Helping Colorado Students and Parents Understand Learning Styles

Your learning style is the way you acquire information. Students learn faster and retain more when information is presented to them in their learning styles of choice. Most people have a dominant learning style, but they can still learn when information is presented in another learning style. Teachers should present information in ways that appeal to all learning styles, but they may not always have the time to do so. When you know what your student’s learning style is, you can tailor information so that they can understand and process it better.

The Seven Learning Styles

Verbal (linguistic): Verbal students prefer using words to communicate, both in speech and writing. They like to read and take notes.

Physical (kinesthetic): These students prefer using their body, hands and sense of touch. They enjoy learning that is action-based like science experiments, making projects and working with their hands.

Visual (spatial): Spacially-oriented students prefer using pictures, images, and spatial understanding. They work well when information is presented in graphs, pie charts, infographics, pictures or video.

Aural (auditory-musical): These students prefer using sound and music. They like listening to lectures or talks.

Solitary (intrapersonal): These are independent learners who prefer to work alone and use self-study.

Logical (mathematical): These students prefer using logic, reasoning and systems. They are great with math and science.

Social (interpersonal): Social students prefer to learn in groups or with other people. They love organizing study groups and collaborative projects.

Consult your Teachers and Tutors

Ask your teacher or tutor to help to determine your student’s dominant learning styles. Most students use a combination of styles to assimilate information. While they will have a dominant style, it’s important to remember that styles are dynamic. That means that with practice, your student can adjust to any style of learning.

Once you know what your student’s preferred learning style is, you can teach them to arrange material to suit their style. For example, if your student prefers a visual learning style, organize information that they need to understand into graphs, infographics, mind maps and pictures. Let them watch videos on the subject and allow them to create videos and visually-oriented presentations for their projects. Presenting information in their learning style will help them to understand and remember.

Your tutor can help to teach your students how to arrange information into a more favorable format and how to tailor study skills to suit different subjects. Ask your tutor to give a brief test to determine learning style preferences.

Here are some resources for finding out your learning style online. Most of these resources are short tests which help you to see which learning style suits your student best. Do two or three to get a better idea of the learning styles that your student prefers:

NC State University

Vark

How to Learn

Education Planner

LDPride

Edutopia

Accelerated Learning

The 7 Best ACT Test Taking Tips for Colorado Students

With the February 8th ACT test day quickly approaching in our area Highlands Ranch High School & Thunder Ridge High School in Highlands Ranch, Castle View High School in Castle Rock, Aurora Central High School, Overland High School, Rangeview High School and William C Hinkley High School in Aurora, Eaglecrest High School in Centennial and Chatfield High School in Littleton, we thought we would pass on 7 great tips for doing your best on the ACT. 

You’ve spent hours and hours preparing, you’ve taken some practice ACT tests and you’ve worked with your classmates, tutors and teachers to prepare for one of the most important tests you will ever take. Even the most prepared students can falter on the day if they don’t have a good ACT test writing plan. Knowing what to expect and having a clear plan of action is the best way to ensure success.

Get a good night’s sleep

I know you think that using those extra hours to cram in everything you can is the best use of your time, but it isn’t. When you are sleep-deprived and tired, your higher brain functions start to shut down. Tired students are more likely to misread questions, make mistakes, and find it difficult to come up with solutions to complex questions. You must try to get at least eight hours of sleep before you write your ACT test.

Fuel your brain

Your brain needs carbohydrates, protein and other nutrients to function optimally. You are able to think clearer and faster when your brain has healthy fuel. This means you can’t eat a breakfast of donuts and coffee and expect to fire on all cylinders. Ensure you have a balanced meal of carbohydrates, proteins and fruit before you take your test. Make sure you are well hydrated.

Read the questions

Read through all the questions carefully before you start. Prioritize them from easiest to hardest and then answer the easy questions first. Read every question at least twice to be absolutely sure you understand what is expected of you. Even if you write the best answer in the history of ACT, misinterpreting the question will still get you a low score.

Quit it if you can’t hit it

Don’t know the answer? Move on to the next question and come back to it later. Never waste time trying to figure out a difficult question. Time constraint is the biggest challenge you face in the ACT, so answer all the questions you can and then come back to the ones you struggled with.

Take a wild guess

Still don’t know the answer? Take a guess at what it could be. There is no penalty for incorrect answers in the ACT, so make an educated guess.

Every day we’re bubbling, bubbling

Be very careful when bubbling. If you mark the incorrect answer on the answer sheet, all your hard work will be for nothing. Ensure that you leave time at the end of the test to check that you have filled the right answers in on the answer sheet.

Smile!

OK, so maybe you won’t feel like smiling, but try to stay positive. A defeatist attitude is your worst enemy. If you can’t figure something out, just give yourself a pep talk and move on to the next question. A positive attitude can really make a difference to your final ACT score.

If you are not planning on taking the ACT test on February 8th and are interested in the next ACT test date and location near us, the ACT Test will be on April 14th at Mountain Vista High School and Thunder Ridge High School in Highlands Ranch, Aurora Central High School, Overland High School and William C Hinkley High School in Aurora, Eaglecrest High School in Centennial and Chatfield High School in Littleton.

If you are interested in increasing your ACT score, we offer some wonderful programs that will help you do your best.

Call us today for a free consultation to find out how to get started. 720-524-3191

4 Cherry Creek School District Students Earn Perfect ACT Score of 36

Four Cherry Creek School District students were among 17 students statewide who were honored Nov. 14 by the Colorado Board of Education for earning a perfect score of 36 on the ACT taken by every high school junior in Colorado last spring.

Those students are:

•    Rick Laoprasert, Cherry Creek High School

•     Nate Gibby, Cherokee Trail High School

•    David Mathews, Cherokee Trail High School

•    Susan Niederhoff, Smoky Hill High School

Students in the Cherry Creek School District consistently score above the state and national average on the ACT. The district average ACT composite score for 2013 is 21.6. The Colorado average is 20.1 and the national average score is 20.9.

Cherokee Trail seniors David Mathews and Nate Gibby both took the test more than once, but didn’t do any other significant preparation.

“I took the test twice before and got a 35 both times,” said Gibby, who hopes to attend Stanford and study finance and investment banking. “Once I got a 35, I set my goal for a 36. I knew I could do it.”

Mathews, who plans to study business at Stanford, said he was “kind of surprised” by his score. “It was great! The best part was the odds of getting a perfect 36,” he said. “There were 788 students who got a perfect score out of 1.6 million students who took the test.”

The ACT is a standardized exam taken by high school students to gauge their college and career readiness. Students are assessed with four multiple choice subject tests in English, reading, math and science. All four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. accept the ACT for the college admissions process. Students often see an increase in their score the more times they take it, but few attain a perfect score.

If you would like to know how we can help increase your score. Please give us a call for a free consultation today! 720-441-2772

ACT or SAT?

The SAT and ACT tests determine a student’s readiness to enter college. Getting into the best colleges requires students to score well on these entrance tests. Although most colleges accept either test, students often don’t know which one to take. There are some fundamental differences between the tests.

SAT

The SAT test was created in the 1920’s as an entrance exam for students who wished to attend Ivy League colleges on the east coast. The test is designed to measure a student’s skills and abilities. The SATs are based on IQ tests and aim to test a student’s ability rather than the number of facts that they have learned. The SAT allows 3 hours and 45 minutes to answer its 140 questions. A perfect score is 1600. Guessing is discouraged by subtracting marks for incorrect answers.

 ACT

This test was designed in the 1950s to service colleges on the west coast. Here, students are tested on how much they have learned in high school. The test covers maths, English, reading, writing and science. The test allows 3 hours and 25 minutes for the student to answer the 215 questions. A perfect score is 36. No marks are subtracted for incorrect answers here, so students can take a guess at questions they are not sure about.

Each of the tests costs about $50 and takes a half day to complete. If you can afford the fee and the time, it’s best to take both. You can take the test over, so test early on in case you would like to improve your score before applying to college. Experts differ on which test is best; the ACT is rumoured to be easier, but the SAT does test your preparedness for college. If you only want to take one test, take a sample test of the SAT and the ACT to see which one you score best on. Sample tests are available on the internet and can help you determine which testing style is best suited to your abilities. You can find free SAT sample test on the website at http://sat.collegeboard.org/practice/sat-practice-test. You can find sample ACT tests on their website at http://www.act.org/compass/sample/

All your test scores are recorded, no matter how many times you take the test, and are available for your college admissions department to see. This means that getting the best possible test scores on your first go is ideal. Before you attempt your college entrance exam, consider getting a tutor who specializes in the entrance exam to help you with test preparation. A tutor can guide you through the process of preparing for the test and administer sample tests. You can then work with your tutor to iron out difficulties you may be having before attempting your official entrance exam.

How to Help Your High School Student Set Goals

To your teen, it might seem as if high school is going to last forever. But you know better. Setting goals provides your teens with concrete landmarks to help them along their academic path. Having set goals to follow will give your teens focus and help them build self-confidence.

Here’s a look at the kinds of goals your teen should be setting and why they are important.

• Of Course Those Courses Matter. How can you help make your teen’s academic schedule beneficial to him or her? Keep your teen’s college and career goals in mind when choosing courses.

• Think Ahead to Test Time. Tests are a fact of life for high school teens. Whether dealing with subject tests, mid-terms and finals, or standardized tests, your teen’s high school career will be peppered with test dates. Well ahead of test time, help your teen set up test preparation goals.

• Extracurriculars Are Not Extraneous. Both colleges and employers think extracurricular activities are important because they showcase skills, commitment and responsibility. In addition, these activities benefit your teen by helping to build independence, confidence and experience. Sometimes, they even help your teen figure out a career path. As your teens set goals for the things they would like to achieve outside of school, help them keep their overall schedule in mind, as well as their college plans.

• You Talking to Me? Have your teen talk to the school’s counselor. The counselor can help your teen select courses and narrow down college and career choices. Setting up goals with the counselor provides a clear framework that helps them keep things in focus.

• Hello College, Here We Come! No matter which year of high school your teen is in, college visits should be on your goal list. Freshman year is not too soon to start looking at colleges. In fact, it’s much better to start early, and you can start locally. Visit different colleges of different sizes, with different kinds of campuses, if possible. Different campuses have different “feels” to them, and visiting will help your teen figure out which atmospheres are most appealing.

• Face the Financial Facts. High school means study time for you too. Your goal during your teen’s high school years should be to learn about college costs. That includes learning about financial aid: how it works, what’s available and if your family qualifies for it. It also includes learning about the differences between loans, grants and scholarships. The earlier you learn the ins and outs, the better, because it’ll give you the opportunity to plan ahead. Then, you can sit down with your teen and have a frank discussion about the fiscal facts. Based on that discussion, you can help your teen set realistic college goals.

The more your teens set and meet goals, the more they will realize the benefits and importance of goal setting. How do you help your teens set goals and keep them on track for meeting their goals?

7 ACT Test Strategies that Work

The ACT is a daunting test and the outcome has serious consequences for every student. While there is no substitute for working hard, you can optimize your chances of succeeding in the ACT test by learning strategies for answering questions effectively. Learning to navigate the landscape of an ACT will ensure that you get the best possible results.

Practice makes perfect

Practice tests are available online for you to try. Practice subject tests prior to writing your ACT test in order to familiarize yourself with the way questions are asked. You should also study the instructions for each subject test prior to writing. Since time is such an important factor in your ACT test, knowing the instructions beforehand means you won’t waste time reading them more than once during the exam.

Prioritize your questions

Read through the questions before you start writing. Order them from easiest to hardest and start with the easy ones. Getting the easy points done is a great way to ensure the best score. Doing the easy questions first will also help to build your confidence and get you in the right headspace to take on the more difficult questions.

Shake it off and move on

If you get to a question you just can’t find an answer to, move on. Don’t waste any time getting bogged down on difficult questions. You can come back to it if you need to at a later stage. As you are working through questions, make notes in the margins. You don’t need to hand in a pristine paper, use every inch of paper to make notes and jot down thoughts. That way, when you come back to the difficult questions, you can see what you were working on before.

Don’t know the answer? Guess!

Never leave an answer blank. The ACT test doesn’t penalize you for incorrect answers, so taking a guess may just render the right answer.

Bubbling with care

Take great care when bubbling. It’s easy to accidentally colour in the wrong bubble even when you have the right answer. While you may be working through the answer quickly, double check that you have filled in the right bubble. It’s best to get a couple of answers ready and then fill the bubbles in at the same time to make it faster. Ensure absolute accuracy by saying the question number and the answer in your head as you fill out the bubble grid: “24, F and 25, C.”

Take it easy

This may sound like the worst idea ever when time is such a crucial factor in a successful ACT test, but taking the time to read questions carefully will prevent misinterpretation. Some answers will try to trick you and if you rush through, you will fall victim to these partially right answers.

Stay positive

Adopting a defeatist attitude will result in a poor test score. Tell yourself you can do it, take a deep breath and start with the easy questions so that you can build on your confidence before tackling the more difficult ones.