4 Things English Tutors Wished Their High School Students Knew
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the amount of homework you have for your English class? Do you feel like there’s so much reading you have to do, but you don’t have time for it all? Or do you feel lost when you have to write a paper?
Getting an English tutor can help you succeed in your class. Whether you need help with a book that’s challenging to understand or need help with essay writing, it can be a relief to know that an English tutor can guide you through your class materials and assignments.
Stuck for research paper ideas? Check out BibMe.org to get your beginning going, as well as your ending - BibMe provides comprehensive guides for APA referencing, helps with the MLA citing format, and has a Chicago style citation maker, too.
To help your English tutor help you, keep in mind these four things that English tutors wished their high school students knew:
1. It’s a process
Though you may not become a master of English overnight, by putting in a small amount of effort everyday, you’ll slowly become a better reader and writer. What’s challenging about English is that it isn’t necessarily bound by rules; the language is open to interpretation. By making a conscious effort to improve your English skills bit by bit, you’ll be able to one day look back and realize how much you’ve grown. Be kind to yourself, understand that it takes time to improve, and know that your hard work will pay off!
2. Spend five minutes doing light housekeeping before your lesson
Before a tutoring session, gather all your materials: books, notes, you name it! After you have all your materials, make a list of what you’d like to cover during your session. By doing this light prep work ahead of time, you can maximize your time with your tutor. If you want to be even more helpful, contact your tutor a day in advance to let him or her know what you’d like to specifically tackle. Tutors appreciate it when you give them a heads up on what you want to cover!
3. Be fearless and ask questions
Sometimes you might feel too embarrassed to ask questions because you’re scared that your tutor might judge you. You might be worried that your tutor will think you’re dumb.
Here’s the deal: English tutors know that you have lots of material you have to study not just for English class, but all your classes! It’s totally understandable if you forgot what an independent clause is or struggle with understanding a passage. Your English tutor is there to help you and wants you to feel 100% confident about whatever you’re tackling in class. Tutors love questions because questions allow them to directly help you with your struggles. So when you’re confused about something, speak up!
4. Between lessons, make a note of what’s challenging for you
If your teacher goes over a part of a book that’s confusing or reviews a grammatical concept that makes no sense, jot it down and remind yourself to ask your tutor about it. Make a running list of ideas or concepts that confused you during class. English class can feel overwhelming because you go through a lot of material. By the time you have your tutoring session, you may feel completely lost. By creating an ongoing list of things that are challenging to you between lessons, you can ensure that you go over everything that’s confusing when you’re with your tutor.
By keeping these four things in mind, you and your English tutor can work together to make sure you succeed!
You had a great tutoring session and have a firm grasp of the material — time to get writing! BibMe.org is here to help you avoid unintentional plagiarism and provides free grammar guides that can give you a list of determiners, the definition of interjection, and even tell you how to use a subordinating conjunction.
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6 Ways to Stay Awake According to Science
We all have those days where it feels impossible to stay awake. Maybe you accidentally binge-watched your favorite show until 3 a.m., or you need to wake up super early to study for a big exam. Making our bodies concentrate when running on little sleep can be difficult, but you can use these scientifically-backed tips to keep your eyes open and your mind focused.
Wake up your writing! BibMe.org features grammar guides to help spice up your paper. Find out how to use coordinating conjunctions to tie your ideas together, enhance words with a good adjective, and how to expand a modifier with an adverb clause. Watch your sleepy sentences get up and dance!
1. Take the stairs
Some research suggests that some mild exercise can leave you feeling energized — even more so than the caffeine in a can of soda. One great exercise to get your energy up is stair climbing. If you are feeling sluggish or tired, try walking up the stairs wherever you’re going, even if there are multiple flights. When you really don’t have time to exercise and are stuck inside all day, taking a quick trip up and down the stairs can be a great way to get moving as well.
2. Try out tea
Sometimes it takes a little extra push to wake us up, and drinking green tea can provide that. Studies show that green tea increases both working memory and task performance while providing much needed caffeine. Even better, green tea has many natural benefits with its antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. Substitute this drink as a healthier option when you are feeling tired, and stray away from the usual double mocha caramel latte with whipped cream. You will feel better and thank yourself later.
3. Take a deep breath
Even though this trick is simple, it can go a long way in waking you up. Often when you are really tired or stressed about something, you breathe irregularly or less deeply without even noticing it. Taking deep breaths and being conscious of your breathing can allow you to focus better and release the tension that you have been holding in your body.
4. Avoid multitasking
While it may seem like a part of your normal routine, multitasking can actually deplete your
brain’s energy reserves and leave you feeling even more tired. If you are trying to stay awake
in class or while studying, focus on one thing at once for a while, and take short breaks if you need to finish other small tasks like checking your emails or texts. Trying to do everything all at once will just be too difficult.
5. Hydrate before bed
Believe it or not, hydration plays a big role in how well we sleep and how we feel throughout the day. Not getting enough water, especially before bed, can leave us feeling groggy the next day, and it can also compromise our cognition. Drinking water whenever possible, especially with meals and while studying, will keep you refreshed and feeling great. Try using a reusable bottle so that you can fill up wherever you go.
6. Jam out
Scientists have been working on research linking music and our ability to stay awake. Luckily, they’ve discovered that upbeat songs with between 120 and 145 bpm do the trick. One of them even teamed up with Spotify to create this playlist that is scientifically proven to help keep you awake. Put in your headphones and enjoy!
We could all use a pick-me-up every now and then when we are feeling tired. Using these scientifically-proven tips will have you feeling confident about your approach to waking up, and you might even develop some healthy habits along the way!
Works Cited
Bruner, Raisa. “Here's the Perfect Wake-Up Playlist, According to Spotify.” Time, 25 July 2016, time.com/4422049/these-are-the-best-songs-to-wake-up-to-in-the-morning-according-to-a-psychologist/?xid=newsletter-brief.
“Take a Deep Breath.” Harvard Health Medical School, May 2009, www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/take-a-deep-breath.
Morales, Kristen. “Skip the Caffeine, Opt for the Stairs to Feel More Energized.” UGA Today,19 Apr. 2017, news.uga.edu/stairs-more-energy-research/.
“The Connection Between Hydration and Sleep.” National Sleep Foundation, www.sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/the-connection-between-hydration-and-sleep.
Schmidt, André, et al. “Green Tea Extract Enhances Parieto-Frontal Connectivity During Working Memory Processing.” Pyscho-Pharmacology, vol. 231, no. 9, Oct. 2014, pp. 3879-3888.SpringerLink, doi.org/10.1007/s00213-014-3526-1.
Sridharan, Devarajan, et al. A Critical Role for the Right Fronto-Insular Cortex in Switching Between Central-Executive and Default-Mode Networks. Program in Neuroscience and Neuroscience Institute at Stanford, 20 June 2008.
Ready to create your own Works Cited page and avoid plagiarism? The BibMe MLA formatter can help! Or, if you need another citation style, try the APA citation generator or Chicago citation generator.
How To Use That Disappointing SAT/ACT Score To Your Advantage
Everyone has bad test days. Maybe that extra hour of cramming instead of sleeping didn’t help. Or maybe the SAT or ACT just seemed extra hard that day. Who knows.
In any case, don’t fret! A positive outcome of your test day experience is that you now know what to expect and you have a score report from an official SAT or ACT. You can use this information to create a plan of action to improve your score. Here’s a helpful step-by-step guide on how to use a disappointing SAT or ACT score to your advantage.
No need to be nervous about the essay portion of your SAT/ACT—review the basics with the BibMe grammar guides. These free guides cover the basics, including conjunctions, common nouns, prepositional phrases, and a plagiarism definition.
Step 1: Give yourself a break
This first step might seem counterintuitive, but it’s important to give yourself permission to decompress. It’s tempting to rush into test prep when in fact, it’s more beneficial to take a short break. Taking a breather is important because you need a mental break from the exhaustive process that is prepping for the SAT or the ACT.
Take one week off from thinking about standardized testing. It’s better to rest now so you feel rejuvenated and motivated to get back into test prep. Don’t rush into resuming prep, as you might potentially burnout from studying too much.
Step 2: Reflect on your test day experience
After taking a week off, think about what happened on test day. Try to recall the factors that might have impacted your performance. Did you not get enough sleep? Did you eat a bigger breakfast than normal? Was the clock in your classroom not working? By seeing how these factors might have influenced your performance, you can come up with solutions for the next time you take the SAT or the ACT.
For example, let’s say your classroom had a clock that was located behind you. You might have felt awkward turning around to check the time, thus negatively impacting your pacing. A solution to this problem is to get used to wearing a watch. That way, the next time you take the test, you can use your watch in case the classroom clock isn’t accessible.
Step 3: Look at your score report
Ugh. This step might be the hardest, as you’ll have to see those disappointing numbers again, but you need to do it in order to make a strategic game plan. One way to make this step easier is to remember that you now have the information you need to figure out how to get those numbers to go up. The answer to improving your score is right in the report!
You might be thinking, “I have no issues looking at my score report—I just don’t know how to read it!” Navigating your score report can be challenging, so let’s move on to...
Step 4: Identify where you can improve
Let’s figure out how you can read your score report. Get a sheet of paper so you can answer the questions below. Scroll down to the test you took for a guide on how to interpret your score report.
How to read your SAT score report
- What is your total score? This ranges from 400-1600.
- What is your Evidenced-Based Reading and Writing section score? This ranges from 200-800.
- What is your Reading test score? This ranges from 10-40.
- What is your Writing & Language test score? This ranges from 10-40.
- What is your Expression of Ideas subscore? This ranges from 1-15.
- What is your Standard English Conventions subscore? This ranges from 1-15.
- What is your Math section score? This ranges from 200-800.
- What is your Heart of Algebra subscore? This ranges from 1-15.
- What is your Problem Solving and Data Analysis subscore? This ranges from 1-15.
- What is your Passport to Advanced Math subscore? This ranges from 1-15.
- If relevant: what are your Reading, Analysis, and Writing scores for the SAT Essay? These range from 2-8.
Now that you have all these numbers, ask yourself the following questions to identify where you can improve the most:
- Which is lower: my Evidenced-Based Reading and Writing score or my Math score?
- Which is lower: my Reading test score or my Writing & Language test score?
- Which is lower: my Expression of Ideas subscore or my Standard English Conventions subscore?
- How do my Math subscores rank from least to greatest?
By identifying your lowest scores, you now know that you can focus on these areas when you resume test prep.
For example, let’s say you identify that your Standard English Conventions subscore is lower than your Expression of Ideas subscore. This means that spending time reviewing grammar rules will be more effective than learning new strategies for Expression of Ideas questions.
How to read your ACT score report
- What is your composite score? This ranges from 1-36.
- What is your Math score? This ranges from 1-36.
- What is your percentage for Number & Quantity?
- What is your percentage for Algebra?
- What is your percentage for Functions?
- What is your percentage for Geometry?
- What is your percentage for Statistics & Probability?
- What is your Science score? This ranges from 1-36.
- What is your English score? This ranges from 1-36.
- What is your percentage for Production of Writing?
- What is your percentage for Knowledge of Language?
- What is your percentage for Conventions of Standard English?
- What is your Reading score? This ranges from 1-36.
- If relevant: what is your Writing score? This ranges from 1-8.
Now that you have all these numbers, ask yourself the following questions to identify where you can improve the most:
- How do my Math, Science, English, and Reading scores rank from least to greatest?
- For Math, how do my percentages rank from least to greatest?
- For English, how do my percentages rank from least to greatest?
By identifying your lowest scores, you now know that you can focus on these areas when you resume test prep.
Let’s say you identify Geometry as your lowest percentage for math. Be sure to spend some time doing extra Geometry problems so you feel confident when you encounter this question type on your next ACT.
Step 5: Re-calibrate your test prep strategy
Now that you’ve figured out which areas have the most potential for improvement, decide when you’ll retake the SAT or the ACT. Figure out how much time you have to prep. From there, you can figure out if you want to take a class, hire a private tutor, or prep on your own. Use this time to also set new score goals for your SAT or ACT retake.
Take advantage of this additional test prep time to try out new strategies. It might be tempting to do what was comfortable before, but to get new, improved scores, it’s essential to try different approaches. Remember, it’s okay to fail when trying new tactics—use this time to experiment until you find the right combination of strategies to help you feel confident on test day.
You got this!
You conquered your SAT/ACT, now what? Use the guides and tools at BibMe.org to prepare for your first college English courses, of course! Review how to put together an annotated bibliography, and practice your APA, MLA, and Chicago citation styles.
Writers Rejoice! Chegg and the Purdue OWL Have Joined Forces
If having access to expert writing help whenever you need it appeals to you, then you’ll love this news: the esteemed Purdue University Online Writing Lab (Purdue OWL) has partnered with our company, Chegg, Inc., to help students like you become confident and skilled writers through world-class writing education tools.
Through this new partnership, Purdue OWL’s writing rules, standards, and content will be integrated into the grammar feedback of the BibMe Plus paper checker. Soon, you’ll be able to upload a paper into the BibMe Plus paper checker and receive feedback based on guidance provided by experts your teacher would approve of—how great is that?
Purdue OWL will also provide suggestions and feedback to Chegg on product development, like our citation tools and paper checker, as well as other Chegg solutions. This helps ensure that the BibMe services that you know and love will continue to develop in ways that benefit you.
Purdue OWL boasts 43 years of experience supporting writers of all levels and backgrounds in an academic setting. Bringing their expertise together with the writing tools of Chegg—like BibMe—is a win for students, educators, and anyone who values good writing.
Learn more about the partnership, Purdue OWL, and Chegg in the press release linked here.
Have a paper ready for review? Try out the BibMe grammar and plagiarism checker today!
For all your citation needs, visit BibMe.org. Easily create MLA or APA citations, a works cited list, an annotated bibliography, and more!
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BibMe Feature Highlight: Title Page Creator
Your paper is nearly done! You chose a great topic. The paper is written and proofread. It has all the proper citations (usually in APA or MLA format). But have you created a title page yet?
The title page (or cover page) of a report is often the last part of a paper to be completed, but it’s an important finishing touch. Did you know that BibMe can help you create a perfectly-formatted title page for your next writing assignment?
Visit www.bibme.org. In the top toolbar, simply click the link that says, “Title Page” between the links “Citation Guide” and “Support.”
After clicking, you will be taken to a form titled “Create a Title Page.” Here, you can fill in all the required pieces of information that is specific to your work: title, running head, your name, etc. Click “Create Title Page” when you’re finished, and BibMe does the rest!
You have a few options to choose from to make sure that your title page is created exactly the way you would like. First, you can choose what citation style your title page should adhere too. BibMe offers title pages in APA, MLA, and Chicago format. Also, you can choose to export your title page in docx format for easy insertion into a Microsoft Word document, or as HTML.
Whatever options you choose, BibMe has your title page covered!
Haven’t had a chance to proofread your paper yet? Check out the BibMe Plus grammar and plagiarism checker! It can help you automatically spot writing mistakes before you turn your paper in. Along with the checker, BibMe has helpful grammar guides on adjectives, what is an adverb, the differences between coordinating and subordinating conjunctions, and more!
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Four Steps for STEM Majors to Rock that Next Paper
STEM students everywhere feel the pain of writing assignments. As people who would rather spend their time working with numbers and figures, sitting down to write a paper can seem so tedious and boring. But effective communication is one of the most important skills we can learn in college, as it’ll help us stand out when we express ourselves. STEM students with writing abilities are super valuable!
Even if you are only required to take one writing class, it’s important that you use this opportunity to enhance your skills and build confidence in your own writing. With online tools like the BibMe Plus grammar and plagiarism tool, writing becomes much less intimidating.
While you’re working on your writing, approach the assignment like any other math problem you would tackle. You can work out your writing using four steps: identify the problem, show your work, cut out unnecessary steps, and check your final answer.
1. Identify the problem
The most crucial part of your paper is your argument or the problem to be considered. When thinking through your thesis, go through and review several, peer-reviewed sources. Academic sources can be scary, but they contain the research you need to make your points.
After you’ve done research, craft your thesis statement to capture the essence of the problem. One trick is to rephrase the assignment as a question and then make sure your thesis answers that question. Clearly identify the problem or discussion that is of interest and communicate that you understand the problem from all angles.
Writing your paper will be so much more exciting if you can find a topic that interests you, too. You might even be able to find a subject that relates to science or math in some way.
2. Show your work
Showing your work means that you provide clear and reasoned evidence as to how you are developing your argument while incorporating outside information. This evidence should come from outside sources and try to show various views of an argument.
This will make the stated claims clear and your writing easy to understand. Clearly point your reader in the correct direction, using logical steps that follow one another.
Also important: cite your sources so others can confirm or read more on the evidence you’ve used. If you don’t know which citation style to use, ask your professor. Commonly used citation styles include MLA format, APA format, and Chicago Manual of Style.
3. Cut out unnecessary steps
It’s tempting but don’t try to impress your teacher by using the biggest words or the longest, most complicated sentences you can think of. This will make the paper hard to follow. Simple and clear is always better, just like when solving an equation.
Even if you have a gigantic assignment, you still have to cut out the fluff. This means actively checking for lengthy or wordy sentences and avoiding passive voice. For example, instead of:
The cake was baked by Mary.
You’d write:
Mary baked the cake.
Writing assignments in college require active voice, which can be a tough transition from the lab reports that require passive constructions. After you’ve written your draft, read it aloud. Listen for passive voice, and circle any words that you’re not quite sure about. After that, cut out any words that are unnecessary and revise until your writing is as clear as you can make it.
4. Check your final answer
Any time you solve a math problem, it is a good idea to check your work to make sure that your answer makes sense. Writing is no different!
Nailing a smooth flow and good writing transitions on the first try can be tough. Try making a flowchart with one-word descriptors of each paragraph, and rearrange them until you find the order that makes the most sense if your organization doesn’t seem right. Your topic sentences should serve as your roadmap, so ensure that these follow each other logically. Reviewing the flow of your argument is always a great last step in writing!
Being a mathematician or a scientist means that you will have to explain your work to the world, and mastering writing is the key to spreading your ideas and your accomplishments. The good thing is that there’s likely no need to drastically change or enhance your writing. Approaching your assignments like any STEM exercise is a great way to make you feel more at ease. And don’t be afraid to ask for help, whether that be from your TA, a tutor, or your campus writing center. Just take the assignment one step at a time.
Trying to remember how linking verbs work? Need a refresher on what is a prepositional phrase? Looking for an interjection to use in your next paper? Check out our BibMe grammar guides for help with the above and more!
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