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Test Anxiety

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Test Anxiety
By Scott Wardell

Test anxiety occurs when a student worries about doing well on a test to a point where he or she becomes overwhelmed. This type of anxiety often interferes with sleep and eating patterns, social relationships with friends and family and may even cause one to become physically ill. This disorder can become a major hindrance on test performance and cause extreme nervousness, memory lapses and other stress-related symptoms. Parenting children going through test anxiety is not an easy task. Child development experts suggest that parents communicate with their child's school counselor, school psychologist or teacher for extra assistance with their child. Following some of the testing tips below may also help reduce your child's test anxiety and fear.

The following are tips to reduce test anxiety:

Being well prepared for the test is the best way to reduce test taking anxiety.

Space out your studying over a few days or weeks, and continually review class material, don't wait until the night before and try to learn everything the night before.

Try to maintain a positive attitude while preparing for the test and during the test.

Exercising for a few days before the test will help reduce stress.

Get a good night sleep before the test.

Show up to class early so you won't have to worry about being late.

Stay relaxed, if you begin to get nervous take a few deep breaths slowly to relax yourself and then get back to work.

Read the directions slowly and carefully.

If you don't understand the directions on the test, ask the teacher to explain it to you.

Skim through the test so that you have a good idea how to pace yourself.

Write down important formulas, facts, definitions and/or keywords in the margin first so you won't worry about forgetting them.

Do the simple questions first to help build up your confidence for the harder questions.

Don't worry about how fast other people finish their test; just concentrate on your own test.

If you don't know a question skip it for the time being (come back to it later if you have time), and remember that you don't have to always get every question right to do well on the test.

Focus on the question at hand; don't let your mind wander on other things.

If you're still experiencing extreme test anxiety after following these tips, seek help from your school counselor.

Scott Wardell is a school counselor and created ScottCounseling.com to provide parents with 100's of free parenting articles and online e-mail counseling services.

Visit http://www.ScottCounseling.com

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Tips for Effective Learning

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Tips for Effective Learning
By Lian Heng Sean

It is important to find effective learning strategies that will work for you. Different person have different ways of making their learning more effective.

Here are some common techniques that can be used as a reference to promote active and effective learning:

From a Textbook, Reference Book or Other Written Material

- Read the material at an environment that you feel comfortable and can have total focus.
- Pause after each paragraph to make sure you understand everything you have read.
- Highlight the main ideas, either on a piece of paper, in the book, or in your mind.
- Make short concise notes in your own words.
- Read out loud and clear.

From a Lecture or Classroom

- Make notes in your own words.
- Make a list of the key ideas.
- Ask questions about anything you are not clear about or require further information or clarification about.
- No questions are stupid. If the question is somehow off the track of what she is teaching at the moment, ask after class.
- Tape record the lecture to review later (some schools do not allow this thou. Do check first if the lecturer or teacher.

From doing experiment in the Laboratory

- Ask questions if clarification is required. Crucial especially if you are going to handle chemicals.
- Make a drawing or flowchart of what you are doing.
- Outline your steps before you begin, or after you have completed the activity.
- Mind-mapping is recommended.
- Summarize your observations and results, and their significance.
- Jot down questions that you would want to check with the instructor at end of class.

From a Video (Just like the Video on TIPS for Balancing Chemical Equations)

- Make notes in your own words on a piece of paper or in your notebook.
- Make a list of the key ideas.
- Ask questions at the end of the video, or pause it after each sub-section to ask yourself questions.
- Ask the teacher or the instructor if you do not understand. Some students learn better with books then video.

From Group Discussion / Project Discussion

- Before starting, outline what you think are the key ideas that need to be discussed.
- Be very open to new ideas.
- Compare ideas and discuss the differences in a peaceful way. Way to many times, we see flares going up.
- Jot down notes on other peoples' views and brainstorm it.
- Make sure everyone is an active participant so that the pool of ideas will be large to tap on.

In general, following are several basic conditions that are required to learn more effectively.

- You must be actively involved in the learning with all your attention focused on the information you have.
- You must be motivated and ready to learn with an open mind.
- Ask questions, clarify ideas in your mind, and reword and simplify notes so that they reflect the way you understand the concept.

It is essential to discover for yourself the steps you need to take to become an effective learner and what kind of methods work best for you. This may not be a quick process, but it will transform your learning and accelerate your learning curve on the long run.

Sean Chua, is the Top Chemistry Coach in Singapore, Southeast Asia. He has been coaching Chemistry students for the last ten years for both GCE O Level (Sec 3 to Sec 5) and GCSE (Grade 8 to 10). Being a chemist by training, he is able to engage students to find interest in fundamental chemistry topics so that they will feel confident when they study tougher application topics in Chemistry. Besides the vast chemistry knowledge that he has, Sean is also a believer in Motivation in learning. As such, alot of his coaching will be focussed on inspiring the students to do better in their endeavours. You can check out more of Sean's Chemistry Coaching services, products and tips at http://www.SimpleChemConcepts.com

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Attention College Students and Writers - Ask and Answer Questions For Knowledge Creation and Sharing

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Attention College Students and Writers - Ask and Answer Questions For Knowledge Creation and Sharing
By Chris Robertson

A new trend that has recently become popular online is knowledge sharing. Specific Web services are bringing together professionals, writers, and college students to create a vast knowledge base, special knowledge-sharing communities, and questions and answers that can benefit anyone in any field. And the best news of all is these sites are usually free for everyone to enjoy. It's like having a live encyclopedia of experts at one's fingertips!

A collaborative, question-driven knowledge system compiles questions and answers on thousands of topics, organizes the topics, and provides easy access to the knowledge base for users. College students benefit because they learn about a variety of topics or may contribute what they know. They can also form communities for those with similar interests so they can work together to create a reliable source of information on specific topics.

Writers enjoy many benefits as well. They can write on topics of interest and share their knowledge with others. Writers can also use the knowledge base as a source of research for their work. A question-driven knowledge system enables writers, college students, and others to ask questions on topics that do not yet appear. Then an expert in that particular field can provide a reliable, knowledgeable answer. It's a quick, easy way to get the research needed for books, articles, essays, term papers, and editorial writings.

How the "Share and Create" System Works

A properly-operated knowledge site will work smoothly and provide easy search mechanisms for finding questions and answers. Users won't have to worry about redundant questions. Some sites will provide a bookmark feature so questions can be saved for future reference or for update notifications. Other features that are beneficial include a discussion forum that is separate from the knowledge base, community-building features, and the ability to check the editing history of a question or of a contributor.

A knowledge-based create-and-share website may offer incentives for contributions such as free advertising or ads revenue sharing. These benefits will increase more and more as the knowledge base grows and attracts new college students, writers, and professionals. The advertising is usually targeted, based on the questions and answers that are contributed, so users get free exposure to their targeted audience.

Research Topics on Anything and Everything

Though the question and answer system on a knowledge-driven site is usually very well organized and targeted, it is also being expanded on a daily basis to cover thousands of topics. The topics might be about anything, including gardening, parenting, pets, gas mileage, mortgages, health, beauty, interest rates, travel, medical, science, and water conservation. That's why so many college students and writers find this type of service useful. They often research a variety of topics on a regular basis, so this system provides one source for all around the clock.

With a high-quality, question-driven knowledge system, college students and writers are able to share their interests and knowledge with others as well as get the answers they need through this unique system. It provides a two-fold benefit for all those who ask and answer questions for knowledge creation and sharing.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about Knowledge Base - Students, Writers or Majon's Education directory

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How Successful Students Score that Top Grade

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How Successful Students Score that Top Grade
By Preeti Narayan

Why is it that out of total students in class only few score top grades? Why others just taper down to average or even low grades? What is special about students who score high? What do they do exactly?

Well, successful students certainly study differently. But not so differently that you cannot do it yourself.

With few exceptions, all top-performing students follow a similar style of studying. We call this a "five-point approach." Here is what they do:

1. Successful Students are ready for regular work

All most all successful students study regularly. Because they know that 'what you give is what you get.' If you put in regular hours of studying, then you will learn more, you will get better grades. The idea of scoring high, without doing steady and consistent work is just a pipe dream.

Set aside some hours, each day or each week, for studying. This will help you to study regularly. And prevent piling up of study-assignments during exams.

2. Successful Students have Definite goals

"I will score A grade in English." "I will get 94% in the next exam."

These are definite goals. And all top-performing students have definite, specific goals. Having such goals give you a purpose to study better. They motivate you and drive you to study more. Helps you to focus your energies and mind power efficiently.

Hence always have definite goals for studying. But make sure that you do not get carried away. Set realistic goals. The kind of goals which challenge you, but do not seem impossible or too difficult to achieve.

3. Successful Students take well-planned actions

Once you decide where you want to go, you need a road-map to find out how to reach that place. Well, this is common sense, you might say.Exactly. And this is where successful students differ from ordinary ones.

Once successful students set their goal, they sit and plan on how they are going to achieve their goal, what actions they are going to take. How much time they are going to spend on it.

For e.g. if the goal is to score A grade in English, what action is needed to achieve this score? Spend more time to study English lesson? Improve grammar? Improve writing skill?... In this way successful students question, analyze and make plans. And then they follow their plans faithfully.

Such planned efforts bring more results and more success. It also prevents wastage of time and energy because you know exactly what you need to do to get your goal.

4. Successful Students study without strain

Successful students study a lot. But they study without putting strain on themselves. Most students make the mistake of studying too hard or studying continuously for long time. This creates mental tension and actually slows down learning and memory.

Studying should be done in a balanced manner. Try to give a gap between studying two subjects. Take a break for few minutes, after studying for 30 or 45 minutes. Relax, walk around your room or house, or drink some water and return back to studying. Such short breaks will refresh your brain and you will learn more.

Also, after taking your study-schedule or time-table into account, set aside some time for playing any sport or watching TV or just sitting out and gossiping with your friend.

5. Successful Students give it importance

While researching for our course, Success Mindware for students, we found that students who give importance to studies perform better. They score more and have fewer study problems.

Studying is not something you do just because your parents asked you to do it. It's actually very important for you. Studying gives you knowledge and skills that will remain with you for the rest of your life. It gives you the ability to get a job and earn money. It gives you financial independence, stability in life, respectability...the list is endless.

And successful students recognize the value of studying well. Hence they give lot of importance to studying. And when you give importance to something, you naturally focus all your attention and energy on it.

As you can see from the above 'five-point approach,' successful students don't do anything extraordinary. They just do the right thing. And you are not different from them. You can also do it and achieve success in your studies.

© Preeti Narayan - author of 'Success Mindware' a first Total self-development program for holistic development of children. Download popular Free Success Training lessons and worksheets for your children

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Antique History, American Thoreau - Inspired Gandhi How to Free India

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Antique History, American Thoreau - Inspired Gandhi How to Free India
By Derek Dashwood

The recent news may have been historic. As Emerson noted, while he and his friend Thoreau would read and discuss the ideas of the ages, others would shout loudly about another train derailment, or an uprising in the west, and other events that make the headlines for that day, but will be forgotten soon enough. Some profound things are changing.

Emerson wrote about this with wry wit, about custom being the hobgoblins of little minds. He understood that everyone applied their God given intelligence as best they could, and worked with the power they were given. But greater, and more disciplined minds could but wish that people would push themselves more.

Others, such as David Thoreau, would consider it more worthwhile to go out and sit by a pond, and build himself a house, and live with the animals around the pond and notice how their behavior was so much like our own, even to the point of madness.

Thoreau could lay out on the ground for hours, after preparing his wood for the fire and enough to eat later. He would observe red and black ants in their busy day long tasks, carrying small items of great value to the team back at the nest.

But what would puzzle a true American patriot and original antique such as Henry David Thoreau, would be that even if red and black ants even accidentally collided in their routes, rather than simply back off and get on with the task each of their queens had sent them out on, they would drop their valued packages and begin to attack each other, to the death. It was like Persia ever at the door with swords.

Or, feared Thoreau, it might against Mexico soon by his great democracy, America. Thoreau, at close range, would watch this needless mayhem and disruption to all their lives, and the well being of the home colony of each ant. He saw that red or black ants, bitten in two, would still be snapping pincers.

And at that time, forces from the United States of America were moving towards Mexico City as the Mexican Wars were beginning. To Thoreau this was not his idea of America.

Thoreau saw this as more red and black ant madness, and when the taxes began to rise, with the explanations it was to pay for the War with Mexico, Henry David Thoreau inspired Mahatma Gandhi a century later by going to jail rather than pay a tax to support a wrong.

His friend Emerson quietly paid the fine so that David could be released. But if it had been up to him, he would still be in there.

Thoreau was a role model to independence for India a century later; used by Mahatma Gandhi, who spent many peaceful days in jail for quiet protest of oppression.

The point of this today was that for the first ever, the not democratically elected President of China spoke on television, and the Mighty Khan abjectly apologized to the frustrated, angry people of China has a relatively unified people,with no real chance to voice their views.

In contrast,in India which is a teeming democracy that voices an opinion at every election, the leader would not feel the alarm that the dictator may fear.

The leaders of China fear a Gandhi Wong or Paul Revere Ming riding to the next town saying, the Army is Coming, the Army is Coming. That is more democracy than the still oppressive leadership wants to see. These days, not all the men of the king nor every horse of the king were enough for a very hard working people who receive very few days off and were as angry at the weather as their own government.

But the leadership of China has become very nervous about unhappy citizens.

While in chaotic democratic India, they have so many varieties of cows and religions and monkeys and peoples they are coming into their own, violent as ever about religion, but making progress in their lives daily. Democracy is going to come, and some Thomas Jefferson Ming and Benjamin Franklin Lee and others are studying now and feeling their constraints.

In India, they are already democratic, and this more free capitalism has them learning to speak English and take on the world. And, scary to us as it may be, it is good. And long over due, for the good of all.

China with the growing wealth and riches still can handle occasional rebellions, but they fear a Jefferson Lee or Yo Ming Lincoln making a speech about the rights of free people. Democracy, as well as rich capitalism goes hand in hand. These ways are coming, Comrades. Just you wait and see.

And if you were the Mighty Khan of one billion three hundred million angry hornets right now, would you not also be quaking in your Forbidden Palace. Apparently, he, and all the Court, are. I know I would be, if I was that oppressive still. So, we think that is a very good thing.

Derek Dashwood enjoys news behind the news, seeing how small acts can lead to healthy changes we later take for granted.
http://www.antiquehistorybooks.com
Antique History Books

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Is a Reading Difficulty Hauling Your Kid Away in Handcuffs?

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Is a Reading Difficulty Hauling Your Kid Away in Handcuffs?
By Lani Donaldson

"Only the educated are free."
Epictetus 55 AD - 135 AD

Did you know that there are Justice Departments in North America that predict the future need of prison space based on grade three reading scores?

EESH! If that was the case I should be sitting in Alcatraz by now! When I was in Grade 3, I was struggling to read the basic grade level books. I felt like I already WAS in prison and Dick and Jane were the wardens!

What is it about the ability to read that predicts either ultimate success or failure even in our current school systems?

Reading effectively is no less a skill than crossing the road safely, but we have more individuals who can cross the road safely than can read effectively. This accounts for the large numbers of students standing on the wrong side of the academic highway.

Don't Tighten the Hand Cuffs

Reading difficulties are becoming more commonplace than they use to be and in our fast paced world it is imperative that they be dealt with quickly because the longer you leave it, the worse it gets.

Why?

- It has been estimated that information is doubling every five years. That is a tremendous pace to keep up with and if reading is a struggle, the learning gap widens and difficulties only get worse.

- Gone are the days when the ability to read effectively was left to those who were very learned. It is a life skill, just like crossing the road safely, that everyone needs to master.

- Our educational system relies heavily on reading and if children struggle the natural tendency is to dummy down the material for them. This philosophy only tightens the handcuffs.

Learning to Read Effectively Breaks the Ties That Bind Thirty years of scientific research says, the most effective way of teaching individuals to read is to use systematic, sequential phonics. NOT phonics drill.

- Most reading difficulties are caused by a fundamental gap in an individual's knowledge of the reading process and the basic sub-skills associated with it.

- The time to deal with reading issues is the moment you think there is one.

- The earlier a reading difficulty is dealt with the easier it is to correct. Once an individual learns to read effectively, navigating the educational system is so much easier.

Here's Your Get Out of Jail Free Card

One of the most difficult concepts in learning to read is that most of us know the alphabet and the names of the letters; however, the letter names have nothing to do with the sounds they make. Now that is enough to confuse the best of us!

3 Things You Can Do RIGHT NOW For Your Child:

1. Parents can give their children a leg up by teaching all the letter sounds. Make sure you teach them the correct sounds. Example the letter 'c' actually makes the same sound as the letter "k" it does not make the sound 'cuh'.

2. There are lots of books on the market that will target initial sounds but avoid those that use the word ice cream for the letter 'i' and xylophone for the letter 'x' as they are the wrong sounds.

3. Here is a website that is full of helpful worksheets for working with students at home and it covers a variety of age and grade ranges. www.kidzone.ws

Feeling overwhelmed by it all? Not to worry, you are certainly not alone. The time to deal with a reading difficulty is the minute you think there may be one. Don't let your child or other family members become another "handcuffed" statistic. Find out if there is a problem sooner than later and fix it before it hauls them off.

Lani Donaldson, The Literacy Expert, owns an innovative company that improves a client's literacy rate by one grade level in only 20 hours of instruction. http://www.literacycanada.com Lani is determined to improve the literacy rates not only in Canada but also around the world! Sign up for her witty and hugely informative FREE e-zine and receive her FREE Bonus Report - Nine Indicators of a Possible Reading Difficulty". http://www.literacyexperts.com

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The Critical Role Played By Mechanical Engineering

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The Critical Role Played By Mechanical Engineering
By Aazdak Alisimo

Even if you are not scientifically and mathematically inclined, you know there are some underlying fundamentals in our world. Mechanical engineering is one of them.

Let's step back in time, for a moment, to Ancient Greece. A man by the name of Archimedes (287 BC - 212 BC) along with a many by the name of Heron of Alexandria (10-70 AD) are largely responsible for Western mechanics - though they had no way of knowing this at the time. Archimedes was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer ... in short, he more than left his mark on the story of mechanical engineering. Likewise, Heron of Alexandria was also a mathematician and engineer - and without him, Alexandria would not have been the place that it was.

Both Archimedes and Heron of Alexandria made fantastic discoveries that are still studied in various courses throughout the Western world today. Additionally, the medieval Chinese horologist Su Song (1020-1101 AD) also helped to shape the world of mechanics through a unique escapement function that helped his astronomical clock tower to function quite astonishingly. However, it was not until around the beginning of the 19th Century that this discipline was made into the separate field of study that we know today.

The very first British professional society of civil engineers was not developed until 1818. Once Britain has established their own society, the United States followed during the year 1880. The story of mechanical engineering within the United States begins with the United States Military Academy (the first school to offer this field of study), and the trade is still quite popular across the U.S. today.

Thousands of applicants apply to study this type of trade every year. Most colleges and universities offer some form of engineering department, though there are some schools that are much more recognized than others. To become a person that is highly thought of within this field, one must remain in school for many years, and master a slew of tough courses.

The story of mechanical engineering began in Ancient Greece, though no end is currently in sight. In fact, the world would probably not be able to function without the people that spend hours studying this discipline, which makes these experts some of the most important people in the world. If you ever look at a particularly intricate machine and wonder how it's made, think about the person that made it ... more often than not, it is probably the work of a highly trained specialist.

Aazdak Alisimo writes about mechanical engineering for MechanicalEngineeringContractors.com

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Dressed to Kill But Can't Read the Label?

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Dressed to Kill But Can't Read the Label?
By Lani Donaldson

How many of us have to really think about what some of the laundry symbols mean? I know there are certain symbols I have difficulties with. I know the hand wash only and the hang to dry but after that I get a little rusty. Perhaps I have spent too much time in hot water and then left myself "hang to dry".

The Denim Dilemma

The symbols we see over and over are transferred into our long-term memory banks. The same is true with reading skills. If we memorize words, we can retrieve them instantly and that causes huge difficulty in the long run. It is in fact, why we see our demonstratively bright children slide into struggling phase as their grade level increases. They have in fact, memorized too much and it is not being held long enough in short-term memory to transfer to long term. Thus the words begin to fade away, just like the colour in your favourite pair of comfy blue jeans.

Are Laundry Softeners the Answer?

Many times the education system will, after trying an intervention program that does not work, soften the material. Or as we say in the industry, "dummy down the materials". In other words, if a child cannot read the material at their grade level we provide them with material at a lesser grade level. This alternative works for a while but certainly does not solve the problem nor is it a solution to the underlying difficulty because as they get older, dummied down materials are harder to find for older kids and when they become an adult, the world does not soften its impact based on reading level. When it comes to reading, softeners are not the answer.

So What Do I Put in my Laundry Cupboard?

Kids are naturally curious. What happens if I put equal amounts of laundry soap and water into the washing machine? Can you cook an egg in the dryer if you put it on hot? Can you use the top-loading washer to mix up a batch of cotton candy? How do letters go together to create words? These are all interesting questions, and all questions that deserve an answer. So you had better have answers ready, as the consequences of not having them could be messy.

Laundry Codes and English Codes

The laundry codes translate to a specific set of meanings. The English alphabet code translates into a set of speech sounds. Speech sounds blend together into words. The English Language is primarily made up of 26 letters, 44 sounds and 300 rules, which control how the sounds are interpreted. That is it and there really is not anymore. However, just like the laundry list if you do not know what to do with the code and set of rules, nothing turns out the way it is suppose to. Sweaters begin to stretch out of shape; pants shrink, T-shirts fade and reading difficulties continue to cause problems with spelling, vocabulary, comprehension and self-esteem.

Here Are Your Laundry Tips

Reading has everything to do with speech and hearing and nothing to do with vision. If it had anything to do with vision, the blind would never learn to read yet the blind learn to read almost as quickly as the sighted do.

Feeling overwhelmed by it all? Not to worry, you are certainly not alone. The time to deal with a reading difficulty is the minute you think there may be one. Do not let your child or other family members become another laundry room statistic. Find out if there is a problem sooner than later and fix it before it drains them of their colour.

Here are some websites that you can go to that offer good information on reading.

www.succeedtoread.com
http://www.nrrf.com

Lani Donaldson, The Literacy Expert, owns an innovative company that improves a client's literacy rate by one grade level in only 20 hours of instruction. http://www.literacycanada.com Lani is determined to improve the literacy rates not only in Canada but also around the world! Sign up for her witty and hugely informative FREE e-zine and receive her FREE Bonus Report - Nine Indicators of a Possible Reading Difficulty".

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Feeling Like I'm Back in 4th Grade, Learning Long Division

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Feeling Like I'm Back in 4th Grade, Learning Long Division
By Susan Kruger

I recently had an experience (in fact, I'm still floundering my way through it) that made me feel exactly the way I did when I was in fourth grade, learning long division.

Many students are now learning "new math" and are hopefully finding long division a bit more logical than I did as a 9 year-old. Back then, however, we just learned a series of "random" steps that seemed meaningless to me. I was horribly confused and totally overwhelmed. I felt stupid and felt like the end of my world was directly in front of me because I was NEVER going to "get it!" Gallons of tears were shed over my math book that year!

Fast forward a few decades and here I am...tackling a new project that is, for me, almost as overwhelming. Actually, it is just as overwhelming. The only difference is that I am now putting myself through the torture instead of having the torture "forced" upon me.

I will spare you some boring and unnecessary details, but I am taking a Google AdWords class to learn more about how to effectively promote my website. Trying to learn how to navigate around my account, analyze keywords, measure click-through and conversion rates, and deal with html on my website has left me way out of my comfort zone. I have learned a lot, but I am taking this class with people who are far more advanced than I am. I am feeling overwhelmed and, once again, like the "stupid kid" in the class.

Last week, I hit my peak of frustration on a coaching call with one of my instructors. He rattled off a dozen changes I need to make immediately! I have done my homework and have read my text-book, but he may as well have been speaking Latin. I was lost!

Hanging up the phone, I felt more confused and lost than I have in years. I hate to admit it, but the tears began to fall. For a moment, there was no difference between that moment and the moments I experienced in 4th grade. (Well, at least now, I wasn't making my mom frustrated, too!)

Fortunately, however, I have grown quite a bit since 4th grade and I have learned that those moments are just that...moments. They don't last forever and there is ALWAYS a solution. Once I vented my frustration with a few tears, drank a tall glass of water, and took long nap, I was able to look at the situation with a fresh perspective. Every time my mind wanted to say, "I'm so overwhelmed!" I would say, "I'm so overwhelmed, BUT I know I can figure out a solution." Sure enough, I eventually figured out a couple of options and immediately began to feel better!

I am still in the process of playing "catch up," but the hopelessness has disappeared with a renewed determination to get caught up and learn what I need to know. Yes, it is a little more difficult than I had anticipated, but I will be that much more proud of myself when I make it!

**Action Plan**

If you have ever experienced THAT feeling...when it seems you will NEVER understand something you are expected to learn and you are lost and frustrated... there are some things you can do to turn that feeling around:

1. Recognize that you are having an EMOTIONAL reaction to the situation. Let the emotions out (tears, anger, frustration, etc), then make a commitment to reset yourself and come back to the problem after you've taken a break. (Depending on the situation, the break might be 15 minutes, or it might be 24 hours.)

2. Identify the EXACT cause of your frustration. Just saying that "Long division is so hard!" will not help your situation. If you can say, "I can do the first two steps, but I don't understand the third step," you will be a lot more productive. This process helps you break down your frustration into smaller, easier issues.

3. Tell yourself that you can do it! Anytime you start to say to yourself, "I can't do this!" change that to, "This is hard, but I CAN do it!" You have to change the way you respond to your frustration, or you will never have the patience for step #4, which is most important...

4. Finally, determine how you can get help. Yes, this step often takes extra time and extra effort, but this is the step that gives you the power to accomplish anything you set your mind to!

**In Conclusion**

I wish I could say that feeling lost, overwhelmed, or frustrated was an experience you outgrow as an adult, but that is just not the case. However, if you are willing to learn how to build detours around these roadblocks, you WILL be successful...not only in school, but in every aspect of your life!

Susan Kruger is the author of SOAR Study Skills; A Simple and Efficient System for Earning Better Grades in Less Time. Get Susan's FREE Homework Rx Toolkit, featuring 25 Ways to Make Homework Easier...Tonight!, at her website: http://soarstudyskills.com/.

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Attention Parents - Is Your Local Public School System Undermining Your Child's Future Potential?

AchievementRadio.com's

Attention Parents - Is Your Local Public School System Undermining Your Child's Future Potential?
By James Mitchell

At this point, if you are the parent of a young child or teen, you know the inherent pressures placed on our youngsters by their peers and by society in general. Whereas school was once perceived to be a sanctity and refuge from the ills that plague our youth once they leave home, it has now become a refuge for drugs, violence, underage sex, and just as dangerously, eroded educational values. It has become the norm, and perfectly acceptable, for our kids to do the bare minimum and follow the herd. Whether they make it to graduation or not, and the condition they are in once they reach that point, has become of little concern to the public education machine that keeps turning them out, year after year.

No need to elaborate further, because you've most probably lived through it already. The awkwardness and confusion experienced by many during those years, still might bring a shudder to some. Do you ever think about moments of fear and apprehension that made you complacent or indecisive back then? Did you miss the opportunity to catapult yourself forward in life, on more than one occasion, because of pressure, fear, or lack of motivation? Do you want your children to have the same regrets or make some of the wrong decisions, so many others have?

How thrilled would you be to know that your son is armed with the right tools to keep focused, confident, and steadfast in his pursuits? How would you feel, knowing that your daughter carries your most important values alongside her everywhere she ventures, and into every situation she might encounter?

Our public schools have become a place where those students that choose to overachieve and stray away from pressures and trouble are not being supported properly - the efforts they put forth are readily being overlooked by staff and educators who are hell-bent on simply maintaining state requirements and test scores. As long as they meet state minimums, they keep getting their state funding. Unfortunately, this thirst for annual funds, has enabled a dangerous climate of complacency to creep into our public school system.

To find out more about changing the lives of our children and rescuing this nation, click here...

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