This month, we asked our tutors to again nominate a mentor of the month. Guiding our tutors and providing them feedback, our mentors are an integral part in maintaining our high tutoring standards. We are pleased to introduce this month’s Mentor of the Month, Sarah O!

Both a Tutor.com tutor and mentor, Sarah O. has been working double duty with Tutor.com for 5 years. Her expertise in English and Writing have set a high standard for the group of tutors she oversees, but her encouragement and warm personality make them eager to meet their goals. We are so glad to have Sarah on our team, and are very excited to be known as her “magic job!” Find out more about Sarah and her experiences below.

Tutor.com: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Sarah: I live in Wisconsin with my husband and three kids, ages 7, 5, and 2. We are currently expecting baby girl #4, so things are about to get a whole lot more interesting around here! I’ve been working as a tutor in English and Essay Writing with Tutor.com for over 6 years, and I’ve been a mentor for 5 years.

What led you to become a tutor?

While I was pursuing my degree in English at The University of Wisconsin Madison, I took a year off and volunteered with AmeriCorps NCCC, a national service program. During that time, I decided that any work I would do in the future would have to be meaningful and beneficial to the world somehow. I worked with an affordable housing facility for women for awhile, but I eventually found my niche tutoring/mentoring with Tutor.com because I could utilize my passion for English and Literature while fulfilling my need to help others.  I believe that interactions we tutors have with students are truly making a difference in their lives. And that, above all else, is what has kept me coming back to Tutor.com year after year.

What is your favorite part of tutoring with Tutor.com?

Like many tutors, I have found that Tutor.com has provided me with a way to balance work and home life in a way that allows me to be home with the kids but engage in the outside world as well. Sometimes I call tutoring my “magic job” — I get to go to work in my pajamas, at whatever time works for me, and do something I love!

You are also a mentor for Tutor.com, helping to advise fellow tutors, what has that been like?

Mentoring has been a wonderful experience — I have a very skilled team of tutors, and my own tutoring has improved so much because I’ve had a chance to see how other tutors approach challenging sessions.

What do you like to do for fun?

Outside of tutoring, I spend a lot of time with my kids (of course), but I’m always working to keep my own identity disentangled from theirs. Writing and yoga have become invaluable outlets for my own creativity, and some day, when there is a bit less chaos around here, I hope to write a novel. I also love working for a local organic vegetable farm, selling for them at the farmer’s market and taking home a bounty of beautiful (free!) produce — that’s my other “magic job”!

From celebrating Digital Learning Day to attending the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, TX, these past few weeks have been flying by. Yet, as always, we made plenty of time to keep up with what is happening in the world of learning. This month our top reads focus on a survey revealing what kids really want out of digital learning, how libraries are evolving to keep up in the age of ebooks and the edtech trends to look out for in 2012. Check all of them out below, and let us know if we missed a great article you loved in January!

• Digital Learning: What Kids Really Want via t.h.e. Journal: According to Project Tomorrow CEO Julie Evans, “Today’s students have their own ‘student vision’ for how they want to use technology for learning. That vision,” she said, “is really a statement of how students want to learn in general.”
• Using Libraries In the Age of eBooks via PCWorld: Matt Hamblen’s recent article on ebook borrowing illustrates the difficulties libraries are facing in the digital age. It’s too bad, because libraries are an important resource.
• Older workers head back to college via USA Today|College: More and more nontraditional, older students are returning to college, but they may never be see on a four-year university campus.
• 5 K-12 Ed Tech Trends for 2012 via t.h.e. Journal: In 2012 education technology will see an increased focus on individualization—from personalized learning environments to digital textbooks designed to connect students to the resources that work best for them.

We were excited to kick off 2012 at ALA Midwinter this past January. It was great to catch up with clients and meet a lot of new people. One of the things that made this conference particularly fun was that it was the first ALA MW for Bob Bonocore, one of our Client Services Managers. Check out his recap of ALA MW below to find out his highlights and takeaways!

Susan, Erin Chesnutt, and Bob!

Starting with Tutor.com just under a year ago meant that this January I was able to attend my first ALA Midwinter conference. I packed up my Pennsylvanian home office and headed down to Dallas, TX to get in on all the fun. And fun it was. Between the amazing steak and service at Hoffbrau Steaks, to the Tutor.com team’s impromptu photo shoot near the City Hall bulls, Dallas was a great host city for the conference; not to mention all the fun going on inside the convention center. After kicking off the mornings with pre-show dancing to “Moves like Jagger”, it was great to spend each day connecting with clients face-to-face. Highlights included catching up with Dawn LaValle, from Fairfield Public Library in Connecticut, to chat about local news coverage of Tutor.com and its positive impact on the community. Then on Saturday, I was sure to celebrate National Hug Day with Erin Chesnutt, from Beauregard Parish Library in Louisiana.

While all my conversations in the booth varied, each one seemed to touch on one of three main points: adult users, client resources and mobile solutions. If you weren’t able to attend ALA Midwinter and stop by our booth, here’s what you might have missed:

1. Not Just for Students –Libraries are still one of the most important organizations for job seekers in their communities. I had many conversations in the booth about how libraries are addressing this challenging issue. When most people think of Tutor.com, tutoring assistance for students in K-12 comes to mind. However, we also provide adults with tutoring and other resources in our Adult Education and Career centers.  Job seekers in your community can upload their resume and work in real time with a career specialist when they use ProofPoint™ Writing Center. Our tutors also provide job search tips and best practices as well as interview preparation assistance.
2. Fresh, New and Ready to Use! –Promoting your library’s resources to the community is a necessary but time consuming task. Our clients are also our partners. We do as much as we can to provide the materials needed to help create awareness. Recently we added several new resources to the Client Resource Center and updated many others, including posters, fliers, monitor strips, bookmarks, recorded demo sessions and PowerPoints to present to educators, parents and students. Check out the new resources at www.tutor.com/clients. While you are there, take a look at our Demo Resources to view recorded sessions.
3. Tutor.com: Anywhere, Anytime – With Tutor.com’s mobile services, your patrons can use our most popular features in a mobile environment. They can connect to a live tutor, review previous sessions, upload photographs from their textbooks, store important documents in their student locker, and search thousands of resources including videos, worksheets, and practice tests.  Check out more information about Tutor.com’s mobile services in the Client Resource Center at www.tutor.com/clients.

I am so glad I had the opportunity to attend ALA Midwinter, meet so many great people, hand out our very popular cell phone socks and bright orange pens, and of course show Tutor.com in action. If you weren’t able to attend, be sure to visit us at booth #1134 at PLA in Philadelphia, PA. We can’t wait to see you there!

Check out our photo album of all the fun we had in Dallas on flickr!

Please join us in welcoming Brad Williams to the Tutor.com team!

Coming onboard as the Higher Education Director of Sales, Brad brings a wealth of experience and has a clear understanding of the challenges many schools face specifically in the areas of retention and remediation.  His perspective will help us to continue developing and expanding our services to best help colleges and universities.

After four years in the Navy, Brad earned both a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Psychology from Pittsburgh State University.  He kicked off his 15-year education career at the Kansas Department of Education and then held positions at the Kansas Board of Regents and most recently was the Executive Director at Kan-Ed. Brad focused on integrating different technology initiatives into the Board’s membership groups including K-12, libraries, hospitals and higher education.  He developed standards and policy to ensure success.   Brad also managed to teach psychology to undergraduates as an adjunct professor at Washburn University.

“As someone who previously purchased Tutor.com services after comparing them with other programs, I knew the value and quality of the service and saw the impact that it made every day on the lives of kids and young adults.  I knew this was exactly the type of company that I wanted to work for and one that I wanted to grow with,” explained Brad.

While Brad’s expertise may be higher education, his real passion is coaching soccer. Check him out in the mid-game huddle above! Brad currently lives with his family in the great state of Kansas, which he informed us, is the exact center of Google Earth thanks to Brian McClendon, the director of engineering for Google Earth and a University of Kansas graduate.

To find out more information on Tutor.com for Higher Education, click here or call 888-888-6726 ext: 258.

Have you ever come across a story and thought to yourself, “How did I not know about this already?” Our latest book club read, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, was exactly that type of story. Written by Rebecca Skloot, this work of nonfiction blends human interest and science to share with readers the life of Henrietta Lacks and her immortal cancer cells (HeLa).

While Henrietta or HeLa might not sound familiar, you probably have heard of at least one of them before. Most likely you learned about the cells, and not the woman they came from, in an introductory biology class. Taken from Henrietta just months before she would pass away from cervical cancer, her cells were some of the first to survive in culture. Due to that, they were used in research for cancer, AIDS, polio, and countless other scientific studies.

Reading about the contributions that HeLa made to science is fascinating. But one of the most surprising facts is that the family Henrietta left behind had no idea these cells existed. Skloot’s book uncovers the life story of Henrietta, the scientific importance of her cells, and the path her family’s lives took after her passing.

With so many elements to the story there was plenty for our book club to discuss. Ranging from distrust of doctors and racial issues in medicine during the 50’s, to questions on how a town can just disappear, we tried to cover it all. Our lunch kicked off with the fact that overall the story of Henrietta Lacks and her family is very sad. After her death, her children were forced into an abusive situation that affected the path of their lives. The sharp contrast between their situation and the benefits science was experiencing due to HeLa, was striking and spurred strong discussion on whether individuals should be paid for donating cells or not.

We all agreed that one of the more disheartening aspects of the story was when Skloot recapped the timeline of how the Lacks’ family became aware of HeLa cells. With so many reporters and scientists showing up at their house asking questions and requesting samples, it was troubling to find that very few attempted to thoroughly explain what it meant that Henrietta’s cells were still alive. After reading an article about scientists in London cloning HeLa, Henrietta’s youngest daughter Deborah, imagined identical copies of her mother walking around on the street.

The overall structure of the book also caught our attention. Taking breaks from the life story of Henrietta and her family, Skloot would dive into details on court cases and scientific conferences that related to HeLa. The group agreed she did a great job of intertwining the two, yet some of us would have preferred if she had kept herself out of it. The third part of the book, “Immortal”, where Skloot focuses on the Lacks’ ended up being more of a summary of her relationship with Deborah than it did on the state of the Lacks family as a whole.

In the end, while there may have been parts that were sad and sections that felt a little long (did there really need to be a chapter about Skloot reading from the Bible?), we all enjoyed the book. As said above, it’s one of those stories that once you hear it, you feel you should of known it all along. The life of Henrietta Lacks was immensely important for both science and society; it’s only fair that her story gets told along with the story of her cells’.

Join us this month as we read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. Yes, it did just make its big screen debut with Tom Hanks, but don’t let that stop you! Check out the book with us before you catch it in theaters.

Michaela and her family.

Sergeant Master Michael O. of the U.S. Marines has moved every four years of his 26-year military career.   During his last move, from Georgia to Virginia, he brought his wife and two daughters along.  Once his older daughter Michaela was enrolled in her new school she immediately found that the new curriculum was challenging and for the first time she needed extra help.   We caught up with Michael, his wife Marcia, and their eighth grade daughter Michaela to find out how Tutor.com for U.S. Military Families helped them during a difficult academic time.

Tutor.com: One of the reasons the Department of Defense wanted to provide online tutoring to military families is the very mobile lifestyle you lead.   How has that affected your family?

Michael:  I’ve moved many times during my military career, but often my family would stay put to give them stability.  But, for this last move before I retired, the family moved with me.  It was a big adjustment, especially for Michaela who found her classes in Virginia very different from those she had been taking in Georgia.  It really had an impact.  We didn’t realize how different the education systems were between states. 

Tutor.com:  How did you find out about Tutor.com for U.S. Military Families?

Michael:  I was at a meeting at the Pentagon for new community members and someone happened to mention it to me.  I only wish we had learned about the service our first day!  It made a big difference for Michaela.  We loved that Michaela had access to tutoring whenever she needed it.

Tutor.com:  What subjects did you get help in Michaela?

Michaela: I worked with tutors mostly on math.  I would use it to study before a test.  I’d ask the tutor for extra problems that I could work on, especially word problems which are hard for me.  The tutors helped give me tips and then I could do it on my own.  I did better on my tests.   I also got help writing papers.  I really liked working with the tutors.  At the end of the year I had a high B in my math class.

Tutor.com:  What made math so tough?

Michaela:  Moving from my old school to a new one was hard because the classes were different and I didn’t know some of the information.  Tutor.com helped me with everything I didn’t know.

Marcia:  Yes.  I’d say that the tutors really connected the dots from one curriculum to the other.

Tutor.com: Do you have a busy schedule outside of school?

Michaela:  Yes!   I’m a cheerleader and I sing in the chorus.  I’m also in a mentoring program with my mom called Emerging Young Leaders.

Marcia:  Emerging Young Leaders is a program for middle school girls sponsored by a sorority. It helps girls get ready for college and provides culture awareness.  We also recently went to a weekend retreat put on by the Steve Harvey Foundation called Girls Who Rule the World. 

Tutor.com:  You are a busy family!  Michaela, what’s your advice to other busy students who want to get great grades?

Michaela:  You have to be organized and follow your schedule.  Include enough time to study.  And if you have questions, ask during class or go to the teacher before or after school.  I used Tutor.com in the evenings and on the weekends.  It was really convenient way for me to get help.

Have a Tutor.com story you want to share?  Email jkohn@tutor.com.

As a fierce debate continues around the pros and cons of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), we’re also hearing more about supplemental educational services or SES. This is the tutoring component of NCLB. Tutor.com is often mistaken as an SES provider by K-12 administrators and teachers. Tutor.com is NOT an SES provider. Many years ago, the company took a hard look at SES and seeing a flawed approach to supporting student learning, we focused our efforts elsewhere. Instead we created customized online tutoring programs for libraries, communities, the U.S Military and K-12 schools. Along the way, our tutors delivered 7.5 million one-to-one, online tutoring sessions.

Here’s what Tutor.com provides K-12 students and how it’s different from SES.

• High Quality Online Tutoring –  While SES actually bans states from requiring tutors to be highly qualified, Tutor.com has spent the last decade creating the highest quality tutoring experience for students. All of our tutors pass subject-specific exams, writing exams, mock sessions and a third-party security check. Tutors are assigned a mentor who regularly reviews their teaching. The results? More than 90% of students report they complete more homework assignments, have more confidence in school and improve their grades thanks to Tutor.com.
• Driven by the School’s Curriculum – While it is hard for districts to know what curriculum is being followed in SES programs, Tutor.com Online Tutoring is driven by students’ homework questions. Students bring their assignments and questions from the classroom to the tutoring session–tightly aligning tutoring with the classroom curriculum.
• Easy Implementations – We’ve read the horror stories too. Tutoring programs that “launch” in September, yet students don’t see a tutor until December. Tutor.com’s implementation team can get an after-school online tutoring program up in running in seven business days. Students get online from school or home and get help when they need it, on their own schedule.
• Robust Monthly Reporting – Teachers and school administrators get an in-depth look of the online tutoring program every month. Tutor.com tracks student usage patterns and the subjects they’re struggling with each month. We also provide student feedback about their experience including detailed student comments. Ever need to review a tutoring session? No problem, we can share that too since every interaction is saved and available for review.

We agree. You probably don’t want an SES provider. Try Tutor.com Online Tutoring instead. Thousands of schools, libraries and the U.S. Military are successfully increasing student achievement with this personalized, one-to-one help. Learn more by emailing educate@tutor.com.

Welcome Meg Sauvé, our newest Client Services Manager for Military and Federal Programs!

Meg , a South Carolina native, graduated from Emory University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, attended Officer Candidate School, and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps in August 2003. Following extensive training in Quantico, VA and Twentynine Palms, CA, she joined Marine Air Support Squadron 3 at Camp Pendleton, CA and immediately deployed to Iraq as a Tactical Air Director/Helicopter Director in the Direct Air Support Center.

After returning from that deployment in 2004, Meg was promoted to First Lieutenant and worked as a Platoon Commander and Weapons & Tactics Training Program Officer before deploying to Iraq again in 2006 as the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of an Air Support Element.

Meg spent her last few months on active duty as the Squadron Operations Officer, before being honorably discharged in 2007. Shortly thereafter, Meg was promoted to Captain while serving in the reserves. She began her civilian career in account management and inside sales with a military recruiting and placement firm. Meg has also worked in government contracting roles working on aviation projects, and most recently, she worked with a transition services organization managing the company’s relationship with employer-clients in various industries and aiding transitioning service members entering the workforce.

In her spare time, Meg enjoys outdoor activities like hiking and camping, and is also an avid runner and rower. She currently lives in the Richmond, VA area with her husband Will and their labradoodle, Orlando.

She is excited to be joining the Tutor.com for Military Families team – welcome aboard, Meg!

Meg will be working with our partners in the military community to spread the word about Tutor.com, as well as meeting military families at different events across the country. You can catch her at the Tutor.com booth at the nextAir Force Reserve Command West Region event on Jan 28^th and 29^th in Santa Fe.