, Author at My Learning Springboard

Victoria Cho

March 29, 2021

Victoria Cho is a writer, private tutor, and workshop facilitator in New York City.

She is currently a Writing Consultant for CUNY (Baruch College and School of Labor and Urban Studies), where she supports undergraduate and graduate students with assignments ranging from literary analysis, research, capstones, to professional correspondence. Victoria’s experience working alongside social workers, teachers, and counselors inspires her strengths-based, student-centered approach when discussing a student’s writing process.

In addition, Victoria has extensive experience helping high school students with their college applications. She has helped students research colleges, track deadlines and materials, and write their college admissions essays. Past clients have gained admittance to Cornell University, Bard College, University of Minnesota, Trinity College Dublin, Pomona College, and University of Glasgow, among others.

Victoria has over eight years of experience working with high school students. She previously directed a career and college readiness program for juniors and seniors at a community-based organization in New York City. In this program, she helped students identify their passions and develop their interpersonal, academic, and executive functioning skills, which included supporting students with reading comprehension, AP exams (e.g. English Literature, English Language and Composition, US History) and SAT verbal preparation, and researching colleges. Victoria also gained experience working with students experiencing ADHD, processing challenges, anxiety, and depression.

Victoria holds a Bachelor’s from Boston University’s College of Communications, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She also holds a Master’s in Fine Arts in Creative Writing from University of New Orleans, where she received the Privateer Award.

Case Management and Instructional Coaching

March 29, 2021 Brad Hoffman

My Learning Springboard is defined by its success as a multidisciplinary educational consulting firm with expertise in case management and instructional coaching.

The first question we ask – What would benefit the student and your family? – forms the basis of our work. With over 100 years of combined teaching, case management, and school leadership experience at every grade level from preschool through college, our Leadership Team is able to support a wide range of learners and needs. Hence the question, what would benefit your student and your family?

As Board Certified Educational Planners and professional educators, we facilitate case management, instructional coaching, and parent advising to bolster the success of every student. We discuss cases as a professional team based on formal and informal assessments, school documentation, educational testing, and observations in order to make strategic recommendations that support learning. To develop each plan, we apply a 360-degree evidence-based approach to gather data from classroom teachers, learning specialists, or school administrators. Further, we layer in data from psychologists, pediatricians, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, and other related service professionals, as applicable. Even once a plan is in place, we expect to adapt and tailor it as the tutoring or intervention gets underway. We believe that each student’s situation must be carefully considered on an ongoing basis and strategic planning is essential to achieving success.

We take great care to build the right team for you. Our Leadership Team works together with highly qualified and skillful tutors or specialists and related service professionals in partnership with families. We seek relationships with educators and related service professionals who are consummate professionals and have a demonstrated track record of success. They approach their work as compassionate practitioners, which includes having excellent communication skills and a desire to build trusted relationships with all stakeholders.

At the core of our practice is the belief that every student can succeed. We recognize that there are lots of ways to get from Point A to Point B, and all stakeholders ought to work together toward a shared goal. We seek to facilitate a transparent and collaborative process that values working closely with families and schools. In a perfect relationship, we’re all learning from one another, and our students benefit from this cohesion.

Please contact us to discuss our services.

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard

High School Seniors and the College Application Season

March 20, 2021 Brad Hoffman

Summer before senior year is an important planning season for the upcoming college application process. At this point, you should have a list of desired colleges and universities to which you will apply; and it’s never too soon to begin putting together your high school resume and starting your Common App and supplemental essays.

Your resume should include extracurricular activities, within and outside of school; your community service work; employment; honors and awards. Keep in mind colleges like to see continuity of involvement. It’s better to be involved in one or two clubs throughout the four years of high school, rather than a project here…and another project there! Every application requests this information, so begin making a list of everything you have done. Additionally, if you have taken a leadership role in any of these activities be sure to indicate it. The college admissions counselors love leaders!

After you have completed this piece of the process, it’s time to move onto your personal statement! This is the time for you to look inward and to reflect on what it is that sets you apart from your competition. Is there someone you admire and consider a role model? Have you investigated and learned from a unique situation or from your involvement in a special project? Warning, try to avoid family dysfunction! We’ve all experienced this in one form or another and from what I understand college counselors have read enough of these. They are looking for creativity, diversity…..uniqueness! This is not going to be a quick process and my advice is to “free write,” once you’ve decided on a topic. After you have done this, set it aside and go back to it the following day, etc…… Your English teacher can be a terrific support to you regarding the progression of this essay, so use the resources available to you! Once you have decided on your list of schools, take a look at the essays each of the schools request and make a comprehensive list of what needs to be done. You may not necessarily have to reinvent the wheel for each application. Many times you can edit and revise the writing you have already completed!

Now…take a deep breath…and get started! I promise you’ll feel better once these pieces are completed!

By Ginny Feldman, College Counselor

When Should a Student Begin SAT or ACT Preparation?

March 15, 2021 Brad Hoffman

In all my conversations with high school parents, and increasingly with middle school parents, I’m asked, “When should my child begin SAT or ACT preparation?” It’s an important conversation to start having early because planning should be individualized. Rather than treating the SAT or ACT as an event for short term cramming, it’s much better to think about the skills and strategies needed for the SAT or ACT that are also important for successful, lifelong learners. Whether we’re coaching reading comprehension, quantitative reasoning, or on-the-spot essay writing, the skills we build serve students well beyond the exam. SAT or ACT preparation often becomes the catalyst for closing gaps and reviewing material not previously mastered.

Consider vocabulary development. It’s extremely difficult for students to start memorizing hundreds of flash cards in the months leading up to an exam date. Instead, vocabulary development should take place over the long haul, beginning in early grades and continuing through exam preparation and beyond. Students who read daily and actively engage with texts naturally develop a richer vocabulary. A great way to facilitate vocabulary development is to have students using e-readers with built in dictionaries. Unless required by a teacher, most kids won’t look up unfamiliar words. But with an e-reader, it’s easy to check the definition as one reads. This active reading combined with explicit word study makes a huge difference in critical reading scores.

Math instruction for the SAT or ACT often unveils concepts not mastered at earlier grades. It’s not uncommon to find high school students who struggle, for example, with fractions, percentages, functions, or algebraic reasoning. Our SAT and ACT preparation specifically targets these critical concepts and skills to close these gaps, which usually benefits students in their math course work as well. You can imagine that a student with foundational math weaknesses as a junior in high school might also be struggling in the classroom.

So when should a student begin test preparation? As a general rule of thumb, we recommend that students take a baseline assessment between January to April of their sophomore year. That way we can analyze a student’s performance and have plenty of time to coach the exam throughout the spring, summer, and following junior year as appropriate. Students with very high scores in January of 10th grade can often complete their SAT or ACT preparation by December of junior year if not sooner. Students with relatively lower scores given their school preferences can maximize the remainder of 10th grade and 11th grade and even continue into the fall of 12th grade if needed. Ideally, students complete the SAT or ACT by the spring of their junior year in order to remain focused during their 4th quarter on any upcoming AP exams and/or final exams. Then we can get a jump-start on the Common App essay and supplemental essays during the spring and summer before senior year begins.

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard

Managing Virtual College Visits

March 2, 2021 Brad Hoffman

Ordinarily, spring is a popular time for high schoolers to pursue college visits. But with the Covid-19 outbreak closing or significantly limiting access to universities, those typical college visits are mostly impossible this season. Strong executive function skills which require nimbleness and flexibility as well as contingency planning and focused “future glasses” will be of great value during these rapidly changing times. Fortunately, prospective applicants can learn a lot about colleges through other sorts of college admissions research. Below are some ways to explore colleges when physical visits are canceled.

Set time goals

While many college admissions trips involve visiting lots of schools in just a few days, that speed is hard for students to replicate at home without a cheerful tour guide to direct them. Set goals that make it easier to approach your virtual college visits and to digest information — exploring one to three schools per day, or spending no more than two hours per day on college admissions research.

Set content goals

If your family had already identified certain college visits to prioritize this spring if possible, your child can use that list to begin their college research at home. If your child has not yet started any lists, we can certainly help. We also suggest making use of online resources to search for a combination of two or three appealing attributes — for instance, small liberal arts colleges in the northeast — and exploring the results. The U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges’ feature labeled “Students Also Applied To,” near the bottom of a college’s profile, is a good tool for building lists of schools similar to each other.

Make checklists and keep notes

Comparing colleges is easier if students gather the same points of information about each of them. To stay consistent in their college admissions research and virtual college visits, students can create a digital checklist or spreadsheet to fill in as they work. Some universal items are student population size, location, average SAT or ACT scores, and interesting majors or departments. Applicants can also add personalized items, such as relevant extracurriculars, study abroad opportunities, and special programs. Below the checklist, or in an additional spreadsheet column, students should make notes on anything else they want to remember.

Use Google to find solid sources

While every college’s website has a search function, it’s often faster to use Google to find content on those websites. In addition to schools’ own pages, the U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges site, referenced above, is a reliable source. Hint: for hard-to-find statistics, such as average test scores, try googling the name of the school plus the phrase “admitted class profile.”

Zoom in through a virtual tour

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram — admissions offices maintain a presence on all of them. We recommend taking the virtual tour that each school offers and reading their online lookbooks in addition to any opportunities for online information sessions or virtual open house events. We also recommend seeking out content that shares students’ voices, such as an admissions blog, Instagram stories, and student newspapers and magazines.

Reach out

One-on-one conversations are often the most impactful way for a prospective student to learn about a college. If your child has any acquaintances or relatives who attend a college that interests your child, this is a great time to ask the older student to chat about their impressions of the school.

Zoom out to the Common Application essay

When your child needs a break from researching individual colleges, they can brainstorm an essay for the Common Application, which streamlines the process of applying to multiple schools. While students must wait until August for the application form to open and for colleges to post their supplemental essay prompts, the Common App has already posted the prompts for the main essay, which is sent to all schools. Writers typically go through several drafts of this essay, so getting an early start will help their summer and fall go smoothly.

Prioritize

Finally, we want to acknowledge that no matter how central college visits were to your original spring plans, families have bigger concerns right now. While teenagers are experts at staying digitally connected, they will still miss their friends and their school routines. If college admissions research seems to be too much for your child right now, encourage them to press pause. The first deadlines are several months away. The top priority right now is what also should be their guiding principle when they eventually choose what college to attend: their happiness and well-being.

In these uncertain times, rest assured that your well-being and safety remain our highest priority. Everyone’s concerns are understandable and real. If we can help in any way over the coming weeks with e-tutoring or supplemental college counseling, please don’t hesitate to reach out. We sincerely hope that you and your loved ones get through this situation as well as possible and that we will be able to return to a reasonable amount of normalcy soon.

By Brad Hoffman, Faya Hoffman, Laurie Gross, and Elizabeth Walters