During the week of July 15th, 2019, three members of East Cobb Branch of AYLUS tutored students over the PSAT at the East Cobb Library from Monday to Friday. The tutoring lasted FIVE days, and three members worked as tutor, they spent THREE hours each day.
The three tutors each taught a subject — reading, writing, and math — to the class of 9 students who attended the sessions. Most of the students who attended the sessions were rising 8th and 9th graders. The tutors themselves are high-scoring individuals who all achieved the 99th percentile on the PSAT.
The PSAT exam itself is mostly a practice version of the SAT, but it can also lead to more money for college. The highest performers on this exam are eligible to earn scholarships, and high scores can be a helpful addition to a student’s application.
Lessons generally consisted of practice problems followed by answers and explanations provided by the tutors. The tutors also made presentations that included helpful tips and tricks that they thought would help the students score higher on the exam.
Each day was split up into two or three subjects. On Monday, each tutor provided general tips. The students were tested and taught the math (no calculator) portion and took the practice writing exam.
On Tuesday, the writing tutor explained the problems and the students took and were taught the reading exam.
On Wednesday, the tutors gave out the math (calculator) section of the test and went over it, and taught writing question archetypes/writing tips.
On Thursday, the students reviewed math and reading.
On Friday, the students reviewed all three subjects.
At the end of the week, all of the students had improved their PSAT test-taking skills and showed improvement in writing and reading. The tutors felt joyed being able to help students.
Attendance: Katherine Sha (15 hours), Jonathan Bao (15 hours), and Michael D. Fu (15 hours)
Reported by Michael D. Fu
