News — reading

Here’s the bad news: the SAT is timed. Here’s the good news: the SAT is timed. Why is this good news? Well, tasks often expand into the amount of time we give them. This is known as Parkinson’s Law. For example, if I have dinner guests coming at 5 pm, I’m always wrapping up cleaning and preparing dinner at 4:55 pm, just five minutes before everyone is scheduled to arrive. It doesn’t matter what time I start or how simple/elaborate the menu. The same thing goes with writing my tutoring lesson plans. No matter when I start, I’m always finishing...

Students may struggle for different reasons - they may lack strength in a particular academic area or they may have a true learning disability. In addition, struggles can be unpredictable and come and go with whatever material is being presented in class or whatever is going on outside of class. Oh, the challenges in education! How do we make sure all students are able to learn from the curriculum and experience success? Also, how do we make sure all students can demonstrate what they know? Well, it’s not easy, but providing accommodations to students and modifying the curriculum are two...