3 Reasons Not to Skip That College Class

3 Reasons Not to Skip That College Class In college, almost every class you encounter will have an attendance policy. Some courses are very strictthey may state that you can only miss one or two sessions over the course of the semester before your grade suffers. Others may have a more lax policy or no attendance policy at all. Whatever the case may be, its critical to understand the importance that attending your college classes holdsand how quickly skipping classes can spin out of control. Reasons not to skip your college classes can include showing your professor your commitment to the course, preventing your grades from suffering, and getting the most out of your education. Oftentimes, parents and professors will stress the importance of attending classes in college, but the gravity of it is not always explained. Keep reading to learn three reasons not to skip that college class: Skipping class can send your professor the wrong message In nearly all instances, professors are passionate about the subject they teach and wish to share their knowledge and enthusiasm with students like you. Professors understand that not every student will be as enthusiastic as they are about a given subject, but it can still go a long way to be engaged with the material. Attending class is one of the best ways to show your professors that you care about your education. Sometimes, professors tie participation and attendance into one gradethey may view attending class as a form of participation in their course. Even if there is no attendance policy, its important to attend class sessions. [RELATED: When to Take a College Class Pass/Fail] Skipping class can cause your grade to slip Some college classes may have a policy that permits you to miss a certain number of sessions before you are penalized. Take these policies seriously. When professors say you will drop a letter grade if you have more than five unexcused absences, they are serious. If you begin skipping classes, it can also become easier over time to convince yourself its okay not to attend. This can quickly reach a point where your absences have added up, and its hard for your grades to rebound. Note that night classes can have some of the most strict attendance policies. Usually, you are only allowed one unexcused absence, since these courses often meet once per week for several hours. [RELATED: The Different Classes Youll Have in College] Skipping class can prevent you from getting your money's worth You are likely attending college to maximize your education, and if you rob yourself of that by skipping a large portion of your class periods, you arent getting what you should be out of college. Yes, you might become sick or face an emergency, but dont let yourself create a habit out of skipping. When signing up for courses: If you know you wont be able to get up in time for a morning class, dont register for it. If you know you lose focus later in the day, avoid signing up for an afternoon or evening class. Be honest with yourself about what types of courses you might be less likely to regularly attend. Signing up for a class that you know you will end up skipping is a surefire way to ensure you will not be getting your moneys worth. [RELATED: 4 Things to Consider Before Dropping a College Class] Note that none of this is to say you cant go to your professor if you are sick or have a family emergency. If you are facing an illness or family situation, be open with your professor about whats going on. This way, you wont end up with days counting against you when they could have been excused. There are many reasons to attend your college classes. At the end of the day, however, the biggest reason is so you can get the most out of your education. Attend classes, network with professors, absorb information, discover new areas of interest, and take advantage of the possibilities your college courses will offer you. Any topics you want to know more about? Let us know! The Varsity Tutors Blog editors love hearing your feedback and opinions. Feel free to email us at blog@varsitytutors.com.

Probability tutoring can be beneficial for every student if TutorPace is the tutor

Probability tutoring can be beneficial for every student if TutorPace is the tutor Throughout my academic career I have gone through various types of subjects. Every subject has helped to get a bit of knowledge and to know something useful and better. I have liked or loved every subject easily. Among the long list of subjects that I have known, mathematics has been the toughest subject as per my knowledge. The subject is combined of so many layers that unfolding each layer seems to be impossible and hard even. The subject never attracted me at all and I was scared to deal with the subject. As the subject is related with equations, theories, sums and so on, thus being intelligent is one of the important factors for any student who wants to think of going further with the subject. Mathematics has some of the interesting topics that can attract only an intelligent student, but for the ones who are average student, they need the help of teachers so that they can also get a grip over the subject. School is not enough for today’s date, you need an external help as well to know the tough subject deeply. Private tutors can help you, but searching a good one seems to be a tough job. The last option which never fails at today’s date is online tutoring. Online tutoring is effective largely For the new comers, it will be a problem as to think about if online tutoring can be helpful or not. Online tutoring is highly recommended for those students who are unable to grasp in some of the important things due to lack of intelligence. They are the average or weak students. Online tutoring takes special initiative in making the students learn every bit of the subject. They provide various types of services that help the student to lead further with the subject. Mathematics is a huge subject so online tutoring institutes make it a point to provide the students with the chapter wise help so that the learning process can be easier and also better for any student.   The first help that they provide for the chapter is probability help. Probability tutoring- Can be effective way of learning the topic Yes, it is an effective way of learning the entire subject or the chapters as some of the efficient teachers are involved in the world of online tutoring institutes. Probability tutoring is a part of services that online tutoring institutes provide to its student for vast subject like mathematics. Probability is a topic that makes a student gets to know about the possibilities of a thing. This is a chapter included into the mathematics section. The online tutoring services provide the subject or the topic’s guidance in such a way so that students can get a grip over the subject and know it well enough. The teachers who are involved in this service are highly efficient in regards with the subject. They can very well guide the student in such a way that helps the student to learn the subject with ease. The qualified teachers are only appointed for such work.  Statistics tutoring online- Is a good way of help for Statistics section In the vast world of mathematics, statistics section is one of the best and the most interesting part that will help you to score high. It encompasses graphs and sums and is beneficial for those students who cannot learn other tough topics easily. Statistics is based on the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data. The surveys and experiments help the process to carry on further. Getting a good Statistics tutoring online is one of the best way through which learning can be easy. The tutor will guide you through the ups and downs related with the subject and will help you to know the topic better. It does not have time limitation which is one of the best way through which students can utilize their comfortable time in learning. The concentration is high in such cases and students can learn in a good manner. Not only this, but with the help of teachers available all round the clock, the students can also clear their doubts whenever possible. This is possible through online tutoring only. Once the doubts are cleared they can easily come across some of the other chapters revolving the subject as well. Trigonometry tutoring- Helps students learn the chapter better This is not the last one, but the online tutoring institutes have various other services as well. Trigonometry tutoring is a service that helps in learning Trigonometry well. As per dictionary, trigonometry is a branch of mathematics that is engaged into study of relationships involving triangles and angles. Online tutoring or e-learning helps in making the work to be easy and accessible. They have a service as off one on one in which a single student is accustomed with an individual teacher so that the learning process can be faster and better. This is highly adaptable for weak and the introvert children who cannot open up with their problem in front of others. This can be helpful for them. Many such other advantages are there that are involved in this process of online tutoring. But the fact is that among the long list of such institutes, which institute will be beneficial is not known. For this I can help you with a new name and that is TutorPace. TutorPace can be helpful for newcomers For the new ones who do not have any idea about what online tutoring is about, TutorPace can be a good option in regards to the institutes providing online tutoring services. The institutes have good teachers, better services than other and the most important part is that the institutes have all the services offered at a very affordable price. The charges are less as compared to other institutes, helping the middle class family to get help and also not run of their budget. Thus, check out the site for details.  

The Joy of a Clean Up Job Assignment - Introvert Whisperer

Introvert Whisperer / The Joy of a “Clean Up” Job Assignment - Introvert Whisperer The Joy of a “Clean Up” Job Assignment Recently, a person wrote to me fairly distressed that the CEO had personally moved them into an assignment they didn’t want, working in a group that was fairly dysfunctional.   Despite her outstanding performance, the move felt like being put into the penalty box.   To make the situation worse, she was being given assignments from the boss of this dysfunctional group that wasnt really that beneficial to the company.   The new boss was doing strange things in an attempt to avoid getting fired and poor choice of projects was one of them.   Up to this point, the company, job, and pay were great. Now what? I thought it was time to celebrate which was a puzzle for this person. Over the years, I have found that being tossed into a train wreck was one of the most career-enhancing situations.   The reason:   It can only get better and you can be the one to make it shine.   “Turn around” expertise is a highly sought after skill which can also be paid substantially higher than the everyday equivalent job.   A person with that kind of talent is like finding a red diamond (which there are 5 of in this world) I’d like to outline the various things I saw in this situation that is reason to be excited.   I hope it fuels your thinking about how to handle things like this when they come along â€" or go after them in a big way. (!) This person had the attention of the CEO Some people I know would assassinate their own grandmother for this type of situation.   Somewhere along the line, this person performed well enough that the CEO either noticed or was made to notice her.   She was the solution to a problem the CEO personally found important enough to get directly involved.   When you are part of a solution the CEO thinks is important, you have a God-given opportunity to use that visibility to your personal benefit.   Of course, you have to perform but that should be no problem for a person with a proven track record. Its time to assert your leadership Not having a title or position is totally a non-issue for driving the results that need to take place within a group.   Some people get very hung up that without those credentials, you can’t do the work.   Hogwash!   Have you ever heard of leading from behind, or leading without a title?   Those aren’t philosophical terms; they exist because some situations require that someone do just that.   Initiative is a big characteristic of leadership as is taking responsibility for yourself and others. Pursue value-added work People who are running scared tend to make poor decisions, especially when protecting their ego.   This dysfunctional, poor performing manager could actually look better to the CEO if work was being done that had real impact to the company.   By using those great skills all this person had to do was to figure out a couple of dynamite projects that will turn them into a rock star.   If positioned correctly with the existing boss, that boss would come to their senses and fully support it.   It also holds the possibility of slowing down the stupid projects being assigned.   Even if it doesn’t slow down those requests, it can give this gal a reason to negotiate a delay of starting one of those assignments. Develop your own job description  Among the concerns of this gal was the fact that she was unsure what her job really was or how her performance was going to be measured.   This is another area where taking leadership will not only help her but also the boss and possibly her work peers.   She can develop what she thinks would be the best use of her skills combined with the work that desperately needs to be improved to create the framework of the job.   From there, then apply what good performance would be.   She can set down with this boss and probably the CEO to ratify her recommendations.   Taking this approach is like how you would approach work if you were a consultant.   Oftentimes the work isn’t well defined; they just know they have a problem for a consultant.   The first order of business is for the consultant to figure out where the improvement opportunities exist, pull together a work plan and ratify. Stay in touch with the CEO In a situation like this, there may be no need for accountability back to the CEO but you should act like there is.   Keep this person updated on your progress and accomplishments without going into too much detail.   Maintaining some amount of contact will confirm that you are worthy of their trust by being mature enough to provide communication.   This doesn’t mean you are throwing the current boss under the bus â€" in fact, don’t say anything negative about your boss.   Also, keep the boss in the same communication loop.   By being upfront and transparent, you keep demonstrating your leadership. By maintaining some contact with the CEO you keep the visibility that will be crucial in the future. I hope you can see, that a situation like this could define how fast and how far you could go in your career. Power-Influence-Office Politics: it comes down to your Strategic Relationships and understanding of how you build each one of these elements. I want to help you accelerate your career by connecting you with your Free Instant Access to my video that outlines all of this and meaningful actions you can take today! Start watching now: CLICK HERE Brought to you by Dorothy Tannahill-Moran â€" dedicated to unleash your professional potential.

Good Books III Even More Reading Recommendations for High School Students

Good Books III Even More Reading Recommendations for High School Students With the success of our last lists, we’ve added even more recommendations from AJ leaders. As a reminder, here are the ground rules: the only requirements were that the books be appropriate for high-school-aged readers, and that they not be books that regularly show up on high school reading lists. Fiction and nonfiction, memoir and sci-fiâ€"it’s all here.Happy reading!Ishmael by Daniel QuinnRecommended by Aaron AndrikopolousA great and eye opening read! A true spiritual adventure!Naive. Super by Erlend LoeRecommended by Jacob SchottI think the title says it all. A bored, slightly naive young adult in Norway navigates their way through daily life before taking a trip to New York to confirm or disconfirm whether or not it is true that time moves slower at the top of the Empire State building than at street level. Trust me, this blurb doesnt do the book justice…Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David EaglemanRecommended by Mark LiveringhouseIncognito is a wonderful choi ce for anyone interested in exploring the hidden recesses of the mind.Pale Fire by Vladimir NabokovRecommended by Sebastian von ZerneckA renowned poet, John Shade, dies and leaves behind a final manuscript for his poem Pale Fire. A neighbor and colleague, Charles Kinbote, recovers the poem and publishes it with a forward and line-by-line analysis. Together these elements form a narrative in which both fictional authors are central characters. Kinbote, we soon realize, is completely deranged, and his analysis of Shades manuscript, which is being held hostage from all other publishers and scholars, is wildly convoluted and entertaining.Resurrection by Leo TolstoyRecommended by Matthew DownhourResurrection is shorter and more readable than Tolstoys more famous books, War and Peace and Anna Karenina, so its a good introduction to one of the giants of the classical literary canon. It is also a strong book in its own right, delving more directly into Tolstoys unique social and religious p hilosophy, which would inspire such historical figures as Mohandas K Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.Oryx and Crake by Margaret AtwoodRecommended by Keith TippmanThis dystopian masterpiece from Margaret Atwoodauthor of the The Handmaid’s Taleâ€"is an eerie exploration of the type of future we may currently be creating with the modern state of politics and capitalist systems as we continue to degrade the earths environment. Set in the not-so-distant future, survivors of a devastating pandemic seek to create a new better world from the husk of our destroyed civilization and planet.The Machine Gunners by Robert WestallRecommended by Andrew HoughtonSet in a fictional English town of Garmouth shortly after the Battle of Britain, The Machine Gunners follows the life of a gang of school children during the Second World War. They find a crashed German bomber, complete with machine gun and 2,000 of ammunition. The children decide they are going to defend their homes and families, and so they build a fortress with their machine gun atop to defend themselves. This book is written by my dads old art teacher, who also taught my mum English. It won the Carnegie Medal for writing when it was published and was named one of the top ten medal-winning works ever. Not a long or a new novel, but absolutely gripping to read!Shoe Dog by Phil KnightRecommended  by Nisha GabbiEver wondered how those cool sneakers on your feet came to be? This book chronicles the journey of Phil Knight, founder of Nike. Full of life lessons with surprising twists and turns, this book is for the budding entrepreneur and fashion curious.Frankenstein by Mary ShelleyRecommended by Noah LarsonThe original monster horror novel and note the tale most people think they know. Its a classic with a twist you won’t see coming.

Are Narratives Superior to 5-Paragraph Persuasive Essays

Are Narratives Superior to 5-Paragraph Persuasive Essays 1. We need an alternative to the 5-paragraph persuasive essay Many teachers believe that the 5-paragraph persuasive essay is the only appropriate writing task for college-level students. Almost all of the college-level ESL textbooks published for the Quebec market include units on the so-called 5-paragraph persuasive essay, but units on narrative writing rarely appear.  This dearth is unfortunate since there are some very good reasons to switch to narrative writing. 1. We need an alternative to the 5-paragraph persuasive essay Why would anyone want an alternative to the 5-paragraph persuasive essay, you ask? For starters, over-reliance on this standard writing model does considerable harm to both students and teachers. When you ask teachers why they teach the 5-paragraph persuasive essay, they invariably tell you that it teaches students how to think and how to express themselves. However, there is evidence to suggest that, in fact, this standard writing model does exactly the oppositelimiting thinking, stunting expressiveness, and persuading no one of anything. Structure displaces meaning Rorschach (2004)  reports in a case-study of three college ESL students in a remedial writing course that pressure from the writing teacher to adhere strictly to a proscribed form interfered with the students development and organization of their ideas. One student had been taught in her ESL writing class to focus solely on the formal features of the model and ignore critical issues with content. As a result, her paragraphs remained a series of unconnected vignettes, bound together by a highly-formulaic thesis statement. Rather than to help the student organize and express her own ideas, the imposed structure suppressed personal expression and produced non-thinking conformity. A deskilling effect Another teacher phrased the problem this way: The five-paragraph essay is not an inherently incorrect form. However, it is destructive in that students are not ever allowed to discover if the form fits the meaning they seek to make”  (Duxbury, 2008). Since the form is always set in advance, meaning suffers. Part of the blame belongs to the thesis statement, by controlling what you are able to say and how you can say it. Berggren calls persuasive essay writing profoundly anti-intellectual in this respect because the students only question becomes, What can I say that I can support? (Berggren, 2008, p. 60). Students begin with an opinion and cast about in search of support for it, instead of looking at the evidence and formulating a position by induction. Moreover, the epistemology thesis statements reinforce is exactly the style of knowing we want learners to outgrow, namely that of absolute knowing in favour of contextual knowing. The absolute claims of the conventional thesis statement preclude nuanced thinking. Not only does this rhetorical straitjacket have a negative effect on students ability to think and express their meaning, excessive focus on this one rhetorical model to the exclusion to all others,  Moss (2002)  argues, has left students under-prepared for the range of critical thinking and writing tasks they will face at university. Concomitantly, Moss (2002) found that adopting a single, standard academic writing model has devalued teacher innovation and development, with school administrations claiming that in the context of a single, universal writing model, funding teacher training for writing instruction is no longer necessary. The 5-paragraph persuasive essay is having a deskilling effect on teachers, as well. Virtues Overstated E. L. Thorndike, the first educational psychologist The virtues of the 5-paragraph persuasive essay are almost always overstated. Many teachers will tell you that this type of essay promotes proper habits of mind, helping learners organize their ideas, no matter the subject. This is called the Doctrine of Formal Discipline and is based on the idea that learning to do one task can have a positive effect on a learners ability to do another unrelated task. In the early 1900s, the dominant view was that learning Latin and Geometry would have an improving effect on learners, so  E. L. Thorndike, the first educational psychologist, set out to test  whether learning one cognitive task would result in an improvement on a different task. It did not. The theory of general transfer has been abandoned in favour of theories of specific transfer (where learning one task will help you do a similar task in the future) or specific transfer of general principles (where learning to apply specific strategies to one situation can transfer to a new situation). Essay writing may provide an organizational model for arranging arguments into an essay form but it is very unlikely for it to cause a general improvement in thinking skills. Inauthentic task The persuasive essay is an inauthentic task since it is never used outside of instructional contexts. Horowitz (1986) in a survey of writing assignments across disciplines found that the persuasive essay does not resemble any of the actual writing tasks usually given by university professors. Defenders of the essay claim that persuasive essay writing is nevertheless an essential academic skill, without which advancement in academia is impossible. Proof of this is that the universities use persuasive essay writing tasks as entry tests. Therefore, the reasoning goes, teaching the persuasive essay in English will help students gain access to and succeed in English language universities. According to Statscan, 64% of the population in Quebec attends CEGEP. Only 38% go on to university. But from there, according to  Lamarre (2008), only 20% of francophone graduates attend English language university. That means that only 8% of all the francophones in all CEGEPs will go on to English University. Assuming that learning to write the persuasive essay is, as claimed, useful for students attending English universities, a class of 30 CEGEP ESL learners will receive instruction in a writing task which might be relevant for only about 2 students in the group. How relevant? is another question since a growing number of undergrads enter Business and Engineering programs where report writing and case studies (i.e., narratives) will be required of them. Of the English L2 speakers who do arrive at English language universities, irrespective of academic discipline, the biggest hurdle, according to the Vice-Provost of Concordia University, is their low English proficiency. It is for this reason that the  University Writing Test has been suspended at Concordia University for all undergraduate students in favour of preparatory ESL courses that focus on writing, listening, and speaking components of language training. To what extent, do academic writing tasks support listening and speaking skills? To answer this question, we should look at the corpus data. 2. Narratives and ultimate attainment Writing tasks that support oral skills should be a priority for ESL teachers since speaking is the most anxiety provoking form of communication. Anxiety has been shown to have a negative impact on willingness to communicate, which has a concomitant impact on frequency of communication, reducing contact with the target culture and ultimate attainment. Preparing learners for the demands of social situations should have the opposite effect, reducing task anxiety, increasing perceived competence and causing a direct positive effect on frequency of communication and commitment to integrate with the target language culture    (MacIntyre and Charos, 1996). One way to help learners with the demands of informal oral communication is to support the development of informal spoken registers through the use of narratives in ESL. Over-emphasizing formal registers reduces integrativeness College ESL courses tend to over-emphasize formal registers because of a concern that college-courses should be college-level and academic. This aspiration while noble in intent has unintended negative consequences for learners. One study (Segalowitz, 1976) found that non-fluent second language learners believe themselves to appear less intelligent, less self-confident, and less friendly during casual speech situations than formal speech situations. These same learners also evaluated their native speaker interlocutors less favourably in situations demanding casual speech than formal speech. The reason was that the language instruction these learners had been given had emphasized formal registers to the exclusion of informal registers, leaving them unprepared for situations involving informal social interaction. What these findings suggest is that an overemphasis on academic English will reduce learners’ motivation to integrate with the target language community. Since integrative motivation is needed to achieve moderate levels of second language proficiency (Dornyei, 1990), emphasizing casual registers in language learning classes should have a positive influence on ultimate attainment. Narratives encourage contact with the target culture Since narratives capture the closest approximation to the vernacular of unmonitored speech (Labov, 2010) and since speaking is the most anxiety-provoking form of communication (MacIntyre Gardner, 1991; McCrosky Richmond, 1982), it follows that switching from academic reading and writing tasks in the college classroom to narrative tasks should support the development of oral communication skills. It is very important that language teachers make efforts to reduce anxiety associated with speaking the second language because of the impact of anxiety on ultimate attainment. To explain, we know from research into anxiety and language learning that the anxiety speaking produces reduces willingness to communicate (Baker MacIntyre, 2000). We also know that reduced willingness to communicate has been shown reduce the frequency of communication (Hines Barraclough, 1995). Where contact is minimal or non-existent, there is less commitment to integrate with the target culture (Dornyei, 1990) and integrative motivation is needed to achieve moderate levels of second language proficiency (Dornyei, 1990). Supporting oral skills in non-fluent bilinguals through narratives should have an overall positive effect on ultimate attainment and help mitigate the negative effects of the current overemphasis on formal registers in second language instruction at the college level. Narratives support the development of register-appropriate oral communication Narrative writing instruction is more likely to prepare learners for informal social interaction for a number of linguistic reasons, also. Most importantly, it should be noted that academic and conversational registers involve a complementary frequency distribution of vocabulary and grammatical forms (Biber et al., 1999). However, because fictional narratives contain quoted speech, narratives contain many of the features of conversation English, making them particularly helpful in the development of the grammar and vocabulary needed in conversational registers. Some of the stark differences between academic English and conversational English are revealed in the corpus research given in Biber et al. (1999). Here are some examples of the differences between the registers with page numbers: Nouns Conversation has a lower density of information and therefore fewer nouns (Biber et al, 1999, p. 66). 60% of lexical words in academic prose are nouns (p. 65). Plural nouns are used 3-4 times more in academic prose than conversation (p. 291). Nominalization is much more common in academic prose than other registers, especially â€"tion and -ity (p. 322). Adjectives Adjectives are least common in conversation and most common in academic prose. The comparative form is used three times more often in academic prose than in conversation. Conversely, superlatives are more common in conversation than in academic prose (p. 65). Pronouns Conversation is marked by a high frequency of pronouns and a low frequency of nouns (p. 1042). Words like  everybody, everyone, everything, somebody, anybody, anyone, anything,  and  nobody  are common in conversation but rare in academic writing. Conversation uses pronouns in anaphoric expressions (to refer to an already established idea), whereas academic writing uses definite noun phrases in anaphoric expressions (p. 266). Preposition+which relativizers are only common in academic prose (p. 625). Determiners The determiner  that  is 11 times more common in conversation than in academic writing, where it is relatively rare.  This, used as a determiner, is more common in academic writing than in conversation, occurring 2500 versus 1500 times. The big exception is with the phrase  this one  which occurs 3000 times in the conversational corpus and not at all in the academic written corpus. Verbs Conversation has shorter clauses, and so verbs and adverbs are much more frequent in conversation and fiction (because it contains quoted speech) and much less frequent in academic prose (p. 65). Certain verbs are particularly common in conversation and particularly rare in academic prose:  try, buy, put, pay, bring, meet, play, run, eat, watch, pick, wear. Negation is most common in conversation and least common in academic prose (p. 159). Only in conversation is the progressive used to emphasize the reported message itself as in, “She was saying…” (p. 1120). Across all registers, 85% of verbs are tensed, while 15% of verbs are modal constructions (p. 456). Modals are most common in conversation and are about half as common in academic prose (p. 456). The progressive aspect is more common in conversation than in academic prose. The present perfect is about 30% more common in conversation than in academic prose (p. 461).  Have/has got is the most common present perfect verb in any register, occurring over 1000 times per million words in conversation, but less than 20 times per million words in academic prose (p. 465). Coordinators “But” is more frequent in conversation and fiction, and less frequent in academic prose. “And” is more frequent in academic and fiction than conversation and news. In conversation, “and” is used as a clause level connector. In academic prose, and is used as a phrase level connector (p. 81) . Contractions Verbs and not are contracted most frequently in conversation and fiction. Verbs are contracted less than 2.5% of the time in academic prose, and not is contracted 5% or less. (p. 1132). Adverbials The word  since  is used to introduce a reason in academic prose 95% of the time, but it is used to indicated a point in time in all other registers. The word  while  is used for concession in 80% of occurrences in academic prose, but it is used for time references 100% of occurrences in conversation. The word  though  is used primarily as a linking adverbial in conversation but as a subordinator in written registers. Clauses Expressions like  see if, wonder if, know if  and  ask if  are common in conversation and rare in academic prose.  Know whether  is 8 times more common in conversation than in academic writing.  Determine whether, the most common post predicate wh-clause in academic prose, occurs 20 times in academic writing and not at all in conversation. Technical Writing Some college teachers ask their ESL students to read and write technical reports, believing that the more challenging the text to read or write, the more students will learn about English. For these teachers, there is an unspoken assumption that conversational English can be acquired by implication. In fact, technical writing has certain features which cannot be generalized to everyday English. Trimble (1985) in his book on technical writing for second language teachers reports three key areas of difficulty for non-native students: descriptions, instructions, and literature reviews. He attributes much of the difficulty to grammatical elements found within them. Descriptions make unusually frequent use of passive and stative verbs. In instructions, the definite article is often left out (e.g.,  remove puncturing object from tire) or used on first mention in generalizing statements (e.g.,  The gas turbine fires continuously). In literature reviews, modals and modal passives are very common, and in certain instances, the modal should is used with the same force as must (Trimble, 1985, pp. 115-120). In all these cases, non-native learners who do not have full command of English will have difficulty learning these specialized uses of English and must learn not to generalize these specialized rules to everyday English. Summary With fewer verbs, fewer negatives, fewer modals, fewer contractions, fewer progressive forms, academic English is less suitable for supporting oral interactions than narrative writing. Furthermore, technical writing offers such an eccentric model of English grammar that learners will have difficulty generalizing its grammatical forms to any other communicative context. Finally, because of its effect on integrative motivation and ultimate attainment, ESL teachers should be very careful not to overemphasize formal registers in the instruction of non-fluent bilinguals. 3. Narratives promote the use of a wider range of grammatical structures The verb density of narratives should be of special interest to ESL teachers. Narratives are the principle way in which our species organizes its understanding of time (Abbott, 2008, p.3) and verb tense choice signals how events relate to each other in time. Since “narratives frequently contain irrealis clausesâ€"negatives, conditionals, futuresâ€"which refer to events that did not happen or might have happened or had not yet happened.” (Labov, 2010, Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences), narratives are best suited to teach these linguistic features to second language learners. Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase It is important to note that narrative writing involves a default tense. As such, narratives create an obligatory context for eliciting and measuring mastery of past tenses.  Primarily, narratives employ the simple past (Smith, 2003; He, 2011), and “more complex tense selections involving a secondary tense are then used to relate some other time to the main storyline â€" as simultaneous with it (present), as a flashback (past), or as a flashforward (future).” (Matthiessen, 1995, p. 741).” Argument, on the other hand, does not have an obligatory tense. Take a look at this short excerpt from  The Case of the Hidden Staircase, a Nancy Drew novel for young adults.        The weary workers  had just finished  their job when the phone  rang. Nancy, being closest to the instrument,  answered  it. Hannah Gruen  was calling.      Nancy! What  happened? she  asked. Ive been waiting  over an hour for you to call me back. Whats  the matter? While there are three times as many Simple Past verbs than any other verb tense, this narrative is hardly limited to the Simple Past, containing examples of four other tenses.  In just 44 words, this short text contains verbs in the Past Perfect, Simple Past, Past Progressive, Present Perfect Progressive, and the Simple Present. Looking at corpus data on word frequency, we observe that this passage contains no  academic words  and two  conversational words  that are very rare in academic prose:  asked,  and    just.  The eight sentences are short with an average of only six words per sentence. ESL teachers will recognize that comprehension tasks involving narratives suggest an efficient way of getting learners to notice the tense and aspect system of English verbs in a meaningful way. Narrative writing should also offer an efficient way of eliciting a variety of verb tenses. How to structure a narrative to elicit and rehearse specific structures is the topic of another blog post. References Abbott, H. P. (2008). The Cambridge Introduction to Narrative. Baker, S. C., MacIntyre, P. D. (2000). The role of gender and immersion in communication and second language orientations.  Language Learning, (50), 311â€"341. Berggren, A. (2008). Do thesis statements short-circuit originality in students’ writing? In C. Eisner   M. Vicinus,  Originality, imitation, and plagiarism: Teaching writing in the digital  age. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Biber, D., S. Johansson, G. Leech, S. Conrad and E. Finegan (1999), Longman grammar of  spoken and written English. Harlow: Pearson Education. Dornyei, Z. (1990). Conceptualizing Motivation in Foreign-Language Learning.  Language Learning, 40(1), 45â€"78. Duxbury, A.R. (2008). The tyranny of the thesis statement. English Journal, 97(4), 16-18. Hines, S. C., Barraclough, R. A. (1995). Communicating in a foreign language: Its effects on perceived motivation, knowledge, and communication ability. Comrnunication Research Reports, (12), 241â€"247. MacIntyre, P. D., Charos, C. (1996).  Personality, attitudes, and affect as predictors of second language communication.  15, 3-26.  Journal of Language and Social Psychology, (15), 3â€"26. McCrosky, J. C., Richmond, V. P. (1982). Communication apprehension and shyness: Conceptual and operational distinctions. Central States Speech Journal, (33), 458â€"468. Moss, G. (2002). The five-paragraph theme.  The Quarterly,  24(3), 23-38. Retrieved from http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/467/The_Five-Paragraph_Theme.pdf Labov, W. 2008. Oral narratives of personal experience. http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~wlabov/. (13 December 2008.) Rorschach, E. (2004). The five-paragraph theme redux.The Quarterly,  26(1), 16-25. Retrieved from http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/download/nwp_file/970/Five-Paragraph_Theme.pdf Segalowitz, N. (1976). Communicative incompetence and the non-fluent bilingual. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 8(2), 121-131. Statistics Canada, (2008).  Youth in transition survey. Retrieved from Statistics Canada website: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-595-m/2008070/t/6000006-eng.htm Trimble, L. (1985).  English for science and technology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Please follow and like us:

Kirkenes videregående skole

Kirkenes videregÃ¥ende skole Kirkenes videregÃ¥ende skole Kirkenes vgs is the Northernmost IB School in the world, located within a 2 hours flight from Oslo and a 4 hour drive from Murmansk, Kirkenes vgs is located in the North East of Norway and the hearth of the Barents region. We offer education both in Vocational- and General Studies in addition to the IB DP, and have approximately 600 students. Kirkenes vgs as you see it today is a result of several reorganizations and changes in both schools and a merge between the two in 2002. We got our DP authorization in December 2013 and this academic year is our first as an IB World School. We are searching for experienced IB teachers to be a part of establishing a successful Diploma Programme at the Northernmost IB World School. We believe in that learning is a collective affair. We have a socio-cultural understanding of learning and believe that learning is best achieved through interaction between people and through cooperation and collaboration where the participants have a common responsibility for and commitment to the learning outcome. This understanding is founded upon our values of loyalty, respect and cooperation. Read more about this in our Mission Statement. www.ibo.org IB World Schools share a common philosophyâ€"a commitment to improve the teaching and learning of a diverse and inclusive community of students by delivering challenging, high quality programmes of international education that share a powerful vision.* The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

Keywords or Phrases to Use on Your Resume to Stand Out

Keywords or Phrases to Use on Your Resume to Stand Out Photo by Bram Naus on Unsplash These words and phrases are suggestions take them in as they will vary between different people and their various experiences and skill sets. While a phrase listed may sound appealing and you may want to stick it somewhere on your resume, you definitely do not need to include the word or phrase if it doesnt apply to you specifically. Remember that these phrases are to make you and your actual capabilities stick out, use them as a way to draw attention to your ability to fill the position, not as a way for false advertisement. Read on to find what phrases or words you can use to make your resume stand out in your next job application. Improved   Make your resume stand out to hiring managers by showing just how much potential you are bringing to a company by filling the position you are applying for. When describing your past work experience in your resume, include the word improved in at least one phrase, or even more. By including improved when you describe your past work experience, you are showing that you are able to work with a position and its expectations, while also using your own skills to better the position and company you are working at. There are many ways to include improved on your resume, depending on the type of job position you are applying for. If you have worked with sales, you can try including improved sales tactics and support your claim with numbers if you have the means to do so. If you have worked with certain programming, you can try including improved teams ability to use program daily. Remember that the inclusion of improved is to enhance what you have already accomplished, so be ready to discuss the accomplishments if they are brought up along the hiring process, or even after. List out specific hardware or software you are experienced in When you are editing your experience or skills on your resume, include specific hardware or software you have had significant experience in if you want to make your resume stand out. By including specific hardware or software on your resume, you may catch the attention of companies that are looking for job applicants with experience with specific hardware or software instead of having to put time and effort into teaching every new hire how to utilize different programs. Think of how unimpressive listing out computer skills on your resume could be and how specific programming will have better chances of catching the attention of hiring managers. The more obvious and likely choices to include would be programs associated with Microsoft Office: Outlook, PowerPoint, Words, Excel, and so on. It will not hurt you if you continue to list specific hardware or software on your programs it will just show how experienced you are with the programs. To take it one step further, pair the software and hardware you include with specific achievements or tasks you have done with the programs in different job descriptions. Maybe you are used to designing graphics for advertising in Adobe Photoshop, or creating sales pitches in Microsoft PowerPoint. If you back-up your skill sets, you will help make your resume stand further out. Managed   The inclusion of managed on your resume will help make your resume stand out to hiring managers, and there are plenty of ways to include the word to improve your resume. This keyword is especially helpful if you are applying for a management position, or a position that requires you to lead a team effectively. The keyword can also relay several things: organization skills, task management, leadership skills, and more. If you are able to say managed a team of seven to meet monthly goals and provide numbers it will catch the attention of hiring managers while also reinforcing your capability to fill the position you are applying for.   This phrase can also be used for social media skills, like managing social media company social profiles, which will show that you are capable of multi-tasking and social media engagement. These phrases are just a few of many that can be used to make your resume stand out during your next job application. Remember that they are not one-size-fits-all and there are different keywords or phrases to highlight different careers, experiences, and skills. Best of luck!