Speaking Skills: 2 of 10

Speaking Skills
2 of 10

When you’re assigned a class presentation, think twice before dismissing it as an unimportant aspect of your education. Employers observe job applicants and attempt to evaluate if they express adequate vocal/ communication skills. You may have to present a presentation of some sort to clients or represent your organization in the field. It’s never too soon to practice adequate eye contact and other public speaking techniques.

http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/17334/

According to The Book of Lists, the fear of public presentations/ speaking ranks as number one in the minds of the majority of individuals. Far above the fear of death and disease, emanates the fear of standing in front of a crowd. Joel Wiener noted author and public orator desires to help individuals overcome that fear.

“The biggest fear is public speaking, with 15 percent of Americans experiencing a dramatic fear of it,” said Dr. Michael Telch of the Laboratory for the Study of Anxiety Disorders (LSAD) in the Department of Psychology at The University of Texas in Austin. “People have had to turn down jobs, and certainly students have dropped out of class because of it.”

Regardless of your occupation, your success depends a great deal upon your ability to communicate effectively! Whether you’re managing a meeting, marketing a product, creating a presentation, motivating co-workers or just communicating effectively with one person or others, you’ll achieve far better results if you can communicate persuasively, smoothly, and intelligently.

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Distance Education: Is a Virtual Classroom for You?: Part 1

Distance Education: Is a Virtual
Classroom for You? Part 1
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/47337.html

You may want to take a class that your high school doesn’t offer. Under some circumstances, you can still enroll in the class --- through distance learning.

Distance education means taking a class without being physically present where it is being taught. Internet-based technology lets students participate in lectures and class sessions online from almost anywhere.

Some high schools agree to recognize distance-learning credits when they don’t have the resources to offer a course themselves. Distance education is often used to increase options in rural areas and AP® courses.

For you, it might mean doing self-tutorial at home in the evening, or participating in a class that is 1,000 miles away, along with other high schools students. Check with your school counselor to see what’s available.

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Balancing High School and Part-time Work: Part 4

Balancing High School and Part-time Work
Part 4

He reminds students that “the activities and courses students choose very considerably, so it’s important for young people to keep their individual situations clearly in mind.” MacGowan contains, “For example, student actors should allow for the fact that they won’t have as much time during performance seasons. Student athletes need to remember the times of year that they’ll be ties up with games and practices. Other students who are in classes that make considerable demands outside of the classroom must keep that reality in mind.”

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Balancing High School and Part-Time Work: Part 1

Balancing High School and
Part-Time Work
Part 1

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/45266.html

Like many high school students, you may want --- or need --- to work part time. Working takes a lot of time and energy, though, so before obtaining a job, make sure that you think about your ability to handle both work and your education.

Important Considerations

You have to weigh a number of factors when deciding whether to take on a part-time job. It’s important to get as much information as possible, so you figure out what choice makes the most sense for you.

Schedule a meeting with your school counselor and discuss the idea of working. Talk to your counselor about why you want to work and what type of position you’re seeking.

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Selecting Your Courses: Part 5

Selecting Your Courses
Part 5

The Arts

Research indicates that students who participate in the arts often do better in school and on standardized tests. The arts help you recognize patterns, discern differences and similarities, and exercise your mind in unique ways, often outside of a traditional classroom setting.

Many colleges require or recommend one or two semesters in the arts. Good choices include studio art, dance, music and drama. Many students have talents and extraordinary abilities in the arts. Students should look within their own repertoire of talents and identify their artistic abilities and take college classes to develop their talents.

Advanced Placement Program (AP)

To be sure you are ready to take on college-level work, enroll in the most challenging courses you can in high school, such as honors or AP courses. Research consistently shows that students who score a 3.0 or higher on an AP Exam typically experience greater academic success and college graduation rates than students who don’t take AP classes.

Work hard in your righteous pursuits, and you will recap the benefits of self-fulfillment and job satisfaction. Don’t take shortcuts just to “get by,” instead, take challenging and difficult roads (courses) and reach higher mountain peaks of achievement.

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How to Take on College Studying: Part 2

How to take on College Studying
Part 2

Choose Where to Study    

Where you should study depends on two factors: the environment in which you are best able to concentrate and the type of work you are planning to do.

·        The best places to study have good light, a comfortable temperature and enough desk space --- usually your dorm room, your dorm room or library.

·        For completing problem sets or brainstorming possible test questions, you may want to study with a group or at least in a setting where fellow students are available for discussion.

·        When you are reading book chapters or working on a research paper, you are probably better off in a less social environment.

Improve Your Study Habits

Here are simple steps you can take to help you get a handle on studying:

·        Have a routine for where and when you study:

·        Choose reasonable and specific goals that you can accomplish for each study session.

·        Do things that are harder and require more intense thought at most productive time of the day.

·        Take breaks if you need them so you don’t waste time looking at material but not absorbing it.

·        Get to know students whom respect and can study with or contact to ask questions.

·        Keep up with the workload and seek help when you need it.

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http://www.how-to-study.com/

10 Time Management Tips for Students: Tips 5-10

10 Time Management Tips for Students
Tips 5-10

Tip 5. Review Your Notes Every Day.  

Reviewing helps you reinforce what you’ve learned, so you need less time to study before a test. You’ll also be ready if you get called on in class or have to take a pop quiz.

Tip 6. Get a Good Night’s Sleep.

Your brain needs rest to perform at its peak. Lack of sleep makes the day seem longer and your tasks seem more difficult.

Tip 7. Communicate Your Schedule to Others.

If phone calls or text messages are proving to be a distraction, tell your friends that you are only available at certain times of the day and not to expect a response at other times.

Tip 8.  Become a Taskmaster.

Give yourself a time budget and plan your activities accordingly. Figure out how much free time you have each week before you add any commitments.

Tip 9. Don’t Waste Time Agonizing.

Instead of agonizing and procrastinating, just do it. Wasting an entire evening worrying about something that you’re supposed to be doing is not productive, and can increase your stress.

Tip 10. Determine Your Priorities.

You can’t do everything at once. Establish the importance of each item. Then set realistic goals that are attainable.

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Successful Students: 10

Successful Students
10

1.     Successful students are good time managers. Successful Students do not procrastinate. They have learned that time control is life control and have consciously chosen to be in control of their life.

An element truth: you will either control time or be controlled by it! It’s your choice: you can lead or be led, establish control or relinquish control, steer your own course or follow others. Failure to take control of their own time is probably a no. 1 study skills problem for college students. It ultimately causes many students to become non-students! Procrastinators are good excuse- makers. Don’t make academics harder on yourself than it has to be. Stop procrastinating. And don’t wait until tomorrow to do it!

The ten items listed above are paraphrased from an article by Larry M Ludewig called “Ten Commandments for Effective Study Skills” which appeared in “The Teaching Professor”, December, 1992.

“Leaning Technologies and Online Education.”

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Successful Students: 7-8

Successful Students
7-8

7.  …understand that actions affect learning. Successful students know their personal behavior affect their feelings and emotions which in turn affect learning.

If you act in a certain way that normally produces particular feelings, you will begin to experience those feelings. Act like you’re bored, and you’ll become bored. Act like you’re disinterested, and you’ll become disinterested. So the next time you have trouble concentrating in the classroom. “act” like an interested person; lean forward, place your feet flat on the floor, maintain eye contact with the professor, nod occasionally, take notes, and ask questions. Not only will you benefit directly from your actions, your classmates and professor may also get more excited and enthusiastic.

8.  …talk about what they’re learning. Successful students get to know something well enough that they can put it into words. Talking about something, with your friends or classmates, is not only good for checking whether or not you know something, it’s a proven learning tool. Transferring ideas into words provides the most direct path for moving knowledge from short-term to long-term memory. You really don’t “know” material until you can put it into words. So, next time you study, don’t do it silently. Talk about notes, problems, readings, etc. with friends, recite to a chair, organize an oral study group, pretend you’re teaching your peers. “Talk-learning” produces a whole host of memory traces that result in more learning.

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Succesful Students: 5-6

Successful Students
5-6

5. Don’t sit in the back of the room. Successful students minimize classroom distractions that interfere with learning.

Students want the best seat available for their entertainment dollars, but willingly seek the worst for their entertainment dollars. Students who sit in the back cannot possibly be their professor’s teammate (see no. 4). Why do they expose themselves to the temptations of inactive classroom experiences and distractions of all the people between them and their instructor? Of course, we know they chose the back of the classroom because they seek invisibility and anonymity; both which are antithetical to efficient and effective learning. If you are trying not to be part of the class, why, then, are you wasting your time? Push your hot buttons, is there something else you should be doing with your time?

6.  …take good notes. Successful students take notes that are understandable and organized, and review them often.

Why put something into your notes you don’t understand? Ask the questions that are necessary to make your notes meaningful at some time later. A short review of your notes while the material is still fresh on your mind helps you to learn more. The more you learn, the less you’ll have to learn later and the less time it will take because you won’t have to include some deciphering time, also. The whole point of taking notes is to use the, and use them often. The more you us them, the more they improve.

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Succesful Students: 1-2

Successful Students
1-2

Successful students exhibit a combination of successful attitudes and behaviors as well as intellectual capacity. Successful students…

1. …are responsible and active. Successful students get involved in their studies, accept responsibility for their own education, and are active participants in it! Responsibility means control. It’s the difference leading and being led. Your own efforts control your grade, you earn the glory or deserve the blame, you make the choice. Active classroom participation improves grades without increasing study time. You can sit there, act bored, daydream, or sleep. Or, you can actively listen, think, question, and take notes like someone in charge of their learning experience. Either option costs one class period. However, the former method will require a large degree of additional work outside of class to achieve the same degree of learning the latter provides at one sitting. The choice is yours.

 2. …have educational goals. Successful students have legitimate goals and are motivated by what they represent in terms of career aspirations and life’s deserves.

Ask yourself these questions: What am I doing here? Why have I chosen to be sitting here now? Is there some better place I could be? What does my presence here mean to me? Answer to these questions represents your “Hot Buttons” and are, without a doubt, the most important factors in your success as a college student. If your educational goals are truly yours, not someone else’s, they will motivate a vital and positive academic attitude. If you are familiar with what these hot buttons represent and refer to them often, especially when you tire of being a good student, nothing can stop you; if you aren’t then don’t, everything can and will!

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Study for Multiple Exams: Part 3

Study for Multiple Exams
Part 3

English, math, foreign language: Practice—especially foreign language. It is hard to succeed in a foreign language class if you are just showing and doing the work. But if you are in your room and look at the objects and try to say them in the language you are learning it actually helps. Or if you send a simple text to a friend think about it, can you translate that to German or Spanish? These are the little things that will help.

Here are my final words of wisdom for students who to get better grades in college: time management and organization are critical key factors to success in college. And never be afraid to go ask your teacher for help. They have office hours for a reason-use them!

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