Course work: lecture on photosynthesis-(autotrophic processing of electromagnetic radiation) Student navigated successfully the instructor's discussion of the conversion of specific solar radiation wavelength energy to electron excitation in the reaction center of a chlorophyll photosystem. (Her success here stems from a solid analysis of the Biology text in our previous session and on the homefront).

Assignment: readings on reaction centers, electron transport chains, H+ pumps and ATP synthesis.

Mentor's Evaluation - these readings, like the text studied in yesterday's tutorial, will be mastered with careful, line-by-line analysis and review-the usual labor intensive study protocols -we'll hit this first in immersion.

Student's Remarks - "Again, the text looks rough, but illustrations and their subtext help. Looking to my notes and moving slowly into the readings, I can handle this."

English:

Course work: Class discussion and assessment of the Boston Globe's editorial on senate majority leader's ambiguous conservative policy.

Assignment: evaluate forensic merits of second editorial (not necessarily a follow up on the House Speaker) for tomorrow's class discussion.

Mentor's Eval. - Student held her own here (and her work in yesterday afternoon's session did not hurt her effectiveness during today's in-class discussions)

Western Civilization:

Course work: Class discussion and q and a on the European colonization of East Asia.

Assignment: Further readings (in course text) on the economic and political motives fueling the expansion of the British Empire

Student Remarks - "Test announced for next Wednesday (one week), and I have this under control."

Algebra I:

Coursework: In-class illustration and completion of polynomial problem sets.

Assignment: Sets B and C (all odds) student knows to jump on evens as well.

Mentor's Eval. - Student's got it down, and she will have a private recitation with Dave (auxiliary math specialist) for study of advanced problem sets to jump ahead of her teacher's class instruction agenda.

French:

Coursework: In-class translation of 'Bon Marche', vocab. review, and a grammar focus (possessive pronouns).

Assignment: Pronoun exercises and review for unit test (translations, some usage, vocab. and pronouns).

Mentor's Eval: We've got some fires burning here and additional hours of careful review and rehearsal of dialogue, auxiliary grammar exercises, and vocab. should do the trick. She continues to catch up but needs to burn more calories on each homework assignment and during every short review completed in her free moments at school.

Student Comments: 'I know what I need to do here.'

Biology:

Chapter overview:

Photosynthesis:

Collective reading of chapter summaries (intro text and synopsis at end) and survey and conjecture for sub headings inbetween. Next, a line-by-line close reading and analysis of the nine page discussion:

1. general view of electromagnetic radiation conversion to electrical/chemical energy (we've seen this before).

2. review of autotrophic vs. heterotrophic functions.

3. the reception of blue and red light and rejection of green by chlorophyll molecules and accessory pigments.

4. enzymatic functions (such as H+ ions drawn into the Thylakoid compartment) excited by electrons as they are transported by the protein (Pq), a cytochrome complex and (Pc), a copper based protein along an ETC.

5. a look at Photosystem 1 - the red (700nm) wavelength energy exciting electrons which subsequently meet with primary acceptors which then pass off to (Fd) a protein containing iron which hands off to the reductase NADP+ before creation of NADPH.

This meticulous reading required upwards of four passes each lasting 15 to 35 minutes (with two to three minute rest intervals).

The student skillfully referenced her visualizations of the formation of an H+ gradient (a manifestation of her painstaking text analysis) with the illustrations for non-cyclic electron flow. Her line-by-line paraphrasing was generally sound. This gal is really cooking.

Before tomorrow's session, she will have completed two abbreviated review passes for this same text and will proceed to show me the ropes before we hammer the Calvin Cycle (and maybe a Krebs Cycle preview).

Mentor's Advising: You are familiar with the routine - bring your visualization of the non-cyclic electron flow path into focus with a relaxed revisiting of your text notes and some key paragraph exposition (tonight, just before sacking out, during the last fifteen minutes of your study period before Bio tomorrow, and just before our session on Wednesday).

Refuel and time-out: 15 min.

Mentor's Comments - Student's foreign language facility will continue to shore up with increased exposure to vocab in context and with more review of specific grammar exercises (including pronoun and verb usage in dialogue and exposition). Her feel for dialogue is not bad. She will complete three to five passes ("Au Club Med") before our next session. Focus (concentration) bore good results but she has some real work ahead of her.

Initial problem solving (completed during school study period) checked out. Will complete remaining sets at home and contact Dave to set up auxiliary tutorial for more advanced illustration.

Student quickly summarized the forensics of yesterday's Boston Globe editorial identifying conflicting values surfacing in Newt Gingrich's policy and legislation crusades. She proceeded to move, line-by-line, through some heady discussion pointing to a hypothetical power vacuum in Iraq (thirty-five minutes of close-reading and q and a). She will complete another pass tonight or tomorrow morning, at home, after completing Algebra problem sets. Student knows to look over notation just before English class and is anticipating both writing assignment and test in the next four days. She is already formulating tactical language for an essay, and we will review her forensic strategy during the next two sessions.

Student had readings well underway. She knows the proceedings for effective engagement in class tomorrow and will triumph as usual

Student summarized prep protocols for our next session and for classes finishing out the school week. She pre-conceived (visualized) the content and format of up-coming exams in Biology and Algebra and described specific preparations for unit tests in French and Western Civ. Later this week, she will instruct me in the general and specific processes of the Krebs Cycle, the specific military, political, and economic developments and ideological shifts fostering the collapse of the British Empire, and the factoring of polynomials enabling the solving of algebraic equations with polynomials (this will mandate a successful search for equivalent expressions that are products).