Getting Answers For Your Chemistry Matter and Change Book Assessment

Getting Answers For Your Chemistry Matter and Change Book AssessmentYou have completed Chemistry Matter and Change book chapter two and now it is time to practice. You've done all of the reading, the quizzes, and the tests, but you're still not getting any good answers for these assessments. Now what? Here are some hints that can help you find the answers that you need.The first tip that you should follow is to check out the book where this book is located. Often the book will be a page or two long and the assessment answers will be just one word answers. You should go online and find the book that is being used in the assessment. By searching for the book you can find out if the book is in a testing center or not. You can also get more information about how the tests are being taken, if they are in a testing center or how many tests there are.Another tip is to go into the book and see what happens when you are asked a question that is difficult. Often the book will have a trick for you. A good example is the book is asking you to make a function. By choosing the correct equation, you can find the answer that is used.The third tip that I can give you is to go to the problem set. There will often be a problem set that has two problems. The book may not have the problem set included with the book, so you can go to the book and choose the solution. One tip to do this is to look for any book recommendations.The last tip is to see if the book is actually worth the money. Sometimes the book that you're using in the assessment isn't actually being used in the real world. Sometimes you get what you pay for and sometimes you don't. Just because the book is in a testing center doesn't mean that it is used in real life.You should use the book that is used in the assessment. If you're using the textbook, go back and find the book's website. If you're using the book online, you will often find reviews from other students. By reading other peoples reviews, you can easily fin d out which book is better.The tips that I've given you should help you find the answers for all of the problems in the book. You should now be able to start getting the real answers.

Useful English Expressions with the Word THING - Speak Fluent English

Useful English Expressions with the Word THING - Speak Fluent English I covered this recently in a lesson with my students. You might be interested in reading about it or  refreshing your memory about the topic. The following are useful English expressions with the word THING.THING is often a word we use when we are stuck for (cannot remember) another more appropriate  word or we do not actually know what this THING is really called. For example, you often hear Pass  me that thing over there!! or Could you pass me that thing, you know the thing for opening this  bottle! So THING has many uses and people always seem to know what we are referring to.However, THING is also used in many English expressions with real meaning. Here are some of those  uses with examples. Useful English Expressions with the Word THING A THING OF THE PASTWe use this to describe something no longer in use or that is outdated.ex. The fax  machine is a thing of the past. Who uses them today? The typewriter is a thing of the past. Everyone  uses a word processor.TO HAVE A THING FOR SOMETHING (SOMEBODY)We use this expression when we remembersomething or somebody we really liked or enjoyed or still enjoy today.ex. When I was young I had a  thing for postage stamps and I had a huge collection. As I got older I lost interest. He has a thing for  Julia Roberts the actress. He really thinks she is beautiful and watches all her movies.JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGSWhen we cannot explain something fully but know it is an issue then we often use this expression. For example, if someone is trying to explain why he likes or dislikes something without being able to give a specific reason then you will hear them say ah its just one of those things”.ex. Why do you not like going on a rollercoaster? Are you afraid? No, not really I can not  explain it. It is just one of those things. Do you not like travelling on trains? Why? Is it the noise or the movement from side to side. I don’t really know it is just one of those things.ONE THING LED TO ANOTHERWhen a series of events take place resulting in an action then we can say.one thing led to another… ex. Why are you home so late? And you are a little drunk! I know, I am sorry. I met my old school friend we got talking then had a beer. Then one thing led to another and we decided to have a few more! English Collocations with THING Enjoyed this infographic? Here’s what you can do next: THE IN- THINGFashions come and go and come again or so it seems. When something is in fashion we  say it is the in- thing! So at the moment a particular hairstyle or a particular style or design of  clothes will be the in-thing.ex. Hi how are you? Wow, I love the shoes. Where did you get them? They were my Mum’s they are the in thing these days all the 70’s clothes are back in fashion.FOR ONE THINGA very popular way to give a reason or reasons why we like or dislike someone or  something.ex. Are you going to the match on Sunday ? No, for one thing the tickets will be a crazy price and I think I have to work as well.ITS A GOOD THING THATWe use this expression in situations where we are fortunate or lucky that we did something without really thinking about it.ex. Oh dear its raining really heavy outside. Well it’s a  good thing that I brought the umbrella! It’s a good thing we left early for the airport. The traffic is  terrible there must have been an accident.Now you know most of useful Englsh expressions with the word THING. And you know what we mean when we ask you to pass that THING over there!Check out my packages of Skype English lessons. My English lessons over Skype will give you an excellent opportunity to improve your English language skills in efficient and affordable way.

Focused Training The Key to Building Academic Skills and Improving your IQ

Focused Training The Key to Building Academic Skills and Improving your IQ Improving Academic Performance Over the past few years I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and a fair amount of writing on this blog, around what truly drives academic performance. One of my favorite (and most important) insights has been that IQ, or natural intelligence, is far less important than people assume it to be. This article considers that insight from a different angle, and introduces an interesting new book about how it may be possible to improve your IQ through targeted training. Put succinctly, it appears that although IQ is less important than most people think in determining how one performs in school, it obviously still matters. However, it turns out that IQ itself is something that can be improved with practice, just as academic skills are built through sustained effort and deliberate practice. What matters more? Effort or IQ? Or Strategy? I think it’s safe, for the purposes of this discussion, to consider “intelligence” or “natural talent” or “IQ” as fundamentally very similar ideas. They are, in theory, all unchangeable traits that you are either born with or not born with. The average person seems to believe that, for example, there are math people, who probably have a very high IQ, who have a natural talent for math. These people are the ones who do very well in high school mathematics, end up in Calculus classes in high school, and are far more likely to become mathematics majors and then mathematics PhDs, or professional actuaries, etc. But, the general theme that seems to be emerging from lots of recent research, contrary to what the average person might still think is true, is that IQ or talent might matter, but other concepts related to how much and how we practice are more important in determining whether you are successful. In other words, how much and how we practice (i.e., do you engage in deliberate practice when studying?) intersects with our natural intelligence to determine how well we perform or how “good we are” at something. The evidence that specific types of hard work and approaches to learning might matter more than talent or IQ seems to be mounting. Carol Dweck teaches us that simply having a growth mindset, meaning you think about your intelligence as something malleable, not something fixed, makes it significantly more likely that you’ll excel in school, because you’ll keep an open mind and keep trying to learn new things. Angela Duckworth introduces us to the importance of grit and plain old-fashioned perseverance in determining who succeeds academically. She has developed a grit score where you can measure your personal level of grittiness. Barbara Oakley’s book “A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel in Math and Science” offers strategies for how to engage in math and science in new ways to increase your chances of efficiently learning new material. She writes about how to progressively turn ideas into chunks or groups of larger ideas (and thus become better at recalling and manipulating them), why conducting frequent “mini tests” is important, and how to take notes by summarizing concepts vs. copying what you hear verbatim. The Mathematics PhD teaching you Calculus during your freshman year of high school might find mathematics easy and intuitive, but he might not. He may have studied very hard and in the right ways, sticking with problems for a long time until he understood them, and constantly challenging himself, such that over time, his mathematics skills grew far beyond what the average person could imagine is achievable without some sort of special gift. All that really exists are mathematics skills, which are acquired through practice. Natural math “talent” doesn’t really exist. For example, Cal Newport, an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University with a PhD from MIT, runs a blog for high school and college students called Study Hacks. In it, he notes that he personally took AB Calculus AB during his senior year of high school, struggled a little bit, and earned a “4” on the AP AB Calculus exam. The highest AP exam for Calculus is called BC Calculus, and the top score is a 5. Some high performing high school students take BC Calculus during their junior year, score a 5, and then take more advanced mathematics classes at local colleges during their senior year of high school. But there’s Cal, taking AB Calc, earning a 4, and then going on to earn a PhD in Computer Science from MIT. I might direct you to this previous article we wrote about whether effort or IQ matters more. In it, we discuss a formula that involves talent, skill, and effort. The gist is that even if natural talent exists, it gets combined with effort to determine your skill. And then your performance in a class is determined by your skill and the amount of effort you put forth. Because effort shows up twice in this story, it can be thought of as mattering twice as much as talent or IQ. Finally, across all disciplines, including academic ones, I further believe that employing strategies is critical to being successful. Employing a strategy simply means you set a goal, and consciously choose what to do, and what not to do, in your quest to reach that goal. All that said, IQ still matters. It’s obviously an important factor in determining academic success. But all of the above does make you wonder. Has the pendulum swung perhaps too far in one direction? Sure, hard work, persistence, and specific study habits can lead to success in math and science. But I’ve personally never thought that pure intelligence or “IQ” wasn’t important. I don’t believe it’s the most important factor, but it’s an important factor, in determining who does well in school. Mathematics skills might be something you acquire through practice, and the harder you work and the more you practice, the more mathematics skills you’ll acquire. That said, doesn’t it make sense that the higher your natural propensity for learning, the higher your fluid intelligence and IQ, the easier it will be to build math skills (or skills in any other academic subject)? In other words, the higher your IQ, the more you’ll learn in any given hour of studying â€" meaning the more likely it will be that you’ll achieve a particularly high level of skill in a given subjec t? IQ may not be fixed. It can likely be improved. In Smarter, The New Science of Building Brain Power, Dan Hurley suggests we’ve gone too far in minimizing the importance of IQ or intelligence (another common term and synonym to IQ is “fluid intelligence” or the capacity to reason and solve problems, independent of any prior knowledge.) However, the main theme of his book is that, just as one can adopt a certain mindset, practice deliberately, and have grit to succeed academically, one can also take steps to improve their IQ or fluid intelligence. In other words, IQ matters. It might matter a lot. But, it isn’t fixed. With hard work, it too can be improved. In his book, Hurley discusses how, up until 2007 or so, most academic researchers agreed strongly with the prevailing societal belief that IQ was a fixed trait that could be measured. Around that time, however, research started to emerge that performance on tests of fluid intelligence could be improved over time through training of various sorts. Hurley goes through a fair amount of science behind how fluid intelligence operates. But most interestingly, he reviews the various strategies and tools that can be employed to improve your IQ. Some of the strategies he reviews are what one might call “direct” braining training tactics that involved paying attention to numbers or images and identifying patterns and following movements of images on a screen. These strategies seem like ways to directly improve your cognitive function. Others are more “indirect” and involve, for example, getting more exercise, eating better, or learning a musical instrument. Hurley discusses and reviews the following strategies, which, to one degree or another, scientific evidence suggests can improve your IQ (the book discuss the science in detail of each strategy below): Online brain training from Lumosity In-person brain training from Learning RX Common activities most people recognize as generally healthy anyway but which also appear to improve IQ: Regular exercise Eating right Sleeping enough Practicing mindfulness meditation Learning a musical instrument Taking certain drugs In the book, Hurley shows how, by reviewing the above strategies and choosing to adopt those that appeared most promising, he improved his IQ by an impressive 16%. Summary There is strong evidence that performance in most academic subjects is within your control. A growth mindset, hard work, deliberate practice, specific learning strategies, and substantial grit can, certainly when combined, overcome an average or below average IQ. But interestingly, your IQ can actually be improved directly through targeted training. To learn more about how and why that’s true, you can check out Hurley’s book.

6 Twitter Strategies for the High-flying Language Learner

6 Twitter Strategies for the High-flying Language Learner 6 Twitter Strategies for the High-flying Language Learner Twitter.It sounds innocent enough.But the staggering view from your timeline will show you its anything but.And regular use will have you so addicted  youll soon be checking it from the remotest areas where you can get service.If youve been paying attention for the last few years, you know that Twitter can accomplish unimaginable things. It can change the world!And make no mistake, Twitter is a one-of-a-kind tool that language learners everywhere can use to achieve fluency.In this post, well look into techniques that language learners like you can use to make the most out of the platform.So get ready to transform those simple tweets into serious learning! What Makes Twitter Perfect for Language Learners?Its short-form.With only 140 characters a tweet, the platform was virtually made for language learners. Even when the limit was doubled to 280 characters in 2017, the average tweet length, according to CEO Jack Dorsey, remained the same.Twitter is short and simple enough that langua ge learners are able to study and mine tweets for language gems. Its bite-sized nature makes it very digestible. It lives right in that vocabulary sweet-spot where you have just enough context to make out what words might mean in a foreign language.Everybodys already there.The language learning website youre subscribed to is probably on Twitter. The language teachers and target-language vloggers whose YouTube videos you love probably also have Twitter accounts. They might even be dishing out unique content there. Everybody, including regular native speakers who have some very interesting things to say, is available for the Follow.Youll not run out of language material on this platform. Many people are tweeting daily. Active users are tweeting multiple times a day. What you get is authentic material that mirrors how native speakers actually use their language. Very often, how people tweet is also how they would speak in real life.Plus, you get material thats fresh and relevant to the news or trending topics of the day.Its multimedia.What began as a text-based phenomenon has exploded into a multimedia domain. Twitter isnt just a place to post your thoughts as text. You can also post images, GIFs, podcasts and videos. You can practically link to any content from anywhere on the internet.And if you follow the right people, your feed will be fat with multimedia goodies that are a language learners dream. On Twitter, you have the best of all worlds, linguistically speaking. You have the most interesting stories curated by a community of users all in a language that youre learning.This makes it a great tool to use with FluentU. FluentU takes real-world videosâ€"like movie trailers, music videos and inspiring talksâ€"and turns them into personalized language lessons.With FluentU, you hear languages in real-world contextsâ€"the way that native speakers actually use them.Just a quick look will give you an idea of the variety of FluentU videos on offer:FluentU really tak es the grunt work out of learning languages, leaving you with nothing but engaging, effective and efficient learning. It’s already hand-picked the best videos for you and organized them by level and topic. All you have to do is choose any video that strikes your fancy to get started!Each word in the interactive captions comes with a definition, audio, image, example sentences and more.Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogue tab, and easily review words and phrases from the video under Vocab.You can use FluentU’s unique adaptive quizzes to learn the vocabulary and phrases from the video through fun questions and exercises. Just swipe left or right to see more examples of the word youre studying.The program even keeps track of what you’re learning and tells you exactly when it’s time for review, giving you a 100% personalized experience.Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app fr om the iTunes store or Google Play store.You can easily find current stories in the news or entertainment worlds on FluentU and then go see what people are saying about those stories on Twitterâ€"you can also follow trending topics on Twitter and search for related videos on FluentU.Twitter should be part of a whole rich repertoire of tools that you use for learning a second language. With that being said, lets now turn to six very powerful strategies that will make your Twitter account (or your future Twitter account) a language learning machine.6 Twitter Strategies for the High-flying Language Learner1) Follow the right accounts.First of all, with the things that youre going to do here, it would be best to have a dedicated Twitter account for the purpose of language study. Its not optimal to have your language feed get mixed with tweets in your native language from Miley Cyrus, that football team you follow and that late night show host who posts video clips of comedy sketches.Tha t said, here are some of the accounts that you should follow:The accounts of native speakers.Whether youre learning Spanish, French, German, Italian or whatever, there are likely plenty of native speakers whose tweets you can learn from. This is really not a big commitment thing. You can follow a couple of accounts that you think would be interesting. If you later find out theyre not up to snuff, then you can simply unfollow and pick somebody else. Youll probably have no shortage of native speakers who can give you an authentic taste of your target language.Accounts related to language learning.Like I said, everybody is on Twitter. Well, practically everybody. So youll be able to easily find accounts run by known language bloggers, polyglots, teachers, tutors, language exchange sites and people who simply love learning languages. Their tweets are a goldmine of lessons and insights.Twitter is also a great way to see the latest FluentU postsâ€"follow us and well keep you in the loop!A ccounts related to your hobbies but in the relevant language.Say youre a foodie. Well, you can still be that and have second helpings with a second language, and you can indulge your other passions with your love for languages, too. If youre a motorcar enthusiast who also happens to be learning German, then follow relevant accounts so youre hitting two birds with one stone.Humorous accounts that tweet in the target language.Humor is a powerful language learning tool. So if you can find funny accounts in the target language, tail them like a police officer tracking a stolen car. These accounts will not only give you access to memorable quotes, wit and quips, they’ll also be regularly serving you funny videos that feature the target language in a more authentic setting.To find any of the above for your target language, do some Google research on what youre looking for, for example, professional comedians who speak the language youre interested in. Any account you follow and read reg ularly in the language will make for good memory anchors and help you pick up the language quicker.2) Utilize advanced search to its full potential.Grab your laptop and use Twitters advanced search.You can get there by first doing a regular search.Click on advanced search and youll be taken to a page where you can further refine your search requirements. The most relevant filter will be Written in, where you can direct Twitter to search items in your target language.If you want to search for a specific phrase or expression in the target language, you can use This exact phrase to look for instances it has been used by others.3) Change the language settings.Besides searching for tweets in the target language, another thing you can do is change the language in which you use Twitter. This means the Twitter interface will appear to you in your target language.Again, youll have to use your desktop or laptop for this one.Click on your profile pic to open a pull-down menu. Click on Settings and privacy. This will give you a page that allows you to change your profile preferences. In the Account section, choose which Language you want Twitter to be in.Scroll down to Save changes and voilà! You’re doing Twitter in French.4) Google the trending hashtags in the target country.You can also use Google to find the trending hashtags in the country or countries where your target language is spoken. If youre learning Italian, search trending hashtags in Italy and youll get results for the most recent topics that are sweeping the nation.Curating trending hashtags by country will let you meet native speakers who are tweeting about burning issues. Youll also undoubtedly see videos and linked articles about those issues. This strategy will easily fill your feed with more language material than you know what to do with.5) Mine the tweets for language lessons.So, you now have an account that regularly serves you up with tweets in the target language. What do you do?Read the tweets aloud.This may come as a surprise, but you wont pick up the language just by reading with your eyes. You need to get that mouth moving and that tongue wagging. Read the tweets aloud, over and over. The advantage of reading tweets out loud over other written material is that tweets often sound more authentic. Native speakers often tweet the way they speak, so what you’re able to practice may closely resemble spoken language.Figure out what the tweets mean.This is fun. Youre staring at something thats foreign to you, so how do you figure out what the words mean? A little sleuthing will be required on your part, but it will explode your vocabulary.Copy the tweet and ask Google to translate it for you. Or, make it even more fun by doing it in parts. Its best to  get a few choice words translated and try to guess the meaning of the whole tweet. This develops your context reading skills, which is very important in learning a language.Use emojis to help you suss out a tweets meaning. If a video comes with a text intro, watch the video first and use it to figure out what the tweet says. Language learning becomes fun when youre able to make a simple game out of it.Dont worry about getting the most accurate translations. The important thing here is that youre working with the language and becoming more and more familiar with it.Study grammar and sentence construction.Tweets can be a good way of learning not just vocab, but grammar. Grammatical rules and structures can be gleaned from how sentences are formed. Because of the inherent limits in length, youll often see simple sentences in tweets that are easily digestible.However, because of the inherent limits, people have also developed lots of ways to pack information into little packages. So even if sentences are short, theyre still often fat with content and meaning.On Twitter, you have the chance to see complex sentences, compound sentences, nested clauses, etc. Watch for complex elements in those tweets that get close to the 280 character limit. If a thought or sentiment is spread over several tweets, then chances are, it will contain some more complicated thoughts and sentences. Twitter threads are perfect material for intermediate and advanced language learners.Studying tweets can be a good way of looking into how words relate to and support each other. The vocab sticks in your memory because it doesnt exist in a vacuum, but as part of a meaningful tweet.Follow dialogues, conversations and discussions.Sometimes, tweets go viral or become controversial. These get not only retweeted but also replied to. Emotional conversations, fat with context, can be like candy to a language learner. If you can learn from a single tweet, imagine how much youll learn from a series of tweets where theres a healthy back-and-forth volley of words between people who are incapable of backing down.As you figure out what each tweet and counter-tweet means, it will feel like youre piecing together an unfolding sto ry.Youll get emotionally charged dialogues when you click on or search for trending hashtags. Politics and religion are two examples of hot topics that can encourage these animated discussions. (Hey, it’s also a good way to learn some slang!) Just be aware that since theres all kinds of content and interactions on Twitter, you may want to adjust your settings to control what you see and whos able to interact with you personally.6) Tweet in the target language regularly.The only thought that can stop you from doing this is What if I get the tweet wrong? Then everyone will laugh at me!Hardly. Native speakers will barely care about your grammar, theyll likely assume youre a native speaker like them. Theyll be more interested in what you have to say and respond to that. Besides, if youre using a dedicated account for second language learning, you can give yourself some degree of anonymity, if that helps.To use Twitter for language learning, commit to tweeting at least three times a da y.You dont have to write long and complicated tweets. Start with simple expressions. If you find a video funny, share it and say the equivalent of This is funny! in your target language.Ask a question if you want. Say Agree! if you do. Start a friendly conversation. Support someone. Get in there. Your tweets need not be perfect, you just have to tweet. Thats it.Its all about you working with the languageâ€"composing your tweet, checking translators and looking for synonymsâ€"thats what develops your skills and hones your insights.So, what are you waiting for?!Create that new account and start taking advantage of Twitter for language learning.It really is a powerful tool that can bring you closer to your language goals.Good luck!

Teachers urged to take good care of their most important teaching tool their voice - Tutor Hunt Blog

Teachers urged to take good care of their most important teaching tool their voice Teachers urged to take good care of their most important teaching tool: their voice Teachers urged to take good care of their most important teaching tool: their voiceSchoolsA classroom may well be the perfect incubation vessel for viruses and bacteria. Every weekday it`s filled with an assortment of children, who cough and sneeze and splutter, wiping their hands on papers and books, which are passed around the room, before finally making their way back to the teacher. In this kind of environment infections can spread like wildfire: a child sneezes onto their hand, which they use to turn the page of the textbook they are sharing with the pupil next to them. At the end of the lesson the book is passed back to the teacher, who is then exposed to a menu of pathogens. It`s hardly any wonder that teachers very often find themselves becoming ill. Some of my friends who are in the profession say they would never enter a classroom without ensuring they have a bottle of sanitising gel, which they use to disinfect their hands and the surface of their desk. Other teachers tell me they pass distribute Dettol wipes to the children, ordering them to scrub down their desks at the end of every lesson. `I also ensure that door handles are cleaned, along with stationary, shared calculators - basically anything the kids might have polluted!` Despite these precautions, it is very common for teachers to come down with some kind of bug by the end of term. `It`s almost like your body has been holding out for the last few weeks,` my friend went on to tell me, `and just when you cross the finishing line, it just gives up and you get ill!` Besides the plethora of germs teachers have to contend with at work, there`s another health-related issue they have to suffer: losing their voice. According to a new report from the National Education Union, teachers are eight times more likely to suffer from voice problems than any other profession. For a footballer it`s their feet, for a pianist it`s their hands - but the voice is the most import physical tool for a teacher. Besides being used to impart information to the pupils, it functions as a tool of discipline, ensuring any unruly pupils are kept in line, and the lesson can run smoothly. A good teacher will use their voice to instill interest and drama to their lessons - much like a great actor or orator, modulating their tone to enrich their words, and captivate their audience. Teachers use their voices as much as actors and singers do, putting their vocal chords through all kinds of stress and strain during each and every lesson. Those on the stage are at least prepared in advance for when they have to hit a high note, or voice a loud and angry scene - a teacher has to improvise their way through each lesson, and at a moment`s notice might have to produce a booming censure to a recalcitrant pupil. One of my friends, who is a teacher in a rather `difficult` school, informed me she does vocal exercises before her lessons. She explained that this consists of making a `mm` sound (as in hum), along with a sound `ng` (as in wing), and slowly and gently sliding these sounds up and down in pitch. She also ensures that she`s well hydrated, and tries to give her voice a break by utilising no verbal disciplinary cues, such as clapping her hands instead of shouting. These precautions might sound excessive, or even theatrical, but with teachers taking more than 2 million days of sickness, which equates to 51,000 days a week over the school year, anything that can help bolster their health has got to be applauded. The cost of these lost working days amounts to an astonishing £15 million per year in the UK, according to a RNID publication of 2008, cited in the National Education Union, 2019. Despite the very clear strains placed on their voices throughout their careers, there is no real training or guidance offered to new teachers to help them learn how best to protect themselves.A survey conducted by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf in 2008 found that vocal problems amongst teachers are widespread, with their report making clear the scope of the problem: `Teachers in around 60 per cent of schools complain of vocal problems.` `A third of head teachers report that it has caused teachers to have taken time off.` `The cost to schools is calculated at around £15 million a year.` The report said that teachers should be `alert to the signs of vocal difficulties,` and that vocal problems will generally be the result of overuse or infection. Teachers were encouraged to warm up their voices at the beginning of each day, utilise pauses and silences to stress meaning, facilitating a short respite for their vocal chords, and to be vigilant as to any symptoms of vocal fatigue, and be sure to contact their doctor at the first sign of any troubles. 10 months ago0Add a Comment

How to Graduate From an Internship to a Full-Time Job

How to Graduate From an Internship to a Full-Time Job Image via pixabay.com Attend events Many universities still offer networking events and job fairs to their graduates. After spending thousands of dollars each year, you should be entitled to a few free professional events each year. These events can range from professional presentations on how you can improve your resumes to seminars teaching you how to use a specific software. However, a lot of these events will focus on actual networking between alumni and special professional guests. Even if a particular event isn’t designed for your desired career, you can still benefit from networking with other professionals. After all, it will help you practice those networking skills. Who knows, maybe an engineering firm needs a public relations manager? If you are planning on moving away from your college town after graduation, you can also search the closest metropolis for career-driven events. Larger cities host job fairs and networking opportunities every now and then. In addition to networking events, you can also join industry-specific associations. If you have a marketing degree, or you’re a marketing student, there’s an American Marketing Association. If you’re looking to get a job in scientific illustration, there’s also the Association of Medical Illustrators. Regardless of your industry, there are several professional organizations you can join. It is important to note that some associations do have specific requirements before you can become a member, and often they charge an annual fee to join. However, the industry knowledge you can gain from a professional organization is well worth the money. Even if you cannot attend the organization’s events, these groups often post exclusive job openings on their job boards. Customize your resume Let’s face it, we’re all guilty of submitting the exact same resume to dozens even hundreds of job openings. While sending the same generic resume to every relevant job opening on LinkedIn can help streamline the application process, it can hinder your chances of getting the job. Hiring managers can detect a template resume anywhere. After all, they encounter hundreds of them in just one hiring cycle. Spruce up your online presence Although you likely have a LinkedIn profile, a LinkedIn account alone won’t get you noticed by employers. It’s important to make yourself stand out from other applicants by creating a website with your professional portfolio. While it might not be appropriate for everyone to create a professional website, you can also supplemental your LinkedIn profile with a blog. WordPress is an inexpensive and easy way to create your own industry-specific blog. Regardless if you choose to construct a website, a blog, or both, you could focus on the quality of the content that you publish online. Only display your best work examples and blog posts. Letters of reference Obtaining your first full-time job is all about credibility. While you could have a long list of incredible internships, hiring managers want to know if you are a dedicated and skilled worker. Although most applications require you to list three to five professional contacts, you can enhance your application with one or two letters of recommendation from past employers. It can become annoying if you ask your past employer for a letter of recommendation for a dozen different positions, so instead, you can ask for a  general letter of recommendation in a specific career industry. While it might seem contradictive to have a vague letter of recommendation when your resume and cover letter is supposed to be very specific, the purpose of the letter is to highlight your capabilities as an employee and validate your trustworthiness. Given the purpose of the letter of recommendation, it isn’t vital for it to be specific for every job application. Unless, of course, you are applying to very reputable companies like Huffington Post or Google. Use your contacts Asking around is a great method to find job openings, especially those that aren’t advertised online. You can ask your family, friends, past employers, and professors. Granted, you will likely have more productive results if you ask someone who is working in the same or similar industry as you. Even if you don’t have any former employers or professors that you feel comfortable enough to ask for professional leads, you can always contact your university’s career services office. Create a plan Granted, you shouldn’t create a dream board, because your entry-level job likely won’t be your dream job; however, it will help you acquire your dream job. Plus, your first adult job will be very enriching regardless. Nevertheless, it is important to create a schedule to ensure that you are actively applying to job openings. In your schedule, you should also remind yourself of application deadlines and set aside time to research each company  so you can tailor your application materials appropriately. Focus your job search Though you may have many skills that you want to showcase to a hiring manager, it’s important that you specify only skills and experience relevant to the jobs that you are applying to. You should plan to search for jobs in two or three career paths. These jobs should fit your experience and skills. While you could want to go into writing, it’s important to know that writing (along with essentially every career) is a very diverse field. Therefore, narrowing your searches between editorial assistant/staff writer positions and associate copywriter positions will make it easier for you to mold your respective resumes to fit these jobs. Granted, you will edit your resume even further for each job opening. Refining your job search will also allow you to think of more specific examples to discuss in your cover letter. Rather than writing about your overall love of everything writing, you can elaborate on your experience writing branded content or curating content for a style blog. While most employers would love to hear about your side blogging business during your interview, it is best to leave any unnecessary fluff out of your application material for a specific job, because it can deter hiring managers from hiring you. After all, irrelevant experience in your application material, even if you have limited working experience, can make it seem like you aren’t focused on any specific career path. Hiring managers might think that you are still figuring out what you want to do with your career. If you present yourself as not being certain about your career path, your chances with a company will be slim, as the interviewer won’t believe you have longevity with their organization. To them, you could change your mind and switch career paths at any moment. Let’s face it, most companies want to invest in employees who also want to invest their time and skill into their company.

Teacher Experience How teaching abroad is helping Angela succeed in the American classroom

Teacher Experience How teaching abroad is helping Angela succeed in the American classroom We first met Angela Roberts during her Teach Away application in 2014. She kept us in the loop with her Kazakhstan placement via her own blog and we touched base with her for an insightful interview about her experience last fall. Through my conversation with Angela in the fall, I learned that she had some health concerns and would be kept out of the classroom for an unknown period of time. Last week, I called Angela to catch up and check in on her health - and I received some fantastic news. Angela is currently back in the classroom and has been for the past month or so. She’s picked up a temporary full-time position without commitment beyond the end of the school year, which is perfect for her because she can assess her options this summer (she’s toying with the idea of teaching abroad again!). Angela is teaching sixth grade English and social studies and after only a few weeks back at the helm, she’s already noticed several occasions where her Kazakh teaching experience was paying off in her lessons. There was one prominent skill Angela developed abroad that is really having a positive influence on her teaching experience at home: differentiated instruction. Angela explained that her time with NIS in Pavlodar helped her significantly in learning how to create unique learning experiences for different groups of students in her class. Her ability to provide a very high quality learning environment for students at every level was vital to her success abroad - and now it’s helping her build differentiated lessons for her students at home. Angela helped me understand exactly how differentiated instruction was working into her classroom by providing an example of how she applied different specs to different groups of students all working on the same task. The students were writing thesis statements. Naturally, the class was composed of strong writers, average writers, and struggling writers. In order to ensure each student would take value away from Angela’s thesis statement lesson, she divided the class into three groups: one wrote thesis statements with simple vocabulary and sentence structure, one wrote with advanced vocabulary and simple sentence structure, and the last group wrote thesis statements with advanced vocabulary and advanced sentence structure. The lesson went off without a hitch and students took away more than they would have from a standardized thesis statement writing lesson. Angela’s Kazakh experience is shining through in other instances as well. The kids in her class love hearing about daily life in Kazakhstan, including every detail from the food to the culture. They’re very interested in the Russian cartoon Masha and the Bear (and get to watch it in class if they’re lucky) and have had the chance to learn the Kazakh national dance. Angela’s students are learning basic Russian vocabulary and have gained an appreciation for the longer school days and weeks of students in Kazakhstan. I was blown away by just how much and how frequently Angela’s time teaching abroad has impacted her new position in the United States. She accredits it to the amount of time she had off between being in Kazakhstan and returning to work in the US to plan how she would implement what she learned abroad, but she also admits she might have had a fresher perspective if she’d returned to work sooner after returning from overseas. The knowledge and experience that comes with teaching abroad is incomparable and when applied in the classroom at home, can make significant differences in student learning and teacher career trajectory. Angela can certainly vouch for that.