Westside Tutoring & Testing Services

Specializing in Tutoring ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, and Gifted Students

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Explore STEM with Westside Tutoring & Testing Services this Summer!

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Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

Study the Universe

Westside Tutoring & Testing Services’ Summer Session begins June 22, 2015.

Give you child a summer they will remember!

Professor Z
216-712-7004

History of the universe – Cern 2010 from Tamschick Media+Space GmbH on Vimeo.

Media production of the main show for the “Globe of Science and Innovation” project of the CERN visitor centre in Geneva. The main show is the central staging element in the exhibition “History of the Universe” and comprises a four minute animation film with background sound and speaker commentaries produced as an individual film for a synchronous 5-fold production that are combined to form an overall visual experience in outer space.

Visit us: http://WestsideTutoring.com

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The Challenge of the Day: Getting Our Students Outside the Box!

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Westside Tutoring & Testing Services, PBS, and UnSchool

Westside Tutoring & Testing Services, UnSchool, Outside the Box

How many times have you heard someone say, “We’ve really gotta think outside of the box on this one!” Or simply, “We’ve gotta think outside the box!” The latter an abbreviation without the all-important “of.” Or perhaps, “Let’s think outside the box for a moment.”

“Really?” As my granddaughters are so fond of exclaiming.

Or, “Whatever!” “Really!” now “Really?” has been around for a very long time.

Anyway, I’m relatively certain that you’ve heard something like “We’ve gotta think outside the box” more times than you care to count.

Well, let’s turn the well-worn phrase on its head for a moment and ask a question or three:

Inside the box? Is that where we do most of our thinking? Inside the box? Think about it for a moment.

Here’s another question, a thought really (“really” again? “Really?!”):

If we do our best thinking “outside the box,” then why do we think–inside or outside of the proverbial box–children will learn best “inside a box” (i.e., a conventional school with four walls, a ceiling, etc.)?

That’s specifically why Westside Tutoring & Testing Services is as far from what school is and represents as one can possibly get:

UnSchool!

  • Tutoring, mentoring, and coaching
  • Specializing in learning difficulties (ADHD, Asperger’s syndrome, dyslexia, TBI, processing disorders, etc.)
  • Gifted Students Program
  • Twice-Exceptional Program
  • One-on-one tutoring and test preparation sessions (chemistry, geometry, biology, AP, OGT, PSAT, PLAN, PARCC, ACT, SAT, GRE, LSAT, etc.)
  • Individualized instruction designed to bring out the very best in our students
  • Informal, casual, relaxed
  • Experiential, hands-on, interactive, dynamic
  • Focused
  • Adaptive
  • Results Oriented
  • Rewarding, in and out of the classroom

UnSchool!

Hmmm?!

Interestingly, we’ve come to find out that we’re not alone. Enlightened educators, men and women teaching at progressive institutions across the country, are finding out that getting our children “outside the box” works well. In fact, the results are astounding. Children flourish. Students grow intellectually.

Incredibly, this is exactly what we’ve been saying and putting into practice all along, first part-time, later full-time. Once again, this is precisely the educational model that WTTS has been advocating and applying for over three decades now. Read what our students and their parents have to say about WTTS.

I would love it if you would take some time out of your busy day to watch this video (or bookmark it and come back to it later). I’d also love it if you would take a moment to share it with your friends via the social media. You will find a variety of social media icons just below the video.

This video is thought-provoking, inspiring, and wonderful! I hope you will like it too.

Enjoy!

Professor Z

Professor John P. J. “Jack” Zajaros, Sr.
Westside Tutoring & Testing Services
1596 Westwood Ave.
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-712-7004 (office)
440-821-7018 (mobile)

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Counterpoint: The Atlantic and “The Deconstruction of the K-12 Teacher”

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At Westside Tutoring & Testing Services, we believe that one-on-one interaction trumps technology every time.

And we believe it will do so long term!

Counterpoint: The Atlantic on Technology in the Classroom

NOTE: To fully understand Counterpoint: The Atlantic and The Deconstruction of the K-12 Teacher (below), we suggest you check out The Atlantic’s The Deconstruction of the K-12 Teacher.

Counterpoint

If the new wave is technology, then what do we do with all of the children who get caught in the undertow of inadequate support?

  • We don’t need less interpersonal interaction and support, we need much, much more.
  • We need lessons taught according to the individual student’s needs and not according to some so-called master plan, put together for God-knows-who, and originating from God-knows-where.

Paradoxically, in an era of such amazing promise and progress, we witness symptoms of hyper-stimulation and information-overload on a daily basis…and that doesn’t begin to address the damage done by all that wonderful information online.

Just think of it:

All that free mis-information just lying around, waiting to be digested.

Never mind the indigestion that must, by necessity, follow!

Our children are in desperate need of more one-on-one instruction, not less!

If the new God-technology is indeed the best thing since sliced bread, then why is the phone at Westside Tutoring & Testing Services​ ringing 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year?

Think back….

Think back to the teacher and/or coach who made the biggest difference in your life. He or she probably made a difference by looking you in the eye, by making you feel like you mattered, by encouraging you to believe that you could make a real difference, and by letting you know that someone outside of your immediate family cared that you were here.

Imagine how different things may have been without that sort of interaction, nurturing, and guidance!

Instead, many suggest (and no, it’s not just Michael Godsey) that we shape the classroom experience so it centers on the Internet, complete with slick productions created by master directors and starring SuperTeach!

I can see and hear it now: “Okay, ready on camera one? Now give the kiddies that biiiigggg smile. That’s it, the money shot. Now, show them how much you reeeeeally care!”

As the @RealJonLovitz would say: “Yeah, that’s the ticket!”

All kidding aside, there has to be a better way!

  • Our children need less stimulation, not more.
  • Our children need more one-on-one interaction, not less.
  • Our teachers need more support in the classroom, not less.
  • Our teachers need to be more engaged, not less.

Technology is a resource, a tool, and nothing more.

We here in the United States are far to quick on the draw when it comes to the next-great-idea. Let’s take a step back, analyze what is reeeeeally happening to our children, and then act in accordance with their needs.

For all the glitz and glamour, I’ll take a walking, talking, breathing, hugging, smiling teacher over a Mac or a PC any day of the week and thrice on Sunday!

Professor Z
Westside Tutoring & Testing Services

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Teach Your Students Well: You Hold Their Hearts in Your Hands

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The Westside Tutoring & Testing Services Commitment

 

Teach your Students Well: Westside Tutoring & Testing Services
Teach Your Students Well: You Hold Their Hearts, Minds, and Futures in Your Hands!

Great Teachers have to have a comprehensive knowledge of the subject matter they are teaching.

If they hope to get their message across to their students, Great Teachers have to have good communication skills. 

Great Teachers must demonstrate to their students that they care about them.

Great Teachers must be able to push and prod and polish and, yes, even protect.

Great Teachers must see the radiance at the heart of every child until it can shine through of its own accord.

Students don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Are Passionate about Teaching?

Do you get excited about influencing the lives of the children whose lives you touch, shape, and mold each and every day?

If you can’t answer in the affirmative, it will show and your students will turn off to whatever it is you are trying to teach them!

Great Teachers Care More!

by

Professor Z

Westside Tutoring & Testing Services

Lakewood, Ohio 44107

216-712-7004

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Westside Tutoring & Testing Services: Where the Magic Happens

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Westside Tutoring & Testing Services

Specializing in (but is not limited to) tutoring and mentoring students

diagnosed with learning difficulties!

 Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Asperger’s Syndrome, Dyslexia, and More.

 Westside Tutoring & Testing Services' Home Office Panaroma: Where magic happens!

Where Magic Happens and Progress is Guaranteed!

The 90/10 Scholars Program

Westside Tutoring & Testing Services offers an exclusive, all-inclusive academic tutoring and test preparation course for high achievers. The 90/10 Scholars Program is designed for students who desire an added edge in high school, college, and beyond.

Westside Tutoring & Testing Services is rated

“Best ACT And SAT Prep In Cleveland” by CBS!

Call today for a free, in-home consultation and assessment!

Professor John P. J. “Jack” Zajaros, Sr.
Westside Tutoring & Testing Services
1596 Westwood Ave
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
216-712-7004 (office)

NOTE: WTTS offers a flexible and reasonable tuition structure and equally flexible scheduling.

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