Yesterday, I had a conversation with a friend about emotional intelligence (EQ). The conversation motivated me to jump on the Internet read-up on this topic. I found an article by Steve Bressert, Ph.D. describing emotional intelligence, relating it to professional…

What is the process that people generally go through as they read? When I consider how I will approach teaching a student as his or her educator and tutor, often I wonder what happens in their brains to make meaning.…

Lately, a few customers have referred to me as an educational or literacy coach. In the past, most people (often including myself) refer to me as a tutor. However, when I think of myself as a tutor, I picture someone…

What is the difference between a “tutor” and an “educational coach? As a tutor, I work with specific skills. For example, in school, it is repeatedly demonstrated that the student is unable to grasp the concept of a sentence in…

Writing Conventions Homonyms are words that sound the same (homo) but have different meanings or names (nym) to illustrate concepts and ideas. Another word is homophone, which means same sound. Homonyms and homophones are difficult for many people when they…

Before they begin reading, readers look at the title and elicit background knowledge. When I explain this to students who I tutor in reading and writing, I keep it simple and say: “Background knowledge is what we already know.” When…

As students’ gain confidence in their abilities to decode words, their reading becomes more fluent. As they read more fluently and consider what they read, their comprehension will increase, too. When we read, it is inevitable for almost all of…

When I tutor students in writing and teach them about the writing process, I have high expectations, which include correct spelling, punctuation, sentence flow, and grammar. High expectations are essential to student growth. However, this post is not about writing…

When I begin working with students, it is most important to establish a connection so the student feels safe, respected, and comfortable. What comes after that? The answer is assessment. The assessments are both formal and informal. A formal assessment,…

When I tutor and teach English to students, I find that often they have difficulty understanding the difference between “much” or “many”. The answer lies in whether the nouns that they modify are countable or uncountable. When the noun is…