Tag: <span>tips for students</span>

Students and Their Personal Finances

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on November 18, 2022 @ 5:49 am

You have just started University or College. Money has become a huge matter because the expenses have increased. You decide to get a student loan or perhaps a scholarship but financial aid can be very complicated and there are many other students just like you. When you do have money, you lost track on when and where you spent it. So here are a few helpful hints on budgeting and economizing your way to a better lifestyle.

 Before considering the idea of borrowing money, do explore all options of gift aid possible like rewards from associations or religious affiliations. These are like mini cash aids. One association might give you 100 dollars, another perhaps 50 dollars. These small amounts can add up to a big one.

 Spend some time at the beginning of the course semester; by the time you get used to your daily routines, you can plan your finances. Have a record comparing your income and expenditure. Plan on how to maximize your income and to minimize your expenditure.

 Keep a record in a book of what you spend. You might think the little expenses such as a candy bar here and a soft drink there would not hurt your pocket. But it is these small things that eat into your wallet. Scribble down every expenses. After a week/month you can then check your outgoings and keep track of your expenditures. File all your receipts, bank statements, grant and loan details for future reference. Also check your monthly bank statements because mistakes are common.

 If you have regular monthly income (like salary from work, or a student grant), do not be tempted to spend it all at once. Stretch that over a period of one month. Save the balance in your bank account.

 Take up holiday jobs or even work part time after classes and during the weekends for extra income. A job can also help to boost your career prospects when you graduate.

 When possible, use public transportation or car pool. Many colleges provide free, on-campus shuttle bus service. If the journey is not too far, why not brisk walk to your destination. You saved on transportation fees and had a great workout thrown in as a bonus.

 E-mail instead of phone calls. Not only is it cheaper, you can also reach more people at just one go. If you prefer calling, get a prepaid cell phone service, which helps you eliminate the monthly subscription fees. If you make frequent long distance calls, sign up for a medium quality international call provider instead of a high tech one because it is cheaper. Try out online messengers which provide video conferencing or phone call services. It is way cheaper.

 Try applying for an in-state college or university so you can stay at home. Eliminating extra expenses like lodging fees.

 Search for second-hand books rather than new ones. There sure will be graduates who wish to get rid of their old books.

 Try and make cash withdrawals once a week at the bank you have an account with or its branches. Also keep the receipts for the withdrawals you make. Avoid carrying the cards with you.

 Keep a simple lifestyle. Do not always spend unnecessarily and get rid of expenses that you do not need. For example a chocolate bar that cost 50 cents per day, in 10 days, you would have spent 5 dollars pacifying that sweet tooth.

 Quit bad habits such as drinking, smoking and gambling. First, such habits will slowly kill you and secondly these habits waste money.

 Be environmentally friendly. Switch off the lights when you leave the room and turn off the tap when you are done. Use both sides of a piece of paper and recycle the ones you no longer want. Recycling not only saves the earth but also helps to put some money back into your pockets.

 When you are downloading stuff over the Internet or just simply listening to music on the computer, switch off the screen. The CPU requires only 40% of the power to run; the rest is taken up by the screen.

 Invest in a coin box but not just any coin box; buy the ones without any ‘withdrawal’ holes in them. The clay figure ones are quiet cheap. Put in your spare change in them. Every cent counts.

 Fixed deposits are a great way of cashing in. If you have a minimum amount of cash required by the bank, that you can spare for a short period of time, put it in a fix deposit as the interest is higher compared to normal bank accounts. However, please check and see which bank offers a higher interest. Another good option would be to invest in a mutual fund. Check out your nearest bank for further information because each bank has a different policy and interest rate.

 Have long term goals such as buying a car and then create a fund to buy the car by putting money aside each month. In the end, even if you no longer wish to buy a car, there will be money for other things.

Source by Adeline Ong

19 Oct

USC Pharmacy School Application Requirements and Tips From an Accepted Student

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on October 19, 2022 @ 3:57 am

I will begin with the statistics of the accepted students into the University of Southern California Doctor of Pharmacy program for 2009. 460 students were offered interviews from a pool of over 2000 applicants. 240 students are accepted (11 students from out-of-state schools), and the expected class size for 2009 is 190. One must note that USC offers their undergraduates the opportunity of guaranteed admission as long as they complete their requirements in the TAP program (these students take up a large chunk of seats available for other applicants).

Obtaining a Bachelor’s degree is now a requirement for admission at USC. The minimum GPA requirement is a 3.0 (the average GPA of accepted students is a 3.60). Since USC does not require taking the PCAT, other admission criteria is weighed more heavily (GPA, interview performance, extracurricular activities, personal statements, etc.).

For the application process, it is very important for you to note that the University of Southern California sends out interview invitations on a rolling basis, so it is important that you turn in your PharmCAS application and supplemental application as soon as possible. The deadlines for both are early November, but I highly recommend that you turn both in no latter than early August (I turned in my applications by mid-July, just 1.5 months after the application was made available).

At your interview, you will be asked questions by a current pharmacy school student as well as a faculty member. Think of it more of a conversation where you also ask questions back to both of them. When you first arrive at the interview session, you will be greeted by several current pharmacy students, who do a great job of calming you down prior to your interview. Take this opportunity to ask questions and warm up your oral communication skills. Do not worry to much about the “essay” portion as it is just a test of how well you take notes off of a random article that you read. BE SURE to follow all directions provided to you as it is also a test on how well you pay attention to details.

Here are the pre-requisites for USC’s pharmacy program:

Calculus (for science majors)
Statistics (non-business)
Physics w/lab (science/life science majors- thermodynamics & Electromagnetism recommended)
General Biology w/lab (excludes human anatomy & physiology, botany, and microbiology)
Mammalian Physiology w/lab (human preferred-excludes plant, cell and marine physiology)
Microbiology w/lab (fundamentals of microbiology for science majors)
Molecular or Cell Biology(for science majors-one upper division course)
General Chemistry w/lab (for science majors-include inorganic & qualitative analysis)
Organic Chemistry w/lab (for science majors)
Biochemistry (for science majors one upper division course)
Human Behavior (General Psychology or Introductory Sociology)
Microeconomics

For Internationals (holders of foreign US bachelor’s equivalent):
English (expository writing)
Interpersonal Communications or Public Speaking

For specific course equivalencies from your college, please check the forms available from USC’s website.

The Pharm.D. program at USC is a 4 year program. USC is a private school, and our estimated tuition and cost of living for 2009 is approximately $60,000.

The University of Southern California provides students the opportunity to pursue dual degrees in addition to their Doctor of Pharmacy Degree. These include the following:

Pharm.D./Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
Pharm.D./Juris Doctor(J.D.)
Pharm.D./Master of Public Health (M.P.H.)
Pharm.D./Master of Science in Regulatory Science (M.S. Regulatory Science)
Pharm.D./ Master of Science in Gerontology (M.S.G.)
Pharm.D./Graduate Certificate in Gerontology (Gerontology Certificate)
Pharm.D./Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Source by David E. Thompson

19 Sep

Tips to Pay Off Your Student Loans Sooner

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on September 19, 2022 @ 2:05 am

After graduating, many people make paying off their loans one of their top priorities. Unfortunately, what people discover is that, as it often does, life will throw them curveballs, such as job loss, medical emergencies and divorce, which will force them to change their priorities. In such cases, paying off college debt can often end up at the bottom of people’s to-do lists. However, when people do this, what they often find out is that ignoring these debts is one of the worst things you can do. Depending on their loan’s interest rate, what was once a seemingly affordable expense has enough time to develop into an unaffordable debt.

How Can I Pay Off My Student Loans Quicker?

Whether you are hoping to find a way to vault paying off your loans back to the top of your to-do list or you are a new graduate hoping to knock out your school debt right out of the gate, here are a few tips to help you pay off your student loans sooner rather than later:

Avoid skipping payments – If you cannot afford your payments, do not just skip them. You should get in touch with your lender and speak with them about options, such as lowering your monthly payment amount or forbearance.

Make sure to read the fine print – You need to read your loan agreement, because knowing certain details before a problem arises could allow you enough time to contact your lender and fix the issue without incident. For example, if the interest rate on your loan rises, it can make your monthly payment more expensive. If you know ahead of time that your payment is about to increase to an amount you will not be able to afford, you may be able to get in touch with your lender and renegotiate the terms of your loan so that your payment remains affordable.

Treat student loan forgiveness like a myth – Aside from situations where a person was scammed by a private lender, generally, people must pay off their loans in full. If people think that they will not have to pay off their student loans, then they could allow their student loan debt to grow out of control. People can allow this to happen, because they believe it does not matter since they expect their loan to be forgiven eventually. However, once they figure out they are wrong, it can be too late.

Student Loan Debt Is an Issue That Is Not Going Away Anytime Soon

President Obama considered the student loan debt crisis such a pressing issue that as his time in the Oval Office was winding down, he continued to work to solve it. Before his administration left the White House, President Obama implemented protections that prevented debt collection companies from charging high fees on student loans in default.

Unfortunately, after taking office, President Trump undid many of President Obama’s student loan protections. As a result, many people are racing to not only pay off their student loans in full, but also to do so as quickly as possible.

Source by Wesley Bingham

24 Jul

Top 10 Tips For Choosing a Budget Laptop

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on July 24, 2022 @ 12:43 am

Choosing a Laptop on a Budget – Tips for Canadian University Students

One thing all Canadian University students are going to need these days is a laptop. A laptop’s main advantage over a stationary PC is its size and portability. For many degree programs, a laptop can be an indispensable tool for most if not all of your classes. In the modern digital age, most professors or class lecturers are using PowerPoint or Adobe formats for their class notes and presentations. Most provide copies to students via class websites for download and printing and many classes even require them as daily classroom material. While printing the notes or presentations and following along is a perfectly okay way of managing your classes, the use of a laptop puts everything in one place.

Just imagine sitting in class, following along with the notes and typing your own remarks or memory aids just below each slide. At the end of class, hit Save, close the laptop, go to your next class and rinse/repeat. While this may seem obvious it is the not-so-obvious benefits that are causing more and more students to switch from the old paper and pen system to a digital one. While you’re following along in class, you can be catching up on e-mails, using Wikipedia or Google for further explanation on topics you’re not 100% sure of, or even participating in real-time class discussions about the very notes you’re covering! I had one professor who encouraged laptop usage not only for managing digital notes but also to participate in a live Twitter feed he would set up each day. Rather than raise your hand and ask a question out loud risking embarrassment and ridicule, he would have students Tweet the class Twitter account and answer student questions that way. I’ve never seen such useful and extensive class discussion as I did in that class, even if it was partially digital! Anyway, on to the tips!

Tip #1 – Choose The Size Wisely!

While 16″+ laptops are easy to look at and very comfortable to use, they really aren’t that practical for a student intending on using them in class. Here’s why: Many lecture halls and classrooms try to pack in as many desks and students as possible. As a result, personal space is not all that abundant. Some classes have long tables with chairs that can accommodate a large laptop, but most definitely do not. Most lecture halls have chairs with an attached surface which is sometimes as small as 12″ wide! They were built with sheets of paper and clipboards in mind, not 16″ supercomputer laptops. So beware of larger “entertainment” laptops and always keep in mind what you’re really buying this laptop for. I’d recommend going no larger than 15.1″ and even then they can be a hassle at times. Try to go as small as you can tolerate.

Tip #2 – Battery Life

For most students, a day at school can be 6 hours or more. While much of your time is spent racing from class to class or grabbing lunch or coffee, the rest is spent sitting in class likely using your brand new laptop. This is where having a laptop with excellent battery life really pays off. If buying from an electronics store, ask the salesman how long you can expect a full charge to last on average. Try to find a laptop that has a battery capable of at least 2 hours. Apple laptops are famous for their long battery lives often lasting 4 hours or more, but they’re also famous for being rather expensive and probably won’t be an option for anyone choosing a budget laptop. If you’ve found a laptop you like but you find it has a poor battery life, buying a spare battery is always an option. If your salesman is working on commission, see if he or she will throw one in for free. If all else fails, stuff the power cord into your backpack and keep your laptop charged during breaks between classes.

Tip #3 – Memory

There are two kinds of memory in a computer, RAM and Storage(hard drive) Memory.

RAM is what your computer uses to load programs, play video, music, etc. Think of it like a handyman’s work bench. The more room he has, the more projects he can work on simultaneously and the faster he can access each of them. More is always better when it comes to RAM, so don’t try to cut costs on this feature but don’t break the bank going to large amounts either. 4GB should be plenty.
Storage Memory is what your hard drive is. It’s where all the stuff you install and save get stored. If you plan on using your laptop for music, video, games, etc. you’ll want as big a hard drive as you can afford. If your laptop is going to be used just for casual web browsing, e-mailing, IM’ing, essay-writing, etc. then this is definitely a feature you can minimize to save some $$. I would advise getting at least a 100GB hard drive as Windows, Microsoft Office, and other essential programs can really add up in memory usage over time.

Tip #4 – Processor Speed

This again depends on your planned usage. If you want to play movies and games you’re going to need a processor that’s beefy enough to handle it. But if you’re just doing casual tasks like web browsing, e-mailing, etc. then this is another feature you can cut costs on to save lots of $$. Don’t go lower than 1.6GHz though, this should be your bare minimum.

Tip #5 – Onboard Sound and Video

Do not let a salesman talk you into buying a laptop that has standalone sound and video adapters as these add to the overall cost of a laptop in a huge way. A sound card and video card can often DOUBLE the price of an otherwise suitable laptop. Again, unless you’re doing some heavy-duty gaming or video editing these are not necessary and you will never fully utilize them. It’s kind of like buying an automatic machine gun when all you need is a slingshot.

Tip #6 – Pre-Installed Software

Make sure your new laptop has at least Windows 7 and some productivity software. If it doesn’t have Windows 7 or Microsoft Office you’re probably going to want to try to bargain it in with your salesman. If he tries to sell them to you at full price or even slightly discounted, do not, DO NOT buy it from him. Students get large discounts through their on-campus computer and software outlets often in the range of 80% off. For example, I can get a full version of MS Office Home and Student Edition for $60 and Windows 7 Professional for $99. They are regularly priced at $160 for Office and $329 for Windows 7 Pro both at Future Shop. (Time of writing: July 12, 2010) This is another great area to save lots of money on a student laptop.

Tip #7 – Everything Else is Just Extra

As for all features I haven’t covered, consider them fluff or extras. Digital card readers, fingerprint scanners, built-in webcams, auxiliary ports, etc. are all stuff that you really don’t need to consider. If the model you choose has them and they don’t add much to the bottom line, great. If a salesman tries to convince you that you’ll get hit by lightning if you don’t have them, walk away. Never forget what you’re buying this laptop for and don’t let words like “premium extras”, “limited edition model”, or “media-friendly” trick you into opening your wallet any further than you have to. Over the life of your laptop you may use those features once or twice so they’re definitely not worth the $100 or $200 they’re going to add to the price tag.

Tip #8 – Shop Around!

Don’t let the sales people on commission manipulate you into buying right then and there. “This sale ends tomorrow…” is the oldest line in the book. What they’re not telling you is that this sale ends but a newer, even better one starts right after it. Never feel pressured to capitalize on what appears to be an unbelievable deal. If they can afford to sell you that laptop at that price today, they can afford to do it again tomorrow, or even next week. Make sure you compare prices with other stores like Future Shop, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Costco, London Drugs and Staples. Then check online at Canadian sites TigerDirect.ca and NCIX.com to compare how good the deals really are. Often you’ll find better deals online while price-checking the deals you found in-store so keep an eye out for those “online only deals”.

Tip #9 – Accessories

The only accessories I would recommend are a small mouse and a laptop skin. Note: not a laptop bag, but a rubber skin with a zipper, they’re much cheaper. It’s like a wet-suit for your laptop. That’s all you need to keep it safe from bumps and scratches and it fits nicely in your backpack. I also recommend a mouse for those times when you’re in the library or at home and have some space to spread out. The touch pads are great for portability and convenience but nothing beats navigating with an actual mouse you can hold in your hand. Look for the small wireless mice designed specifically for laptops. Some of the nice ones combine a data storage key along with the USB plug-in component of the wireless mouse giving you a great place for keeping documents, resumes, and anything else that you may need fast access to from any computer.

Tip #10 – Warranties

Many electronics stores and computer outlets offer their own store warranties upon the sale of an item. For computers these can be a good thing if the price is right. They’ll often tell you how any problem big or small will be taken care of free of charge if you purchase a warranty. What they don’t tell you is that there is almost no limit to how long they can keep your laptop to do a repair. The major electronics stores in Canada have central servicing offices where they send their warranty claims for repair. In plain english, you’re stuck without a laptop during the time it takes for your computer to be shipped, repaired, and sent back to the store you dropped it off at. Depending on the repair and parts availability, this can take up to 6 months in some cases!! Personally I feel warranties are a waste of money as I’ve never encountered a problem so grave I couldn’t fix it myself. But I’m sure everyone has heard a story of someone who bought a computer only to have it die the next day so it’s really all about budget and personal choice. For me I’d rather save the $50-$100 and pay a local repair shop for faster service if anything ever goes wrong.

Conclusion

I hope you’ve found these tips useful! I write them from experience as a Canadian University student who owns a Hewlett-Packard G10 laptop that I bought with Future Shop gift cards that I received last Christmas! I managed to get it $200 cheaper using the tips above so they definitely work! If you think I’ve missed something or if you have any comments at all let me know on the forum or comment below. Happy laptop shopping!

** original article location here

Source by Jamie Storm

24 Jun

The Secrets of Top Students by Stefanie Weisman

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on June 24, 2022 @ 12:24 am

“The Secrets of Top Students: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Acing High School and College” by Stefanie Weisman is chock full of strategies to do just what she claims in the title, Ace High School and College. This is an outstanding book for any student who wants to do better in school. Following Weisman’s advice won’t only help you get better grades, but you’ll learn a lot more too.

I did very well in high school and college, but not as good as Weisman. Her accomplishments are very impressive, and besides her own first hand knowledge, she included tips and strategies from many others who also excelled throughout their schooling. (Valedictorians like Weisman, Rhodes scholars, Fulbright scholars, Intel Science Fair finalists, National Spelling Bee champions and others like these.) I read the book because I speak to and work with students, and I also wanted to see how it would be for my daughter to read. It’s one I definitely will have her read when she’s a bit older, but since she asked why she had to wait, maybe I’ll let her read it now and then again when she starts high school.

What I really like is that this book isn’t just another “how to study” book. It is much more than that. While it does include advice on how to maximize your studying, it also provides information on the entire learning experience, including why you should want to be a better student in the first place.

There are chapters on motivation, time management, how taking care of your body will improve your mind and ability to study, learn, and get good grades. There is a chapter on navigating the game of academia, which is important. The actual study tips are divided into what you should do in the class room and how to take notes, learning to read for school, honing your homework skills, how to write a paper, and getting ready for and taking tests.

The book also includes a few helpful exercises to help students practice what they have learned in regards to taking notes, staying motivated, etc. And again, I like that the book talks about lifestyle tips and techniques, and not just study tips. There are a a lot of things during high school and college that will effect your grades. It’s not just how you write papers and take tests. This book does an excellent job at covering a lot of areas and providing a lot of practical advice without going too far and give students another voluminous text book to read. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to become a top student.

Source by Alain Burrese

25 May

Top 5 Tips To Score Top Marks In Statistics Exams

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on May 25, 2022 @ 12:00 am

Some subjects hold the unique distinction of being different from the usual ones. Accounting and statistics are good examples of such subjects. When a student looks at statistics for the first time, the terminology in itself is enough to confuse him/her and scare them away! However, by following a few tips and strategies, students can surely pull themselves together and master this intensely difficult subject and secure top marks! Here are a few top tips for students to achieve success in their statistics exams and score the coveted A grade.

Read through the given data and write down the essentials

When given a problem, students should read through it more than once and write down the essentials before attempting to solve it. This is a good practise not only when it comes to statistics but also for other subjects like math, accounting and physics. In fact, this is a popularly recommended practise by expert teachers in the subject. When students seek statistics homework help online, this is the very first thing that they are taught to do.

Be careful while reading from graphs and images

While reading from graphs, it is important to note down what the axes represent. This should be the first thing one must do when reading a graph and then go through the problem statement and write down what needs to be done. This is the key to working with graphs and images.

Don’t get confused with the terminology

It is often observed that students get confused between various terms such as mean, median, standard deviation and variance and so on. To tackle this problem, it is important that students understand what exactly these terms refer to and be able to identify them when working in a problem. This will solve half the troubles when it comes to performing in exams.

Understand how transformations in a data set affect the summary statistics

Apart from understanding the terminology used completely, learning how data manipulations and transformations affect the summary is quite important. For example, adding a number say x to each element in the data set affects the mean and median (they also increase by the number x). The standard deviation and variance are however unaffected by this. Understanding the reason behind this and learning such transformations can come in handy during exams. Most tutors take care to sensitize towards data manipulations and transformations while they seek statistics homework help or assignment help.

Understand the implications of the logarithmic transformations

Being able to understand log patterns and applying log transforms to numbers is quite helpful as the logarithm can be used to tone down the magnitude of the numbers and they thus become easier to work with. Similarly, understanding various patterns such as the theme explored in braces (when x and y are exponentially related, the scatter plot of the number x and log y will have a linear pattern) will help working with tough problems very easy.

Source by Sunil D. Kumar

24 Apr

Homework Organization For Students (And Their Parents)

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on April 24, 2022 @ 10:43 pm

I spend a lot of time at my seminars and workshops, on the phone and via email discussing the subject of homework organization. Actually, I spend a lot of time listening to parents complain that their children’s homework disorganization is driving everybody crazy!

Many students have such a hard time getting it together that by the time they finally sit down to do their homework, they are exhausted. No wonder they don’t want to do it! Getting organized will help alleviate exhaustion, bad attitudes, procrastination and rebelliousness.

Homework organization just makes life easier for everyone.

These are the homework organization tips that I use as a student, teacher and parent. Print this list and read it with your children. Then, post it on the fridge and refer to it often so that everybody (parents, kids, babysitters, grandparents) will be on the same organized page.

At School:

Write down every, single homework assignment in one place. I strongly recommend using a bound or wire notebook- definitely NOT a loose leaf binder. I don’t care how careful you are, pages will fall out, and then what? You won’t know what to do nor when to do it! A plain notebook is fine, but a datebook or calendar is the best. Some schools even provide these to students. Use it.

Write down homework assignments as you get them. This is mostly for older students that change classes and teachers, but it is a good habit for everyone. If the teacher says, “Oh, tonight I want you to read Chapter 4,” write that down in your notebook.

Write down every, single due date for a project or paper- even if you have a handout or syllabus. Handouts disappear (I think they hang out with loose socks), but you will still know what to do and when to do it if you have everything written down in your homework notebook.

Keep ALL of the day’s homework assignments together in one place. Don’t have a special place or page for math, another for writing, etc. You want to see everything in one spot.

Check your homework notebook Three (3) Times A Day: Before you leave school (or each class), double check to make certain that you have everything (books, paper, materials, etc.) that you will need later.

At Home:

Before you start doing your homework, look at your notebook and make sure that you are doing the right assignment, the right page, etc.

Before you put everything away, take one more quick look. Did you do everything? Good!

Make a decision about where you will put your completed homework: into a binder pocket, a special homework folder, etc. You may decide to have a color-coded folder for each class. If you choose to use folders, I strongly recommend using 3-hole punched folders and keeping them together in a 3-ring binder. Whatever you choose, stick to it! Don’t put your homework in your a binder today, a folder tomorrow… And, never, ever fold your homework into a book or throw it loose into your backpack! Shudder!

Use your Magic Homework Box. You do have one, don’t you? The Magic Homework Box is a box with all of the homework supplies and materials a student needs on a regular basis. These supplies only come out of the Magic Homework Box during homework time, so you always have what you need. Now, that’s magic!

Clean up as soon as you are finished with your homework. Now, not later! Put completed pages in your homework folder, then put the folder and homework notebook in your backpack. Not only will mornings will be less crazy, you won’t have to sit in class knowing that you did your homework and forgot it at home (doh!). Don’t forget to put away the dictionary and any other books you may have used.

Remember to put everything back into your Magic Homework Box. In my house, homework is not “done” until everything is cleaned up and put away.

Keep your backpack organized. Throw away all of those candy wrappers and random pieces of paper. Keep one area or pocket filled with a few items (pencils, a sharpener, maybe a calculator) so that you can do your homework anywhere- maybe even before you get home! Remove any graded test, project, report or paper that your teacher has taken the time to return to you. Why? You might need it to study for a test, for a portfolio or for a project. You can throw everything away at the end of the semester or the school year, but until then put each item in its own subject file, but NOT in the homework folder. Remember, homework folders are ONLY for completed homework that is ready to be turned in!

Don’t give up! They say it takes 21 days to form a good habit. If you forget to do something on this list, don’t stop trying. Hey, maybe if you remember to write down all of your homework or clean up for 21 days in a row, your mom or dad will do something extra nice for you! (Parents, that was a hint!)

A Note to Parents about Homework Organization

Please remember that your job is to give your children organizational tools and show them how to use them. Your job is NOT to organize your child’s homework! So, in the beginning, you might check your son’s homework notebook to make sure that he is writing down all of his assignments in one place, but you would never dream of calling the teacher and checking. You might watch as your daughter copies the science project due dates into her homework notebook; you will not do it for her.

Yes, I know that it is hard to let go- I’ve been there! But, we want our children to be organized and independent learners, right?

You can do it!

(For more information about recommended homework organization products and The Magic Homework Box, please see site information below.)

Source by Angela Norton Tyler

25 Mar

Survive the Cafeteria and Have a Healthy College Diet With These 5 Tips

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on March 25, 2022 @ 10:25 pm

Living in the dorms and getting a healthy college diet at the cafeteria can be a serious challenge. Many students put on the freshman 15 or more, and the caf food is at least partially to blame. There are plenty of unhealthy choices in the caf and this leads to an improper diet. If you want to improve your diet and lose some weight, here are 5 tips for cafeteria survival:

1. Don’t take a tray

Nutritionists agree that eating 5 or 6 small meals throughout the day is better for your weight than eating 1-3 large ones. Grabbing a tray is counterproductive because you can fit a lot on a tray, like a dinner plate, dinner roll, desert plate, and beverages. Skip the tray and just grab the plate and silverware. Fill up the plate with a decent lunch or dinner and go to your seat and set it down. You can head back up for your beverages. This is a fool-proof way to stick to eating small meals.

2. Unlimited meal plan

Building on what I mentioned above, you want to eat several small meals per day on a healthy college diet. Make sure that you have enough access to stop for at least 3 meals before the caf closes, and maybe even run through for a snack. It depends on how your school runs its meal system, but if you only have access to 10 meals per week in the caf, this is going to lead to eating large meals, fast food, or unhealthy snacks in between meals.

3. What to eat for breakfast

A healthy college diet must include breakfast. Studies show that people who eat breakfast daily are thinner than people who don’t. Choose a breakfast with lean protein, complex carbs, and fiber.

4. Beverage choice

The cafeteria has many sugary soft-drinks available. Try to avoid these, since they will add a lot of unwanted calories and processed sugar to your diet. Try to stick with water, milk, and limited amounts of real fruit juice.

5. What to avoid

Some things to try to avoid as much as possible for a healthy college diet:

The desert tray and desert freezer
Bagels
French fries
The waffle bar
The soft-serve ice cream machine
Fountain pops
Doughnuts
Desert pastries
Sugary cereal

Source by Scott Kae

23 Feb

New Teachers – Lecture Tips That Will Keep Students Interested

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on February 23, 2022 @ 9:30 pm

You’ve all seen the Charlie Brown episode where the teacher is lecturing and all the students hear is “wa wa wa wa wa wa.” We remember watching that as kids. Unfortunately, seeing this as kids taught us that this was what school was like. Now, as we are adult teachers, we are constantly afraid of becoming the teacher from Charlie Brown. Well, what if we could avoid this? What if we could use this knowledge to create inspiring and organized lectures using Best Practices? I have developed 6 tips for you to help you in creating fun and memorable lectures that will leave your students with long lasting knowledge.

1. Create an objective. We have heard this before from our administrators. Often times we hear this when the administrators come to observe us in the classroom. Write your objective on the board! Say it at the beginning of class! Say it at the end of class! Well, they’re right! By telling the students what they are to be learning and why they are learning, they are more apt to pay attention and way more apt to remember what you’re talking about. It will also help them when coming up with what they should actually be writing down.

2. Have your students do something productive. Your students should not be just sitting there. If you are engaged in best practices, your students should be doing something active with their learning while they are listening to your lecture. More often than not, this means that they will need to be taking notes. But give them structure. Maybe this meaning Cornell notes or maybe it’s powernotes. It’s your call!

3. Break it up. Break your lecture up into different segments. I would say no more than 4 or 5. This way, those who have difficulties processing long bits of information will be able to compartmentalize what you are telling them easier.

4. Separate the sections with different activities. Throughout your lecture, break up your talking by having the students do different activities. For example, have students turn to a near by partner and repeat the top 5 parts of the lecture they have heard so far. Doing this will help them to remember because they are actively participating.

5. Have them repeat through questioning. As you lecture, don’t just talk. Question your students. Question them on different background knowledge that they will know information about. Tapping into this will help them to succeed in acquiring new knowledge.

6. Wrap it up effectively. At the end of your lecture have your students do something with the information. Perhaps its a quick little quiz on the board. Perhaps they will write a paragraph summary.

Whatever you lecture about, make sure to follow these 6 tips to have your students remain actively engaged. This will increase their knowledge and participation. No Charlie Brown Effect here!

Source by Mackenzie Kerby

24 Jan

10 Tips for Eliciting Extraordinary Efforts From Your Students

Posted in Education by anshbookstore on January 24, 2022 @ 8:46 pm

One of my “colleagues” got very angry with me one day (we taught courses that tended to share the same students). He said,

“Students don’t put out much effort in my class to get their assignments done because they say they have so much work to do for your class. You convince them that what you’re teaching is the most important!”

He continued to bluster for awhile longer (this wasn’t the first time he blustered at me).

It was a fascinating exchange (I did get to make a few comments). But I have never forgotten that experience because I have always believed that what I taught was the most important. Here are some questions that immediately come to mind that I think we all need to consider regarding our own teaching:

Didn’t he believe that what he taught was most important, too?
Why would you teach if you didn’t think that what you taught was important?
Why would you go to school long enough (and become poor enough in the process) to get a doctorate if you didn’t think that your discipline was important?

I did convince my students (not all, but most) to put forth extraordinary efforts. Even today, I see students who still tell me that they use ideas that they learned in my classes. Just this last weekend when I was at Costco, one of my former students was there and told me this – and she was one of my students nearly 20 years ago.

Here are ten tips for you to implement so you, too, can elicit extraordinary efforts from your students:

Make your assignments relevant. Explain and reinforce your sense of the assignments’ relevance. so that students know you have been thoughtful about what you are asking them to do.
Explain clearly what you want students to do. Don’t assume they understand or can “figure it out.” Help them understand.
Provide rubrics, when appropriate. If you aren’t familiar with rubrics, check online and with your college’s teaching & learning center.
Demonstrate that you care about the content you are teaching. Do this through your engagement, involvement, and commitment to what you do. Students sense whether you care of not – and it is more than just your words.
Put forth extraordinary effort yourself. Every day. Whether you are in class or not.
Have students from previous semesters provide written comments for incoming students. You can even have one semester’s students write letters, which are sealed, for the next semester’s students about how to succeed in your class.
Provide timely feedback to students. Regardless of whether they are turning in weekly assignments or large projects, get them graded and returned to students quickly.
Bring enthusiasm to the classroom about what you teach. Communicate passionately about why you ask students to work as hard as you do.
Recognize that sometimes, you were wrong about what you had laid out in the syllabus. This can easily happen the first time you teach a course. It takes you longer to teach something than you had thought or you realize that the timeline expectations you had were overambitious. Acknowledge it and adjust for students. Better to recognize it yourself than have students begging or grousing around.
Ask students for exemplars to use in future courses. Many students work well from models and just knowing what is possible is encouraging and challenging for many students.

Students actually want to do well. Ignite that desire in them and elicit excellence and extraordinary effort. It makes being a professor incredibly rewarding.

Source by Meggin McIntosh