Its 8:30, dinner's done, things are winding down and you finally
have a chance to relax as you hear a frustrated growl from the
bedroom. This is Johnnie's way of telling you he's having trouble
with his homework. This wasn't a problem in second grade, but it
has been a LONG time since you had to prove a geometric theorem and
at this time of night ... there has got to be a better way.
The Kansas State Librarian may have an answer for you,
literally. On September 6th a new online tutoring
service was launched for the students, and parents, of Kansas. This
service is available for students in fourth through twelfth grades,
and even some introductory-level college classes. This free service
allows students to problem solve and chat with a tutor for
Math (elementary, algebra 1 & 2, geometry, trigonometry
and calculus), Science (elementary, earth science, biology,
chemistry and physics), Social Studies (American history,
world history, political science and more) and English
(spelling, grammar, book reports, essay writing and more).
The goal of this program is to provide Kansas students the best
educational opportunities available. So they have selected and
trained a team of tutors who are classroom teachers, university
professors, graduate students, approved college students and
interested professionals who are experts in their fields. They also
know that it is important for parents to be assured of their
child's safety (even on-line) so these tutors have also passed
background checks. For additional peace of mind parents can know
that no personal information will be shared, and the chat
environment is controlled and monitored.
English speaking/writing students may log-on to Homework Kansas
daily between 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. Students preferring a Spanish
tutorial in Math or Science may use the service
Sunday through Thursday between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. After a short
wait time, less than a minute, students will be notified when their
tutor will be available, then post their grade level and the
subject they need to work on. If they want to use a workspace that
allows them to draw graphs or diagrams they may use the whiteboard
by clicking on the pencil icon. Most tutoring sessions last between
20-40 minutes and when they are finished students may print off a
transcript of the dialog with the tutor and any work done on the
whiteboard.
The pilot program last year proved to be a great success.
Nationwide this service was provided through 1,300 libraries. The
students had the opportunity to evaluate how effective their
tutoring sessions were. In the one-million sessions evaluated, over
90% of the students reported that the personal tutoring not only
helped them complete their assignments and improve their grades,
but it also built their confidence and understanding.
To use this program you must get a Kansas State Library
Card from the Herington Public Library or from any one of the
Herington School Libraries. This library card will not only
give students access to the Homework Kansas site but also give any
Kansas resident a variety of databases (especially popular is the
Heritage Quest for genealogists) and other resource materials (such
as World Book Encyclopedia) to work with. Students may use the
public library computer. For home use students should have access
to a computer with Windows 2000 or XP, Explorer 6.0 and Macromedia
Flash 8 or 9.
Get your Kansas State Library Card, Log-on to http://www.HomeworkKansas.org
and conquer those tough homework questions!
