For a long while, I have been working with kids on the ISEE, the SAT, the SSAT, and the college essay. Here are a few things I've learned in the past year:
*The writer of the test is not your friend. This seems obvious, but it's amazing to me how easy it is to think, "Ah, four intriguing answers to this reading comprehension question! Each one seems to be on or near the mark...." The student becomes seduced by the test; an alluring wrong answer seems to beckon, beckon, beckon. I really think that a certain naivete is what troubles many kids on this portion of the test--I think it's this sketchy idea, "People are here to help me." I blame Mr. Rogers. A particular level of cynicism is helpful when you're in the land of "reading comprehension."
*Kids are just more interesting than adults. One of my students--a fifth grader--expresses a sense of wonder about quadrilaterals. "I was loitering in a square-shaped park, and my friend said, It's cold. So I said, Go stand over there in the corner. It's NINETY DEGREES!" ...Another child--a high schooler--says that she is using her free time to wrestle with Margaret Atwood. "Because I'm trying to become a more substantial human being."
*The growth mindset has limitations. As a tutor, I am meant to believe that literally no subject is off limits. Growth is possible in all areas. But--at forty-three--I still have a mild panic attack when I see a permutations problem. You know the type. "Five friends sit at a banquet table, and they can be in any particular order, except that Jane always needs to be next to Zoe. How many different setups can you envision?" I have never, never found a clear, exhaustive explanation of a logical, intuitive approach to permutations problems. My palms get sweaty. I wonder if I have time to *draw* each of the seventy or eighty possible arrangements? This is sort of embarrassing for me.
That's my life. Happy New Year, watch out for reading comprehension, etc.
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