Top Studying Tips

With education comes the process of learning, one of the main ways of learning is to study. Studying can sometimes be annoying for people that get sidetracked easily, but with these simple tips, studying could become a daily event for you.

Clearing your mind – Clearing your mind before studying decreases the chance of thinking about other things whilst you’re studying. A quick method of doing this, is to write down whatever you’re thinking about on a piece of paper before you start to study.

Snacks – Before you start your studying session, grab some food that won’t give you a burst of energy. Focus on food that has a low carbohydrate level, which will not only give you a small amount of energy, but it will also boost your serotonin, which is a chemical in your brain that makes you feel good.

Time Management – Managing the time of studying sessions can greatly impact the time in which you can associate in other key events you like to participate in on a weekly basis. To help you achieve this, write up a timetable at the start of each week, helping you to plan out your week, adding events as they pop up.

Study Area – Your study area is one of the most important factors when it comes to achieving the most from your study sessions. Your study area should be somewhere you feel relaxed and not at risk of being easily distracted.

Join a group – Joining a group for studying may sound a bit stupid, but it’s actually one of the best ways of studying! Having more than one person studying with you can be a really positive way of learning, mostly because you can test one another’s skills and knowledge with some small quiz questions.

Focus - Do not have your Computer (Unless you using it for studying purposes), Mobile phone or anything in that category. 

Write down keywords - Sometimes you have to read a lot and you might forget what you have read.

I recommend to write down keywords after '5 Pages, say short what you readed so you could look back to that when you're done and remember.

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Nys Education Department - SED: CTB/McGraw-Hill Awarded HS Equivalency Diploma RFP

New York State Education Department (SED) Commissioner John B. King, Jr. announced today that SED intends to execute a contract with CTB/McGraw-Hill to develop a new New York State High School Equivalency Diploma assessment to replace the General Educational Development (GED) test.  GEDTS, a new for-profit entity created by the American Council on Education and Pearson Incorporated, has announced plans that will double the cost of the exam in 2014. The Governor and Legislature must include an appropriation for the development of the new assessment in the State Budget. King said that, in the long run, CTB/McGraw-Hill’s new assessment will save the State money compared to the new pricing structure announced by Pearson.

"The members of the Board of Regents are concerned with two things: accessibility and rigor," New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl H. Tisch said. "While the GED was run by a not-for-profit, the system worked fairly well.  But a Pearson GED monopoly would put our students at the mercy of Pearson’s pricing.  We can’t let price deny anyone the opportunity for success.  That’s why, rather than pay Pearson twice the current cost or limit the number of students who can take the exam, the Regents approved a competitive process to develop a new assessment." 

King noted that New York’s shift to the Common Core Standards (adopted by New York State along with 44 other states) requires a change in the pathway to a New York State High School Equivalency (HSE) Diploma.

"We need a more rigorous exam that reflects the change in the standards," King said.  "A New York State equivalency test will help ensure access and rigor.  And we’re going to look at other pathways to high school equivalency.  The Regents’ goal is to ensure everyone has the opportunity to earn a high school diploma that reflects the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college and a career." 

New York State law prohibits charging individuals to take HSE exams.  The State budget traditionally includes an appropriation to cover the cost of administering the tests.  The announcement by GEDTS that the new GED test, beginning in January 2014, will cost each candidate $120 effectively doubles the cost that New York State currently pays to administer the GED test. In response to the increased cost and changes in the administration and content of the GED test beginning in January 2014, the Board of Regents approved a competitive RFP to identify an appropriately rigorous assessment for a HSE Diploma at the most reasonable price.

CTB/McGraw-Hill’s new HSE assessment, Test Assessing Secondary Completion (TASC), will be a secure, reliable and valid assessment that meets the directions and specifications in the RFP and will be operational by January 2, 2014. The TASC will be aligned to New York’s P-12 Common Core Standards as quickly as possible.

The TASC will be administered on CTB/McGraw-Hill’s Online Assessment System (OAS). CBT/McGraw-Hill will use a phased-in approach for TASC computer-based testing over three years.  The cost per test over the three-year contract, including phased-in computer based testing, is $54 (not including reimbursement for test centers). 

Final approval of the contract is subject to approval by the Office of the State Comptroller.

Pens down, now: HSC students evacuated mid-exam Education

The fires which tore through NSW on Thursday broke out as many HSC students held pens in hand, studying for or sitting the exams they have worked towards for years.

Some had to evacuate mid-exam, while others are now unable to get to their next test.

But HSC student Olivia Creagh, from St Columba's High School at Springwood, said the emergency had put the exams into perspective.

Firefighters protect properties in Lithgow. Photo: Dean Sewell

"A couple of days ago the HSC was the worst thing I was going through. But now it seems so insignificant," she said.

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"The other day I was so worried that maybe I hadn't studied hard enough. But I don't care ... because there's worse things out there."

She was studying at the school library on Thursday when a teacher told her to leave the premises immediately.

The Lake Munmorah fire on the central coast prompted the evacuation of students sitting their HSC engineering exam. Photo: Jason Gordon

"They didn't tell us there was a fire though. It was only when I was outside, I saw the smoke. When I was driving home there was smoke everywhere and everyone was coming out of their houses to look at it."

Some of her fellow Year 12 students were completing exam papers on Thursday afternoon as the situation worsened.

Acting principal of St Columba's Phillip Stewart said they had decided to let those students finish the exam.

Mikahlia Holmes (right) with a friend at Lake Munmorah High School.

"They were effectively in lockdown so we didn't actually disturb them," he said.

"Once the exams were finished they then joined the rest of the school."

The whole school was placed in lockdown until it was able to be evacuated.

"We couldn't have got anyone offsite here with the speed that the fire came up, so all we could do was shelter in place until such time as we could get everyone out safely, and that's what we did," Mr Stewart said.

Students at Lake Munmorah High School on the central coast still had 30 minutes of their HSC Engineering Studies exam to go when they were interrupted by one of their deputy principals telling them they needed to put their pens down and evacuate.

"We went up and physically stopped the exam at 4.30pm and escorted the kids off," principal Lindsay West said.

If you want to read  more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/pens-down-now-hsc-students-evacuated-midexam-20131018-2vrel.html#ixzz2iovpC8gv

200 schools worse off in new scheme - Education

More than 200 public schools in NSW, many in low socio-economic areas, will receive less funding next year under the new Gonski-inspired model, despite an overall $100 million boost to the sector and gains at most schools.

Education Minister Adrian Piccoli announced the levels of funding every public school would receive in the form of additional ''equity loadings'' for socio-economic and indigenous disadvantage, two components of the new needs-based funding model.

The principal Peter Ezzy of Plumpton High with students Christy Velasco who is in year 10 and her brother Joma who is in year 8. The school will receive one of the biggest increases in disadvantage loadings in 2014. Photo: Tamara Dean

An amount of $300 million will go towards funding these loadings in 2014, $100 million of which is new funding. ''For the first time ever, every Aboriginal student in NSW attracts funding, and we are tripling the number of disadvantaged students who also receive funding,'' Mr Piccoli said.

Many schools will receive huge increases next year in the form of these loadings, including the western Sydney schools Plumpton High, which will receive an additional $605,529, Cranebrook, which will receive $620,725 and Chester Hill, $853,767.

Peter Ezzy, principal of Plumpton High School, said the additional funding would be of ''huge benefit'', and gave him certainty for the years ahead. ''We're not used to getting this sort of money, we're always used to trying to do the best we can on a limited budget,'' he said.

But about 200 schools, many in low socio-economic areas and some that have received high levels of special program or equity funding this year, will receive slightly less in the form of loadings in 2014.

These include Mount Druitt Public School and Wiley Park Girls High School, which will each receive $50,000 less.

Department of Education and Communities director-general Michele Bruniges said the department had capped the maximum amount any school could lose at $50,000. ''As the money comes in, we know that the curve of Gonski funding increases, so depending on the data that we collect each year that funding shock won't be great in [2015] or [2016] as it was in [2014],'' she said.

The dip in these schools' funding comes despite former prime minister Julia Gillard's pledge that ''no school would lose a dollar'' under the new system.

Geoff Newcombe, executive director of the Association of Independent Schools NSW, said all schools in his sector had been guaranteed a 3 per cent increase on 2013 funding levels for next year.

Mr Piccoli said he was pleased with the new, fairer funding model.

''Julia Gillard made a political commitment at the time, it was not a commitment that I or anybody else in the NSW government made,'' he said.

Green MP John Kaye said the losses at some public schools were not acceptable, and ''the government should have realised there was a problem with their model'' when it meant some schools in low socio-economic areas would receive less.

Under the government's new Resource Allocation Model, schools will receive a base school allocation, plus equity loadings for disadvantaged students and targeted support for students - such as refugees - who require specific assistance.

Funding for students from low socio-economic backgrounds will be calculated using a new method called the Family Occupation and Education Index, which takes into account three measures relating to the child's parents - their highest level of school education, non-school qualifications and their occupation.

Federal opposition education spokeswoman Kate Ellis said she would closely examine the detail of the NSW arrangements.

"I look forward to seeing the additional funding from Labor’s hard fought education reforms flowing through to students and schools in NSW and will be closely studying the detail of the State Government’s announcement," she said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/200-schools-worse-off-in-new-scheme-20131022-2vz9n.html#ixzz2iouBlHXn

Private schools no guarantee of higher NAPLAN scores, study finds. Education

Private schools no guarantee of higher NAPLAN scores, study finds

"We found that NAPLAN test scores of students from Catholic and other private schools did not statistically differ from those in public schools." Photo: Marco Del Grande

Children who attend private primary schools don't perform any better in NAPLAN tests than their peers at public schools, new research shows.

It was the children of a healthy birth weight, who grew up in higher socio-economic circumstances in homes filled with books and had mothers who didn't work long hours who performed best at NAPLAN.

The study authors said their findings, to be presented at a conference next month, debunked conventional wisdom that ''private schooling enables children to achieve better academic results''.

Community spirit: Privately educated Amy Miller has opted to send daughter Isabella to the local public school. Photo: Jacky Ghossein

''We found that NAPLAN test scores … of students from Catholic and other private schools did not statistically differ from those in public schools,'' the authors said.

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''Our finding seems to suggest that 'nature' provides a more consistent role than 'nurture' at affecting children's cognitive outcome in this young age group.''

For the study, the University of Queensland researchers matched the 2008 and 2010 NAPLAN results of 15,000 year 5 students and 11,000 year 3 students with data from a long-term study that is tracking Australian children from age four.

After controlling for factors like household income, health indicators and parent education level, researchers found there was no statistical difference in the academic achievement of children from similar backgrounds, regardless of which type of school they attended.

''People who are sending their kids to public schools can be confident they're not disadvantaging their kids by doing so,'' one of the researchers, professor of health economics Luke Connelly, said.

''It's not the type of school that changes [the result], it's the things that are being done for the child at home.''

But Professor Connelly said that didn't mean parents paying for primary school education were wasting their money. ''This is one measure of school performance. It's not indicative of the overall value of the school experience for kids and parents.''

Two-thirds of the children in the study attended public schools, while 20 per cent were educated in the Catholic system and the rest at independent schools.

Researchers found that compared with NSW children, Victorian children performed better at reading, and Queensland children performed better at numeracy. All the other states consistently recorded lower test results than NSW in NAPLAN.

Children who weighed less than 2.5 kilograms at birth achieved ''significantly lower'' test scores, especially in grammar and numeracy, with the researchers suggesting low birth weight correlated with longer term developmental delays.

Children whose parents had completed year 12 had significantly higher test scores across all subjects. Students whose mothers worked long hours did worse in all tests except numeracy.

''One explanation for this may be that children of young ages typically spend more time with mothers than fathers; perhaps mothers who work long hours make greater sacrifices of the amount of parental time their children receive,'' the study authors said.

Researchers found year 5 students attending Catholic schools performed significantly worse than those at public schools in all subjects except reading and writing.

However, Professor Connelly said they would have to wait to see how this cohort performed in year 7 before drawing conclusions.

Want to read more? - Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/private-schools-no-guarantee-of-higher-naplan-scores-study-finds-20131012-2vf63.html#ixzz2iotj0AT9

Stanford 2013 Roundtable Panelists demystify the secrets of happiness - University

Stanford 2013 Roundtable panelists demystify the secrets of happiness

The Stanford 2013 Roundtable, "Are You Happy Now? The New Science of Happiness and Wellbeing," convened a panel of psychologists, neuroscientists and business experts to discuss what makes people happy. Their message: Pursuing meaning in one's life is the key to establishing sustained happiness.

BY CYNTHIA MCKELVEY

Highlights of the Stanford Roundtable

In a recent study that ranked 50 countries by overall happiness, the United States slotted in at 23rd. This finding might seem incongruous with the American dream: "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

But that rhetoric – the constant pursuit of happiness – might be what's holding the United States back.

On Friday, Oct. 18, the 2013 Stanford Roundtable, "Are You Happy Now?" convened five experts to discuss what happiness is and why many Americans are unhappy. The panelists also discussed simple, synergistic strategies that people can employ to promote long-lasting, meaningful happiness.

Katie Couric, journalist and host of the daytime talk show Katie, moderated the discussion. Experts included Jennifer Aaker, professor of marketing at the Stanford Graduate School of Business; Firdaus Dhabhar, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford; Ian H. Gotlib, professor of psychology and director of the Stanford Mood and Anxiety Disorders Laboratory; David Kelley, founder of IDEO and head of the d.school (Hasso Plattner Institute of Design) at Stanford; and Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside and a 1994 Stanford PhD graduate.

Preoccupied with pursuing happiness

Couric opened the discussion by mentioning that a thousand books on the subject of happiness were published on Amazon.com in just the past year, highlighting Americans' preoccupation with defining and finding happiness.

Lyubomirsky suggested that advances in Western culture have brought people to a state of comfort with their lives that allows them the time to indulge questions like, "Am I happy?" The billion-dollar industries of self-help books and motivational speakers in America reflect Americans' preoccupation with happiness.

"If you're constantly asking yourself, 'Am I happy yet?' that can actually backfire and make you less happy," Lyubomirsky warned.

Expectations vs. reality

With depression and suicide in the United States on the rise, it's important to suss out what makes people unhappy. Simply the expectation that one should be ecstatically happy at all times is a major contributing factor, Aaker said, adding that many people chase that high by always acquiring new things: relationships, jobs, smartphones, to name only a few.

Ian Terpin

Roundtable panelists: Firdaus Dhabhar, Jennifer Aaker, Sonja Lyubomirsky, David Kelley and Ian Gotlib.

The panelists agreed that appreciating what you have is a good antidote to the grass-is-greener effect. Focusing on achievements, rather than material objects, is another habit of happy people, Lyubomirsky said.

But happiness is more than the singular, high-intensity emotional rush that one feels after a first kiss or finishing a marathon. Aaker characterized the transformation of happiness over a lifetime as excitement, satisfaction, balance, savoring and contentment.

Stress is another factor holding people back, according to Dhabhar. Long-term stress and worry beget more stress and worry, sapping happiness. Aaker added that chronic stress is a result of a "time famine" in the United States, where people feel that they simply do not have enough minutes in the day to accomplish necessary tasks. Aaker cited a recent survey of more than 1,000 people where 50 percent of respondents said they constantly feel pressed for time.

It's no wonder then that happiness eludes most Americans in a culture where "busyness is a badge of honor," said Couric.

Social media has a grip on people's happiness. A recent study suggested that people's self-esteem plummets after spending time on social media networks like Facebook. Many social media users carefully curate their photos and posts on Facebook to present the best, happiest image.

Onlookers, however, compare their happiness to the perceived happiness of others and conclude that their lives don't measure up. Those negative thoughts "stick" to us more easily than positive thoughts, Kelley said, and so people should spend more time reflecting upon and appreciating the happy moments.

"Celebrating when positive things are happening, being there for them to stick with you, seems like it's important to me."

Life, liberty and the pursuit of meaning

Both stress and social media can promote happiness as well. It's all a matter of the right kind of stress and the right use of social media.

Ian Terpin

David Kelley and Ian Gotlib

Good stress, says Dhabhar, is fleeting and taps into the fight-or-flight response in the brain. It prepares people to protect themselves. In the modern context, many things trigger the type of good stress that brings out our best, such as the anxiety of a job interview, or performing.

"For example, when you find yourself on a roundtable discussion with distinguished guests and audience," Dhabhar said, "hopefully [the effects of good stress] help you make sense of what you're about to say."

Running and sex also trigger "good stress" responses as well as make people feel happier.

When it comes to social media, people shouldn't use their friend's image as a yardstick for their own happiness.

"It's OK to be sad," said Dhabhar. "For stress as well as negative emotions, one of the most powerful buffers is genuine social support."

Engaging with social media in a genuine way can help people build these crucial support networks.

"I don't think we should be aiming to be happy all the time," Gotlib said.

All the panelists agreed that people should instead be pursuing meaning in their lives. Meaning can come from many things, like a satisfying job, having a family or cultivating close relationships with friends. Fundamentally, meaning comes from giving instead of taking.

Lyubomirsky mentioned a study conducted with children in Vancouver. In one group, the researchers asked the children to perform small acts of kindness for four weeks; the other group did not change their behavior as a control. The kids who did kind things, like hug their mom or help with chores, were not only happier by the end of the study, they were more popular as well.

The results tie into Dhabhar's research, which is finding that good stress and meaning have a synergistic effect that promotes happiness and wellbeing, which are both bolstered by and help foster social support networks.

Couric wrapped up the Roundtable by asking the panel if people can control their happiness. Gotlib championed the power of positive thinking, however "hokey."

"This old power of positive thinking is real," Gotlib said. "Changing the way one thinks is the bedrock of probably the most effective form of treatment for emotional disorders."

Positive thinking can help healthy individuals as well. It is a catalyst for forming social networks, giving help to others and finding that all-important meaning to one's life.

Cynthia McKelvey is a science-writing intern for the Stanford News Service.

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Reading Gives kids an Edge, Study says - Elementary

Reading gives kids an edge, study says

Children who read for pleasure are likely to perform significantly better in the classroom than their peers who rarely read, according to a recent report published by the University of London's Institute of Education.
According to a story published by the institute, its research examined the childhood reading practices of 6000 teenagers from similar social backgrounds, comparing their test results at ages five, 10 and 16 in the areas of vocabulary, spelling and maths.
The researchers concluded that children whose parents regularly read to them performed better in all three tests at age 16.
It was also determined that children who read often at 10, and more than once a week at 16, also scored higher in the same tests than those who read less often.

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Lead researcher Dr Alice Sullivan reported that although vocabulary development was found to be the most affected area, the impact on spelling and maths was still significant.
"It may seem surprising that reading for pleasure would help to improve children's maths scores, but it is likely that strong reading ability will enable children to absorb and understand new information and affect their attainment in all subjects," Dr Sullivan said in the institute's report.
Jo Padgham, a school principal in the ACT and national vice-president of the Australian Literacy Educators' Association, says students who read a lot become learners who are risk-takers – who will have a go at learning. "Those who find reading easier at whatever age will read more and thus increase their vocabulary," she says. "Increased vocabulary is closely related to comprehension as children move through school."
The study also concluded that reading for pleasure was a more important factor in children's cognitive development between the ages of 10 and 16 than their parents' level of education.
"The combined effect on children's progress of reading books often, going to the library regularly and reading newspapers at 16, was four times greater than the advantage children gained from having a parent with a degree," Ms Padgham says.
Children who read often for pleasure are exposed to more complex language structures and vocabulary than they are exposed to in oral situations alone, she says. "This building of a rich language and vocabulary from books from an early age is crucial to reading development," she says.
Teacher librarian Olivia Neilson has noted that young children appear to have a natural enthusiasm for reading and borrowing books. "As students move up the grades and become more independent readers, they usually voraciously devour whatever they can get their hands on, as they enjoy the feeling of reading to themselves."
Encouragement is crucial, however, particularly for reluctant readers. Ms Neilson says reading aloud from a variety of authors and genres, and offering children a range of reading materials including magazines and graphic novels, is critical in helping to meet their reading interests.
She explains that to support children in finding the success and positive self-esteem that reading can set them up for, we need to live what we teach.
"As parents, teachers and the whole community, we have a job to demonstrate to young people that reading has value for them personally. Lectures and speeches about that won't do it for them, but modelling slow reading of great books and articles will."'

Read more : Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/reading-gives-kids-an-edge-study-says-20131011-2vcfv.html#ixzz2hnY0zP2j

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