Tutor and Teacher Educational Resources

In this section of our education blog, we give tips for tutors and teachers on how to teach subjects, keep kids passionate, and more. Subscribe to our newsletter (on the left or below on mobile) to get bi-monthly updates in your inbox!

Inspirational Educators on Film

Susan Cumberland Published: June 27, 2014 Last Updated Date: June 20, 2023

Countless books and films have been created to honor the dedication of some outstanding educators throughout history. Most of these educators experienced some amount of ridicule and disbelief as they attempted to teach seemingly impossible students do seemingly impossible things.

What are the common qualities of inspirational educators?

Inspirational educators first and foremost have to care about their students. Jamie Escalante is a perfect example of a teacher who went above and beyond his required duty as a high school teacher. Teachers, tutors and parents must truly care about students and have a genuine desire for them to succeed. Another common characteristic of these educators is the amount of time that they are willing to spend working with students. It is the patience and dedication of these adults that have made such life changing impacts on so many students.

A High School math teacher with perseverance

Jamie Escalante a high school teacher in Los Angeles in early 1980s was able to motivate his students to excel in AP Mathematics. Most of the students in his class were not interested in passing the class, let alone doing well on the AP test. He labored outside of regular school hours to prepare them for the AP test. This proved to his students that he wasn’t there to do the bare minimum, but he actually cared about his students and their futures. His story was so inspiring that the movie, Stand and Deliver was made about his class at Garfield High.

An inspirational educator who defied the odds

The movie The Miracle Worker portrays an outstanding personal tutor named Anne Sullivan who was able to help a blind, deaf and mute girl named Helen Keller to speak. Anne Sullivan helped Helen Keller to defy all the obstacles stacked up against her and become a forerunner for women and people with disabilities who desired to pursue education.

7 brain games for kids

Susan Cumberland Published: April 4, 2014 Last Updated Date: June 20, 2023

Brain games for kids are a great way to get kids to work out their brains while having fun. When we play sports we are distracted from the fact that our bodies are getting exercise. In the same way, when kids play brain games they don’t even realize that their brain is getting some really good exercise. Here are 7 top rated brain games for kids that are available on computers, tablets, and smartphones.

Challenging brain games for kids

These brain games are great for kids who like a challenge. Bring these games with you during long road trips or plane rides. They will stimulate you child’s brain and give them a fun way to pass the time.

1. Sudoku

The purpose of Sudoku is to fill in the missing numbers of the puzzle. The tricky part is that there can only be one of each number in every row, column and quadrant of the puzzle. Kids can play Sudoku on a tablet with the app or online and there is even a Sudoku site specifically for kids that has online and printable Sudoku puzzles. Working on Sudoku is a great activity for kids to work on in class when they finish an assignment early. It works out the brain and is a fun challenge for kids.

2. Blue Block

This is a brain game for kids and adults. The focus is to maneuver the blue block out of a small opening by rearranging the blocks on the screen. The levels start out relatively simple but they do get progressively more challenging. This is definitely a game that will make kids put on their thinking caps!

Brain games for kids that develop a sense of logic and concentration

Exercising certain parts of the brain can help increase the brains capacity. By playing games that require kids to use logic this will benefit them when it comes to future learning. Developing the memory when kids are young can also help increase their memory as they grow older.

3. Color Code Mastermind and Guess the Code

These brain games for kids both have the same goal, to figure out the correct placement and color of dots in a sequence. Kids begin by randomly guessing the colors and location of the dots. The computer then provides a clue that reveals how many of the dots chosen were the right color and/or in the right place. Based on this information the player then adjusts their guess until they come up with the correct sequence. These games are available as apps and similar games can also be played online.

4. Memory

The classic game of memory teaches kids to focus and concentrate in order to uncover matching pairs of cards. This memory game app allows kids to play memory on a tablet or phone. Young children can begin by playing on a smaller playing board and older children can play with a larger grid. This game is great for increasing kids’ memory.

Games that give kids’ brains a work out

Some brain games for kids have been specifically designed to give the brain a good work out. These activities may seem random, but they have been developed to work out particular parts of the brain. Help you kids get a complete brain work out with these games.

5. Brain Fitness

This app combines number knowledge, logic, memory and concentration. It is a fun and challenging game that can be played by all ages. This is not like the other number games available. Also, reviews claim that this app can be quite addictive so there may be the need to set a time limit for how long kids can play.

6. Simply smarter kids

Simply smarter kids developed an app that helps improve kids’ memories. There are a variety of categories for kids to choose from. Kids will be able to either listen to a sequence or be shown visuals of a sequence and then asked to duplicate the sequence from memory. There is also an option that allows kids to have both audio and visual prompts. This helps the brain get different types of exercise while using the same app!

7. Lumosity

Lumosity was created for adults, but even kids can enjoy doing the Lumosity activities that help give your brain a good work out.

These brain games for kids are inexpensive and they provide an electronic activity that is good for the brain. Instead of trying to keep kids off of mobile devices you can encourage them to play these fun and challenging brain games.

Make math fun and tasty with edible math manipulatives

Susan Cumberland Published: January 17, 2014 Last Updated Date: June 20, 2023

Using edible math manipulatives gets students excited about learning. If students are disinterested during math lessons in school and they are unmotivated to do their math assignments at home, there is a way to get them interested pretty quick! Incorporating the use of snack foods and sweets into the lesson will get students interested in the activity and they can look forward to eating their treats once the lesson is completed!

Homemade play dough makes great edible math manipulatives

Hands on learning is crucial to development, and for young children that like to put things in their mouths sometimes this can be a problem. Luckily there is a way to safely let kids play with molding dough that they can safely eat if they get the urge to see how it tastes! This video has a recipe for edible play dough that is simple and uses ingredients you probably already have at home! Play dough doesn’t have to just be for playtime, children can also use it for learning activities. They can use it to form geometric shapes and even create their own edible math manipulatives for counting and learning fractions. The dough can be made into different colored balls for counting and even formed into a pizza and then cut into slices for fraction practice.

Doing math with Smarties!

Little colored candies like Smarties are perfect for counting and comparing numbers. Students can count the number of yellow Smarties they have and compare that to the number of green, red, blue, orange and purple Smarties they have. They can even create their own chart that uses the candies to graph the results of their findings so they can visually see how the numbers translate to a graph that they might see in their math or science books. Students can also use their Smarties to practice fractions and percents by asking them questions like “if you have 20 Smarties and 5 of them are blue, can you write this in fraction form and determine what percent of the Smarties are blue?” Doing these kind of math activities with edible math manipulatives makes learning more interesting than filling out a worksheet that covers the same concepts.

Square crackers are the perfect math manipulatives for geometry

Teaching the concept of measuring the area and perimeter of shapes can be challenging. Usually it involves drawing pictures with graph paper and using equations. Using objects that can be moved around and manipulated are ideal for teaching this concept. What is even better is using edible math manipulatives like Cheez-Its or other square crackers for these lessons. Students can arrange the crackers into squares and rectangles and easily count the number of “squares” as the area and they can see the spaces between each cracker so they can count around the edge of the shape to find the perimeter. Using math manipulatives teach the same concepts as paper worksheets, but being able to work with their hands helps students grasp the concept even better.

Adapting math lessons with edible math manipulatives

Just about any math lesson can be adapted to include some edible math manipulatives. Kids can measure the length of gummy worms and pieces of licorice, or use a pizza to work with fractions. The possibilities are endless! Treats and snacks are great for classroom management and as rewards for good behavior but they can also be used to increase student interest in learning. Edible math manipulatives can be used at home to aid students with their homework and can also be used by personal tutors during math tutoring sessions. Make learning fun and tasty!

New Year’s Resolutions: 5 Helpful Tips on Goal Setting for Students

Susan Cumberland Published: January 10, 2014 Last Updated Date: June 20, 2023

The New Year is a time when people are encouraged to make New Years resolutions. Instead of asking kids to make typical resolutions, they can be encouraged to set some learning goals that they would like to achieve in the coming year. Goal setting for students is a great way to incorporate the New Year’s practice for kids in a way that will motivate their learning and set them up for success.

Goal setting for students: SMART goals

In the work place goal setting is useful for motivating company members to have something to work toward. Some companies have instituted “SMART” goals. This is an acronym that stands for goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Students should also be helped to set SMART goals for themselves regarding their learning goals.

Guidelines for setting SMART goals for students

1. Student should set specific goals

Goals should be specific and not general. For example if a student wants to improve their math skills they shouldn’t merely say “I want to do better in math” but instead they should set a specific goal like: “I will improve my test scores from a C average to a B average” or “I would like to receive a final grade of at least a B.”

2. Goal setting for students should be measurable

Setting goals for students is a bit tricky because often times student learning is hard to measure. It is important for students to see their progress, and setting a goal that can be measured will allow them to determine whether or not their goal has been met. Making a goal to read thirty minutes every day is a goal that can be measured and even documented on a chart so that the student can see their progress on a daily basis.

3. Student goals should be challenging yet attainable

Adults should help students to choose goals that are attainable within the time frame given. Perhaps one of the reasons that people give up on their New Year’s resolutions is because they set goals that are unattainable, and so they get discouraged when the goal is not met.

4. Goal setting for students should include realistic goals

One of the ways that goal setting for students is beneficial is for students to be able to see some results, which means that their goals should be realistic. The student should be able to clearly state whether or not they achieved their goals by the appointed time. Setting a goal of learning to drive is not realistic for an 8 year old, however they could set a goal for learning how to ride a bike or learning how to ice skate backward.

5. All student goals should be time-bound

An important part of goal setting for students is to set goals that have a deadline. This will give the students incentive to get started on their goal in order for it to be accomplished by a certain time. If there is no designated end date for a goal some kids might never even get started on their goals.

Students should be helped to have a proper understanding of why they are setting learning goals and how they can get started to work toward their goals. There are even SMART goal worksheets that students can complete to get them started on their goals this year. Having the proper attitude and motivation to achieve their goals is healthy and will help to give them a push to get the year started right.

What can educators do to effectively motivate student learning?

Susan Cumberland Published: January 3, 2014 Last Updated Date: May 4, 2023

Society seems to be telling us that standardized tests are what motivate student learning. Research and experience seems to be telling us exactly the opposite. What really can motivate student learning? And how can we encourage students to enjoy learning rather than stifle their desire to learn?

Do difficult tests motivate student learning?

One teacher, James M. Lang realized that by creating difficult tests he was actually causing more cheating in the classroom. In this case, setting high standards and expectations was not the best way to motivate student learning since the students resorted to cheating as the way to do well on the tests rather than even attempting to learn the material. Lang wrote a book called Cheating Lessons: Learning from Academic Dishonesty. It is based on his experiences in the classroom and how it is possible to reduce the amount of cheating by changing the way we teach.

Does making predictions motivate student learning?

Another educator, Annie Murphy Paul, proposed that students learn better when they make predictions. Regardless of if the prediction was proven to be correct or incorrect it was the act of making the prediction that spiked the students’ curiosity and interest and therefore motivated student learning as the outcome. If students are asked to consider what might happen in the future, then they are invested in finding out the answer and they actually want to be involved in finding out more.

Does making mistakes improve learning?

Along the same lines of making predictions, there is the common saying that we can learn more from our mistakes than our success. Making mistakes can actually be a positive way to motivate student learning, and will help them learn more than if they never made any mistakes at all. Educators should allow their students to make mistakes as part of the normal learning process. If a student makes a mistake, teachers and tutors should avoid immediate correction. Rather they can help guide the students through figuring out how to correct the mistake and in the process the student will learn from it.

How to take a step back but still facilitate and motivate student learning

Should we as educators take a more hands off approach when teaching? If the hands off approach is a more effective way to motivate student learning, then it is surely something to consider. Educators are still essential in guiding the learning process. However, when we allow students to feel their way along without being corrected too soon we are giving them more opportunities to improve the quality of their learning.

Practically speaking Annie Murphy Paul wrote an article that gives 6 ways to motivate student learning that will make you want to re-think the way most traditional lesson plans are organized. These are steps that can be easily implemented into the classroom or adopted by tutors during one-on-one tutoring sessions as a way to motivate student learning outside of the classroom.

Parents, teachers and tutors all want their students to be empowered and to achieve their full potential. Why not start by considering how we can help motivate student learning with the students we have under our care. If students can be helped to develop a desire to learn then they are on the right track!

4 ways tutoring gifted students can be beneficial

Susan Cumberland Published: November 29, 2013 Last Updated Date: June 20, 2023

Tutoring gifted students might seem like an oxymoron. If a student is doing well in math or reading, then why should they need a math tutor or a reading tutor? It may surprise you, but there are a lot of reasons why tutoring gifted students can be beneficial for their entire educational experience.

1. Tutoring gifted students allows them to have personalized lesson plans

Imagine how frustrating it would be to sit in a classroom where you are asked to listen to a lesson or do an assignment that you already know how to do. Gifted students often times get bored and lose interest in the school subjects that they excel the most in. By tutoring gifted students in those subjects they can work at their own pace by doing lessons that are geared specifically to their level of learning. Personal tutoring sessions will help develop their skills as well as their love for the subject (instead of causing them to hate it due to boredom.)

2. Tutoring gifted students helps them reach their full potential

Some students do not need to work hard or apply themselves in order to master a particular subject. This situation can affect the amount of effort they put into learning other school subjects as well. Tutoring gifted students in their strong subjects can help them to develop those skills and feel a sense of satisfaction instead of giving up on the subject because it does not challenge them enough. If a tutor can provide the appropriate level of instruction that helps the gifted student to develop and expand their skills this will help them reach their full potential.

3. Tutoring gifted students to help them become active learners

If gifted students have been in situations where learning new things is easy they might never have a chance to develop useful learning skills. The early school years might be easy for gifted students, but if they have been able to do well by sitting passively in class then this could pose a problem once they enter secondary and University level courses that require them to know how to learn more difficult material. Tutoring is one way for gifted students to learn how to learn more difficult subjects outside of the classroom. Tutoring sessions help develop study skills that will help the student once they continue on to higher education.

4. How can tutoring gifted students benefit the rest of the classroom?

Some gifted students struggle with behavioural issues at school because they are not being challenged by some of the school subjects. Being bored in class might cause them to become a ‘know it’ all or to talk with their friends during lessons. Acting out in class does not only affect the gifted student, but it also becomes a distraction to the rest of the class. By arranging tutoring for the gifted student they can have their own individual assignments to work on possibly during class time. This type of arrangement would first have to be discussed with the classroom teacher.

The stigma around tutoring is that it is only for students who need help with a particular school subject that they struggle with. As you can see from the four points listed above, there are a lot of reasons why tutoring gifted students can be beneficial as well. If you have a gifted child or you know of some gifted students who are struggling in school, finding a private tutor for them could make a huge difference!