for you and consider omitting them on the test. Remember that you are penalized for guessing on the SAT (READ: A Timeline Study Guide for the SAT). 4. Tally up your score. If you have only been calculating your score on certain sections or if you haven’t been keeping track at all, now is the time to tally up a composite score. The only score that really counts is the one given by the College Board but it’s better to know what your potential score is before going into the exam. If your current practice test composite score for all sections is a 1500, then you will likely score between a 1400 and 1600 on the real test. Of course, there are plenty of factors that can change your score either up or down but it is always good to have an estimate. 5. Take one full length practice test. If it’s been several weeks since your last full length practice test or if you have yet to take one, do your very best to sit down one day after school Monday-Thursday and take a full length practice test. This will help you understand how long you will be sitting down and how long the test will require your full attention (READ: SAT Subject Tests). 6. Follow your pre-test routine on Friday. Basically, if you haven’t learned a particular concept or technique by Friday, then you probably won’t have a ‘light bulb moment’ on Saturday morning at 3 AM. It is important to rest your brain and body the day before a big test such as the SAT. On Friday, eat a good breakfast, lunch and dinner. Go for a walk after school and get some invigorating fresh air and sunshine. Go to bed in time to get at least eight hours of sleep but nine would be better. Good luck on the October SAT! All blog entries, with the exception of guest bloggers, are written by Tutor Nerds. Are you an education professional? If so, email us at info@tutornerds.com for guest blogging and collaborations. We want to make this the best free education resource in SoCal, so feel free to suggest what you would like to see us post about.