During our first meeting, Lilly described her struggles with French and provided some background on her previous French courses. Together, we discussed the format of the IB exam and each language skill that is activated via each task. I underscored the importance of continually building those skills (reading, listening, speaking and writing) through consistent and daily practice; I shared various ways (Quizlet, YouTube, Netflix shows and movies, vocabulary applications, podcasts, etc.) in which she could practice. Thereafter, we engaged in a short conversation about Lilly's family to activate her speaking skills and give me an opportunity to gauge her vocabulary and speaking abilities. Finally, we explored a wealth of vocabulary pertaining to transitions, conjunctions and locutions that will help set herself apart from her peers on the exam and allow her to elevate her register to a more sophisticated level.

I provided Lily with a rubric to evaluate a college application essay. We discussed approaches to the personal statement with an emphasis on "showing" not telling, and explored a number of possible subjects for Lily's college application essay. I drafted some model sentences and paragraphs on the board to demonstrate how to tie anecdotes first to broader observations, and last to some comment on how the experience makes a student a good fit or candidate for a particular college. In this regard, I mentioned the need to explore college catalogues to locate activities , mission statements, or courses that especially complement Lily's interests and strengths so that we can incorporate these specifics into the essay. We will look at specific prompts from the Common Application. or from specific colleges during our next session.

In this activity, Lilly completed the calculator portion of the exam in the allowable time. If she scored the same for the non calculator test she should score above 1350 for the exam.

As Lily is taking the SAT this Saturday ,today we studied both the writing/grammar section as well as the reading section. With respect to the reading comprehension , I emphasized the importance of studying the SAT provided epigraph or introductory paragraph as it often provides the main thesis. In a number of the exercises , this ,in fact, was the case, and Lily was able to determine the correct response to "main contention" questions just by reading these SAT provided epigraphs. .We further studied how to address the dual passage comprehension questions ,again using the epigraphs to discern the two contrasting contentions in the passages. I further discussed the importance noting the graph labels in analyzing the data/graph questions.. After completing comprehension passages, we reviewed grammar and sentence placement strategies after which Lily facilely completed a number of writing /grammar passages. I addressed areas of concern such as the distinct usage of certain connecting words such as "however, for example, and in short" .

As Lilly indicated a preference for grammar review, I first reviewed typical SAT grammar questions and traps focusing on the proper use of commas, periods, and colons. We then completed a series of SAT writing and grammar practice exercises from the College Board SAT review book. In doing so we addressed questions where Lilly had difficulty and were able to also address maintaining consistent verb tense, word usage , and logical sentence placement . I suggested that Lily continue practicing SAT exercises over the next week to maintain her confidence level.

Lilly canceled this session earlier in the day.

I provided Lilly with the worksheet, "18 Grammar SAT Rules", which included various types of sentences that reflected SAT Writing questions. Before each topic, we discussed the rules associated with the question. For example, a semicolon separates two complete sentences. What is the error in each sentence? Lily was able to identify the errors with approximately 92% accuracy. When asked to reflect on her learning, she explained that she learned new grammar rules and how to apply them. She said that she did not understand the "why" behind the correct answers before. We will continue to work on grammar practice. The next session will include reading strategies with literature and history passages.

In this activity, Lilly completed the non calculator portion of the SAT exam. She had two mistakes for a score of 90 %. She continues to demonstrate consistent problem solving skills.

Lilly wanted to focus on grammar, so we read four different passages in the SAT manual and she answered the questions. Lily did well and has gained confidence. We also discussed strategies for managing stress about the test, such as box breathing, designing a playlist, and visualization. We reviewed grammar strategies and discussed that regardless of the content of the passages, the strategies remain similar.

In this activity, Lilly started a new exam. She completed the no calculator section with time to spare and only had two errors. She completed 14 problems in the calculator section of the test and is completing the exam for homework.