Monday, December 26, 2011

How to Listen

Have you ever zoned out during a lecture? After listening to your teacher or guest speaker several minutes, do you sometimes realize that absolutely nothing is sinking in?

If this sounds familiar, you might need to sharpen your listening skills a little. After all, if you plan to go to college or get a job in the future, you’re going to have a lot of speeches to listen to. You can improve your retention by practicing active listening.

What is active listening? Imagine that you’re just sitting down in class to take notes, when the teacher announces that “there will be a quiz on this lecture.” Suddenly, you’re more alert. You watch attentively as your teacher speaks and you underline each and every word that is emphasized or repeated.

Each time you sit down to listen to a speaker or a class lecture, you should listen as if you’re going to be tested on the material. After all, you might be!

Here are some tips to help you learn to improve your listening skills:

  • Listen for verbal clues. Your teacher will emphasize any important terms and concepts.
  • Watch for nonverbal clues. Eyebrows, hands, pauses, eyes: these features all show expression when your teacher makes an important point.
  • Be mindful of your own reactions. When your teacher says something that sound interesting, curious, or surprising, go ahead and nod or smile. If the teacher says something boring or unpleasant, try not to have an ugly response. Why? To keep yourself on track. As long as you’re managing your reactions, you’re still listening.
  • Avoid making predictions. If we think we know what someone is about to say, we stop listening and start drifting.
  • Focus on the words, not the person. Don’t get distracted by an ugly dress, weird hairstyle or goofy tie.
  • Don’t get caught up on one detail. Stay on pace.
  • Don’t let your mind wander. Put that food, person, music, or daydream out of your head and save it for later.

View the original article here

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Gadgets for Students

These days it's hard to justify a big-ticket purchase if it's not really useful for fun and for education. But the good news for parents is that most gadgets will do both! Find out which supplies and gadgets are really helpful for students, and which you might want to pass over.

1. Apple iPad

What is it you really want to do? Because whatever it is, you can probably do it on the iPad. With the many thousands of educational applications that are available, this product is the most versatile and useful for students from grade school to college. There is absolutely no reason to put this one off--except for the price. The good news? The least expensive version of this gadget is still better than the competition.

2. Livescribe Pulse Pen

Livescribe’s Pulsec smartpen is an actual ink pen that records what you’re writing and what you’re hearing as you take lecture notes. Anyone who has ever struggled at the back of an auditorium trying to make notes will love this product. If you can spare $150-200 for a pen, and if the student is willing to take the time to use it right, this product could make a monumental difference. Is it worth the purchase price? Yes.

3. Wacom Bamboo Tablet Pen

This gadget is a great tool for doodling and drawing, but it's also a great device for marking up PDFs with circles and highlights. That ability alone makes this a great gift for college students, who receive many reading assignments in the form of PDFs.?

4. Doxie Portable Scanner

Slip this portable scanner into your book bag, and it will be a lifesaver when you need to capture an image for a presentation--or it will be your best friend on those days when you lose your lecture notes and you have a test coming up. Share notes and images with your study group using this handy gadget.

5. iPod Touch

The iPod Touch ?could be one of the best study tools ever invented, if students want to use it this way. This little gem can do anything a laptop can do, with the right applications loaded. It can quiz students with thousands of flashcards, it can hold tutorials and games, and it can become a document editor. Students can email, chat, work on projects--just about everything a student needs to do. This is a definite yes to the question, "Can my child use this tool to study?"

6. Amazon Kindle

This e-reader didn't start out as a good choice for students; it was much too limited and too expensive at first. But it's getting better and better with each model. It's also coming down in price!

Students can download thousands of books and read them or store them for later--and many classic books that students need to read are available for free. With the new Kindle, students can also mark up PDFs and textbooks with highlights and notes.?

What's more, students can listen to textbooks as they relax, with the new text-to-speech option. E-readers are finally becoming totally student friendly!


View the original article here

Common Typing Problems

There's nothing like typing away on a paper, only to find that you're not actually typing what you thought you were typing! There are several problems you can encounter with a keyboard that can drive you nuts. Especially if you're on a deadline. Don't panic! The solution is probably painless.

Some letters won’t type: Sometimes a tiny piece of debris can get stuck under a few of your keys. If you find that a certain letter won’t type, you may be able to fix the problem by using a compressed air duster and gently blowing off your keys.

My buttons are sticking: Keyboards get very dirty sometimes, especially if we have a tendency to snack and type. You can clean a keyboard yourself (laptop or desktop), but it may be safer to have it cleaned by a professional.

Numbers won’t type: There is a "numbers lock" button near your keypad that turns the pad on and off. If your numbers won’t type, you’ve probably pressed this button by mistake.

My letters are typing numbers! It can be scary to type words and see nothing but numbers appearing! This is probably an easy fix, but it is different for every type of laptop. You have "numlock" turned on, so you need to turn it off. This is sometimes done by pressing the FN key and the NUMLOCK key at the same time.

Typing over my letters: If you are editing a document and are surprised to find that you are suddenly typing over words instead of inserting between words, you have accidentally pressed the "Insert" button. Just press it again. That key is an either/or function, so depressing it once causes it to insert text, and pressing it again causes it to replace text.

My cursor is jumping: This is one of the most frustrating problems of all, and it seems to be related to using a laptop with Vista or Windows XP. One possible solution is adjusting your touchpad settings. Secondly, you could "disable tapping during input." To find this option with XP, go to:

  • Control panel

  • Mouse

  • Advanced

  • Advanced feature settings

  • Tapping and feature settings

  • Tapping settings

  • Disable tapping

If this doesn’t work, you can try installing Touchfreeze, a utility developed to disable your touchpad while you are typing text.

A bunch of text disappears mysteriously: If you accidentally highlight a block of text and type any letter, you replace all the selected when you type. This can happen in an instant, often without our noticing it. If you find that a lot of your text has disappeared, try hitting the "undo" function several times to see if your text reappears. If not, you can always hit redo to get back to where you started.


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Overwhelmed by Research

When working on a large project, students can sometimes become overwhelmed by all the information they gather in their research. This can happen when a student is working on a large paper with many segments or when several students are working on a large project together.

In group research, each student can come up with a stack of notes, and when the work is all combined, the paperwork creates a confusing mountain of notes! If you struggle with this problem you may find relief in this coding technique.

Overview

This organization method involves three main steps:

  1. Sorting research into piles, forming sub-topics
  2. Assigning a letter to each segment or “pile”
  3. Numbering and coding the pieces in each pile

This may sound like a time-consuming process, but you will soon find that organizing your research is time well spent!

Organizing Your Research

First of all, don’t ever hesitate to use your bedroom floor as an important first tool when it comes to getting organized. Many books begin their lives as bedroom floor-piles of paperwork which eventually become chapters.

If you are starting with a mountain of papers or index cards, your first goal is to divide your work into preliminary piles that represent segments or chapters (for smaller projects these would be paragraphs). Don’t worry—you can always add or take away chapters or segments as needed.

It won’t be long before your realize that some of your papers (or note cards) contain information that could fit into one, two, or three different places. That’s normal, and you’ll be pleased to know that there is a good way to deal with the problem. You will assign a number to each piece of research.

Note: Make absolutely certain that each piece of research contains full citation information. Without reference information, each piece of research is worthless.

How to Code Your Research

To illustrate the method that uses numbered research papers, we’ll use a research assignment entitled “Bugs in My Garden.” Under this topic you might decide to start out with the following subtopics which will become your piles:

A) Plants and Bugs Introduction
B) Fear of Bugs
C) Beneficial Bugs
D) Destructive Bugs
E) Bug Summary

Make a sticky note or note card for each pile, labeled A, B, C, D. and E and start sorting your papers accordingly.

Once your piles are complete, start labeling each piece of research with a letter and a number. For example, the papers in your “introduction” pile will be labeled with A-1, A-2, A-3, and so on.

As you sort through your notes, you might find it hard to determine which pile is best for each piece of research. For example, you may have a note card that concerns wasps. This information could go under “fear” but it also fits under “beneficial bugs,” as wasps eat leaf-eating caterpillars!

If you have a hard time assigning a pile, try to put the research into the topic that will come earliest in the writing process. In our example, the wasp piece would go under “fear.”

Put your piles into separate folders labeled A, B, C, D, and E. Staple the appropriate note card to the outside of its matching folder.

Start Writing

Logically, you would start writing your paper using the research in your A (intro) pile. Each time you work with a piece of research, take a moment to consider if it would fit into a later segment. If so, place that paper in the next folder and make a note of it on the index card of that folder.

For example, when you are finished writing about wasps in segment B, place your wasp research in folder C. Make a note of this on the folder C note card to help maintain organization.

As you write your paper you should insert the letter/number code each time you use or refer to a piece of research—instead of putting citations in as you write. Then once you’ve completed your paper you can go back and replace codes with citations.

Note: Some researchers prefer to go ahead and create full citations as they write. This can eliminate a step, but it can become confusing if you are working with footnotes or endnotes and you attempt to re-arrange and edit.

Still Feeling Overwhelmed?

You might experience some anxiety when you read back over your paper and realize that you need to restructure your paragraphs and move information from one segment to another. This is not a problem when it comes to the labels and categories that you’ve assigned to your research. The important thing is making sure that each piece of research and each quote is coded.

With proper coding, you can always find a piece of information when you need it—even if you’ve moved it around several times.


View the original article here

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Guessing On a Test

There is some confusion and disagreement about whether students should guess on tests. The quick answer is that it is hardly ever bad to guess on a test.

There is only one reason why you should NOT guess on a test: you should not guess if you will be penalized substantially for a wrong answer.

Guessing on the SAT

Some students are tempted not to guess on the SAT I, because they hear that students are penalized a fraction of a point for each wrong answer. But a fraction of a point is not a substantial amount, especially of you can increase your chances of guessing right.

It is OK to guess on the SAT if you can first eliminate one or two answers that you know are wrong. The odds work in your favor this way. If you get down to two or three choices that you think may be right, then guess which one is best. Odds are, you’ll break even or gain a few points by guessing.

What About SAT Math Questions?

There is a portion of the SAT math that contains no choices. Instead, you must come up with answers on your own and fill them into a grid. No points are subtracted for wrong answers on this grid-in portion of the math test, so if you can come up with a logical answer, it’s still a good idea to guess.

Guessing on the ACT

There is no penalty for guessing on the ACT. If you don’t know, guess.

Guessing on an AP Exam

There is also a small penalty for wrong answers on AP exams. However, the penalty is so small that you are more likely to break even or gain by guessing. On the AP exams, scorers subtract one-fourth of a point for a wrong answer in the questions that contain five possible answer choices, and one-third of a point in questions that contain four possible answer choices.

All this means is that you can guess wrong three or four times for every answer you get right and break even.

Classroom Tests

If there is no penalty for wrong answers on a school test, then you should guess.

If your teacher tells you that you will be penalized (points are subtracted) for wrong answers, then follow an easy plan:

If the teacher will subtract an entire point for each wrong answer, don’t guess.

If the teacher will subtract a half a point for wrong answers, don’t guess.

If the teacher will subtract a third of a point or less, first eliminate what you can and guess.


View the original article here

Make a Practice Exam

Practice tests are great study tools, but it can be a lot of work to make up a practice test again and again. Follow these directions to create an inexpensive practice test holder. It's a tool for turning your practice tests and study guides into reusable, dry-erase sheets.

Difficulty: Easy

Time Required: 10 minutes

Here's How:

  1. Take two sheets of transparency film and tape them together on the sides and bottom. Use thin, clear tape. You may also use a clear plastic document sleeve.
  2. Leave the top edge open, so you can slip a piece of paper between the plastic sheets.
  3. Create your own study guide or practice test, leaving blank spaces where your answers should go.
  4. Put the practice test into the plastic holder. Using a dry erase marker, write your answers on the sheet.
  5. Once you're finished, check your answers. Then wipe away your answers and try again!

Tips:

  1. You can turn any study guide into a practice test by covering up key words and phrases with white-out or white tape. This creates an automatic fill-in the blank practice test.
  2. Keep one on hand for every subject!

What You Need:

  • 2 sheets of clear plastic (transparency film)
  • clear tape
  • your practice sheets
  • thin dry erase markers
  • paper towels

View the original article here

Friday, December 9, 2011

Title Page in MLA

Place your report title about one third of the way down your paper.

Place your name about two inches below the title.

Place your class information about two inches below your name.


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The Freshman Year

If you are looking forward to your freshman year of high school, you're experiencing one of the most exciting times of your life. Sometimes it also feels like one of the most daunting times. These tips can help you prepare for a successful beginning to your high school career.

Organize Your Life and Your Studies

Let's face it, some people are naturally more organized than others. Some of us always seem to work with a messy desk and a cluttered brain. There are some easy ways to break messy habits and improve your study skills.

Choosing the Right Path

It's important to get off to the right start when it comes to choosing classes. You should get to know your guidance counselor and become familiar with the types of courses that are required in your chosen diploma type.

Improving Your Study Habits

Do you study best alone or in a group? Do you learn best by seeing, hearing, or acting out new information? If you take the time to evaluate your personal learning style, you can give yourself an early advantage in high school.

Communicating with Family

Avoid the stress and tension that arise from a lack of communication with your parents and siblings by discussing your needs and laying out a plan ahead of time. Don't fight over the computer or your curfew!

Building New Skills

High school is the time for preparing for college. Each year your assignments will become more and more challenging. Learn essential skills and build upon them for a bright and successful future!

View the original article here

Beware the Time Traps!

We're nearing the end of another school term, and you know what that means (finals!). At a time like this, it's more important than ever to manage your time.

The first step toward improving time management skills is identifying your time wasters. These little traps can cost you valuable time that you should spend preparing for back-to-back exams.

You can pick more than one:


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SAT Essay Tip

The following quote comes from the instruction page for the SAT essay section at the College Board web site:

"You are asked to develop your point of view on the issue, not give a straight report of the facts. This is your opinion, so feel free to use "I," and give examples that are meaningful to you, even ones from your personal life or experiences."

So just image you are sitting at a desk taking the actual test, and you're asked to come up with a meaningful even in your life. Could you?

Prepare Ahead: Take an Inventory of Important Events

Meaningful life events are things you normally think about in your quiet time, when you're lying on your bed listening to your favorite music. For most people, they're tough to drum up under the glaring lights and high stress of a test environment.

So what can you do? Before you go to the test, come up with a bank of experiences to draw from.

A personal experience bank is a list of meaningful experiences in your life that you can reflect upon to find a lesson or a meaning. If you think about it, you can probably come up with a list of several events that were pivotal in your life.

These pivotal events may not be happy times, but they are times that brought about change. For instance, can you think of a lesson or new outlook you gained from any of the following situations?

  • Your first kiss
  • A trip to a foreign country
  • A really dumb mistake that became dangerous
  • Standing up for yourself when it wasn't popular
  • Failing to do the right thing, then being ashamed
  • The passing of a pet, friend, or a relative

30 Minutes to Future Success

Find a quiet time to sit and reflect. Make a list of your own experiences, and write a brief paragraph about each event. Is there a moral or lesson to each one?

This exercise will help you realize that we truly do learn from everyday events, as well as painful ones. But it will also give you a rich bank of information to draw from on test day, and for the rest of your life.

Feel Silly?

At first, it might seem a little shallow and ironic to keep a list of deep-meaning experiences on hand to use as a tool for a good score on the test. Don't worry about that.

The essay portion of the SAT is designed to determine whether a student can develop and express meaningful essays. Not mechanical essays. You will be expected to use examples from your studies and your experiences. This exercise merely encourages students to prepare ahead of time.

Read more advice about the SAT writing section.


View the original article here