The Writing Pyramid

The writing section of an exam can be daunting: an expanse of blank lines, after several hours grappling with dense text, tricky math problems, and linguistic trivia. The emptiness of the writing section, save for a brief prompt, can be terrifying, especially to tired test-takers.   In-class writing assignments, term and research papers can also… Continue reading

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New School Year Tips

The air is getting cooler and we are losing more and more daylight each day.  Apples are becoming more plentiful and doctor’s offices are ready to give everyone the flu shot.  The season that we talking about is autumn.  Even though autumn is a transitional phase physically, it can be an emotional phase for children… Continue reading

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Study Tips: Part 3

Use a highlighter: Let a highlighter be your friend! When a teacher first assigns material to read, go through it with a highlighter and mark important information to remember later. When it eventually is time to study for the test, your previous highlights will help save you time by acting as markers of vital concepts… Continue reading

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Study Tips: Part 2

Study before bed: Studying before bed has actually been proven to help your brain better retain the information. If you study right before bed, the extended deep sleep essentially more effectively roots the information in your brain as opposed to if you studied hours before bed. That being said, don’t try to cram every bit… Continue reading

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Study Tips: Part 1

Break down the information: Determining where to start studying can be an overwhelming task in and of itself, not to mention reviewing all of the necessary notes, readings, assignments, etc. before the big test day. Breaking down all of this information into smaller, more manageable chunks can help make the task less daunting. To do… Continue reading

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Tips for Boosting Test Results!

I’ve taken a lot of tests—not as many as some, thanks to my liberal arts undergraduate education, but nonetheless, standardized testing has been a feature for over half of my life. I’ve done the PSAT, SAT, several SAT subject tests, GRE, GRE subject tests, the LSAT, and public school tests whose acronyms I no longer… Continue reading

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Speech and Debate Success: Knowing your audience 

Unfortunately most middle and high school students don’t understand the importance of knowing their audience when giving a speech.  Students on speech and debate teams across the country fall into the bad habit of speaking the same way about the same topics to virtually all audiences.  Sure, in a perfect world we could all speak the same… Continue reading

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The Neuroscience of Learning Disabilities

When people think of the words “learning disabilities,” they think of words like a child who learns differently or slow learner.  These words occurred possibly earlier within the history of learning disabilities.  The reason is because the general public and educators did not understand the special and different ways in which students learn.  In the… Continue reading

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Importance of Balancing Schoolwork with Extracurricular Activities

In high school I was a three-sport athlete, honor roll student, and member of the wind ensemble all four years. I went to a private school in Alexandria, VA that had an extremely demanding curriculum and boasted a 100% graduation rate. One of the biggest motivating factors for me was finding that although I wasn’t… Continue reading

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7 Tips for Better Study Skills

Give yourself breaks It sounds counter-intuitive, but giving yourself breaks while studying is actually very helpful. You need to rest your mind. If you study for 60-90 minutes, be sure to take a 10-15-minute break. What do you do with your time? Eat a snack. Stretch out your muscles. Dance around your room! Just do… Continue reading

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