Cool Under Pressure: 6 of 10

Cool Under Pressure

6 of 10

Very few students enjoy taking tests. Yet functioning well under pressure is crucial to your future success. Try thinking of the pressure of testing as practice for the work’s own explosive situations. You could someday find yourself meeting tight deadlines, speaking with irate customers, wielding a scalpel or handling dangerous chemicals.

The best way to curtail pressure and to even eliminate it is to prepare. Applying the motto “Be Prepared” holds true first time and every time. Prepare for that test, and you won’t worry about it. In fact, it will be your chance to shine, to reveal the hard work you have put into preparing for the test. You will be rewarded for the effort you have thrust into your studies. Preparation helps you maintain your cool under pressure. Preparation generates energy and enthusiasm; therefore, prepare and your coolness under pressure is sure to abound.

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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 part of your education. Employers look for skills in job applicants, who may have to give presentations to clients or represent their organization on the field. It’s never too soon to practice good eye contact and other public speaking techniques.

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

According to the book of lists, the fear of public speaking ranks number on in the minds of the majority of people. Far above the fear of death and disease, comes the fear of standing in front of a crowd. Joel Weiner noted author and public speaker wants to help people overcome that fear.

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

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

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Distance Education: Is a Virtual Classroom for You?: Part 4

Distance Education: Is a Virtual Classroom for You?

Part 4

Emphasis on the Written Word

Most of the communication, as well as the course work, in distance-learning classes is written. That’s a plus, because the focus on the written word gives you the opportunity to develop as a writer – and strong writing skills are essential to academic success. However, if writing is a serious weakness for you, virtual learning may not be the best educational option until you improve your skills. Yes, most of distance education is the written word; therefore, you need to be a good leader, love to read, and love writing also. Most of your assignments will be written and submitted to the instructor in the written format. Your penmanship needs to be excellent, spelling great, sentence structure above average, vocabulary extraordinary. You need to have online access with reliable equipment. If your Internet communications at home isn’t working, you can’t do online education from home and will need to go someplace where you do have access to the Internet.

Decide Whether It’s Right for You

Distance education isn’t for everyone, but it just might be for you. You really should seek it out and give it a try. You never know until you try. You might even fall in love with distance education. While distance education may be the perfect alternative for some students, it’s not the right choice for everyone. So carefully consider your unique needs and interests and give distance education a try; then, decide if it is right for you.

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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 vary considerably, so it’s important for young people to keep their individual situations clearly in mind.” MacGowan continues, “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 the year that they’ll be tied 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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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 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.

Work hard in your righteous pursuits, and you will reap 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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Selecting Your Courses:Part 1

Selecting Your Courses

Recommended Classes for College Success

Part 1

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/high-school/33.html

The academic rigor of your high school courses is an important factor in the college admission process. College admission officers see your high school course schedule as a blueprint of your education. They’re looking for a solid foundation of learning that you can build on in college.

To create that foundation, take at least five solid academic classes every semester. Start with the basic and then move on to advanced courses. Challenging yourself is part of what makes school fun; but you need a firm grasp of the fundamentals before going on to more advanced work.

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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 apartment or the library.

             ·       For completing problem sets or brainstorming possible tests 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 or require more intense thought at your 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 you 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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10 Time Management Tips for Students: Tips 5-10

10 Time Management Tips for Students

Tip 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 of 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 You 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 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 procrastinating, 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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10 Time Management Tips for Students: Tips 1-4

10 Time Management Tips for Students

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/116.html

Tips 1-4

Organizing Your Life

Managing your time well is an important element of success – especially if you’re a student. If you set priorities that fit your needs and lifestyles, you’ll have a better chance of achieving your goals.

Here are some tips for taking control of your time and organizing your life.

Tip 1. Make a To-Do List Every Day.

Put things that are most important at the top and do them first. And don’t forget to reward yourself for your accomplishments.

Tip 2. Use Spare Minutes Wisely.

When you’re commuting on the bus or train, use the time to get some reading done.

Tip 3. It’s Okay to Say No.

If your friend asks you to go to the movies on a Thursday night and you have an exam the next morning, realize that it’s okay to say no. Keep your short- and long-term priorities in mind.

Tip 4. Find the Right Time.

You’ll work more efficiently if you figure out when you do your best work. For example, if your brain handles math better in the afternoon, don’t wait to do it until late at night.

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Successful Students: 9

Successful Student

9

9. … don’t cram for exams. Successful students know that divided periods of study are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.

If there is one thing than study skills specialists agree on, it is that distributes study is better than massed, late-night, last-ditch efforts known as cramming. You’ll learn more, remember more, and earn a higher grade by studying in four, one hour-a-night sessions for Friday’s exam than studying for four hours straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more efficient and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fail to learn this lesson and end up repeating it over and over again until it becomes a wasteful habit. Not to clever, huh?

When you cram, you are taking the shortcut, and shortcuts never produce any real worthwhile results. Also, when you take shortcuts, you feel rather rotten knowing that you could have done better but didn’t. Shortcuts cut you short. You can’t plant watermelon seeds and harvest fresh watermelons the next day. It takes time. Cramming for a test or project and expecting to make a high score the next day is like planting watermelon seeds and expecting to harvest and eat fresh watermelon the next day. Plus cramming for a test or project doesn't help you academically, so why even do it. Plan ahead, prepare ahead. Give yourself plenty of days and weeks to prepare for upcoming accountability opportunities.

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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 can 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 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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