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We worked on geometry terms this session. We worked with identifying angles with parallel lines intersected by a transversal. The student seems to understand what he's doing but sometimes he gets caught up with remembering the geometric vocabulary to apply to the problems. At the end of the session we spent time making flashcards to help him review new vocabulary and he is supposed to review them regularly, and add any new words that he comes across in his homework.

The student is actually ahead of her class currently so we wanted to finish up some leftover reviews so we could move forward. We reviewed simplifying expressions, specifically fractions, by breaking them down into their prime factors.

The student and I continued reviewing concepts that he had difficulty with earlier in the year. We worked through one full optimization problem and set up another one. I showed him how to figure out which quantity is being optimized and how to use all the other information in the problem to express that quantity as a function of one variable. From that point, he can solve problems quickly and efficiently. We then reviewed linearization, and we did a couple practice problems. We discussed how to use linearization to approximate sqrt(101) by linearizing f(x) = sqrt(x) at x=100. Finally, we reviewed how to do related rates problems and practiced setting up an example problem.

We continued reviewing and spent more time focusing on matrices today. I don't want to get bogged down on it, but I did want to work with her some because it shouldn't be a focus of the course but it will be at least introduced.

During today's session, I had the student practice some ACT English test passages with related questions from the official ACT website. I drew his attention to the distribution of questions, noting that there were many questions involving the same grammatical principles, such as parallel structure, subject verb agreement, and apostrophe usage. I also explained that he could expect the English section essays to be written in a relatively modern, relatable style, often in the form of personal narratives, and would not have to worry for the most part about difficult vocabulary or archaic conventions. We then spent the second hour of our session practicing math questions from the ACT website. I thought this would be a productive use of our time as so far we have not spent much time looking at the math section. He found that he had the most difficulty with geometry problems, as it had been a while since he had studied geometry. I worked through each problem with him, explaining the correct solution procedure for each problem he had trouble with. I recommended that he practice both math and science test questions before the test on Saturday. We plan to have one more session on Friday to review the general strategies for the different sections of the ACT.

Because the student has a social psychology test on Friday, we spent today reviewing vocabulary terms from each of the three chapters that are covered on the test. For each term, we discussed the definition and described examples. It was a conversation-style discussion, and I also asked him questions that had him differentiate between and describe terms and key points in order to better gauge his understanding of the material. He seems to have a good grasp on the concepts already, and I know that he will continue to study during the week. I will work with him again on Wednesday before his test. During the next session on Wednesday, we will work through the practice tests for each chapter in the textbook and discuss the answers together. After taking the first test, he said that those discussions helped him a lot.