ALERT: I’M ABOUT TO TRY TO CONVINCE YOU THAT CONTINUING TO WORK ON YOUR ACT SCORE UNTIL YOU’VE ACHIEVE YOUR OPTIMUM POTENTIAL COULD HAVE A MONETARY RETURN IN THE FORM OF MORE SCHOLARSHIP MONEY.
If you’ve started making college visits, you’ve probably looked at the campus grounds, Greek organizations, climate, size of student population, cafeteria food, majors offered, reputation.....the list goes on and on and is extremely personal. There is one criteria you may not have considered but which might influence your decision or at the least your preparation before applying for admission:
.........................SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES!
As early as the summer before junior year, start using your computer savvy to investigate the scholarships available and the requirements for qualification. There are many online services to choose from but be cautious and NEVER sign up for one that requires payment or asks for a credit card number as part of the “free” registration process. Scholarships are intended to GIVE you money, not take it from you; tuition expenses will do that very effectively.
Most online scholarship assistance services will require that you allow them to share your name and information with a bevy of colleges, each of which may contact you. I don’t have a problem with this unsolicited recruitment because it has frequently helped me become aware of schools that I might not have considered otherwise. You may feel differently, so be sure to read the terms and make it a point to inform your folks BEFORE SIGNING UP.
Here’s how to get started: web search “scholarships” and start cruising around.
So now that you’ve done a little investigation, you might have discovered that many colleges give tuition breaks and scholarship awards with GPA and ACT/SAT qualifications. That’s why it’s prudent to begin the information gathering the summer before junior year; you have time to work on that GPA.
Many schools INCREASE the award based on higher ACT scores too, so even a senior can work toward the September and October ACT tests and achieve a higher score that would qualify for additional scholarship money. Once your applications are in, and even if you’ve been accepted at your first-choice school, you could retake the ACT in December of your senior year and meet the requirements for a higher scholarship award before packing your trunk and loading up the van for Freshman Orientation.
You're already on computer, so start searching for "found money" right now!!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
ESSENTIAL STUDY MATERIALS FOR COLLEGE
In addition to your MP3, microwave, dorm refrigerator, cell phone, new clothes, laundry bag, and all those other "necessities" of college, there are some educational supplies that will be helpful for getting organized and studying.
1) ASSIGNMENT PLANNER, date book, calendar. Whichever system you prefer, you should definitely have some way to keep your engagements and assignments in one central location. I recommend something that can be carried around. You'll undoubtedly make social plans at the Student Center and assignments for class may be altered from the general syllabus during class time. You will need to write these things down "on the fly," so having a date planner handy will avoid the need to recopy a date from the cafeteria napkin.
2) Separate 2-POCKET FOLDERS for each class*. You may not have used this type of system in high school, especially if you had a schedule that included every class, every day. In college, you'll be going to English 3 days a week and History only 2. Every day will be a little different. Having separate folders for each class will allow you to carry around only the materials that are relevant for that day.
3) HIGHLIGHTER PENS. In many high schools, textbooks are loaned. In college, you'll be the proud owner of very expensive textbooks for each class. Don't worry about reselling these resources. Use your books to the fullest potential. Be prepared to interact with the material, including highlighting reading assignments and making notes in the margins. What you might lose in resale value will certainly be recouped in greater learning, possible scholarships for elevated grades, and avoidance of duplicate tuition fees for replacing a lackluster class grade.
4) INDEX CARDS. Even if you're not a flash card learner, index card notes can be your best friend when it comes to writing research papers, organizing a bibliography, or memorizing equations and facts.
5) BULLETIN BOARD, magnetic board, French message board. No matter how organized and careful you are about putting notes in your date planner, having one place to stash little scraps of paper will have positive payback when you're looking for the inevitable tidbit of lost information.
6) Separate SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS for each class*. (See Tip #2 and apply the same logic.) And none of those 3-subject spirals unless you expect to use all 3 sections for the same class. Mixing subjects in college just doesn't work!
7) PAPER CLIPS, clamp fasteners, stapler, scotch tape. Well, the scotch tape is just something I like to have, but the fasteners are important for keeping related papers together. I didn't learn this until tutoring in Calculus where I was doing all the homework assigned to my students, but one class might be on chapter 2 while another group was already on chapter 3. I found that keeping my homework assignments in chapter order, bound with a jumbo clamp fastener (and with a title page) made it easier for me to access the appropriate homework for each student.
FINAL WORD: If you look in my attic, you'll find all of the notes from all of my graduate classes, archived in a bankers box. I'd recommend saving all of your classroom materials, at the least until you're finished with school. Notes, written papers, and past tests can all be useful resources in subsequent classes. You might even think of assembling a binder of past research essays from high school. A little more work and some of your papers might have applications in college as well. (Yes, I have my own binder. Periodically I look through it with mixed reaction: "What was I thinking?!?" or "Hmm, not bad." Either way, the resources cited are useful. I used material from several Philosophy and Education undergrad courses when writing my Doctoral dissertation!)
*ABOUT COLOR CODING
Need a little visual stimulus to stay organized? I'd recommend having a color coding system for classes: red for English and blue for Math, for example. Have your pocket folder and spiral in different color for each class. It would be a "bummer" to mistakenly bring your history spiral to English class.
1) ASSIGNMENT PLANNER, date book, calendar. Whichever system you prefer, you should definitely have some way to keep your engagements and assignments in one central location. I recommend something that can be carried around. You'll undoubtedly make social plans at the Student Center and assignments for class may be altered from the general syllabus during class time. You will need to write these things down "on the fly," so having a date planner handy will avoid the need to recopy a date from the cafeteria napkin.
2) Separate 2-POCKET FOLDERS for each class*. You may not have used this type of system in high school, especially if you had a schedule that included every class, every day. In college, you'll be going to English 3 days a week and History only 2. Every day will be a little different. Having separate folders for each class will allow you to carry around only the materials that are relevant for that day.
3) HIGHLIGHTER PENS. In many high schools, textbooks are loaned. In college, you'll be the proud owner of very expensive textbooks for each class. Don't worry about reselling these resources. Use your books to the fullest potential. Be prepared to interact with the material, including highlighting reading assignments and making notes in the margins. What you might lose in resale value will certainly be recouped in greater learning, possible scholarships for elevated grades, and avoidance of duplicate tuition fees for replacing a lackluster class grade.
4) INDEX CARDS. Even if you're not a flash card learner, index card notes can be your best friend when it comes to writing research papers, organizing a bibliography, or memorizing equations and facts.
5) BULLETIN BOARD, magnetic board, French message board. No matter how organized and careful you are about putting notes in your date planner, having one place to stash little scraps of paper will have positive payback when you're looking for the inevitable tidbit of lost information.
6) Separate SPIRAL NOTEBOOKS for each class*. (See Tip #2 and apply the same logic.) And none of those 3-subject spirals unless you expect to use all 3 sections for the same class. Mixing subjects in college just doesn't work!
7) PAPER CLIPS, clamp fasteners, stapler, scotch tape. Well, the scotch tape is just something I like to have, but the fasteners are important for keeping related papers together. I didn't learn this until tutoring in Calculus where I was doing all the homework assigned to my students, but one class might be on chapter 2 while another group was already on chapter 3. I found that keeping my homework assignments in chapter order, bound with a jumbo clamp fastener (and with a title page) made it easier for me to access the appropriate homework for each student.
FINAL WORD: If you look in my attic, you'll find all of the notes from all of my graduate classes, archived in a bankers box. I'd recommend saving all of your classroom materials, at the least until you're finished with school. Notes, written papers, and past tests can all be useful resources in subsequent classes. You might even think of assembling a binder of past research essays from high school. A little more work and some of your papers might have applications in college as well. (Yes, I have my own binder. Periodically I look through it with mixed reaction: "What was I thinking?!?" or "Hmm, not bad." Either way, the resources cited are useful. I used material from several Philosophy and Education undergrad courses when writing my Doctoral dissertation!)
*ABOUT COLOR CODING
Need a little visual stimulus to stay organized? I'd recommend having a color coding system for classes: red for English and blue for Math, for example. Have your pocket folder and spiral in different color for each class. It would be a "bummer" to mistakenly bring your history spiral to English class.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
ACT: ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Do you find it difficult to apply the grammar rules on the ACT English section because wrong answers "sound alright" to you? That's the down side to the English language: spoken English and written English might as well be two different languages! In speaking, we tend to slur letters and words together -- "I shoulda gone to the party." We use slang to communicate ideas -- "Dude!" We leave prepositions dangling at the end of a sentence -- "You wanna go with?" And sometimes we don't speak in full sentences, ignore pronoun references, and misplace modifiers.
Applying the grammar rules in context can be helpful because we can check to whom a pronoun refers, but it can also lead to errors brought on by application of sloppy speech to formal writing.
Here's a way to remove your "ear" from analysis of grammar rules and focus on reviewing the rules themselves. The SAT (and PSAT) give discrete sentences with several word groups underlined. The test taker's task is to observe and analyze each word group for adherence to the same grammar rules used on the ACT. You can use retired SAT or PSAT tests to practice identifying the rules without the distraction of a whole story.
I use retired PSAT tests, which are available for $3 on the College Board Store website:
www.store.collegeboard.com
You'll need the answer key as well, but that's free and is provided as a download on your computer. A word of caution: my Apple computers do not recognize the format of the downloads, so be sure to have Word or some similar way to open the answer keys.
An added bonus is that you will get the entire test, so why not practice Reading and Math while you're at it? The Math concepts stop short of the knowledge level required on the ACT and Reading uses a different success strategy, but the practice can't hurt.
Applying the grammar rules in context can be helpful because we can check to whom a pronoun refers, but it can also lead to errors brought on by application of sloppy speech to formal writing.
Here's a way to remove your "ear" from analysis of grammar rules and focus on reviewing the rules themselves. The SAT (and PSAT) give discrete sentences with several word groups underlined. The test taker's task is to observe and analyze each word group for adherence to the same grammar rules used on the ACT. You can use retired SAT or PSAT tests to practice identifying the rules without the distraction of a whole story.
I use retired PSAT tests, which are available for $3 on the College Board Store website:
www.store.collegeboard.com
You'll need the answer key as well, but that's free and is provided as a download on your computer. A word of caution: my Apple computers do not recognize the format of the downloads, so be sure to have Word or some similar way to open the answer keys.
An added bonus is that you will get the entire test, so why not practice Reading and Math while you're at it? The Math concepts stop short of the knowledge level required on the ACT and Reading uses a different success strategy, but the practice can't hurt.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
PRE-SEMESTER REVIEW FOR ALGEBRA -- PROPERTIES OF REAL NUMBERS
(In the Algebra classroom, it is often not stressed that the steps taken in solving an equation are based on the properties of real numbers. Every Algebra student has heard the terms and sometimes the response to stimulus like the word “distribute” mirrors Pavlov’s dogs*. The point that is missed, in my opinion, is the use of properties as reasons for taking a solution step, which would be an introductory activity for 2-column proof in geometry and logic. Tutoring Resources has an activity that uses simple algebra equations to demonstrate 2-column proof. Visit the website www.tutoring-resources.com to request a copy.)
For students taking Algebra next semester, there is a good chance that properties will be tested within the first week or two of school. So, let’s review Properties and see how to think about them while working algebra problems.
COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY:
Think about the commuters on a train. They get on in various cities along the line, but they can get off in any order. The Commutative Property says that you can add or multiply in any order.
ASSOCIATIVE PROPERTY:
Think about standing in line at a concert. You come with several friends and you’re chatting amiably when you notice a classmate 50 people behind you in line. You may NOT give that person skips in line (like the commutative property). But if the kid behind you says hello, it’s okay to turn around and talk with that person also. You can’t let an interloper in line, but you CAN associate with the people around you. This is the Associative Property which also says you can add or multiply in any order.
DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY:
I like the expanded the title of this property: The distributive property of multiplication OVER addition and subtraction. It actually explains that the coefficient jumps OVER the parentheses and multiplies each of the addends or subtrahends before they are added or subtracted.
IDENTITIES:
Identical twins are exactly the same. Identical terms are also exactly the same. There is a way to get exactly the same term in adding and multiplying.
MULTIPLICATIVE IDENTITY:
Think -- What would I multiply times a number to get the same number back again?
INVERSES:
Using the Identities, we can also know the inverses intuitively.
Identify of 0?
the Multiplicative Identify of 1?
SUBSTITUTION:
In brief, if 2 terms are equal, then either one can be used for the other.
EQUALITY:
These properties are the steps in equation solving that let you move things across the equal sign. Think -- whatever I do to one side of the equation, I have to do to the other.
ADDITIVE EQUALITY:
MULTIPLICATIVE EQUALITY:
Do you see a similarity between the equations shown in Substitution and those under Equality? Can you explain why?
--------------------------
Now, if you’re thinking that I just spent over an hour uploading this lesson for your benefit alone, you’d be mistaken. It’s not just students who should review previous knowledge before beginning the new semester. Teachers also look over previous work and review concepts, just to be sure we aren’t forgetting something. While a student may forget because of LACK of use, a teacher often forgets because of too much FAMILIARITY. It would be easy to overlook one of these properties, just because it’s always been there. It’s like forgetting to put a pencil in your backpack because there’s always been one there in the past, so you expect it to be there every time.
Just be happy that you’re not the teacher. While you are reviewing for only one class, your teacher is probably preparing for 2 or 3 or even 4 diverse courses!
*"Pavlov's Dogs" is a common reference to an experiment in the 1890’s by Ivan Pavlov in which he rang a bell immediately preceding offering food to the dogs in his study. The food made the dogs salivate. Eventually, just by ringing the bell, the dogs associated the sound with the upcoming food and began to salivate even when food was not offered. The reference to Pavlov suggests that a conditioned response can be elicited by repeated association of two unrelated things: in this case, multiplying a coefficient with each addend inside parentheses.
For students taking Algebra next semester, there is a good chance that properties will be tested within the first week or two of school. So, let’s review Properties and see how to think about them while working algebra problems.
COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY:
Think about the commuters on a train. They get on in various cities along the line, but they can get off in any order. The Commutative Property says that you can add or multiply in any order.
ASSOCIATIVE PROPERTY:Think about standing in line at a concert. You come with several friends and you’re chatting amiably when you notice a classmate 50 people behind you in line. You may NOT give that person skips in line (like the commutative property). But if the kid behind you says hello, it’s okay to turn around and talk with that person also. You can’t let an interloper in line, but you CAN associate with the people around you. This is the Associative Property which also says you can add or multiply in any order.
DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY:I like the expanded the title of this property: The distributive property of multiplication OVER addition and subtraction. It actually explains that the coefficient jumps OVER the parentheses and multiplies each of the addends or subtrahends before they are added or subtracted.
IDENTITIES:Identical twins are exactly the same. Identical terms are also exactly the same. There is a way to get exactly the same term in adding and multiplying.
ADDITIVE IDENTITY:
Think -- What would I add to a number to get exactly the same number back again? MULTIPLICATIVE IDENTITY:INVERSES:Using the Identities, we can also know the inverses intuitively.
ADDITIVE INVERSE:
In arithmetic, you called this the “opposite.” Think -- what would I add to a number to get the AdditiveIdentify of 0?
MULTIPLICATIVE INVERSE:
You might have previously called this the “reciprocal.” Think -- what would I multiply a number by to getthe Multiplicative Identify of 1?
SUBSTITUTION:In brief, if 2 terms are equal, then either one can be used for the other.
EQUALITY:These properties are the steps in equation solving that let you move things across the equal sign. Think -- whatever I do to one side of the equation, I have to do to the other.
ADDITIVE EQUALITY:
MULTIPLICATIVE EQUALITY:Do you see a similarity between the equations shown in Substitution and those under Equality? Can you explain why?--------------------------
Now, if you’re thinking that I just spent over an hour uploading this lesson for your benefit alone, you’d be mistaken. It’s not just students who should review previous knowledge before beginning the new semester. Teachers also look over previous work and review concepts, just to be sure we aren’t forgetting something. While a student may forget because of LACK of use, a teacher often forgets because of too much FAMILIARITY. It would be easy to overlook one of these properties, just because it’s always been there. It’s like forgetting to put a pencil in your backpack because there’s always been one there in the past, so you expect it to be there every time.
Just be happy that you’re not the teacher. While you are reviewing for only one class, your teacher is probably preparing for 2 or 3 or even 4 diverse courses!
*"Pavlov's Dogs" is a common reference to an experiment in the 1890’s by Ivan Pavlov in which he rang a bell immediately preceding offering food to the dogs in his study. The food made the dogs salivate. Eventually, just by ringing the bell, the dogs associated the sound with the upcoming food and began to salivate even when food was not offered. The reference to Pavlov suggests that a conditioned response can be elicited by repeated association of two unrelated things: in this case, multiplying a coefficient with each addend inside parentheses.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
PREPARING FOR THE NEXT LEVEL OF MATH: GEOMETRY
The good news about Geometry is that you’ve studied most of it before. The best news for a visual learner is that many of the theorems can be depicted through drawings. Of course the downside for some is the need for precision in this branch of math, but just a little attention to detail can make even this a minor hurdle easily scaled.
Let’s start with what you know:
AREA
All of these are parallelograms: Length times width
A = LW
Take any parallelogram and draw a diagonal...
and you have 2 identical triangles:
Area is 1/2 the area of the parallelogram
A = 1/2 LW
Here’s a circle.
Area = π (r) squared
PERIMETER
The simplest form for perimeter of a
parallelogram is: P = 2L + 2W (Can you apply the
distributive property to this?)
CIRCUMFERENCE
Must be a circle: (2πr). Check out the similarity between area and circumference.
In high school Geometry, you'll also learn area of any polygon.
Pythagorean Theorem
I've extolled the virtues of the Phythagorean Theorem in previous blogs. Know it and look for ways to use it in Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus.
Here are a few common knowledge items you will want to remember:
1. Sum of the interior angles:
3. Triangle Categories
(The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.)
5. Three points determine a plane.
(So does one line and another point........why?)
(So do two parallel lines..........................why?)
6. Vocabulary.......remember these?
"Given two parallel lines and a transversal, alternate interior angles are congruent." Eventually you'll be able to abbreviate this as AIA, but learn the whole rule first.
General tips for Geometry
Employ your artistic, creative side. Visualize or use the rhythm of music. Try drawing figures with your non-dominant hand. And DO draw the figures!
Let’s start with what you know:
AREA
All of these are parallelograms: Length times widthA = LW
Take any parallelogram and draw a diagonal...
and you have 2 identical triangles:Area is 1/2 the area of the parallelogram
A = 1/2 LW
Here’s a circle.
Area = π (r) squared
PERIMETER
The simplest form for perimeter of a
parallelogram is: P = 2L + 2W (Can you apply the
distributive property to this?)
CIRCUMFERENCE
Must be a circle: (2πr). Check out the similarity between area and circumference.In high school Geometry, you'll also learn area of any polygon.
Pythagorean Theorem
I've extolled the virtues of the Phythagorean Theorem in previous blogs. Know it and look for ways to use it in Geometry, Trigonometry, and Calculus.Here are a few common knowledge items you will want to remember:
1. Sum of the interior angles:
- triangle = 180
- parallelogram = 360
3. Triangle Categories
- equilateral - all sides equal
- equiangular - all angles equal
- isosceles - 2 sides equal (and 2 angles equal)
- scalene - no sides or angles equal
- obtuse - one angle bigger than 90 degrees
- acute - all angles smaller than 90 degrees
- right - one 90 degree angle
(The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.)
5. Three points determine a plane.
(So does one line and another point........why?)
(So do two parallel lines..........................why?)
6. Vocabulary.......remember these?
- skew
- parallel (Remember this from slope in Algebra?)
- perpendicular (This was mentioned with slope in Algebra too.)
- points, lines, planes
- intersection
- segment
- ray
- endpoint
- right angle
- acute angle
- obtuse angle
- complementary angles (Can you distinguish this "complementary" from "complimentary" elsewhere?)
- supplementary angles
- triangle, quadrilateral, pentagon, hexagon, septagon, octagon, nonagon, decagon, n-gon
- radius, diameter, tangent, secant, chord, arc (Relate these to the circle.)
- altitude of a triangle
- diagonal (in any polygon)
- similar
- congruent
"Given two parallel lines and a transversal, alternate interior angles are congruent." Eventually you'll be able to abbreviate this as AIA, but learn the whole rule first.
General tips for Geometry
Employ your artistic, creative side. Visualize or use the rhythm of music. Try drawing figures with your non-dominant hand. And DO draw the figures!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
SUMMER DATE BOOK = PSEUDO-ASSIGNMENT PLANNER
Summer brings the added scheduling challenges of work hours, summer school classes, sports practices and competitions, and, of course, expanded social opportunities. This is a terrific time to practice methods of time management. By finding a system that works well for you now, you will have a predetermined plan for handling short and long term homework assignments next fall. Start a SUMMER DATE BOOK that will mimic an assignment planner, but will be MUCH MORE FUN!
1. Get a calendar. This is like the assignment planner will be when school resumes, but make this one uber-friendly. A free pocket calendar can probably be acquired at your local bank, insurance agent, or card shop. You could use a small wall calendar provided it fits in the purse or backpack you will be carrying around for the summer. If you’re REALLY motivated, you could purchase a day planner with all the bells and whistles at Staples or Target. For those who are technically adept, a blackberry has a calendar option, or so I’m told.
2. Try a color coding system. A different color pen for the various activities can help differentiate between social and sports commitments, for example. You might try using colored dots (available at an office supply store or Walmart) to keep activity groups separate. Some moms use the color coding system to keep the family members’ appointments straight.
3. Enter routine daily or weekly obligations like class schedules and sports activities first. Your work schedule should go in next. These are the things you have little or no control over and must schedule around when making social arrangements.
4. If the daily spaces are large enough, enter related information like addresses or phone numbers along with appointment information. My personal book doesn’t provide enough space for this, so I use pages at the back for this important information. I also have a directory of phone numbers and email addresses for important people like students’ parents and tutors.
5. Get in the habit of entering new plans and appointments as soon as you make them. This is the practice which will be directly transferable to homework assignments next semester.
Have fun with your date book/day planer. Make it usable and refer to it regularly. Check your planner before making new dates. Select one with a cover design that matches your personality and play around with coding systems until you find one that works for you.
1. Get a calendar. This is like the assignment planner will be when school resumes, but make this one uber-friendly. A free pocket calendar can probably be acquired at your local bank, insurance agent, or card shop. You could use a small wall calendar provided it fits in the purse or backpack you will be carrying around for the summer. If you’re REALLY motivated, you could purchase a day planner with all the bells and whistles at Staples or Target. For those who are technically adept, a blackberry has a calendar option, or so I’m told.
2. Try a color coding system. A different color pen for the various activities can help differentiate between social and sports commitments, for example. You might try using colored dots (available at an office supply store or Walmart) to keep activity groups separate. Some moms use the color coding system to keep the family members’ appointments straight.
3. Enter routine daily or weekly obligations like class schedules and sports activities first. Your work schedule should go in next. These are the things you have little or no control over and must schedule around when making social arrangements.
4. If the daily spaces are large enough, enter related information like addresses or phone numbers along with appointment information. My personal book doesn’t provide enough space for this, so I use pages at the back for this important information. I also have a directory of phone numbers and email addresses for important people like students’ parents and tutors.
5. Get in the habit of entering new plans and appointments as soon as you make them. This is the practice which will be directly transferable to homework assignments next semester.
Have fun with your date book/day planer. Make it usable and refer to it regularly. Check your planner before making new dates. Select one with a cover design that matches your personality and play around with coding systems until you find one that works for you.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
4 MISCONCEPTIONS THAT MAY BE LIMITING YOUR ACT SCORE
Would you like to do better on tests like the ACT? Who wouldn’t? You may need to reexamine your preconceptions about studying, testing, and interpreting test results in order to demonstrate your true potential.
Perhaps you believe your school success means that you don’t even need to study. You might believe that a few “cramming” sessions the week before will be sufficient. Perhaps you believe that preparing won’t help improve your score anyway. You might have convinced yourself that you “never do well in testing situations,” so why bother. You might even believe that the school you want to attend doesn’t place much value on test scores. You might believe that you can make up for a low test score through social popularity, sports success, extracurricular activities, or a family legacy.
To be blunt, these misconceptions may be the very reason for mediocre success. While any one or more of them might seem reasonable based on your past experience, relying on history to predict the future may limit your ability to improve on the past. A disappointing test result may be nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This post looks at 4 preconceptions that might be holding you back.
TESTING MISCONCEPTION #1: Either you know it or you don’t.
There is a whole branch of philosophy that examines the question, “If you know, does it naturally follow that you know that you know?” As a philosophy major in college, I argued strongly that knowledge is not necessarily self-evident. As a teacher, I was continuously amazed to know the answer to a student’s question that I had never before thought about consciously. As a parent, I was sometimes disappointed to discover that something untoward that I had suspected would happen, subsequently did happen, indicating that my suspicion was actually knowledge.
Think about a course you took a year or two ago.....Geometry for example. Do you remember the Pythagorean Theorem? Chances are you do, although it might take some prodding to make the connection: "A squared plus B squared equals C squared," to find the hypotenuse and legs of a triangle.
Now, do you know the Distance Formula? ...the equation of a circle? ...the Pythagorean Identity from trigonometry? Since they are all just the Pythagorean Theorem in various forms, the answer is that you DO know each of these things. You may not have completed a trig course, but you already know one of the basic equations. You know it even though you don’t know that you know it. Sometimes a student will miss a question for lack of trying, thinking he or she doesn’t “know” how to find the right answer. The error is in giving up, not in the knowledge. Preparing for the test will highlight things that you know subconsciously and plant them in conscious memory.
The brain is like the maze of halls at school. There are many “lockers” that store information but lack of use may rust the lock needed to access the data. Review of prior knowledge can oil the lock and make it easier to get to what you know. Prior experience with the way a question may be asked can help you find the locker that holds applicable information without meandering around the halls like a Freshman. Rehearsal of possible question topics can improve the speed with which you can get to the right locker during crowded passing periods and apply appropriate knowledge.
Preparing for a test like the ACT can improve your score by increasing your chances of using applicable knowledge at appropriate times with greater speed.
TESTING MISCONCEPTION #2: The ACT test score is the final goal.
Admittedly I am prejudice in my belief that the two concept sections, English and Math, are important topics well past Junior or Senior year of high school.
Knowledge of the basic grammar rules applied by the writers of the ACT in both the English and Reading sections can have major impact on success in college. Informal surveys have shown that appropriate use of the semicolon, for example, can unconsciously impress a teaching assistant reading an essay exam and result in a higher grade. (A similar impact may occur in the scoring of the optional Writing section of the ACT.) Application of simple rules like avoiding run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement, and spelling of its-it’s allows a reader to follow your argument with less confusion, making your writing more impressive.
Many colleges require as many as 6 math credits for graduation and give a math competency test before allowing a student to take a college level math course. By maintaining high school math concepts, you can avoid the need to enroll in a remedial class at full tuition and zero credit. Especially for those who are not “math friendly,” precluding 1, 2, or even 3 additional semesters of elementary arithmetic should be a strong motivator for keeping up with the skills necessary for success in higher lever, required classes.
TESTING MISCONCEPTION #3: One study plan is as good as every other.
While some study is better than no study, no single study plan is effective for all students. You need to know 1) where you stand now, 2) what your goal score is, 3) how you learn, 4) what distractors will present hurdles in your study plan and on testing day, and 5) what will be tested.
The most important of these issues is how you learn. There are many ways to prepare for the ACT and other standardized tests, each with strengths and weaknesses. In order to select the method which will be most effective for you as a unique test taker, you need to realistically exam your individual learning style. Read the Normal Genius blog from 5/7/10, “Selecting a Study Plan for the ACT.”
TESTING MISCONCEPTION #4: The only purpose of the ACT is to get into college.
While it is true that most colleges use standardized test scores as one of many criteria for college admission, ACT scores can also play an important role in qualifying for SCHOLARSHIPS. Every point you can add to your ACT score improves the chances that the college of your choice will recognize your talents and potential, will see that you have an important contribution to make to the student body, and will offer a tuition subsidy or cash stipend. Other organizations also use the ACT scores to award scholarships that can be used for tuition, housing, or expenses.
Whatever the size of a scholarship, it represents 2 impressive distinctions. On the one hand it is a tangible honor for your persistent hard work. But more importantly, it is a gift from you to the people who have supported you financially and emotionally through the challenging high school experience and to those who will be paying the extraordinary college expenses. The kudos that accompany both distinctions are well worth a few weeks of additional study.
Perhaps you believe your school success means that you don’t even need to study. You might believe that a few “cramming” sessions the week before will be sufficient. Perhaps you believe that preparing won’t help improve your score anyway. You might have convinced yourself that you “never do well in testing situations,” so why bother. You might even believe that the school you want to attend doesn’t place much value on test scores. You might believe that you can make up for a low test score through social popularity, sports success, extracurricular activities, or a family legacy.
To be blunt, these misconceptions may be the very reason for mediocre success. While any one or more of them might seem reasonable based on your past experience, relying on history to predict the future may limit your ability to improve on the past. A disappointing test result may be nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy.
This post looks at 4 preconceptions that might be holding you back.
TESTING MISCONCEPTION #1: Either you know it or you don’t.
There is a whole branch of philosophy that examines the question, “If you know, does it naturally follow that you know that you know?” As a philosophy major in college, I argued strongly that knowledge is not necessarily self-evident. As a teacher, I was continuously amazed to know the answer to a student’s question that I had never before thought about consciously. As a parent, I was sometimes disappointed to discover that something untoward that I had suspected would happen, subsequently did happen, indicating that my suspicion was actually knowledge.
Think about a course you took a year or two ago.....Geometry for example. Do you remember the Pythagorean Theorem? Chances are you do, although it might take some prodding to make the connection: "A squared plus B squared equals C squared," to find the hypotenuse and legs of a triangle.
Now, do you know the Distance Formula? ...the equation of a circle? ...the Pythagorean Identity from trigonometry? Since they are all just the Pythagorean Theorem in various forms, the answer is that you DO know each of these things. You may not have completed a trig course, but you already know one of the basic equations. You know it even though you don’t know that you know it. Sometimes a student will miss a question for lack of trying, thinking he or she doesn’t “know” how to find the right answer. The error is in giving up, not in the knowledge. Preparing for the test will highlight things that you know subconsciously and plant them in conscious memory.
The brain is like the maze of halls at school. There are many “lockers” that store information but lack of use may rust the lock needed to access the data. Review of prior knowledge can oil the lock and make it easier to get to what you know. Prior experience with the way a question may be asked can help you find the locker that holds applicable information without meandering around the halls like a Freshman. Rehearsal of possible question topics can improve the speed with which you can get to the right locker during crowded passing periods and apply appropriate knowledge.
Preparing for a test like the ACT can improve your score by increasing your chances of using applicable knowledge at appropriate times with greater speed.
TESTING MISCONCEPTION #2: The ACT test score is the final goal.
Admittedly I am prejudice in my belief that the two concept sections, English and Math, are important topics well past Junior or Senior year of high school.
Knowledge of the basic grammar rules applied by the writers of the ACT in both the English and Reading sections can have major impact on success in college. Informal surveys have shown that appropriate use of the semicolon, for example, can unconsciously impress a teaching assistant reading an essay exam and result in a higher grade. (A similar impact may occur in the scoring of the optional Writing section of the ACT.) Application of simple rules like avoiding run-on sentences, subject-verb agreement, and spelling of its-it’s allows a reader to follow your argument with less confusion, making your writing more impressive.
Many colleges require as many as 6 math credits for graduation and give a math competency test before allowing a student to take a college level math course. By maintaining high school math concepts, you can avoid the need to enroll in a remedial class at full tuition and zero credit. Especially for those who are not “math friendly,” precluding 1, 2, or even 3 additional semesters of elementary arithmetic should be a strong motivator for keeping up with the skills necessary for success in higher lever, required classes.
TESTING MISCONCEPTION #3: One study plan is as good as every other.
While some study is better than no study, no single study plan is effective for all students. You need to know 1) where you stand now, 2) what your goal score is, 3) how you learn, 4) what distractors will present hurdles in your study plan and on testing day, and 5) what will be tested.
The most important of these issues is how you learn. There are many ways to prepare for the ACT and other standardized tests, each with strengths and weaknesses. In order to select the method which will be most effective for you as a unique test taker, you need to realistically exam your individual learning style. Read the Normal Genius blog from 5/7/10, “Selecting a Study Plan for the ACT.”
TESTING MISCONCEPTION #4: The only purpose of the ACT is to get into college.
While it is true that most colleges use standardized test scores as one of many criteria for college admission, ACT scores can also play an important role in qualifying for SCHOLARSHIPS. Every point you can add to your ACT score improves the chances that the college of your choice will recognize your talents and potential, will see that you have an important contribution to make to the student body, and will offer a tuition subsidy or cash stipend. Other organizations also use the ACT scores to award scholarships that can be used for tuition, housing, or expenses.
Whatever the size of a scholarship, it represents 2 impressive distinctions. On the one hand it is a tangible honor for your persistent hard work. But more importantly, it is a gift from you to the people who have supported you financially and emotionally through the challenging high school experience and to those who will be paying the extraordinary college expenses. The kudos that accompany both distinctions are well worth a few weeks of additional study.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)