MAJOR TUTORING

A number of years ago, I purchased a book entitled The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Poetry, written by Nikki Moustaki and published by Alpha Books. It has become an important reference book for me as I continue to hone my writing skills and tutor students in English and other writing classes. On page 104 of the book, Nikki includes a short course in scansion, a method that poets use to measure metrical patterns. She explains that a metrical foot is a unit of measure that measures the stresses in a line of poetry. For example, let's take the popular children's book by Dr. Seuss, Green Eggs and Ham. Two of the  lines read: "I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like them Sam-I-am." Both last words of these two sentences rhyme, am versus Sam. Also, notice that there are 8 syllables in each sentence. When you read the two sentences out loud, they flow quite nicely. Each line is composed of 4 iamb feet. Iambic means each foot is composed of one unstressed s

I have worked with many middle and high school students on math subjects. One common theme I have seen is that many students struggle with doing math calculations if the quizzes and tests rearrange how problems are structured. For example, if a student is used to calculating the slope of a straight line, m in the equation y = mx + b, they get tripped up if the problem asks for the value of b. My approach to teaching math involves helping students to thoroughly understand how to solve problems no matter what information is given to them. Also, the best way to get good at math is repetition. Each student needs to do extra work to master many concepts. Without doing this work, students freeze up in quizzes and tests and get poor results. My goal is to get students to be able to do math problems "backwards and forwards". This approach builds confidence and leads to better quiz and test results. I hope you find this post helpful. Ken Major, Tutor

Whether you are studying for a quiz on the chemical symbols for each element or the names of each bone in a human body, I find the best way to remember these things is to associate each item with something you have an interest or are familiar with. For instance, the symbol for tin is Sn. Now many elements use just the first letter of the element as the symbol for it, like O for oxygen or N for nitrogen. This is not the case with tin though. Many years ago I thought of a way to remember Sn was the symbol for tin. If you like golf, there's a famous golfer by the name of Sam Snead. Anyway, Mr. Snead hits golf balls into cups on the green, that is, "tin cups". That's how I remember it to this day. Try doing these associations yourself. The more personal it is to you, the more likely you'll remember the reference. It works! Ken

Chemical engineers and chemists use the term "mole" for quantity measurements in their work. For example, one mole of water ( H 2 O ) weighs 18.0 grams or the sum of the gram formula weight of two hydrogens and one oxygen (2 x 1.00797 + 1 x 15.9994, rounded off to 18.0 grams). There are 6.02 x   10 23 carbon atoms in one mole of water. See the Periodic Table for the gram formula weights for each element. Then one mole of sodium chloride (NaCl) or salt has a weight of 58.5 grams ( 22.9898 grams for sodium + 35.453 grams of chloride, rounded off to 58.5 grams).                                                             Regarding chemical reactions and the equations that illustrate the process, an equation has to be balanced on both sides. For example, when carbon dioxide (CO 2)  is combined with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (reactants), it yields  Na 2 CO 3 and H 2 O (products).                                CO 2 (gas) +2NaOH (solid) yields Na 2 CO 3 (solid) + H 2 O   (l

One of the primary equations associated with straight lines is the slope-intercept equation. To understand how to use this equation, one must understand the equation. The slope-intercept equation or y = mx + b, has coordinates (x,y) as points on the line, m as the slope of the line, and b, as the y coordinate (0,y) on the line that crosses the y-axis when the x = 0 (the y intercept). Slope (m) is defined as the change in y divided by the change in x. If you have an equation, y = 2x+ 3, then m=2, b=3, and two points on the line are (0,3) or (1,5). Notice that there are many solutions to this equation. For any given x value, a y value can be calculated. The slope or m is then calculated by subtracting the y values or 5-3= 2, subtracting the x values or 1- 0=1 and then dividing the y by the x or y/x = 2/1 or 2. Any equation that has these same elements can be converted into an equation to find the slope, y intercept or a point (x,y) on the line. You just need to have at least two of t

There's this book entitled The Elements of Style that was written by William Strunk Jr., which contains 95 pages of helpful tips to improve your writing. Mr. Strunk just happened to teach a very famous writer by the name of E. B. White, author of Charlotte's Web. I have the fourth edition of the book, which has both their names on it. Historically, E.B. White was hired to do revisions to the book. The proper use of " 's " is a topic discussed in Chapter I. Many people while writing mistakenly use "it's" for "its". The first term is actually a contraction, a shortened form of a group of words, in this case meaning "it is". The word "its" is a possessive. With nouns or pronouns, words like its, ours, mine or Steven's  indicate ownership or possession. There can be some confusion though when writers use contractions as well as nouns to show possession.  In many cases both require the use of  an " 's"

This problem requires you to solve for x. The key is to not let the fractions scare you.                                           -6(x+1) = 5(x +4)                                                5              2      Step 1: Multiply both sides of the equation by 10. The reason you do this is to eliminate the denominators on both sides. 10 is a least common denominator, that is 2 x 5 =10. This results in the following:                                           10 x -6(x+1) = 10 x 5(x +4)   or                                                  5                       2                                             2 x -6(x+1) = 5 x 5(x+4) or  -12(x+1) = 25(x+4)      Step 2: Next distribute both sides of the equation. This results in:                                                 -12x-12 = 25x + 100      Step 3: Combine both terms with the variable.  Add + 12 x to both sides. This results in:                                             +12x -12x -12 = -12 = 25x +12x

I'm always looking for new ways to help students learn. As a result, I plan to periodically write a post that provides some helpful information about certain subjects that I tutor. One day it might be an example of a solved algebra problem. Another day I might share some common mistakes students make when writing a story. My plan is to make it an interesting and fun experience. My hope is that these posts will benefit students in their studies, become a resource for students, or at least be fun to read. I plan to start this process next week. So stay tuned to this blog and happy learning! Sincerely, Ken

Hi. My name is Ken Major. Since retiring from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection back in 2013, I have been doing some environmental engineering work, substitute teaching in several area school systems, and tutoring students privately and for the Towns of Coventry and Vernon. I have decided to formalize my services by starting Major Tutoring. I have over 32 years of environmental engineering experience, mainly dealing with water discharge permitting and enforcement matters. My educational background, a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from UCONN, as well as my professional experience as an engineer, has allowed me to successfully tutor a wide range of subjects, including but not limited to, math, science, social studies, and English.  I tutor students from Grades 1 through 12 and college students. My approach to tutoring centers around getting to know each student, determining what each student needs help with, building up their confidence, and trying