The news these days is always full of stories about Hollywood celebrities, presidential candidates, and foreign leaders. However, recently there is a new kid on the information block: The SAT. Over the past few months this standardized test has received more press than a pop star gone bad. Follow the links below to see what’s new.
Brookwood SAT scores tops in Gwinnett
SAT is losing a bit of its clout
Class of 2008 Matches ‘07 on the SAT
Are you linguistically-gifted? Do you need money for college? If you answered yes to both these questions, then the Confessions of a Word Nerd Essay contest is for you. You could win up to $5000 in scholarships. Check out the link below for more details.
Hello, Readers! I know you all enjoy the posts we make to our blog. I hope you find them both entertaining and helpful. On that note, I’d like to hear from you. What would you like to know about in regards to college admissions and acceptance, standardized testing and all other things high school? Post a comment with a topic you’d like further explored. I look forward to hearing from you!
Ah. The joys of high school P.E. classes–changing clothes in front of strangers; endless games of Capture the Flag; the seemingly fascist insistence on wearing only white socks. Whether you find P.E. to be a welcome break from the monotony of classes or your own personal ninth circle of hell, new studies show that it might have a lasting impact on your standardized test scores, if you’re female. Sorry, boys. A new CDC report suggests that physical education might actually improve high school girls’ test scores. So, ladies, double-knot your laces and get on the field. Game on!
What does that spell? MOTIVATION! Sorry about that; motivation is a really long word, and I never made even the JV cheerleading squad. I know you’re just as surprised as I am.
While motivation may be easy to spell, very often it is hard to find. If you’re at a loss as to how to convince your busy high school junior to buckle down and dedicate a significant amount of time to preparing for standardized tests, you’re in luck. Jed’s new Jed Said article tackles the elusive art of motivating an adolescent. So read on and prepare to inspire!
Your time is up! ‘Tis the season for New Year’s resolutions, and boy, do I have one for you. Stop CRAMMING! That’s right; you read it. No more cramming. You’ve made it through all your end of term finals, but don’t breathe too deeply yet. There is a whole new semester gearing up and with it, more tests. This means…more studying! I know, it is terribly exciting, but please calm down enough to continue reading.
I personally am a member of Procrastinators Anonymous and completely understand where you are coming from. Why do something today that you can put off until tomorrow? Excellent question. When it comes to tests and reports, however, I have learned that organizing and managing my time have resulted in the best outcome. I’ve pulled my share of all-nighters, frantically scribbling (typing) until the wee hours of the morning. And EVERYONE around me suffered–my friends, my roommates, especially my grades!
Top Reasons Why Cramming should be Canned
1. You’ll become stressed out
2. You will loose sleep and become more stressed out
3. You’ll be stressed out and forget the answers, causing you to be even more stressed
So if not grades, what does cramming increase? Your stress level! And who wakes up in the morning thinking, “Gee, I’d really like some more stress today. That would be great!”
The argument in favor of cramming, which I have heard time and time again, is that you will more easily remember what you have just learned. This only works for your short term memory. To actually learn something, you need to input it into your long term memory. Still doubting? The following article, “Back to School: Cramming Doesn’t Work in the Long Term,” in Science Daily goes into further detail.
To test or not to test? While not a question posed by Shakespeare, it does appear to be ever-present in today’s society of No Child Left Behind. Since the law was enacted in January 2002, the concept of standardized student testing to judge teachers’ effectiveness in the classroom has come under the microscope. Both lauded and lambasted, standardized tests at every level have been discussed by everyone from teachers to parents to politicians to economists. In his December 20, Freakonomics column in the New York Times, “What Should Be Done About Standardized Tests? A Freakonomics Quorum,” Stephen J. Dubner opens the floor up to five exam experts. On the question of whether there should be more or fewer standardized tests in the school system, the majority of these testing gurus seem to be in agreement. Where do you stand?
What is a high school student to do when she has conquered parametric equations and polar coordinates? Where is there to go when a student has surpassed the highest math class offered in his high school by his junior year? Should she put math on the back burner and focus on another subject? Should he become home-schooled and left to navigate the treacherous waters of Calculus III by himself? Should advanced students stifle their love of a science that is ever present in our world, that explains the intricacies of our universe and perhaps our existence simply because they have eclipsed the high school curriculum? Not anymore.
Georgia Tech offers these advanced Math Masters the ability to continue their learning while earning credit for high school and college at the same time. For the past 3 years, Georgia Tech’s Center for Distance Learning has been enabling students from Cobb and Fulton counties to continue their math education beyond the limitation of the Georgia high school curriculum. With the help of two-way video and e-mail, high school students can attend Tech lectures from the comfort of their own classrooms. With just under 100 student participants from twelve high schools–Chattahoochee, Milton, Roswell, Lassiter, North Springs, Wheeler, among others–the program is growing.
You can learn more from Diane R. Strepp’s article A formula for higher learning: Taking on college math early, teens tune in to Georgia Tech classes in the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
It’s no surprise that I am a big fan of higher education, continuing education, any education. With this in mind, I was every synonym you can think of for happy this morning when I learned Yale University is offering 7 full undergraduate courses online for FREE. And it’s not just one lecture here and there but complete courses with video lectures, syllabi and transcripts. The university hopes to have 30 more complete courses online within the next 3 years. 30 courses! That is almost like a whole new degree! (There really aren’t enough exclamation marks in the world to fully express my somewhat nerdy but wholeheartedly sincere glee.)
Of course Yale isn’t going to start handing out diplomas will-nilly. But, if you are in it for the learning and not the paper, visit Open Yale Courses to learn more. I’ve listed the courses below so you can get a head start.
Happy Learning!
Courses available:
Astronomy 160: Frontiers and Controversies In Astrophysics
Professor Charles Bailyn
English 310: Modern Poetry
Professor Langdon Hammer
Philosophy 176: Death
Professor Shelly Kagan
Physics 200: Fundamentals of Physics
Professor Ramamurti Shankar
Political Science 114: Introduction to Political Philosophy
Professor Steven Smith
Psychology 110: Introduction to Psychology
Professor Paul Bloom
Religious Studies 145: Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible)
Professor Christine Hayes
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