Tips for Parents and Students During School Closures

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We’re only 3 months into 2020 and schools are now closed, many for the remainder of the year, in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. As a tutor who primarily works with students online, I’ve heard from parents and students about the difficulties they’re facing with the unanticipated switch to online/distance learning. It’s been a tough time for everyone, and as we’re increasingly homebound, I’d like to give some tips to parents and students to make online/distance learning more manageable..

Also, click here for a free organizer you can use to help minimize confusion over when and how to access class materials and turn in assignments.

Some of the more frequent complaints I’ve heard?

  • Lack of the usual in-person coordination between teachers means work is often unevenly distributed during the week, with many hours of work assigned on one day and very little the next.

  • Inconsistent delivery of assignments and materials. Some teachers are emailing while others use Google classrooms, etc. Some post daily while others post less frequently.

  • Lack of clarity on how to turn in assignments. Inconsistency in delivery instructions.

  • Lack of motivation on the part of students. Feeling like it “doesn’t count.” Boredom/fatigue.

Here are some tips for parents and students to make things more manageable. For younger students (and older students struggling with motivation), parents will need to be more involved.

  1. Make a simple hard copy table or document (handwritten or typed) with the following information for each class:

    -Class name

    -Teacher’s delivery method for materials and assignments

    -Days/times when teacher will post or send materials/assignments

    -Student’s delivery method for completed assignments

    Click here to download a free organizer you can use.

  2. Set aside certain times to check in for each class.

    These days we might be even more glued to our devices than ever, which is why it can feel overwhelming to have assignments coming in periodically throughout the day. If teachers are doing live video classes, students know when to be connected, but if not, they may feel that they have to constantly check online platforms and email for new assignments. That’s why I think it’s healthier and more efficient to set daily check-in times for each class.

    Based on when or how often teachers are posting or delivering materials, make a schedule of times to check online platforms, email, or to physically pick up materials from school, depending on your school and district.

  3. Make a game plan for the day (and week, if possible) based on daily check-ins.

    Some students tend to let assignments pile up while others will try to do them all immediately as they come in. I think a more sane approach is to make a clear game plan for each day and for as many days in advance as possible. It’s mentally less draining to identify the tasks for the day and check them off than it is to be constantly connected and trying to do everything at once or to let work pile up and then panic.

  4. Use Google, YouTube, Khan Academy, and other educational sites to reinforce difficult topics.

    Using outside materials to reinforce knowledge is always a good idea, but especially so when students are not getting the same amount of instruction or explanation as they would in the classroom. A simple place to start is with a Google search of the topic + “explanation” or “examples.” This of course requires more work and effort on the part of students, but my hope is that one very positive outcome of this situation will be that students emerge as more independent learners.

  5. Take breaks. Exercise. Log off. Put devices away.

    All of us, teachers, parents, and students, are struggling with technological overload in different ways, and even more so now that we are unable to do some of the activities we love. With gyms/studios closed and sports and music programs canceled, most of us are on our devices more than ever.

    It’s so important to be mindful about our time spent on devices (as well as the content we’re consuming), and sometimes building in other activities is easier than trying to limit our scrolling of Instagram with nothing to replace that. While technology is helping us socialize safely via video calls and group chats, it’s crucial that students have other activities built in throughout the day to relieve stress and stay emotionally healthy.

Tips for Parents and Students During School Closures: How to Manage Online/Distance Learning



Parents and students can use this organizer to help minimize confusion about online and distance learning delivery methods

SAT and ACT Prep: an Overview

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College Entrance Exams Inspire Mixed (Mostly Negative) Feelings

I have my feelings about high stakes academic testing, and chances are you have yours as well.

On the one hand, the fact that individual students with all of their diverse talents and gifts are subjected to a single test that carries so much weight troubles me. I’ve seen first hand the anxiety that many students experience over their SAT and ACT scores. I’ve also seen the inherent disadvantages that some students face in taking the SAT/ACT.

On the other hand, I recognize that colleges need some “objective” method to both assess students’ readiness for college and compare students who may have almost identical academic records. Whether or not the SAT and ACT effectively meet this purpose is, of course, subject to debate. Studies have shown that students from wealthier and more educated family backgrounds tend to do better on the SAT and ACT than those from less privileged backgrounds. The SAT’s new adversity score attempts to contextualize students’ SAT scores based on their school, neighborhood, and home environments.

But for now, unless we opt out of testing (as some schools have allowed), SAT and ACT scores remain important factors in college admissions decisions. And if students are going to take them, they might as well give themselves the best chance possible of getting a high score.

There are many options for SAT/ACT prep, ranging from almost free and self-directed to pricy online and in-person courses and private tutoring. The good news is that with a solid study plan, some SAT/ACT materials, and consistent practice over a long enough period of time, students can improve their scores significantly without expensive SAT/ACT prep courses or private tutoring.

Content Knowledge vs Academic Skill

The skills tested on the SAT/ACT can be loosely grouped into content knowledge and academic skill.

Content knowledge is the specific material learned by students in a subject area, such as point slope form, special right triangles, and vocabulary.

Academic skill, on the other hand, consists of students’ abilities that apply across various subject areas (e.g., reading speed and accuracy, the ability to analyze a text for structural features, applying content knowledge to solve unique and unfamiliar problems, etc.).

There are some SAT/ACT questions that students could get right based on content knowledge alone. But the majority of questions involve academic skill of some kind, and without that the content knowledge only goes so far.

Content knowledge is relatively fluid. A student who has forgotten the rule for 30-60-90 triangles can relearn that rule pretty quickly. But academic skill is sticky; it takes a long time and a lot of practice to build.

Content may be learned, forgotten, and relearned, but critical reading, writing, and problem solving skills follow students throughout college, higher education and beyond, paving the way for better understanding and better academic performance. A longer view of SAT/ACT prep takes the approach of building these skills over the time necessary for them to become engrained, resulting in higher scores and better preparedness for more advanced studies.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

So what’s the best way to prepare for the SAT and ACT? Aside from intensive prep courses or private tutoring (which can improve students’ scores in a relatively short period of time, at a high cost), the best SAT/ACT prep approach is an early start with a slow and steady pace to build academic skills like critical reading, writing, and logical problem solving. (Guide to Self-Study for the SAT/ACT)

I recommend that students take the PSAT or PreACT as early as possible and look to fill in any weaknesses as identified by one of these tests. I also recommend that students begin a regular vocabulary building practice as early as 8th or 9th grade, since a broad vocabulary is a major advantage in both the Reading and Writing/Language sections (and of course in college and beyond).

The single best form of preparation for the Reading and Writing/Language sections of the SAT and ACT (and for higher education) is being an avid reader. Students who love to read outside of their assigned school work tend to be more analytical and efficient readers and have better vocabulary, grammar, and writing skills.

The Good News: Self-Study Works

While expensive SAT and ACT prep courses and private tutoring abound, diligent and self motivated students can improve their SAT/ACT scores with just a few affordable materials and a lot of practice spread out over as many months as possible. Check out this guide to self-study for the SAT/ACT for tips on how to prepare for these exams the right way, as well as the following resources for SAT/ACT prep:

There are also many SAT/ACT prep books available from established test prep companies such as Kaplan and Princeton Review. These books recommend specific strategies for approaching different types of test questions.

I’ve also created the following resources that students can use independently for SAT/ACT prep:

overview of SAT/ACT prep









The Right Way to Self-Study for the SAT and ACT

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I think SAT/ACT self-study can yield great results for students who are disciplined, self driven, and consistent in their approach. For students who need more structure or have a short window before the test, the best option is to take an SAT/ACT prep course or schedule regular tutoring.

This is a general guide to self-study for the SAT and ACT without taking budget or time frame into consideration.

1. Assess

The first step in any SAT/ACT study plan is assessment. Students should take a full length exam and score it (if necessary to manually score) to determine where they stand prior to studying. Simulate real test conditions as much as possible to get the most accurate assessment of performance. The PSAT or Pre-ACT are pretty good predictors of SAT and ACT scores, respectively, but it’s best to take a full length SAT or ACT.

Khan Academy offers full length SAT’s online, plus students can link their College Board account with Khan Academy to input their PSAT and get personalized study recommendations.

2. Understand and analyze results/identify weaknesses

Section scores and subscores will tell a story about students’ current levels of preparedness. For example, a student who takes a full length SAT and gets a 700 in math and a 500 in reading and writing clearly has to focus his or her efforts on the reading/writing sections.

Within sections, both the SAT and ACT provide score information for the different categories of questions. Students should spend some time going over their scores and looking at the specific categories of questions within each section. Students should also spend some time becoming familiar with the test format and how the test is scored.

If other testing issues arose, such as time management, students should take note of them as well.

3. Identify goal scores based on admissions criteria of the schools students plan to apply to.

Determine what kind of improvement is needed overall and across different sections of the test.

If students have a long window to study, score improvements of 300-400 points on the SAT and 10-11 points on the ACT are possible (I’ve worked with students who’ve improved this much!). The shorter the time before the test date, the harder it will be to get large score improvements, but solid score improvements are still very much possible. Set a reasonable but challenging goal.

4. Get SAT/ACT prep materials and extra materials to cover weak areas, as needed.

Get materials with tons of practice problems, and content review materials for any subject areas that were especially weak. Here are the materials that I believe are essential to prepare for the SAT/ACT:

The College Board and ACT both make free practice questions available on their websites as well. Khan Academy also provides excellent free SAT study materials, including practice questions divided by topic. In addition, there are many other high quality study materials and online courses available, budget permitting.

The large test prep companies such as Kaplan and Princeton Review also offer workbooks and other SAT/ACT prep materials.

I’ve created the following resources specific to SAT/ACT vocabulary, grammar, and math that may be helpful for students:

5. Based on the weaknesses identified, goal scores, and the prep materials available (depending on budget), create a study plan.

First, students should map out the time until the test date and break that time into weeks or months, whatever makes the most sense depending on the time period. Next, they should determine what they think they can accomplish during week 1/month 1 and each additional time period.

For example, students with low math scores would first need to spend a good amount of time reviewing math content. Unless a student scores over a 600 (or 25), he or she should review the content first and then start doing practice. If there’s still a year before the exam, students can spend a month reviewing math and any other content they might need to review. With only a couple of months to study, students can spend a week or two reviewing content.

Within the time period allotted for content review, students should break down the content further into chunks so that they have a day by day and week by week plan.

The ideal SAT/ACT study plan will have students doing something every day, even if it’s only for 15 minutes. The importance of consistency in studying for these tests can’t be overstated.

It’s far better to do 30 minutes a day of practice questions than 3.5 hours one day a week. That’s the same amount of total time spent, but there’s much more bang for the buck with the 30 minutes a day plan. The brain needs time and familiarity to assimilate everything that is learned in preparation for the SAT/ACT, and 3 hours one day and then nothing for 6 days just doesn’t cut it.

6. Practice, analyze answers, and learn from mistakes. As the test date approaches, do more timed practice using the actual SAT/ACT pacing for each section.

After doing any necessary content review, the majority of students’ study time should be dedicated to doing practice questions, analyzing why they got them right or wrong, and filling in any content gaps as necessary.

If there’s a year to study, students might spend a couple of weeks just working on one subject and really mastering it. With only a couple of months, students should spend no more than a few days doing practice questions in just one subject area.

As the test date approaches, students should mix the practice questions so that each test section gets some attention almost every day. The key is not to let any area get rusty before the test date.

7. Within the study plan, map out dates to take timed full length tests.

Students should plan to take as many full length practice tests as they can, with at least a few weeks in between each full length test. Over the course of a year, students can easily take at least 4-6 timed, full length tests. If students have only a couple of months, they should try to take a full length test every 3-4 weeks. Also, they should set aside time to do regular timed sections in any weak test areas.

How to self study for the SAT and ACT

Why Being a Good Math Student Doesn't Always Equal High SAT/ACT Math Scores

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Blog post discussing why SAT/ACT math is harder than math content in typical high school math classes

SAT/ACT Math is Harder Than Typical High School Math

SAT and ACT math is deceiving in that it “only” covers topics up to and including typical Algebra 2 content. The ACT and new SAT do include trigonometry (which may or may not be covered in Algebra 2), but trig makes up a tiny percentage of the material on both tests.

Assuming students have taken Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2, they’ve covered all or almost all of the math on the SAT and ACT. So why is SAT/ACT math so hard?

The issue isn’t that the content is harder, per se; instead, the way SAT/ACT questions are formulated, the time pressure, the inclusion of questions requiring numbers theory, logic, and imaginary symbols most students don’t have experience with, and the mixing of concepts across different math topics make the SAT and ACT math sections more difficult than the typical high school math content.

Question Formulation

Here are some examples illustrating why the same content can seem much more difficult on the SAT/ACT.


Examples of why SAT and ACT math is more challenging than the typical high school math course content

See the difference? The same content is required for both sets of questions, but the way the SAT/ACT questions are formulated is much more challenging.

Time Pressure

While students have undoubtedly dealt with time pressure before on tests, quizzes, and final exams, the time pressure of the SAT/ACT math sections is even more difficult to manage. The ACT gives just one minute per math question, while the SAT gives one minute 15 seconds on the no calculator section and one minute 26 seconds on the calculator section. This requires much faster and more intense work by students than what they’ve typically been required to do in math class.

Inclusion of Numbers Logic/Theory/Imaginary Symbols Questions

The SAT in particular (ACT to a lesser extent) will give questions on topics that are completely unfamiliar to the majority of students. They either involve topics students have seen many years ago (but haven’t been required to think deeply about), such as long division remainders, or rules that students work with but don’t explicitly know. There are also questions that involve imaginary symbols and operations. Chances are, students have the content knowledge and skill to answer them, but are often so thrown off by these unusual questions that they pose a challenge. Here are some examples:

  • a @ b = (a + b)(2a + 2b). What is x @ 4y?

  • For the equation c = b^3, which of the following statements are true?

    • c can never be negative

    • c > b

    • if b is positive, c is positive

  • What is the greatest possible remainder when any odd number is divided by 4?

Mixing of Concepts Across Different Math Topics

In the typical Algebra or Geometry curriculum there’s a bit of cross course material, but not very much and it’s highly teacher/course dependent. The SAT and ACT often mix algebra, geometry, and other areas of math both in the same question and throughout the test, requiring students to be well versed in what content knowledge to apply and when.

For Students: How to Handle SAT/ACT Math

There are two general approaches that I think work well for students to prepare for SAT/ACT math. One is to start by doing a math content review of the topics tested, and then doing practice questions regularly (every day if possible, even if only a few questions per day). I think this works best for students who perhaps have forgotten or never fully grasped a number of areas of math content. These students will need to fill in some content areas first in order to make doing practice questions more meaningful.

The other approach is to get into a routine of doing practice questions and fill in any missing content areas as needed. I think this works best for students who already have a good grasp on most of the test content areas.

I recommend that all students build a formula/rule sheet as they work through practice questions, and review that sheet periodically. If students realize in doing a particular practice question that they don’t know or have forgotten the content necessary to answer it, they should address it by reviewing that topic and adding to their formula/rule sheet as necessary.

For Math Teachers: Incorporate SAT/ACT Questions When Possible

Having kids do SAT and ACT questions in class can be a great way to add rigor and challenge to your math class. If kids can do SAT/ACT style questions on a particular topic, typically they will have achieved a deeper level of mastery and understanding of the topic due to the additional challenges that these questions entail.

When I’ve worked with small groups of students, I’ve found that having them verbalize (or write down) their approaches and solutions (giving guidance when necessary) helps them internalize the analytical process they’ll need to do well on the SAT/ACT math sections. Here are some ideas for how to incorporate SAT/ACT questions into your math class:

  1. Give SAT/ACT questions as challenges at the end of class. Have students who get them correct use the board to explain/show how they did them and give guidance as needed.

  2. Include topic relevant SAT/ACT type questions as a bonus on quizzes or tests.

  3. Have an SAT/ACT question of the day up on the board for students to try to solve during class.

  4. Use as early finisher assignments.

  5. Assign each student one SAT/ACT math question to solve and create a small presentation/diagram/step by step outline explaining how to solve it.

  6. Have students discuss alternate methods of solving SAT/ACT questions (often there are at least 2 different ways of doing a problem), determine which method is most expedient and least prone to error, and explain why that method is the best.

The College Board website has a ton of free SAT practice questions, and the ACT website does as well. I’ve also created this free SAT/ACT math formula sheet and this set of 100 practice questions divided by subject area.