On the Brain...

• What do Wile E. Coyote, E.T. and John Legend Have in Common?

  What do Wile E. Coyote, E.T., and John Legend in common? To everyone except me, the answer is “nothing.” But to me, the common thread is that I’ve used each of these as teaching examples in my verbal test prep … [Read more...]

  Posted on 03/07/2012

• 3 Reasons Your Child Should Never Take the SAT Cold

  Tomorrow is the first SAT of 2012. Typically, the January test is filled with seniors who started the process really late, or, in many instances those trying one last time to raise their scores before their applications are reviewed. I used the word “typically,” because there are still quite a few parents who have their 11th graders take the SAT “just to see how they’ll do” before they actually start preparing for the it in the spring. Here are three big reasons that this is a BAD, BAD idea: [Read more...]

  Posted on 01/27/2012

• 5 Ways Parents Can Bring History Alive

  Over the weekend, I went to see “Red Tails,” the new George Lucas film about the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African-American military aviators in the US armed forces. There were several children in the audience (including one of my students) watching the movie with their parents. For many students, history, like science, is one just one of those subjects that you can’t just read in a book–you have to experience it in order to really appreciate it. [Read more...]

  Posted on 01/23/2012

• You Never Know How Far Determination Will Take You

  Picture this: high school senior, Samantha Garvey, is living in a homeless shelter with her family when she finds out that she made it to the semifinals of the prestigious national Intel science competition (a REALLY big deal). But the story doesn’t end there. [Read more...]

  Posted on 01/20/2012