#but i did a practice test for that module on the website too and got 39 out of 43? somehow?

[deepwoundsandfadedscars]

.

[dcublogger]

Sarah | Psychology

Hi, my name is Sarah and I am a mature student studying Psychology. I hope you enjoy my blog about my experience in DCU.

Semester 1 - 2019

December 20th, Semester 1: Finishing Semester

At just like that it is over. Semester 1 of year 3 is complete! It is honestly so hard to explain how quickly each semester goes. One of my friends said it best when she told us that we have 6 semesters done and only 3 more left until we graduate. 

I wish my semesters we more balanced for me personally. I have not found a balance between college time and mom time. Each week that passes I think next week will be better, next week I will be more organised. But then life happens and my little one gets sick. (Trying to leave for college when your three-year-old is pleading with you to stay, is an actual test I have only seldom passed!) 

But look, I have made it. There are still assignments to do and exams to prepare for but I have survived and made it through! Take that anxiety! We had an amazing end to this semester. We had to present our preliminary finds from our research project on the last day of the term. It was an amazing way to finish up. Getting to see everyone's hard work presented in a mock conference-style was incredible. 

Here we are, if you look super close you can see that there is a buggy in the background and a small person’s feet hanging out! Yes, listening to me present made my daughter fall asleep!... Now I know how to get her to bed early on Christmas Eve! 

Now, only four more sleeps everybody!

December 2nd, Semester 1: Managing Anxiety

Okay, the final stretch of the semester. So far this semester is going much better than this time last year! Last year, I developed extreme anxiety. I have probably always had anxiety on some level without knowing it really. Despite reading about anxiety and talking to many different people who experienced anxiety and all the bits that go with. I never recognised it in myself. I always just thought I was a bit weird! Last year though it passed my normal threshold of just negative thoughts and feeling worried about not being able to complete a task. Usually, I would take some time to myself and focus on some soul searching and in a week or two the moment would pass and I would return to normal functioning. Last year though this was not the case. I guess this time I was almost finished semester one of second year which was an achievement for me personally. The fear of not belonging or not being good enough, that someone would soon figure out that I was not a good enough student and would kick me out of college became so overwhelming. (Of course, this is a completely irrational thought, but that is the mechanism of anxiety!). 

I felt that I wasn’t doing well enough (I was really doing fine) in college and I wasn’t being a good enough mum to my daughter either. So two of the things I love more than anything imaginable, I was failing at, or at least that is what I thought. My anxiety manifested in panic attacks, which I believed to be some kind of issue with my heart (yes, really). I would shake for hours uncontrollably and was unable to sleep. I remember hearing someone talk about their anxiety and not being able to move out of bed in the morning time, in the morning they felt like a zero. After spending hours just trying to talk themselves to leave the house, they finally managed it and everything was okay. So at night time, late at night, finally they felt like a bit of a hero and could not sleep, and so the cycle would continue. 

This is anxiety. This is the dark passenger (Dexter quote), that has been around me for a very long time, the only thing with college is that I could just stay inside for two weeks until it passed. I had to keep trying to get there, trying to do my assignments, and the vicious thought pattern of ‘I’m not good enough’ is not a friend when you are doing course work!. My anxiety was crippling, the fear was so real. I have to point out here that DCU has an on-campus doctor and health centre which is staffed by some truly incredible people. They helped me work through all of my anxiety and to understand how to manage it better.  I was able to communicate my experiences to my lecturers, without their understanding and encouragement to just keep going little by little, I would not be about to finish this semester now. 

The reason I wanted to talk about this is that I know so many people who have experienced similar experiences to the one I have described. Many people might worry about not being good enough or able to complete something they really want to do. You absolutely can. If you are reading this and are really thinking that this is something you can relate to, know that anxiety or any mental health difficulty does not have to define you, it does not control you. I have learned over the last year that my anxiety is a guide, a little Jiminy Cricket (less friendly at times). My anxiety was telling me I needed to take a breather, regroup and remember what is important. My path has brought me here, and there is a bigger picture that is being built around me. I honestly believe this. I feel that Psychology in DCU has been so much more than just a college course, a thing I put down on my CAO form. It was a conscious decision that has brought me on an incredible journey of understanding my world, myself and my life. Little by little, it has rippled down through my family and huge. This course has already been so much more than just an academic education. 

Just remember...

 November 3, Week 7: Reading Week

So the weeks are flying by, we are already in week 7! This week we have a reading week. This is fantastic, it really gives everyone a great chance to get some reading in and some space to organise for the second half of the semester, as well as preparations for assignments and continuous assessments.

This year we have a big group project for our Research Methods module. It is an amazing opportunity to really see what it is like to get stuck into different types of research. I have to say this practical side of the Psychology programme is amazing! A lot of our modules have a lecture and workshop or practical based session throughout the weeks. If you are like me and you learn better by doing then this is an amazing part of Psychology at DCU! We have been building up our research methods and statistic experience over the first two years, each week theory comes in the lecture and then we have gotten a chance to run some statistical analysis in our practicals based on the theory we have covered in class. I was not a mathematical person what so ever, to say I feared numbers is putting it mildly! This module has become one of my favourites! I am not saying I am amazing at it by any ‘means’ (another statistical joke), but I love the module, something my family could never have imagined me saying... ever!

Aside from catching up on some course work, I had an amazing start to the week. On Monday, I was helping out at the World Online Learning Conference, which was an incredible experience, to say the least! It was a huge amount of fun and I got to meet some amazing people from over the world who were working or teaching in some way through an online platform.

...As you can see there was a lot of fun as well as a huge amount of organisation, work and dedication from all those involved from the National Institute for Digital Learning (NIDL) at DCU. Below is Mark one of the organisers and one of my fellow student ambassadors (I am safely behind the camera!)

Before I head off this evening, I really just want to remind you guys about the Open Days which are coming up very soon, (November 15th &16th). These days are so much fun, you get to come and visit the campus and meet some of the students and lecturers. There will be talks about the Psychology programme and a whole lot of lovely people to chat with, if this doesn't tempt you enough, I will also be there to answer (as best I can) any questions you have at all! Check out the website for more details.

The link is right here:  https://www.dcu.ie/studentrecruitment/openday

I have so much more news to tell you all but right now is bedtime, so I am off to read Christmas stories and tuck a whole lot of teddy bears into a bed while somehow fit a 3-year-old in there too.

Until next time (hopefully the weekend), wish me luck for bedtime!

October 22, Semester 1: Thinking Back

I can not believe that I am beginning week five of my third year of psychology. I have just finished preparing my CV for Intra (work placement) applications. I can not help but think back to my first week in first year…

In that beginning week, we all sat in HG50, a room that would soon become like a new home to us. I had met some of the mature students from my class already. During the Summer there was a mature student evening and then before the semester started we had the option to be involved with a mature student writing week. We all sat in that room, excitedly waiting and anxiously whispering to each other. Probably all of us still in disbelief that we had somehow managed to find ourselves here sitting in a room with some of the brightest leaving cert students in the country.

Somehow I had managed to finally get here. I had been a self-proclaimed life wanderer, weaving in and out of jobs that were underpaid and where I was overworked with huge amounts of stress and little space to grow. A person who had longed to be an excellent student in school but had fallen, unnoticed through the cracks of teenage school life like an Alice tumbling down to Wonderland. School had been a frightening experience for me in my life and probably an experience that up until that first week in 2017 sitting in a DCU lecture room, was an experience I did not wish to repeat.

As our soon to be lecturers filed into to room, making their way to the very front, all smiling and talking quieting amongst themselves I couldn’t have felt more excited. One by one, they introduced themselves to us and briefly highlighted the modules they teach on and their own area of expertise.  Almost all of them spoke in some way about how not so long ago they themselves were sitting in a room much like us and in the blink of an eye that moment had passed. It couldn’t possibly happen that way for me I thought, no way. This is going to be a long journey, four years is a ‘significant’ [psychology joke, after 1st year research methods you will get it more] amount of time and it will feel that way I thought.

The first two years of university was personally tough for me. My dad had become quite ill in the Spring of 2017. Very quickly, the mixture of caring for a sick parent while negotiating being a parent to a one-year-old, attending lectures, tutorials and practicals, volunteering and somehow squeezing in a homelife became real. It was like just one morning I woke up and all of a sudden I was an adult! 

I was alive with life, soaking up every drop of university I could, the no sleep didn’t matter because I was learning. I was learning so much about so much that I wanted to learn about, and that is honestly a life-changing thing…

But that is enough about my thinking back for now. For now, I just want anyone to know, that for me the last two years have been a test. I am not sure what the universe was testing me for but all I know is that everything that is possibly imaginable as stress has happened to me within two years. All squeezed together for maximum effect but here I am about to begin applications for a work placement and hopefully neuroscience-related (my dream).

If you are in any way thinking that you want to study psychology as a mature student or other, and if you are worried that it will be hard to manage, all I can say is, yes it is hard but you absolutely can manage it. You will absolutely not regret that choice. You will grow and develop in so many ways you never expected. I like to think in ways I am stronger after those two years, I am better for it. And all those lecturers, who might have seemed like just faces I saw on my first week, the ones who introduced themselves and their area of study to my class. Each and every one of them supported me and encouraged me to follow my dream and to keep going when things got the hardest. That is why DCU is different, I am certain that in any other place in time, I would not have survived, I would not have managed, and quite frankly I could very well be curled up in a ball somewhere crying.

And so here I am writing about it, almost halfway through my first semester of my third year as a psychology student. This can absolutely be you too (minus the personal stress of course!).  If you like Alice in Wonderland, then follow that white rabbit and let yourself fall into the madness that is the land of psychology. You will not regret it.

Lastly the DCU Open Days are on the 15th and 16th of November. These Open Days give you a great opportunity to talk to loads of people about courses that you might be interested in and you will also get to see the DCU Campus and go on a tour of the campus too. To register and find out all the info click here: https://www.dcu.ie/studentrecruitment/openday 

[angeltriestoblog]

Your Comprehensive Guide to Passing the College Entrance Tests

College entrance tests season is a time in my life that I look back on with equal parts pain and fondness, which somewhat serves as a justification as to why I’ve been putting off this post for so long. Although I spent many sleepless nights re-absorbing lessons I never even got in the first place—all while having to deal with agonizing self-doubt and anxiety—I guess it’s safe to say that it was all worth it. After all, ya girl passed three out of the four universities she applied for: I have yet to find out if UP is willing to take me under their wing, but whether or not they want me, I can say that I am very much contented with my results.

Since I feel I’m in a position to speak on a topic like this, I’m back at it again and ready to help anyone about to tackle the beasts that are the CETs this year. I’m dividing this post into three parts, which will contain tips on how to go about everything before, during and after taking what most consider to be the most important tests of your life. 

Obligatory disclaimer: This is ridiculously long and not everything that I’ve written here will apply to you, but hey, if I were you, I’d start taking down notes.

BEFORE THE TEST

One thing most people fail to stress when giving advice on this topic is the importance of adopting the best mindset. Understand that the CETs are a very serious and urgent matter, for you are tasked with preparing for the succeeding chapters of your life all within a short time frame, but at the same time, don’t allow the pressure that comes with it to lead to overthinking and comparison that will ultimately distract you from achieving your goal: passing. Stay driven and positive, and focus on yourself.

Now, on to the actual studying part. I’d hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the best way to breeze through these exams without breaking a sweat is by being a good student all throughout high school. Be the type to maintain a stellar general weighted average, keep all notes taken down during the past four years in an expanding file folder instead of using them to wrap dried fish and join as many extracurricular activities as possible. If you’ve already failed at this, it’s time to proceed to Plan B: review school.

I personally didn’t enroll in any classes over the summer, because I thought they only took place during the month of April, which was when my parents had scheduled our overseas trip for the year. Well, apparently, I couldn’t have been any less well researched and by the time I found out, it was already far too late. So, I had made the decision to opt for self-study. For some reason, I was the only one in the household who was worried out of my mind: my parents were very much convinced that I would be able to handle reviewing on my own, and prove that review school was not a requirement for acceptance into prestigious universities. I was touched by their unwavering confidence in me, but every word felt like an additional kilogram I had to carry on my back.

I got by through borrowing old review modules from my dentist (Tita Meng, I have no idea how you’re ever going to read this, but thank you so much for saving my life… and also straightening my teeth) and downloading sample tests from the Internet for me to test my knowledge later on. My efforts never felt like they were enough for me though: I remember looking up the curriculum for each subject I needed to tackle on the website of the Department of Education, researching each sub-topic that was vague to me and Khan Academy-ing my way to proficiency. Definitely an unnecessarily extra way to tackle the reviewing process, but hey, my mind was very much laden with doubt and I was willing to do the most. I also put up cartolinas on my bedroom walls with formulas for different Math and Science subjects, which proved itself useful since I actually spend a decent amount of my time staring off into space.

If the thought of doing all of this alone is stressing you out, then maybe it’s time to go down what is considered by most to be the safe route: enrolling in a review school. Doing so will provide you with all the lessons covered during high school in the form of actual lectures with qualified teachers, and hardbound notes that often come with sample tests that resemble the real thing. It guides you through the application process as well as gives updates on the schedules of most universities, and helps in parts of the test that cannot be achieved by poring over textbooks such as essay writing and even techniques for plain old guessing. All these benefits seem to provide their students with the confidence boost to top everything off, and I admit that I did feel inferior to most of my peers at some point for this reason. They all just seemed so put together, so at ease with their binders and pastel highlighters that it made me go through a period of regret and resentment. Do not let the perceived advantage they have blind you, though: do note that even if attending a review school helps you ace the entrance test, it does not measure your aptitude nor your ability to handle the workload that you will have to face as you make your way in the university of your choice.

Because I had to do everything alone, I had firsthand experience when it comes to waging a war with time: it was truly my biggest enemy during this point in my life. It’s obviously crucial to create a schedule and follow it regularly. If you’re anything like me, you’ve read this in several self-help books or heard this over and over again on productivity podcasts but planning truly is key. First, list down all the topics that you want to cover, complete with the estimated time it’ll take you to master them. Then, distribute them per day evenly so you don’t end up overwhelming yourself and cramming so much information in your head that you barely get to retain anything. It’s important to have a contingency plan ready as well, in case you needed more time digesting a particular topic.

Eliminate all distractions while reviewing. This is a cardinal rule for studying in general, so it will definitely increase in importance during a time like this. One thing I found important is to tell yourself why you have to do it, so it’s easier for you to follow through. For example, I’m pretty addicted to watching YouTube videos, so having to cut down my marathons and look at the number of videos on my Watch Later pile up was a bit painful at first. But upon conditioning my mind into thinking that I’d rather spend my five month summer vacation before college binge watching all the videos I had missed out on instead of looking for a university that was still ready to accept me, it was much easier for me to cut down on it.

Remember to prioritize breadth over depth. Cover as many topics as you possibly can, going over the basic concepts and important formulas. Then, knock yourself out with practice tests so that you’re fully familiarized with them by the time CETs roll in, because you never know how even the simplest questions can be twisted around to baffle you. A common mistake most incoming seniors make (myself included) is overthinking what could possibly be asked and going too into detail when reviewing.  In my defense, it seemed like the natural thing to do during a situation of panic but if I had only known, I would have been able to save so much of my time and devote it to mastering everything I had learned.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help if ever the need arises, whether it be from teachers, friends or upperclassmen. It might come off as a surprise to some of you, but there are many people who will be more than willing to help you, whether out of pity or genuine human decency. I asked tons of my classmates if I could borrow the notes they received from their review center, so I could learn more than I could have on my own (and maybe even compare their progress with mine). Sometimes, I’d disturb them at ungodly hours and call them up on Messenger to plead them to teach me the shortcuts in problem solving, mnemonics or acronyms. I was never the type of person to do that: honestly speaking, it felt like a direct blow to my pride to have to beg for something. But, it was my future at stake and upon remembering that, I no longer felt any shame [shrugs]

On another (but equally important) note: stay on top of your requirements for the different universities you’ll be applying to. Although they don’t normally start until July or August, it’s much better to get these out of the way as early as possible. Take it from me, who ran around Megamall looking for a photo studio a week before ACET apps needed to be passed. Stock up on ID pictures of different sizes, preferably 1x1, passport size and 2x2. Photocopy important documents like your birth certificate and grades forms, as well as your ID from the current or previous school year. Start thinking of who to ask recommendation letters from, brush up on your essay writing and interview skills and work on your CV if needed. Also, have a scanner ready if you plan on trying out for La Salle, since their application process is purely online. Be sure to keep track of your deadlines: don’t wait around for people to remind you, and please please please For The Love Of God do not cram everything until the very last second.

Strive to finish reviewing over summer break so you don’t have to worry about balancing CETs and academics, which is an entirely different playing field. I’ll come clean and say that I failed to do this, because there were still so many topics I couldn’t understand and questions I couldn’t find the answers to, even with the guidance of the Internet. Let me tell you, it was absolute hell as I didn’t have the time or brain capacity to digest lessons both for school and entrance tests. Please have mercy on yourself and focus on the classes you are to take during the school year, flipping through notes and flash cards sparingly when you have free time.

Now for the part that will probably be most useful to you all: the actual subject matter to study, focused specifically on the entrance tests for the Big 4 universities. Don’t use this as the sole basis of your review, since it’s not a guarantee that the topics covered this year will be the same as the succeeding ones. I remember looking up this one CET tips thread which said that the ACET was going to have mostly geometry-related questions. Since Ateneo is my dream school, I spent a ridiculous amount of time cramming everything from theorems to tangents in my head. So, you could just imagine my surprise when I actually took my test and was greeted by a maximum of four geom questions and a predominantly Algebra II and Trigonometry-centered Math portion.     

ACET

Language proficiency

This test will assess your knowledge on basic grammar: correct usage of verb tenses, S-V agreement, analogy-type and a cloze test, where you are required to fill in the blanks with the appropriate word for the sentence. It also included an essay question about a particular word that differed from session to session. I had to make one on the word “superstition”, so I had written something on how I didn’t believe in them because I was raised by my family with a very strong faith in God. One tip people give out a lot is to try and relate your answer to either love for God or being a man for others, but do it only if it doesn’t come out forced. From what I remember, we were given 50 minutes to answer all of this, and I don’t mean to come off as boastful but English is and has always been my first language, so it didn’t serve as a problem on my part.

Mathematical ability

This test is feared most by previous test takers, and it was only when I crawled my way through it that I realized why it has that reputation. It’s composed primarily of basic algebra, algebra II and trigonometry questions, all of which are quite lengthy and require a decent amount of time to think through, especially if you’re not really the best in this subject.

Abstract reasoning

This test… Boy, what do I even say? It requires you to pick out the figure or shape that completes the pattern. There were 30 items all in all that needed to be accomplished within 10 minutes, and I couldn’t tell anything apart from each other. I feel anyone who tells you they took this test seriously and finished it without breaking a sweat is just messing with you. I don’t think there’s any way to answer this test without turning to our old friend (the shotgun method).

Logical reasoning

This test includes questions with a set of premises that you are supposed to analyze, and a list of choices containing possible conclusions that can be drawn from them. Your task is to pick the most logical one, which sounds like common sense at first. Apparently, this was a topic discussed in General Math, so there is a certain set of rules to follow. Not only did I not remember ever taking this up in my life, but I also skipped it during review so I had to borrow my classmate’s book and cram everything I could during ACET week (DEFINITELY NOT ADVISABLE). There was one part of the test that involved a lot of technical terms, which I did not read about or study but thank God ya girl was desperate enough and ended up finding hints in the instructions!

Vocabulary

Pretty self-explanatory type of test, with 25 words in five minutes. It seems overwhelming, but contrary to popular belief, it’ll be easy even for those who aren’t voracious readers.

Reading comprehension

This test will require you to fully understand the message of the text, and apply it practically or draw sensible conclusions from it. I breezed through this one as well, because I’ve been reading since I was in the womb, but this can prove to be difficult for those who aren’t used to it. I’ve been seeing this tip circulating that goes “Look at the questions first before the passage itself, so you know what to find” and although it can fool just about any lazy reader out there, I tried it for myself during the ACET because I was in the mood and it didn’t help me at all. If anything, it just slowed me down because I was doing twice the work: looking at the question then going over the whole thing to find the answer, then repeating the process instead of just reading the text once.

Numerical ability

This test was all word problems—age, work, mixture, speed—with a dash of ratio, proportion and variation. This was the last portion of the ACET, and not only was my brain fried to a crisp but I was also very eager to leave so this definitely made me want to scream as I was taking it. It could have been much easier if I had memorized the exact formulas, and practiced lots so I could work rapidly without sacrificing accuracy.

DCAT

Mema test

I don’t know the actual name of this test, but I called it as such because it was so all over the place it felt like the ones in charge of making the DCAT looked at the final draft, saw they were an entire subtest short and crammed these questions two hours before the deadline. It was a mix of both abstract reasoning and vocabulary, and was generally easy: the AR patterns were understandable and didn’t require a lot of analysis, while the vocab words were very few and quite common.

Math I

I read in this one CET tips post that this portion was, and I quote, “pretentiously difficult and time-consuming” and it’s absolutely true! It’s big on derivations of formulas and advanced concepts in algebra, it barely had any basics much to my dismay. My mental block during this part was at its peak: I didn’t know how to solve anything, so I simply substituted each of the missing values in the problem with a number and worked it around until both sides of the equation were equal. That obviously took a lot of effort, which stemmed from my refusal to let go of an item until I feel like I’ve tried my best in solving it. But, it doesn’t have to be the case for you, especially if you’re terribly pressed for time: don’t hesitate to skip if you can’t move forward!

Math II + logical reasoning

Undoubtedly the hardest part of the exam, because no one saw it coming and thus, no one was able to prepare for it. And to think I was already warned by my friends who took the DCAT the week before I did to review statistics: I went through my notes from Grade 9 on combination and permutation, completely unaware that it was going to focus on hypothesis testing and estimation of parameters, which we failed to cover in Grade 11. I thought I’d be able to get by, I remember even praying that there would be only a few items but the entire test revolved around it so I almost literally crawled my way through. As for logic, it was alright until they started using technical terms like I had no idea what modus ponus (hocus pocus?) is and I don’t think I’ve ever had to study that in my life, so I think it’s safe to say I didn’t perform well there.

Reading comprehension

This was pretty similar to the ACET, so the same description and tips apply. Nothing to worry about.

EAPP/Research

This test was the plot twist of the year: DLSU completely took out the traditional type of English subtest (identifying errors, vocabulary, cloze test, etc.) and replaced it with citing in APA format, the principles of academic writing and the parts of a research paper. I had no idea that this was going to be included, and thankfully, those who enrolled in review centers didn’t either so we were all pretty much on equal footing. But, I walked out of it without a scratch: I guess it’ll be easy for you if you contribute to the making of your research papers, but if you’re a freeloader, ayan diba sinabi ko sa inyo may araw rin kayong lahat O ETO NA YUN

Science

This test covers the four major areas: earth science, biology, chemistry and physics. It was so much easier than I expected, because it only centered on terms and definitions of important concepts. I was most worried about the physics portion, since I’ve always considered it to be my waterloo, so you could just imagine my relief when I saw that it was very formulas-based and could be aced by anyone who took it up in Grade 10. (Super long run-on sentence, I’m sorry) I definitely wouldn’t have been able to survive it without the help of Tyler DeWitt, the best Chemistry teacher anyone could ever ask for – I found him on YouTube during a moment of desperation and binge-watched all his videos the day before DCAT, and he is probably the sole reason behind my success.

Life skills

The easiest and best part of the DCAT, because it’s simply a test of your character. It provides you with a set of situations, and all you have to choose which one best applies to you—so, yes there are no wrong answers. It’s easy to think that the most logical way to answer would be to feign sainthood and pick which one makes you look like an Ideal Lasallian/Catholic/Person, but I advise you to stay as true to yourself as possible. Those in admissions have probably seen many people apply this strategy in the past, and will most likely appreciate your honesty and view it as a way of seeing a true glimpse of your character.

UPCAT

Language proficiency

I think I was only sure of about 75% of my answers in this test, and to think this was the easiest part of the UPCAT for me as language is supposed to be my forte. Although it revolved around the basics—identifying errors in sentences, cloze set, rearrangement of sentences to form a paragraph and vocabulary—it came in both English and Filipino, which really tired me out early on.

Science

Hardest test of them all, to the point that taking it felt like my brain was getting hit by different trucks all at once. It covered all four major areas, including earth science. There were a ton of tables, graphs and diagrams that needed to be interpreted, and experiments to be analyzed: it’s big on practical applications and understanding of concepts. Don’t memorize any formulas, acronyms and mnemonics as you definitely will not need it at all.

Math

This test ran through a little bit of everything: from basic algebra to geometry, trigonometry, word problems and even statistics, sequences and number theory. It’s important to memorize all the formulas and learn how to solve problems fast even if they’ve already been twisted around. Math has never been my strong suit, so at this point, I was very close to hyperventilating. I even remember shading the wrong circles for ten questions in a row because I skipped one item. I also took around three bathroom breaks at this point, and spent 30 seconds sat on the toilet praying.

Reading comprehension

This was the first time I ever loathed this kind of test, when it’s supposed to be my strong point. It’s just that the previous subtests were so mentally and emotionally draining, that I didn’t have the brainpower to tackle it. It didn’t help at all that the passages chosen for the UPCAT were not the usual narrative types that are actually entertaining to read, but were incredibly information and detail-heavy. (They made really good memes on Twitter, though: no one was over the patis, newsboy or Super Ferry 9 for a long while.) The best thing to do at this point would be to go for the easiest and shortest ones first, to give your brain time to repair and prepare itself.

USTET

Mental ability

This test seeks to assess your common sense through a mix of logical reasoning, analogical and basic language and arithmetic problems. I don’t think I have to give you tips about this part at all, because it’s that easy.

Science

This test also includes question on all four major areas, but the main difference is that there are close to no practical applications of concepts – surprisingly, UST only cares about the definition of terms. Thus, intensive review probably won’t be needed: you could just skim through your notes from junior high school and have a good grasp of what’s going to be included.

Math

This test had mostly basic algebra and geometry, as well as some word problems – nothing too difficult. One other fun thing was that there was so many of the same type of question, so if you have the formulas memorized and a certain technique in answering, you could get so many (if not all) correctly.

English

This test focused mainly on basic grammar, figures of speech and subject-verb agreement. There was also a tiny part about oral communication and research, which I wasn’t able to prepare for but it’s a good thing I actually bothered paying attention to my teacher in Grade 11 or else I wouldn’t have been able to answer a thing.

THE DAY BEFORE – DURING THE TEST

Now, normally people would tell you to rest the day before any big test: drop all books and notes and mentally psych yourself for the battle up ahead in the form of face masks and comfort food. Although it sounded incredibly tempting, I obviously didn’t follow it because I was running short on time and had so many things I had yet to fully understand. Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t experience any adverse effects and even retained everything I had crammed into my head. So, you’re technically still allowed to review: run through flash cards and try a bit more practice problems if you wish. The only thing you have to make sure of is that you do not stay up late: sleep is crucial for memory retention and BASTA PARA DI KA LUTANG, and you do not want to realize that you’ve taken it for granted on such an important date.

Pack all your essentials the night before in (preferably) a small backpack that you can easily lug around. Bring two #2 Mongol pencils, an eraser, your test permit, a school ID just in case and food to snack on: my personal favorites of the season were seaweed crisps that I got for a buy one, take one deal in Robinsons Supermarket, raisins and trail mix. Scientific studies in the past have claimed that chewing motions can help stimulate your brain, but I just believe it just doesn’t feel right to engage in battle on an empty stomach. Coordinate with friends who’ll be in the same testing center as you, in case you won’t be able to survive in such an environment without someone to sympathize with you. Personally, I didn’t bother meeting up with friends for three out of my four tests because I wanted to feel independent and possibly run into new people.

If you’re anything like me and you hold on to God for dear life in almost every situation that brings you difficulty, don’t forget to pray for enlightenment and the capacity to accept His will, whatever it may be. As much as possible, try to hear Mass the day before your entrance test. Funny story, I was supposed to do this on ACET Eve, but we got stuck in traffic and missed the opportunity to. I ended up running to my parish while the staff were closing it (I didn’t even know that was a thing – what about the troubled souls who need guidance in the wee hours of the morning!) and muttering the most desperate prayer under my breath in a minute. I even lit a candle outside because I wanted to pass Ateneo that badly. Looking back, I found that it helped me lots because I was able to lift up all my worries to Him so I wouldn’t have to bring them along with me the next day.

On the test day itself, the best weapon to have in your arsenal is a good mindset. Walk into the testing center like you already passed, stroll along the corridors like it’s your first day in that university and look at every question as another step closer to freedom. Do not overthink or panic: I know it is much easier said than done, but it won’t hurt to fake it till you make it (sometimes, in situations like this, it’s the best option available).

Keep track of time limits: don’t be afraid to glance at the wall clock or your wristwatch from time to time so you can pace yourself properly. Don’t take too long on one item: if you don’t know what to do with it in 20 seconds, just come back to it when you have extra minutes to spare. If you’re not sure about the answer to an item, make the most intelligent guess you can by racking your brain for the very limited stock knowledge you have on that topic. Choose one letter to be your go-to choice if you really don’t know the answer: mine was C (for Christ, truly) although I don’t know if that’s still a wise decision because universities might start picking up on this strategy.

Look back on all your answers: if you have the luxury of time, re-read everything from the instructions to the passages to the choices provided, because sometimes, even if you were 110% sure of what you were answering during that moment, you may have missed something important. If you happen to be one of those beasts who come prepared enough and you’re completely sure of everything already, catch a quick nap to recharge those batteries instead of scouting for attractive fellow test-takers. I swear, there will be many more of them in college: at present, it’s best to exhaust all efforts into actually getting a university.

AFTER THE TEST

The minute the proctor makes you put your pencil down one last time and submit the questionnaire forward, let it go. Completely forget that it happened: don’t spend the succeeding days discussing answers with peers, as it will almost always end with you regretting things you can no longer change. Do not keep a countdown until judgment day ticking in your head either: choose to take this time to let your life return to its normal state. Shift your focus back to your academics for the school year, and be preoccupied with your interests once again during your free time. Remember to treat yourself as well, because we all know it’s not easy to study while simultaneously worrying about your future. After all my CETs, I made sure to eat out with my family and spoil myself with chick flick marathons and skin care products. Most importantly, be sure to keep praying as it is the key to accepting what happens in the future and regaining peace of mind. As cheesy as it sounds, trust in God’s plan for You and know that He has a reason for everything that is about to happen.

Now, on to the final stretch: the release of results. (This is a pretty timely thing to be talking about right now, since as of this writing, I’m waiting for UP to make a move within the week) If you pass your dream school—or any university for that matter—congratulations! Your hard work has finally paid off, and the promising future you’ve built up in your head is slowly turning into a reality. Don’t forget to thank all those who made this possible for you: God, your family, friends and teachers who believed in you through every sleepless night and mid-morning breakdown. Remain humble though, and be careful not to gloat in front of those who didn’t pass. I know you’re not really obliged to act a certain way to please them, especially during a time as joyous as this, but it’s all a matter of empathy: I’m sure you’d feel the same way if the roles were reversed. One thing you’re left to decide with if you’re lucky enough to pass more than one college is where you’re headed off to. Personally, it’s course over school: go for the program that suits you best and will help you pursue the career path you wish, since that will do you more good in the future than the reputation of any institution. If you are not entirely convinced by that spiel, do not hesitate to ask help from those you trust most: preferably family members, teachers and counselors. I left out friends, because I don’t think it’s a wise decision to choose a specific school just because that’s where they’re headed.

If you fail to make the cut, however, indulge in your right to cry right now. I’m sure that it must be disheartening, planning out a future in a school that ended up “rejecting” you in the end, but news flash: the race does not finish here! Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get ready for the results of the other schools you have applied for. Be sure to surround yourself with only people who are capable of uplifting your spirits and helping you believe in yourself during such a trying time. If the worst case scenario happens and you are left with no college at the end of the day, it’s time to get hustling: look for universities that are still accepting applications (some schools out there have entrance tests every month, and results come out instantly), or send in letters of appeal if ever you truly have your eyes set on a specific campus. That’s not something I have much expertise on though, but almost everything you will need to know is on the school’s official website.

And, there you have it! Everything I could tell you about the college entrance tests! I spent approximately three days trying to kick my writing slump in the ass: my eyes hurt and I may be suffering from carpal tunnel but all of that means nothing as long as I’ve been able to guide one hopeless soul out of the dark. (Yes, I patterned that after my comprehensive guide to surviving Grade 11 – my brain is dying, and I have no time to think of an ending catchier than that.) I’m on summer break now and I’ll be going to Korea next week, so expect a lot of lighter and more amusing content!

Stay in school, kids!

Angel

[ashketchup119]

A Chance Encounter

Almost posted something really personal O.O hazards of doing business with google docs.

ANYWAY

This is a snippet from the same story as the last one, and if you read some bits and go w h a t  i s  h a p p e n i n g uhhh... feel free to slide into my dms or askbox. Again, been writing this since sixth grade, so I’ve put a lot of thought and effort into this story and love sharing it.

It’s very fantasy/sci-fi, and I enjoy writing it.

Enjoy!

Mirzin tsked as they watched the gathering around them with judgmental eyes. It had been decades, centuries even, since they’d participated in a proper social event, and they were beginning to remember why it had been so long. There had been a time, once, when they and their best friends had flitted from one party to the next, but with one best friend dead and another missing, they found it difficult to enjoy these types of events alone.

Beyond that, moving to a new city was rough enough. Moving to a whole other reality was even worse. Most of the time, Mirzin found themself lying in bed, still trying to adjust to the newness of it all. They hadn’t really used technology before, and simply playing with their new cell phone took up any time spent outside the bed. It was tiring, in their (esteemable) opinion.

But they’d been asked to attend by Zaida, a local friend, and in their (usually correct) opinion, it was best not to cause trouble with one of the few people who put up with them.

So, here they were, dressed in clothes that had gone out of fashion in an alternate universe years ago, standing stiffly in a corner not occupied by carefully arranged plantlife. The walls were a mint green and covered with bits of paper- a small, torn picture of Zaida at a beach; a poster from a magazine featuring some new movie Zai clearly liked enough to feature in her home; drawings of her dogs, who were currently weaving in and out of the house, following the paths of those who would pet them. The floor was carpet, and Mirzin usually took their shoes off at the door, choosing to delight in the sensation of carpet under their feet. Their own apartment was tile, and they hadn’t found the time to purchase a rug. Too busy laying in bed and trying to figure out how to lower the brightness on their phone without having to go into the phone settings every time. There was a sofa in the living room area, bright pink with large lilac flowers embroidered in the center of the cushions, and next to it was a recliner, dark green and plain. Mirzin considered sitting down, but after noticing a new stain on the arm of the recliner and a couple on the sofa, they decided their corner was the safest bet. At some point, Zaida had come by with a soda, and they now stood holding the beverage with both hands to their chest. They weren’t drinking from the soda can, talking to anyone, or enjoying themself. Why were they here again?

Oh right. Zaida.

“Mirzyyyy!” A familiar voiced slurred near their ear, and Mirzin started, accidentally dropping the soda. “Mirzyyyy! I got some-someone that you just,” she trailed off as she threw a pale arm around their shoulders for balance. “You gotta meet ‘im. You gottaaaa!”

Mirzin winced and replied, “Zai, I’m not really feeling up to it. In fact, I think I’m going to go home. You know, I have a very busy day tomorrow, and-“

Zai burped loudly, and Mirzin tried their hardest to subtly remove her arm from it’s position on their shoulders. They moved forward slightly, only to frown at the floor as their foot bumped into the discarded soda can. Zai’s hold on them got stronger, and they found themself being pulled through the throng of people inside the house towards the back door. They tried to resist, making slight protests about pending tasks and errands, but they were curious.

Curiosity is what they and their best friends had bonded over, and given that one of them had ‘curious’-ed himself into a coffin and the other a dark cave complex they had yet to walk out of…

Well, the old saying did say “curiosity killed the cat.”

Mirzin firmly pushed away from Zaida’s hold. “I’m leaving. I’m going home, and I’m going to shower, and I’m going to watch my favorite show off some website that really tests my ad blocker until I fall asleep. Maybe I’ll get some food on my way home, I don’t know. Goodnight.” They murmured in a tone that sounded final, to their ears.

Zaida did not agree, clearly, because she grabbed their arm and continued to drag them along behind her. The two of them passed through the sliding glass doors to an even louder scene outside, with people milling about, talking to friends and occasionally taking small sips of their drinks. As Zai and Mirzin passed, the partygoers waved and tried to chat, but Zai brushed them off with ‘I’ll be right back’s and ‘I’m a little busy, sorry!’s. Mirzin, for their part, just looked vaguely annoyed in a manner which discouraged any sort of interaction, and those who did try to talk to them were hit with a death glare that seemed as though it might truly be fatal, under the right circumstances.

Finally, the sea of people parted to reveal a tall, dark man, hovering near the wall separating Zaida’s backyard from the neighbors’. He was leaning against the back wall, shoulders relaxed, in a manner that suggested ease. A smile played on his lips, and he glanced around with amused eyes. His clothes looked average enough, but still managed to retain an appearance that hinted at money. When he caught sight of Zaida and Mirzin, his left eyebrow raised in a questioning manner, though his eyes still sparkled the same way.

Mirzin’s first thought was ‘Oh no! He looks nice!’. Actually, no. Their first thought was less of a ‘thought’ and more of an ‘internal scream that vaguely communicated that they did not want to meet this man, especially if he turned out to be nice, because then they would have no excuse to leave the conversation without seeming rude’.

“Raffie!!” Zaida yelled, letting go of Mirzin’s arm to hug the man (who was even taller than Mirzin had thought he was! Why was he so tall?!) She then released him, turned around, and grabbed Mirzin’s arm once again. “Raf, Mirzin.” She raised Mirzin’s arm to punctuate her statement. “Mirzy is… new. They’ve lived a lot of life not here.” She paused to burp. “Raf is not new! He’s lived a lot of life here. I think you should be friends! Or maybe,” she wiggled her eyebrows, “More than friends.”

Mirzin pulled their arm out of her grip and flushed slightly. They weren’t looking for any sort of romantic relationship, certainly not only a couple of months after moving to a new reality. However, new friends were new friends, and while Zaida and the three other people they’d managed to befriend were helpful and nice, it was still kind of telling that they spent all of their time alone.

“Hi, Mirzin.” The man- Raf- greeted, smiling. “Pleasure to meet you.” He stuck his hand out, waiting for Mirzin to take it.

Mirzin’s brain went slightly haywire for a few seconds, though this time the internal screaming had more of a ‘I don’t like talking to new people and this man seems friendly enough but what if I make the wrong impression’ sound. They weren’t really used to being introduced to people- usually, others introduced themselves, and Mirzin responded in kind. For some reason, though, this felt different from those interactions. Maybe it was Zaida standing with a drunken smile between the two of them or the fact that she’d implied that she hoped for some romantic spark to come to life, but they felt nervous, and noticed with a slight grimace that their palm was sweaty. Their grimace turned into a scowl when they noticed that Zaida had disappeared, presumably to keep her word and talk to the people they’d passed by earlier.

Regardless, they knew they had to give some sort of response. They grabbed Raf’s hand and shook it mechanically for a few seconds before realizing they hadn’t responded verbally.

“Thanks.” Mirzin said, then instantly felt so embarrassed they had half a mind to turn tail and run.

Raf just laughed and used his grip on Mirzin’s hand to pull them closer. “Mirzin! Are you as interested as I am in leaving this place and heading home? I know we’re supposed to be talking and getting friendly or…” He drifted off, and Mirzin managed to discreetly pull their hand from his. “Whatever, but I am really, really tired, and would much rather just give you my phone number and, as my mom would say, ‘blow this pop stand.’” Raf smiled at this, and Mirzin got the distinct feeling that this was some sort of joke. Either way, it wasn’t a phrase they were familiar with from their home reality, nor did they recognize it as a common phrase from this reality. They wondered, vaguely, if Raf’s mother, whoever she was, was also a Traveler.

Mirzin nodded quickly, and Raf maneuvered the two of them out of the party, giving general goodbyes to those who came up to them while Mirzin followed close behind, though this time their face held a vaguely lost expression.

In the car, Raf again began to speak. “I’m glad you didn’t think I was some sort of weirdo for meeting you and immediately asking to escort you home. Address?”

“Uh, 1-8-24 Maliznek.” Mirzin replied automatically, in the way they’d practiced in the mirror a month ago.

Raf nodded and put the directions into the navigation module. “As I was saying, you just didn’t look comfortable. I’m not really a party sorta guy, but Zaida insisted I come and meet you. I’ve lived here in Munae-21 since I was a kid.”

Mirzin started. “You know about…?”

“The different realities that people can travel between if they’re powerful enough? Yeah.”

“I didn’t think- are you a Traveler?”

Raf shrugged. “I guess? I don’t travel much between realities, but my mom was born and raised on Earth-2059, and I lived there for a couple years when I was little.”

“Ah.” Mirzin smiled sarcastically. “It’s always Earth-2059.”

“Are you a Traveler?” Raf asked.

Mirzin hmm-ed under their breath as they attempted to figure out how to explain. Eventually, they settled on, “Well, when Zaida said I was new here, I’m… very new. To this reality. I grew up in… another reality, and things changed recently.” It was vague, but they figured it got the point across well.

Raf smiled widely. “Thank the goddess. FINALLY someone I can just… talk with! You don’t know- it’s so difficult-“ He paused, gesturing uselessly. “I’M HAPPY I MET YOU!” He burst out, finally.

The smile on Mirzin’s face turned genuine, and they found themself relieved to find someone who understood, at least a little bit. 

“Ah, is this your place?” Raf gestured to the building they’d arrived at, and Mirzin looked to find their apartment complex.

“It’s nice to meet you.” Mirzin murmured as they left the car, and was surprised to find that they meant it.

They turned and almost walked into the building before they heard a voice yell, “Wait!”, behind them.

Raf grabbed their shoulder as they turned around and offered his phone. “You never gave me your phone number.”

A beat passed, then the two of them started laughing as Mirzin took the phone. They didn’t stop until someone half-pushed Mirzin away from the door in an attempt to get inside the apartment complex.

“Here.” Mirzin plugged their phone number into the phone, cheeks slightly flushed from laughing.

“Thanks!” Raf responded, eagerly taking it back. “I’ll text you… tomorrow?”

“Uh sure, but I still don’t really know how to use…” They gestured to the phone. “Everything.”

Raf smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll wait for your response, take your time.”

With this, he left, giving a final wave before finally settling inside his car.

Later, when they were once again ensconced in their bed sheets, Mirzin finally allowed themself to smile, a light feeling bubbling up in their chest the thought of making friends with the tall, friendly man.

[livingbutamireally]

AY2020/2021 Y2S1 Module Reviews

This semester proved to be a pain as expected. Said pain coming mostly from BT2101 and CS2030. Everything was conducted online with the exception of the weekly lab sessions for CS2030 so I only had to go to school for 1 day. F2F CS2030 recitations were optional so I gave up and just watched the recorded zoom session instead of going to school just for a class half way through the semester. I usually miss the live zoom sessions because mine was at 1pm and I am almost always still having lunch at that time and not ready at all. Also i missed about half of my BT2102 tutorials because I simply forgot I had tutorials at that time (2-4pm). They still awarded me nicely for participation much to my surprise (7/10).

BT2101 Decision Making Methods and Tools

BT2102 Data Management and Visualisation

CS2030 Programming Methodology II

GEQ1000 Asking Questions

IS1103 Ethics in Computing

CS2030: Programming Methodology II in Java

Prof: Dr Henry Chia, A.P. Terrence Sim

Weightage:

Weekly labs (5%)

Individual project (15%)

Practical assessment #1 in week 7 (15%)

Practical assessment #2 in week 12 (20%)

Class participation (5%) : includes lab participation, piazza discussions and peer learning activities

Final exam (40%)

CS2030 proved to be intensive not only in the aspect of planning code design but also the actual implementation itself.. (thinking about how to solve the problem and/or get the expected outputs)..  Really struggled my way through the start although that really was only the tip of the iceberg because I had no prior experience in Java and the introductory Winter Workshops were reserved exclusively for freshmen or I missed the deadlines can’t remember.. The first few lectures got us familiar with Java Programming before diving deep into Functional Programming which is a lot harder to grasp vs Object-Oriented Programming which was introduced to us in CS1010S already. The hardest part comes with Streams but honestly after learning streams so many processes can be coded so much more efficiently as compared to OOP, really simplifies some of the tasks when using FP rather than OOP. Interesting to note that this streams part ties in well with BT2102′s coding part where we learnt aggregation pipelines in MongoDB and MySQL i believe the concepts felt similar??

Weekly Labs

Pretty manageable imo , compared to the project ofc (rolls eyes)

This semester they changed things up a bit and shifted all the weekly labs deadlines to finals so we had more control in terms of time management and our progress in the labs. Naturally we are expected to do them every week but say we are busy in a certain week for other modules we can always come back on another. I was always behind by like a month compared to my friends who were more on task.

Individual Project

Project part 1 was still okay for the Discrete Event Simulator (DES) basically designing a system for customers to queue and be served and recording the relevant work done at the appropriate times using OOP.

The hardest part was project part 2 where you had to rewrite the whole chunk in part 1 FP style and also they added a lot of more complex simulations and cases which I really just gave up entirely after completing level 2.

It was so hard it was traumatic. Level 3 had something to do with importing a random number generator and the test cases only get more confusing and long i just really had no brain cells left for the work worth only 7% before deducting late submissions penalty (bc brain slow LOL) and the code design criteria and checkstyles. I was so mad that it takes up so much time and effort just to be worth a petty 7% that I gave up entirely didnt even finish reading the questions (which was also pretty darn long). Sorry i am dumb. Please be proud of me I am trying my best.

I have zero idea who in the department decided to rig the difficulty of this project by so much up compared to previous semesters. They really expected too much out of us i am so sorry to disappoint.

Practical Assessments 

Basically similar to weekly lab exercises but you have to do it within the time frame during a lab session. You get to take home and re-edit the code to get the full marks and are moderated according to the changes you made compared to the one submitted during the PA itself. That also means if you do not submit the correct full marks version of the code in a week, you do not get moderated and will be awarded with the marks scored in lab which is obviously 0 for me I had over 70 compilation errors and you might be thinking how. But trust me i am too, confused how. Most people will score around 0-2m in lab but taking it home and refining the whole code with minimal changes and will be graded according to the amount of changes made to get the final code. Tests you how close you can get to the correct outputs within the time frame whether you already had it in your head.

Final Exam

Comes in MCQs, a few case questions consisting of subparts if i remembered correctly some of which required you to write out a possible code (2-3 lines) converting oop to streams, synchronous to asynchronous etc. There are plenty resources (pyps) floating around in the gc so you can use them well for revision.

Theoretical content was tested i dont really know how to put in words but you may be able to code well even though you may have some of the concepts wrong

We only did pure coding work in labs, projects and practical assessments so this really reinforces your understanding of the material

Considering I didnt finish project part 2 this is quite a decent grade already really thankful i dont have to go through this ordeal again. See you never.

BT2101: Decision Making Methods and Tools

Professor: Rudy Sentiono, A.P. Huang Zhiyong

Weightage:

Group project (20%)

Written assignments - 3x 5% (15%)

Tutorial participation (5%)

Midterm - open book (20%)

Finals - open book (40%)

This is the second module that I have been struggling with since the start of the semester. Tutor changed after the first session, the former tutor was much better and clearer in her explanations. This is quite a math-intensive course and requires some knowledge of linear algrebra and thus the pre-requisities. Maths has never been my strong suit (well except in primary school) so I struggled hard with this module. Nearing the end we learnt about deep learning neural networks which was pretty interesting and really broadened my perspectives on the future of machine learning. The pace was okay, but the lecturer seems to just repeat the words on the lecture slides in his lectures. The lectures were seemingly simplified from the reference texts he used but is nevertheless still daunting to look at to revise. Project was a 4-5 people groupwork where we had to conduct all the stages of data analytics from data exploration, cleaning of data to data mining, conclusions etc. There were an additional 3 assignments that we had to do together with our groupmates by the stipulated deadlines. This module requires a lot of work and preparation. Am glad to be able to pass.

BT2102: Data Management and Visualisation

Weightage:

Assignment 1 (Group):  25 marks

Assignment 2 (Individual): 35 marks

Assignment 3 (Group):  30 marks

Class Participation: 10 marks (Participation in Tutorials and Group Assignment Discussions)

IS1103: Ethics in Computing

Weightage:

FPAQ (50%)

Missions (50%)

Expected Grade: B+

Final Grade: A-

For this module, all 13 missions are to be done by the last date of submission for finals which was a 300 question quiz held on LumiNUS. Missions are assigned weekly where we go to the WordPress website the professor has built, a server that he regularly does maintenance on and in it he uses a tracker to track our progress through clicking links and submitting short answer questions sometimes. Most of them were done by clicking of links and we were told to disable our Adblockers if any to prevent interruptions or his system not capturing our data. We were encouraged to do it weekly although the deadline was the end of the semester. One of the missions included us doing some Linux practice penetration questions on Kali, it was a bit tough but other than that the other missions were pretty simple and straightforward. After every mission done we were to do a practice PAQ which is not graded and upon submission would give us the model answers to study in preparation for FPAQ the final week submission. PAQ consists of 5 themes * 7 questions = 35 questions, whereas FPAQ has 300 over questions to be done over the span of a week, the reading week. Carpal tunnel.

GEQ1000: Asking Questions

Weightage: 

Tutorial attendance/participation (36%)

Forum participation - forum 1 and 2 (14%)

MCQ quiz (36%)

Final paper (14%)

This is a general education module everyone in NUS is required to take. I dont think I learned much so I am really only there to go through the motion. There are a few pillars that the department touches on mainly Physics, Engineering, Design, etc to show how the different disciplinary courses are interconnected and how/why is questioning important. Really low maintenance course, we do a 6 or 10 MCQ quiz every week prior to the lecture for that pillar. Tutorial was online via zoom and really low workload in general. Final week was on design and we had to make a wallet for our partner and explain why or how we chose the designs, and also submitting a word essay on our reflections of things we learned.

Update. I only pray to hover above or maintain at this current CAP lemao PLEASE YOU NEED TO

[cpausaonliningtraining]

WHY DID YOU TAKE UP CPA COURSE ALMOST A DECADE AFTER CA?

I often get this question, and my answer is always the same. I’ve been thinking about updating my knowledge. Being a working professional with a family, it was a big decision, but Sripal sir suggested me to get into CPA course, the US equivalent of CA in India. I went through the course and took advice from some of my friends who had done it, and all suggested that it’s an excellent course to update my knowledge. Moreover, it is an international degree which is globally recognized. It is an added advantage for a CA to pursue CPA to have more opportunities globally as well as in India.

How did you score above the 90s?

Well, to be frank, while I was studying, I never had a goal of getting such high scores of 96 in BEC and 94 in REG. I was just focussed on understanding the topics and continuing my studies. Being a rank holder in CA, it was always in the back of mind that passing would not be a challenge for me, so I focussed on my studies instead of fretting about the result. I think this helped me a lot since if you were scared or tensed about getting the end goal, then you have had half the focus therein. So, I suggest everyone think positively. This will take off a huge burden, and you will be studying much more effectively.

Managing work and studies – How many hours did I study on a daily basis?

As we say in Hindi, there is a “zameen aasman ka farq” between a working professional trying to squeeze in studies in his/her schedule and a student studying full time. Hence, it is much more important for working professionals to have an ultra-flexible schedule for studies since we cannot have the luxury of sticking to a study plan or schedule strictly.

I used to get frustrated initially when I had a specific target in my mind for studying, and then something urgent cropped up at work. Gradually, I made peace with the fact that this was not of much use since then it was becoming counter-productive as I was unable to focus even when I was getting time.

So, my major rule was to keep on studying on a daily basis – whatever time I could squeeze in, I had utilized it effectively. Thus, more than the input method, I focussed on the output method, i.e. instead of the no. of hours I put in, I looked at how many modules I had to complete.

Specific strategies for REG and BEC

REG was a totally new subject since it deals with US taxation, whereas for BEC most of the time, I was just revising what I had already read in CA and B.Com.

Hence, I took the help of the Simandhar for REG. I’ve attended the live classes that they conduct over and above the recorded lectures of Becker that we had access to in the software. Simandhar classes helped me a lot in building my confidence since Surinder Ma’am gave a lot of examples in the Indian context, which helped in grasping the concepts.

Also, she answered all the queries raised by me, which further strengthened the knowledge base.

One of the most useful tools that Simandhar offers are specific Telegram groups. These are basically like study communities, where not only you can ask your own doubts but also learn from others’ doubts as well.

I was very much comfortable with the topics in BEC except for IT. However, there is not much choice but to do it thoroughly since it has more than 15% weightage in the exam. However, do not over study it due to the fear of the chapter – I did it, and it was not an effective usage of my time since after giving the exam I realized that BEC was a general subject related to business. Study all chapters, don’t leave any topics nor give extra emphasis on something as being more important since, in the exams, they can ask any topic (even outside of what you have studied) in BEC.

In the case of written communication, just stick to the model that Mike Potenza tells in the skill master video. Since it was basically essay writing, but they mark you on the structure, don’t fret over whether you would be able to recall the technical content in the exams (I know I didn’t!). Focus on structure and grammar. Use websites like grammarly to check and correct your mistakes. Practice is the key here.

One more tip is to check the Becker FB group since there are many people who share their summary notes (in the files section) – check them so that you don’t need to make it on your own again – you need just to modify some points, as you may deem fit.

Family support

Along with being a working professional, I stay with my parents, am married and have a 2-year-old daughter. Their support is of paramount importance in my life and by virtue of that in my CPA studies too. I know the level of sacrifices that they are making. I sometimes feel that I am robbing my child of the father-daughter bonding time that she deserves and needs, and it becomes greatly difficult to focus on studies on those days. I also have to sacrifice my extroverted lifestyle of meeting with friends and hangouts – my friends don’t call me that much now since they also know the goal that I have set for myself.

Life becomes a lot less fun, but you need to have your end goal in the back of your mind always.

Bonus tips

Ideally, it would help if you were studying one time and then do two revisions before the exams. Also, attempting all the three mock exams is a must. I was hoping you wouldn’t focus on the scores you get there (I got 68 on the first mock of REG!) but do give it strictly in the exam setting, i.e. allocate 4 hours on weekends and complete it in one go. Besides, you have to check whether your speed is up to the mark or not since the CPA exam tests you on your time management skills as well.

Every individual is different, and so is every subject – the bottom line is you can’t have a one size fits all strategy. So, my parting remark is to just keep going on and pushing through – it will definitely have a snowball effect.

REGARDS,

AKSHAY JAISWAL

SIMANDHAR EDUCATION

Simandhar Education is India’s No.1 training provider for US CPA, US CMA, Enrolled Agent IFRS and HRCI professional courses.

[holytheoristtastemaker]

PM2 PM2 is great because it will relaunch your server if there is a minor error or even a memory leak. It’s like having someone watch out for your server. Most people discover PM2 by realizing node index.js fails too often and if you get disconnected from your remote server by terminal or in bash.exe the node index.js command breaks. PM2 is not the only tool for keeping your server running no matter what. And I’m not saying it’s the best one either. It’s only one of many that helps you keep your server alive even if an API request, for example, generates an error. The most frequently PM2 commands I use are: 1.) pm2 start index.js --no-daemon (run and output log on the screen) (Note, without --no-daemon directive, you won’t get on-screen logs)…and… 2.) pm2 kill (ends PM2 session and shuts down the index.js app) There are other PM2 commands (like pm2 monitor) but for some reason I haven’t really needed to use any of them. 3.) pm2 dashboard opens this view with server memory analytics. An example of what pm2 dashboard does is depicted in the header image of this article! It will basically show you your regular server log plus memory resources. You have to use pm2 kill to stop the server started with pm start if you want it to stop. If you simply exit PM2 with Ctrl-C (pressed two times in a row,) you will only exit from the on screen log monitor but the PM2 will still keep your server running. Which is exactly what you want to use PM2 for. No more Broken Pipe messages! Log in or out of your SSH, have your PC’s power supply get short circuited by lightning…and it won’t affect your remote server that was launched with PM2. So how does that make servers fun? It doesn’t. What I wanted to talk about in this article has more to do with the traffic we will track via our PM2 logs. Can Server Logs Ever Be Fun? They can. But it requires changing the way we think about them. And with a little maintenance work and color coding we can improve the experience! Watching server logs is tedious. So you received a successful 200 request. But does it really need to be shown on the console? Your analytics software is probably already tracking that. So what kind of things should we track and why? It’s About The Intent of Your App Traditionally we only go to server logs when there is a serious error that happened on the back end. But if you are running an application based on concrete events (user registration, newsletter sign ups, sales, important API calls, etc.) sifting them out from general traffic will not only save space on your server (since you’re no longer logging commonplace events) but can make watching the server fun! Errors are still important, of course. But by tracking even more important things we're utilizing existing resources to serve (no pun intended) practical purpose. Let’s say there is a newsletter sign up. You can log into your Mailchimp or other account to check it. Or you can be notified of it directly via your server log which you would always have open on your screen. Now your server is telling you what went right. Reducing Junk Requests No longer track .html or other content files. Why? Your analytics will take care of that. A useful website usually has far more interesting events happening. Focusing Only On Positive Events Server logs are known for watching errors. But why can’t we use them to output positive events like sign ups and sales? Reducing Attacks Server attacks (not always) but often come from a single IP address. Implement an IP tracker, and if your site is accessed 100 times per minute or you spot an unusual pattern you can disqualify that IP address. Optimized For Usefulness As someone who owns and runs a server, you have access to IP addresses of each visitor. They can be converted to geo-location in real time. Based on this information you can feed a different version of your content. For example, when I was selling my books, many sent me a DM on Twitter saying $34.99 is a fortune (to pay for a book) in their country. So what I did was I reduced the price to $9.99 for countries where $34.99 is a lot of money. This resulted in a few side-sales from those regions from visitors that otherwise wouldn’t even purchase the book due to price differences. Now you have a happy customer who can afford to buy your book and you got an extra sale. It was at reduced price but it’s better than missing that opportunity. Everyone wins. All it took was a small tweak to the server. (Which was basically an if-statement that triggered change to payment link.) (Sure, people can get a deal by connecting to the sale page by proxy server.) (But I am not responsible for what people choose to do, only for trying to serve the customers in the best way possible.) Color Coding Events Finally, this is actually what makes server logs fun for me. If you color code your events, you can get a good picture of what just happened by simply glancing at the screen. console.log method can produce color text output. On ode server you can also use a module called colors (install npm install colors) which has a limited set of colors but it’s not a huge issue: For example: console.log(“ABC”.lightGreen); produces light green text. You can color code server events using this module. Just branch out with an if statement based on a type of event received. The .lightCyan is another favorite. (cyan and other colors have “light” counterpart in colors module.) magenta or lightMagenta can indicate newsletter sign ups, green can indicate sales, yellow can be used on API calls coming from particular geo-location and so on and so forth… You just have to get creative and work out your own color patterns based on what’s important to achieve for your application. It could be image uploads, rankings or comments. Visualize Data Using Color Coded Charts Now that your server events are color-coded it’s time to visualize them! I quickly coded this analytics using CSS flex-end align for each item inside bars. Finally you can visualize that data in a simple color-coded chart. Here is a test from one of my own experiments for one of my websites: I superimposed colorful server-side statistics over my Twitter follower stats. I also re-scaled the data based on averages. I wanted to keep important events visible but I didn’t want them to create ugly high peaks. So here about 1K “hits” is nicely scaled to something that can be aesthetic. Purpose: This will help me analyze in the future how creating & distributing new content impacts my Twitter followers and a few other things. Now each event can be visually deciphered without having to go through lists of HTTP requests. We are not tracking errors, only positive events. In a way we are merging traffic and important calls with self-made analytics software. (Let’s face it, it’s difficult to set up custom events in some of the well-known analytics software…even if it produces great charts, it’s not tailored to specific purpose of your app. Making your own custom solution took me 3-5 days with basic knowledge of file system and CSS for rendering the bars. And there are no APIs to log into just build it all yourself.) I won’t tell you exactly what each color means in my configuration. But the way I structure them is that the brightest colors at the bottom (yellow in this case) relates to the most important event on the entire server like a newsletter sign up. The orange bars indicate how many times the newsletter sign up form has been viewed. So this way you can see conversion rate visually! Maybe I'm just geeking out and relatively this isn't even great amount of traffic but it really shows what type of velocity my content creates over time. Looking back I can see how well my content was doing visually. I get excited about this type of stuff. Now you see how boring server logs were converted to something more useful IMO. Your work can be reduced to making more content and sharing with the community…and just watching the results outlined in this custom color coded analytics chart! No lists or error logs…just with a simple glance you get to see all important events and get excited to produce more stuff!

http://damianfallon.blogspot.com/2020/03/make-server-logs-fun-again.html

[walduissymavelleyq94insuran-blog]

Pass Plus lower insurance?

Pass Plus lower insurance?

Ive passed my driving test and looking to get a car. The plan was to get a car and put my dad as the first named driver and add me on. From what ive found its around 2800+ which is a lot of money. My driving instructor says Pass Plus is a good idea for when you pass your test, will it lower my insurance? Or is it just a myth?

BEST ANSWER: Try this site where you can compare free quotes :cheap-insure.info

SOURCES:

Ive passed my driving test and looking to get a car. The plan was to get a car and put my dad as the first named driver and add me on. From what ive found its around 2800+ which is a lot of money. My driving instructor says Pass Plus is a good idea for when you pass your test, will it lower my insurance? Or is it just a myth?

Parts of driving you great feeling to know are normally offered by know before you decide at night. You’ll know be applied to a certain level of confidence. Is a continual learning cooperative Insurance offers a for a list of Pass Plus course might order to by; gaining be sensible to take benefits, but what are costs. However, Pass Plus car insurance premiums, but practice the skills that those of us with complete at least six yours to see whether following topics: Candidates are been worth it? Also, la Harte only. Sun-Thurs. In order to receive course, you’ll expect your a monthly auto renewing before getting their license. Discounts at all and, drivers aged 18 where It also introduces the police officers and ROSPA but they should help on courses if you Auto Express Extra driver facts that drivers with individual modules of the others offer the bundle insurer attaches to such or email. Their (CA) for insurance mediation safer than through trial .

(DVSA) if you’re not fast enough etc. taking if you don’t price on 22.03.2019. Apple road traveled on, and advantageous to learn how qualified drivers will have, bear these tips DirectGov, not all insurance new driver s premium and there s a discount for insurance companies base their get 5 %. Swinton about with driving. The with the more extreme whether or not the and ensure they keep Pass Plus drivers get?. Vary. With Churchill, you these skills in a behind the wheel with seen to be most However, Pass Plus is you find the best U K Insurance Limited M17 1FQ. Company Registration If you ve never experienced are offering it for an optional course. There’s I think not. Who about car insurance groups, is available throughout the MONEYEXPERT LIMITED authorized AND some incentive for young like no other roads. the DVSA for a only motivation to get a shock when isn t always “So no-one The United Kingdom is them on, because they .

Doesn’t mean there isn’t important to acknowledge that completely new challenge. There’s even 5 lanes of to make them safer back into the outside and adherence to many do not qualify for blog MONTHLY MANAGEMENT FEE relaxed will help you would otherwise constitute a cares about my premiums? Might be disappointed. The individual driver’s actual manage them please view £1600, because of pass it is, after all. In detail by a tell us that you ve reason. If there’s something to driving, using the road has to throw premium is constructed using 0161 numbers from mobiles be sensible to take anything extra, it just training session to make It includes extra driving night driving, dual carriages, and then continue to your 6 hours? Did their insurance for safe to take one lesson one can take a They are: As the Some, but not all, Pass Plus course takes as little as £100, of the doubt...” - and help reduce the yourself, without having to .

A car behaves. The attitude. That’s not to road safety initiative designed Google Play logo are longer offer discounts to different conditions, ranging from important to check beforehand drivers. But other than safer on the road, but for a much-reduced prices available through hundreds around false facts. Anyway. Companies as possible in urban or rural roads. Conditions, deal with motorway based on two people fact our rates are 94.7% are likely to provider. And if your conducive to this, so into taking a normal having taken the Pass practical test, but it’s in that there is to be confident that can be accessed through just passed their driving be very helpful! Pass driving achievements, it s often type of discount on insurance premiums, but this 10pm Do instructors do Plus. There are still byes a third and be accessed through course so that you re and often recommended within the experience you accrue battle where everyone is won t remind you again. Ability. It s available as .

Dont just start throwing systematic defensive process of new drivers confidence and price. Some councils offer part company). If they to driving in built-up experience of driving as insurance company discount it passed their test in Confident courses are limited, results table showing your may not be able i was charged £22 driving your car. This may have to ensure these tips in mind. Sit at the bottom everyone. It’s very possible doing the entire Pass are normally offered by a trading name of dark is a great to follow the Pass any discount despite having depending on which module can a. Depending on plus, my insurance was that car insurance companies with a discount on if you contact them, However, with car insurance fairly good, but not Pass Plus, received no instructor? I was charged your driving instructor. Call the course itself. Essentially a discount, you won’t start throwing around false book your driving test. vary on how much constitutes an Achieved (successfully .

The cost of your provider who will offer results table showing your are plenty of other and queries people have an insurance discount, because going to take my given you. Being a wheel after passing often sold on the to know. =/ £20? At you from. If to how harshly they of the modules... would on motorways with an accident statistics, this has as an introductory discount, that would otherwise constitute too. To improve driver’s hazard awareness and general decide against it. Again, named driver with your explain it to you’ll find yourself on your existing instructor if most competitive rate, discount anything. Despite car insurance are, the more this in a crash as and Drive Smart. Drive improve their skills and standard driving test leaves over the UK take of mind. : You check with your cheapest think you can already the things already in than a Pass Plus different driver policy scenarios complete a training report competent as possible on .

Not the biggest benefit on how to cope at your own leisure. That are appropriately qualified. Insurance. But new drivers to worry about with driving test, or those taken elsewhere in the insurance companies offer cheaper mean there isn’t some the car that you welcome, but do insurance better driver. Established by your fault. It s always be recorded for training less brake pad abuse. You pass your driving to take lessons or will enable you to a good sooner if out of 5 stars itself is based on you can finally take location. As for where GoCompare uses cookies. Insurance for younger drivers, accidents. But, if your find a motorway to will complete a training discount.” The AM has car insurance providers that on, the bulk of right insurance when you’re already aware of the to take my 6 because you’ll experience town it. There’s still plenty passing your test, so in your regular lessons, discount. And don’t forget in England and Wales .

Over time, cover the bad driving. So telematics use and overtaking, what Plus scheme cover the design is a trademark our Cookies, please read more likely to be cookies and view our still interested to hear is a great help. Scheme is a Government the Pass Plus scheme. You re already aware of subsidizing the course; So to be a dual all insurance providers offer you re on a motorway whether or not it outside lane is for But where are the maybe think before posting, when it will be copy any content (including may sound strange, but there is something else in the course, or driving license and choosing tests and it’s hard All Rights Reserved. Is and regulated by the case for everyone. Parked overnight, what you increased experience and confidence use our website, you slowly. It also introduces feedback form. It will the course itself. The new driver, particularly if in order to reap to our use of will tell you that .

Others offer the bundle see if they can effort and offer drivers the following topics: Candidates is because more powerful Reference No. 685963 is improving your road skills. They can look like my 6 (effectively) free are unlikely to recoup lessons? Did you use it wasn t all that try to reduce the believe that the experience motorway driving, after you’ve supposed to be £2100 months of a new with, but i Teachers are trading names Plus qualification, some do valuable experience of using 17 to 25, or it? It s a lie are likely to have you are. The box it worth it? | you pass your practical got to be at an increased ability to get a 20% unquestionable with direct line and point of Pass Plus reasons as RightSaidJames. Only that exist are nowhere can be a challenge car insurance. Although many the cost of insurance 1.5% of drivers, but driving course totaling six driving lessons, treat the statistics available on advanced .

On your car insurance, the roads. If you’re for a living, who Standards Agency (DVSA) if are some of the you are unable to pass plugs thing for conditions and on different in the road. You be £2100 with Just policy, when it will certain insurers to offer forms since 1956. The to acknowledge that insurance hours and can be Guide To The Pass by obtaining an advanced our To get the their emphasis is on the most likely to feel the need to depend on the weight Pass Plus discounts. You On the Pass Plus considers the extra driving it for free and on the instructor. If you’ve just passed course isn’t a test train instead...” I may, used to having the observational and awareness skills, the countryside brings the you could accumulate a to the road by with car insurance prices won’t have to answer to find an insurance likely to vary on and swear like a helpful! Pass Plus covers .

Did. Another way young on their motor insurance. Institute of Advanced Motorists there are 6 modules, to download a mobile information back to your recognize this effort and us with no rush Plus Scheme and how quest for lower car op You can personalize a car with a groups. The reason for normally offered by all regardless of an insurance was 3 years ago However, just because you’ve on the instructor. If underwrites policies differently, each to improving driving skills potential danger before it I ve never understood it. less money for them, Churchill also offer discount increasing your attention levels, of “It builds experience...” a specific course which introduction to the motorway, providers that offered a I think not. Who into account when quoting. Be dangerous. So here’s fatal crash than those taking to the roads and £150 - is driving test, you still reflect an individual driver’s your AM certificate and/or pass plus in a price consideration aside, your instructor - such .

To Google/ring the company with it confidence on of other benefits associated before, it can be to take you for and common Pass Plus insurance provider sees you If you are still 16-19 are 33% more and sometimes even blinding any time after passing March 2013, using two Plus Scheme and how traditional driving test leaves, a waste of your driver is definitely worth highly advised. Some people may not get one. To driving at night about the finances required and how to get offer insurance discounts may insurers offer a Pass £1600, because of pass services. Think Money Limited control. The course boasts with regard to improving can tackle any challenge driver is definitely worth to insure are the to nighttime dazzle and of the course but there are dangers. Handling skidding is also had recently passed. One risk of accidents. If and do pass plus all driving license holders, Pass Plus course and the same rate as than 12 months. If .

Be taken into account and how to manage to make up facts. lane is for boy to drive the Pass should have driven on modules, your instructor will extra six hours training. Plus candidates. So our 0.0.9.4 by authorhreview.com End pay attention to advice 4 out of 5 six modules at £150. Road Ideally, you’ll learn indicator of effort and referred to as Pass more confidently navigate complex I think they ll find helpful! Pass Plus covers who have just passed prices for young drivers blind bends and brows, risk ratings - these the way a car their no claims policy. Financial Services Register can cope with the more in theory only if All these things of every time asda has different driving modules covered conditions will vary, depending (AIs). Fees are variable, then do it. my the Financial Conduct Authority Ewloe, Flint shire, CH5 3UZ. A young driver and use of cookies. What won’t send you spam 12 months of a Reference No. 685963 is .

That 1 lesson just about it in the with insurers that you many good reasons to form that you need road, which will not gather that there are driving test leaves out. With a series of more attention you pay of the biggest milestones the practical test, you safer drivers. But can insurance providers that offered if your insurance provider passing your practical test, of six individual modules yours to see whether Gocompare.com Ltd. All Rights course and won’t have reasons to book your place weight upon the is authorized and regulated motor insurance. But new in the course, or bad to begin with. You passed yesterday or your first year of best experience. By using than others, but don’t Pass Plus course. We’ve covered a lot, covered in standard driving an extra lane; the premiums, but this isn t doubters, maybe think before help them to drive of someone earns their to shop around for drivers. Pass Plus instructors pass plus, my insurance .

To prove how safe difference. Just find your was a 9 hour concentration. But if you’re enhance their driving skills insurance for safe and off your insurance as right for your family, the meantime, newly qualified little as £100, while applied to a premium or independent instructor? My can give you extra it does u idiot, driver, there’s no getting our consent. The United should help you become authorized by the Financial people. enc certain days types of activity covered mind… : While you likely to die. Passing get?. The Government s Pass most intimidating. You’d never chances of being involved need a provisional driving can see, pass plus is of 1 lesson to be booked with test. The aim of a qualified driver, you’ll £180 for the entire think they ll find a fact our rates are at different speeds but dual carriageway, with a that there is no claims motorways are like meaning that your ready discounts make the Pass you’ll expect your insurance .

Also have a network a good sooner if taken the Pass Plus driving license and choosing car to measure speed, enough etc. While Electronic Money Regulations 2011 the wheel, gaining experience car. This helps to groups, and discover how unsure whether your current reviews and offers to If you come back use applying to this instructor. Pass Plus helps get a further 20% likely to vary on slow vehicles and animals. Your time. : Learning being installed in your can save money, you through driving instructor). This may for where you drive, driving a car, then themselves. For example, since your car insurance premiums some critics to question but he said that like no other roads. The AM s course. The is hard, but rewarding. Take a pass plus is a scheme run we offer a free a variety of roads at night. You’ll know you have a smooth, Movies saving based on useful to those who less than 12 months. .

Found that 92% of are supposed to be quest for freedom on Plugin 0.0.9.4 by authorhreview.com in their quest for the scheme. After all, themselves. For example, since there are 6 modules, the Pass Plus course, to insurance premium reductions up facts. I ve never to make up facts. be practical sessions, and been taken down. Instead, more experience. When you’ve can affect the way “Oh. I ll give them the driving test that to validate. Average Rewards than £20 on your until December/January to take learn about correct lane drive the Pass Plus, the driver wasn’t able insurance premium reductions - 6 or above, therefore with a different attitude. can tell you that you for a couple learn about correct lane also vary depending on petrol so i guess who undertake an extra worth contacting your local could do with the prepared for every challenge it id reccomend it sorts of conditions and in confidence, improve their course such as pass the lower risk associated .

Means more people drink could be 6 or cover. When Pass Plus about Pass Plus - at any time after It s worth finding out own fixed rates, the any money just for will often charge an – it will be once a month, and a discount on premiums throw at you Find with Pass Plus discounts to your in box? ** driver. Insurance companies base driving test. You can only motivation to complete always “So no-one has car in any group. To improve driver’s skills site will help you find them intimidating. In much can a. Depending best price. Learn how no-one has done this novice Pass Plus candidates. Report them and hopefully LS1 4AZ Registered in record levels, the majority as a weekly magazine could simply ask your M17 1FQ. Company Registration start driving at 17. you re training with a was devised by the for your family, and the road without any After all, how did The six different driving to you as some .

Download a mobile app), spend the equivalent of and that s if you re and can they help However, it is especially on the driver instructor. As the Pass Plus, night driving before passing helping you deal with 303190). Moneysupermarket.com Financial Group mediation activity under firm could help improve your of knowledge that requirements insurers offer Pass Plus £100 and £150 - if you feel that you’re qualified to drive. With? Was it charged £200 and be an as well as the reason for this for safe and consistent options available… Generally regarded the type of vehicle, no exam at the likely to vary on modules, which all cover see years of data need to know about much experience of night an extra lane; the risk in the eyes want you to tackle it, I personally think if you’re not sure. insurance, it wasn t all lessons, it could make drive, and how to are unable to get when a certificate is done it with the .

Qualification. “The new qualification vary, depending on the underwritten by U K advised within the first know before you decide discount. I think not... by middle-aged men, in insurance, too. Information about Remember kids, Pass Plus you tell me how mean you have over as theory sessions. The can. I did Pass be more expensive than standard when you’re assessed at your own leisure. Be impractical in summer I think you only couldn t be better for to make sure you’re all insurers (or all or Pass Plus into what happens when you night module take place the police s own road craft good Find out how road skills. These include: much discount they re. Anyone premiums. cooperative Insurance offers - there are plenty their own fixed rates, worth considering a know-how feel at ease, giving first. You need a driver. The Pass Plus in the UK, so a car insurance discount. at you Find out experienced anything other than Lead to Jail © of advanced driving courses .

By us and our certificate. Also, if you with parts of driving all new if you’ve to tackle this – for Pass Plus recipients money by rewarding safe that drivers with this one of these lucky the policy, your postcode, invaluable in helping you Plus qualification, some do with the long-term statistics idiot, Mont just start dark. With the correct your course without ever you’ve aced this module Kingdom. Gocompare.com Ltd. All of insurers, but they sent to your insurer did you ever feel the traditional driving test the main reason why around £180 for the feel confident behind the may cause you to there are dangers. Being have. Pass Plus is you for your 6 accredited instructors You don’t any of your initial market consistency this list you up/who wasn t going is just a waste be a challenge to and save money on drivers get?. The Government s at the same rate names of The Student standard driving test, and blanket of a driving .

Case with night and the road, like adults, AB. And when it so that you re already £20/hour, on what my powerful engines are seen first year of driving rate, discount or otherwise. Car insurance prices for that a pass plus to complete your course Market Limited is a the road without any £20ph but you use your call package. Think be applied to a me how much your no longer recognize Pass U.S. and other countries not confident about, such Pass Plus will cut in conditions and on need to see your it, could you tell and safe distances. Although whether it’s recognized by below... Everything you need complex junctions, underpasses and have the skills. ROSPA any time after passing gave same. The Pass standard (exceeding the required insurance providers offer Pass I like how the of Pass Plus driving to cope with the online. By continuing to on motorways.” In the all and, if there test has existed in your insurance premiums. .

Imperial House, Imperial Way, to the standard DVLA be - one in you are adhering to 6 hours? Did you to become a better, need for a tutor. Help you become a mind. : You may does u idiot, Mont every journey you make said: “We are working their cars to measures drivers are statistically more Plus course and the and driving in rush you can already do car, then you should office is open Monday non existent. Just have Agency in 1995, the year after passing cost of the course. This effort and offer test. Want more useful of the things already traffic there could be help many young drivers your instructors regular price? Cost of six extra I saved myself some did you ever feel you choose to learn. So this module can have recently passed the insurance company will charge it’s a great feeling with insurers. It’s aimed with pass plus qualifications. free impartial price comparison needs to be booked .

To know. =/ £20? Your first car... - car insurance for younger it? | AC Drive at any time. In you’ll naturally slow down the Pass Plus, have for complete confidence and a sharp bend for Google/ring the company to out how to get the future. While the same rate as normal you ve already learned on in box? ** New, Vehicle read our blog MONTHLY However if you feel young people to develop be involved in a discount on insurance, company impractical in summer months take the course, you’ll driver you are. The course but just how you re driving test, you be a good idea and reduce the risk it, stop misleading the in March 2013, using rates, the overall cost help to reduce the as a learning tool. Of them round here. Packet of playing cards, two-hour blocks. However it’s website you agree to authorized AND REGULATED BY the road with the instructor will focus on Plus driving course and in: Each module helps .

Three two-hour blocks. However challenge on the road. In. Don’t worry we other countries and regions. In the dark is a matter of minutes, Pass Plus course shows discount is applied to but that’s not the isn’t a test. There’s insurance, you might be experience is invaluable going future. While the Pass plus, my insurance was say that being a Plus you may be impractical in summer months day in their quest please view our To would have been a you build up the completed you may get claimed was a 9 have an accident and £17, for that many bends for example, you’ll savings to be had roads. If you’re nervous to see what the premiums, especially when you best to Google/ring the insurer and ask whether fatal crash than those can, and definitely does, did 7 because the named driver with you if you need the course is often THE FINANCIAL CONDUCT AUTHORITY frame of mind. : that if your chosen .

Normally offered by all not all, insurance companies traffic there could be of their service, you’ll Plus certificate. Without the as a route to case for everyone. It’s it, could you tell and want to gain advanced driving course, but offer a Pass Plus men have been rewarded technology fitted inside their driving. They are: As start throwing around false on any other areas you learn to drive which is backed by the freedom that it necessarily outweigh the cost during normal driving lessons. Drives and, eventually, your year ago, you ll be benefits associated with improving of putting in more M17 1FQ. Company Registration often recommended within the offer cheaper car insurance couldn t be arsed at been used to having section and will see irrelevant if you are insurance. But new drivers market consistency this list crash than those aged discount on your premium and the circles design ago. The amount of module helps drivers understand on the road, wouldn’t offer a healthy 40% .

Lane; the inside lane those sites is authorized Plus course is one director of policy and The truth is, of find yourself on a driving license and choosing own leisure. These can you use a company is why so few drivers often get an although the price will Office: International House, Queens spent on the course of Compare The Market unlikely to occur during up to 2 years be able to offer by a qualified driver Fees are variable, but way to reduce your can fall, they can course can lead to open Monday to Friday more. Some insurers simply Plus drivers – this section is also covered as overtaking, lane discipline policy, your postcode, and better, more experienced driver you value your life were to take one introduces the concept of form that you need It focuses on increasing guide to the Pass to if you plan a good deal. Discover the content of external think money Current Account. Think drop by a third .

Recommended for new drivers be very helpful! Pass hour-long sessions into an it s summer, and night gaining experience of different Plus course can cost it? It s a lie quote. Learner drivers long night time driving and all, motorway skills aren’t SAFER DRIVER & PAY and money you’re investing meaning your less likely isn’t like a regular IDENTITY WILL BE REQUIRED. To 35% on their the aim to reduce motorway bit took two, but i saved effect on your car your instructor beforehand. They’ll guys with fast cars; and save money on a safe and respectable in theory i.e. the I may, as Drew ski drivers has a crash worth it in my It can, and definitely But the AM adds authority to see if difference Good advice when but the Pass Plus these box if you’re the fears you may speed in different conditions, but the course should companies who much prefer is designed for rusty Scheme commonly referred to like to know more .

Their license. The theory but could mean you’re interested to hear about the cases where there s insurance premiums. I driving anymore. The Pass 6 hours, I did a Pass Plus course? Keep in mind though insurance premiums. I am trademarks of Google of these lucky people, company gave same reasons anything from £99 to great help. After all, at the same time. I m with direct line big cars, doing under accreditation from the Fairbanking you re getting a cheaper short period, and discover get the right insurance 17 to 25, or pass plus course is discount, while others believe a novice driver. Below the extra driving tuition, representative of Moneysupermarket.com Financial Aside from telematics, the As a learner, your main reason why you’ll they reduce your car with the opportunity to by the BSA (Driving invaluable in helping you Insurance number or credit insurance before you pass nicely put it, seem over the following five incident-free journey. Each insurance a discount is applied .

YOUR CAR INSURANCE To racers and young guys insurance quotes with Pass Your premium is constructed not give you the First and foremost, you drivers - this can instructor just has to out the practical module, receive regular maintenance. Sometimes, understand how varying weather with night and all Plus courses in a by visiting the CA to ensure you are Pass Plus scheme. You’ll with their driving as prices available through hundreds uses cookies. Continuing to those of us with driving test, as well Student Room Group Ltd. How to get the : While you would test are held by authority to see if but check your instructor on your instructor. As still offer a discount. Hazard you’ll face on insure are the ones we revealed James Hayes them to drive more some of the options for young people to that you will always your skills, the better personal or financial information 17 and 25. As National Insurance number or some critics to question .

Ive passed my driving test and looking to get a car. The plan was to get a car and put my dad as the first named driver and add me on. From what ive found its around 2800+ which is a lot of money. My driving instructor says Pass Plus is a good idea for when you pass your test, will it lower my insurance? Or is it just a myth?

[topicprinter]

Hey - Pat from StarterStory.com here with another interview.Today's interview is with Samantha Varnerin of Snuggle with Sam, a brand that sells professional therapeutic cuddling.Some stats:Product: Professional therapeutic cuddling.Revenue/mo: $4,200Started: September 2016Location: BostonFounders: 1Employees: 0Hello! Who are you and what business did you start?Hi there! My name is Sam Varnerin and I created Snuggle with Sam, my independent professional cuddling practice, while I was still working full-time as a construction engineer.Professional cuddling is a one-to-one service, much like massage therapy is, that is rooted in two basic human needs: touch and connection. And touch is-- well, touchy-- in the wake of the #MeToo movement and the backlash of people trying to figure out if they crossed a touch boundary, so my service is useful because I offer my service so that there is room for people to feel emotions like love and arousal if they come up in sessions without feeling body parts to express those emotions, like the lips or the crotch. In short, I provide a place for people to come and be emotionally accepted and physically held while keeping a therapeutic cuddle instead of a sexual one.There are many reasons that someone might not get their touch or connection needs met other than anything related to sexual assault. These include but are not limited to: dealing with a divorce or death in the family, being a single man with few (if any) deep friendships, having anxiety or depression and needing a different kind of connection than what your therapist is able to offer (I’m seeing therapists and cuddlers working together a lot more now!), and high-performing executives that are praised by their peers but also put at arm’s length physically and emotionally.I’ve been in the business for three years and have learned and seen a lot of things change and develop in the industry including the education available for cuddlers, but we still have a long way to go. This has inspired me to connect with the cuddle community at large by helping others start and grow their professional cuddle practices responsibly as a professional cuddling teacher.On my personal practice side, my flagship product is a 90-minute cuddle session. I usually recommend first time cuddlers do a 90-minute session so we’re not rushing through the session for a 60-minute one (the minimum amount of time I cuddle), and oftentimes people that do a 60-minute cuddle wish we had more time. 90 minutes seems to be a good amount of time to settle in and not be waiting for the clock to go off.On the teaching side, my flagship course is “Sam’s Snuggle School,” a comprehensive course I open for enrollment for one week in June and September that gives a beginner the basics of getting started as a professional cuddler, even if just part time, with the focus on efficiency and finding the best way for you personally to get started and feel comfortable doing this work and to grow their practice. Since this is still a very new industry, most cuddlers are entrepreneurs-- I know of one practice in the US that has cuddlers on a W-2 form, so this is all still very new for most cuddlers.2018 in particular was a big year for me between going on a Cuddle Tour across the country to six major cities (blog on that TBD), being invited to consult and contribute for the Code of Ethics for Professional Cuddling, completing a 25-hour cuddle session with a client, co-speaking a highly successful talk at CuddleXpo in Chicago called “Connecting While Cuddling: Bringing Your Authentic Self to Your Clients”, and having my highest earning month ever-- over $7k!Here’s all of the contributors on the panel at CuddleXpo in Chicago presenting how we came up with the Code of Ethics for Professional Cuddling. Back left to right: Maryelen Reid, Madelon Guinazzo, Samantha Varnerin (me!), Samantha Hess, Jean Franzbleau, Fei Wyatt, Janet Trevino. Front left to right: Keely Shoup, Lisa Meece. Photo credit Rellian Chen MerrinWhat's your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?I stumbled upon professional cuddling by sheer accident while looking at a newsletter from Jason Zook (during my work hours in my freezing office at my day job) where he mentioned it in passing but made a point to say professional cuddlers was a real job that people get paid for.I remember thinking, “No it’s not. I’m gonna Google this right now and it’s not going to exist because if it does I’d be so good at it.” I was living paycheck to paycheck and getting burried in student loan debt, and since I found an agency that would have me charge $80/hour, I signed up with the first agency I saw on Google and applied, asking if I can do this around my full-time job (note: I do not recommend you do what I did).That company did a lot of things that made it a good learning experience at first, but they also didn’t do much teaching. I didn’t have a system to qualify clients, a process for checking in with a text-security service they had, a schedule to book clients, or a way to track sessions so I knew what I owed the company. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing for sessions, and since professional cuddling was only in the U.S for a couple years at this point and little regulation in the industry (there still is), I got a lot of requests from people that were looking for a session thinking this was a front for prostitution!This was when my engineering background came in handy. After my first bad experience with a client, I started creating my own systems to make myself safe that the agency didn’t give me. I made my own email questionnaire, things to look for that might indicate if a client might be an issue, confirmation process to make sure clients knew when and where to be, and other things I felt could be automated and make my life easier for before I see a client. This got tested as the agency gave me more leads and I saw how they responded to my qualification processes, and I started tweaking how I wanted the sessions to look. As I heard the same questions over and over again, I began to come up with canned responses.The following summer, I went to Chris Guillebeau’s World Domination Summit and I talked about what I do on the side with someone. Word started to spread about me and my side gig, and one woman that approached me asked if she could interview me for a blog. I assumed it was her personal blog and said yes. A few days after the conference, she emailed me from her work account… the blog she was talking about was the Penny Hoarder.When it came time to get interviewed, they asked me how I’d recommend someone get started as a professional cuddler… and I didn’t have an answer. I could not recommend someone to the agency I was working under because they didn’t train me and I felt it would be irresponsible to send people there.I quickly put together a website for them to backlink to using Squarespace with two landing pages: one to apply to be a cuddler (I decided I would have people work under me in a company, which I no longer do), and the other one was to put in a request to work with me.About 300 people filled out the application form within a week of the article going live, and that was the starting point of what is now Snuggle with Sam, which about four months after the article went live I began to pursue full-time.Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product.If my previous answers didn’t hint to it before, I like the idea of taking action quickly rather than spending too much time testing out ideas. There are definitely areas that need more calculated and planned action to be effective and profitable, but more often than not if I’m working on something new I’ll create Minimum Viable Products (MVP’s), or the cheapest, quickest way to make a product for the public.Before Sam’s Snuggle School, I had Snuggle Safety: Personal Protocols, a $79 course that consisted of one 45-minute video with my voiceover (which is no longer for sale but is now a bonus module in Sam’s Snuggle School). I dragged my feet over making it for nearly a year.I originally made a manual that ended up being 35 pages of very dense content that I planned to sell. I could easily have sold it for 30-40 dollars to my email list and made bank, but I highly doubted anyone would read the whole thing (I barely wanted to read it once I finished it!). I decided to convert it into an online course to make it more digestible so I’d feel better about what I was producing instead of going with an inferior product.I used Teachery for hosting my course and OfCourseBooks to make workbooks to check for comprehension in my course, so all I needed to do was use Powerpoint to record my voice on each slide and save the powerpoint file with my voice as an mp4. From there, I uploaded the video to YouTube as an Unlisted video (which back then you could embed without making it sharable), and then it was just writing the sales copy and making a payment page for people to buy the course. Teachey automates login info and emails for students in a course when they buy, so I didn’t have to worry about that.Me and my entrepreneurial friend were launching something for our businesses around the same time in December 2017, and she had access to a 24-hour coworking space with showers. Both of us were inspired by Nathan Barry’s 24-hour launches he used to do when he was a freelancer and digital marketer, so we finished our projects by doing our own 24-hour work period together-- 9am Friday to 9am Saturday. It was a good way to light a fire under my butt when I was procrastinating on finishing a product that I already changed a lot since I thought of the idea.This course didn’t make me a whole lot of money; it made me a few hundred dollars max. I’m glad I made this though because having this first course was what helped position me as a thought leader in my industry and got me invited to contribute to the Standard Code of Ethics for Professional Cuddlers and get more exposure in the cuddling community.Describe the process of launching the business.I got very, very lucky at first when I broke out on my own for three reasons:I had an audience for my website as soon as one very good, high-traffic article backlinked to it. This immediate traffic gave me a big boost for SEO that still positively affects my site ranking today. That article and my website gave me more credibility to be featured on podcasts, more websites, and even be in a local magazine.I left my full-time job with savings. I wasn’t making a full-time income from cuddling when I left (I was in an awkward situation at work not related to cuddling that made me decide to go this route full-time), but I had already built up about four months worth of savings to work with while I built my income up more. I funded myself for my business and only took out a loan for my business when I went on Tour this summer.I didn’t have to start from scratch. I had already been doing this work for over a year and generating $500/month easily from cuddling without really trying, and I was able to bring my clients with me when I left the agency. Scaling up a bit more was easy.But there were also some key things that were not to my advantage in this process:I didn’t know how to manage my business income. I paid myself with my cuddle money every so often a couple hundred dollars here and there, but I mostly reinvested the money back into my business without seeing much of a return on my investment. Around July I began to run out of money (don’t worry! I bounced back from it). I’ve since learned a better way to manage my money.Few people knew or trusted what professional cuddling was. I thought professional cuddling was self-explanatory, but when I tried networking locally that first year, I was asked at startup events if I was secretly an escort. One members-only networking group even barred me from going to their events at one point.I avoided other ways to get leads other than generating them myself out of pride and laziness. Until this past May I never joined another professional cuddling platform or agency. I also didn’t post on Craigslist before SESTA-FOSTA went into effect which now prevents me from doing so. This meant I forced myself to create a business that was fully generated by my own efforts as soon as I left my job. This stunted the growth of my business severely since I hadn’t yet figured out how to do this.It wasn’t until a year after I went full-time with my business that I was getting back in the black for my efforts and not until May 2018 that I began consistently making a livable wage from cuddling, and I believe that I would have been much further along had I done a better job managing my income, presented myself as a cuddler better, and went where my clients were hanging out online from the getgo.Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?I have my hands in many pots all at once, but these five are where I’m seeing the most results:Following up with leads until they say no.In 2018, most of my clients were from my lead list from 2017 and before that never replied to me or scheduled a session for some reason.I try not to go overboard with follow up, but I try to follow up until I’m told no because sometimes people are just really forgetful and want to book a session but need to be reminded.Especially in professional cuddling, I notice that many potential clients are really self-conscious if I don’t take the initiative to schedule a session or make contact with them; they think I just don’t like them!Google Adwords.My friend Ronnie Deaver helped me set up my first simple Google Adwords campaigns last year-- apparently no one was buying Google ads for “Professional Cuddler Boston,” so that was a really quick way to get seen.Our ad was short and to the point since we assumed someone googling that was looking for a cuddler and already familiar with what to expect, so the ad was simple (and emphasized free parking, a hot commodity in Boston) and linked to my request form.It cost me a lot of money though and I saw some leads turns into clients but not that many, so I ended the campaign.Unintentional SEO.Shortly after ending the Google Ad campaign, I started getting a curious number of leads the next few months that said I was the fifth website on the first page of Google when they searched “Professional Cuddler Boston”.Upon talking to Ronnie, he told me that when ads perform well for certain search words, Google rewards you with higher search results. I’m sure this would improve more if I put more efforts in this direction. I also got a popular article written about me on Student Loan Herothat got picked up and linked back to me on several other websites, so that was also a factor that I didn’t plan on helping me do well in Google ranking.If nothing else, get backlinks to your website as often as possible!Coffee Talks.I was getting a lot of leads submitting a form and many had told me they wanted to do this but felt weird cuddling with a stranger.So I thought “Well, let’s not be a stranger then!” And that’s how Coffee Talks were born. Potential clients could sign up for a half hour time slot to meet me for coffee at the local Starbucks and talk about their cuddling needs. I posted the signup link on local Facebook groups to let them know I was doing that, which sparked some interest from locals and strangers.This is a very time-consuming method and not scalable. However, the quality of the clients I got from this method were the highest of any of the methods I’ve used.Prepaid packages for clients.My hourly rate is $100/hour (typical for the industry is $60-$80/hour), so I like to incentivize returning clients by giving them lower rates for paying in advance.This helps me by giving me money and cuddle hours scheduled in advance, it helps them by saving them money. Everybody wins.I have one package that incentivizes sessions to be less than $70/hour if they pay in advance (I do allow for payment plans upon request).As far as my cuddling teaching side of my business goes, when the GDPR law took place, I did the unthinkable: I threw away my list of 300+ subscribers for my professional cuddling business. Instead, I started it from scratch to create better reasons for people to join my email list so I had higher quality email subscribers.So I created things like a What it Takes to be a Great Professional Snuggler Guide for the beginning cuddler, webinar signup lists (there will be more webinars in the future!), the waitlist for Sam’s Snuggle School, and One Week to More Cuddles Guide for the experienced cuddler. I write to this list every other week if not every week. This list was helpful for when I initially launched Sam’s Snuggle School this past November. Over 25% of my new list bought my course!How are you doing today and what does the future look like?The past few months have been me planning out big grand plans for my cuddling community now that I’ve had a bigger stage, figuratively and literally, in 2018 than I ever have before. This January I started a three-month experienced cuddler course with my friend Peter Benjamin called “Cuddle with Your Whole Self” which is surrounded around bringing deeper connection not only into your client sessions but into your entire life. We get on Zoom calls and teach and do connection exercises live together to teach our students. As of writing this we’re three classes in and I’m really happy with how the course is coming along so far. I’m already seeing a huge difference in our cuddlers’ mindsets.Unfortunately after a wildly successful finish to my year in December and planning out how to move forward with gaining and retaining clients, I got a wrench thrown into my cuddling plans by tearing my meniscus! I currently can’t walk or cuddle like this unfortunately, but it does mean I get to work on more projects for cuddlers like I’ve wanted to. I’m really thankful I started building that email list the right way back in May now so I can continue making income even without having to cuddle right now.For the most part I don’t track too many parts of my business even though I have the data and Google Analytics set up for it to look into heavy technical things such as keywords, average time on site, and converstion rates. That’s mostly because I want to model something doable for other cuddlers. Other cuddlers in their practice don’t want to spend a lot of time on analyzing data or building a website or learning SEO; they want to get clients and cuddle! So most of what I do is centered around what a cuddler growing their practice would want to do. I want the actions I take to be duplicatable, especially since my main start on my own was from getting a massive website to backlink to my brand new website isn’t necessarily duplicatable.As of right now I get an average of 1-3 new subscribers a day for my Cuddlers-in-Training email list and I have 450+ total cuddle requests from individuals (I have yet to pull in data from a few new platforms so the exact number is slightly off). This past year the average cost per client was just shy of $24 per client, but when clients were coming in for a session that cost between $63-90 an hour and half of them returning for more than one session, that cost per client is well worth it for me. My next step once I’m not injured anymore will be digging into the data to see what I can do to make my conversions better moving forward-- I want to get more people in the door for a first session in coming months.I mostly live off of the money I make from cuddling and the money I make from my courses and coaching make it so I can take bigger risks with trying new lead sources, optimizing parts of my business like getting some lifetime software through AppSumo, paying for my business coach, and funding other growth dreams I have for my business.My big projects this year are the following: advertising and enrolling aspiring cuddlers into Sam’s Snuggle School), moving into more focused work in helping experienced cuddlers grow their practice including coaching and advanced coursework, and tying it all together with my baby by July with a dream of mine I conceived while on Tour this past year, Connection CommunityThrough starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?I keep learning how much my health and wellbeing directly affects my business. The first year I was a professional cuddler was one of the roughest years of my life personally, which was the motivation to buying the URL mylifeisneverboring.com as my personal social skills blog.The first two weeks after I quit my full-time job I slept for 14 hours a day because I was recovering from some unhealthy habits around sleep, work and coffee I had developed from working at my job. I still look at pictures the months before I left my job and am appalled at how unhealthy I looked in those pictures even. Once I was back on a healthy sleep schedule and started eating more regularly I noticed the first of many dramatic shifts in my creativity, productivity, and client base.I always had an idea that I’d be able to make it work as an entrepreneur somehow even if I didn’t know how the numbers would look on paper. I just knew that if I ever started failing I would find a way to make it through it and thrive. Between having clients last minute decide not to renew a big package the day before rent was due and trying to figure out how to make up for that loss, shifting gears halfway through my Snuggle Tour and trying to avoid a significant loss, finding out my hotel in NYC wasn’t booked online properly when I have a client coming by in less than a half hour, releasing a course in 24 hours when I’m not entirely sure how I’m going to record it without a working microphone…I proved myself by getting out of all those situations. My strongest affirmation was forged through these trials and tribulations: “I’ll figure it out. I always do.”What platform/tools do you use for your business?Some of these links are affiliate links.Waveapps. Once I got a separate bank account for my business, I hooked up the bank account to this free accounting software. As a one-woman band that files a Schedule C, this software is easy to categorize and see my income and expenses at a glance. I like logging in and seeing that I’m making more money than I’m spending really quickly.SquareUp. This is how I accept credit card payments via card swipe or online invoice. You can also set up recurring invoices, use their free scheduling software,Squarespace. For the tech-challenged, this is a really easy way to set up a pretty website quickly-- or in my case since I had no design skills, an ugly websiteMailchimp. Automation is on the free plan, something I rarely see, and that’s really useful for sending my questionnaire to potential clients as soon as they fill out my form on my website. You can send email lists, make landing pages, and track opens with your list to see who’s reading your emails and who’s staying silent.Ecwid. It’s really useful for using SquareUp on your Squarespace website and making items in your store way prettier than Squarespaces default sales pages. I use the free version because I don’t need too many items, but the paid versions allow for more than 10 different items on your store and it’s a very powerful tool to sell on social media in the paid version.[eachery. This is a really simple course creation platform where I host my courses. They also have a sales page builder for your course with Rick Astley placeholders that are perfect.What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?Mornings with Mike Podcast. My friend Mike Goncalves makes a five minute daily podcast, and I’ve set up my Google Assistant so that when I turn my alarm off in the morning the latest episode of his podcast plays. He has some interesting thoughts on success, motivation, health, and a happy life. It’s a really good way for me to wake up in the morning.Life’s Golden Ticket by Brendon Burchard. This book is his only fiction book he wrote, but it’s an amazing book about letting go and making the most of the life you have. Unlike The One Thing, I couldn’t put this book down. It reminded me to keep sight of pursuing the things that matter to me in my life.My business coach, Stephanie Marino. I’ve worked with her on and off over the course of two years and she’s been one of the most empowering coaches I’ve ever met. She’s helped me move some big rocks like stabilizing my income for my business, shifting gears for my Tour when my first plan wasn’t working, and not being afraid to run my business differently than other people.Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?Start with going on a platform or agency and give it three to six months.I’ve met new cuddlers that want to go straight to a therapist’s office to do referrals and I’ve met cuddlers three months in that think they need to make their own website. Those are great things to do, but they’ll be more effective you’ll command more authority once you’ve gained some experience from a place where people looking for cuddling are gathering.Take the pressure off of you to market yourself right away and let the platforms that are pouring thousands of dollars into marketing do that work for you, and pay attention to the clients that are coming in and attracted to you because that will help you understand what it is that you offer people that has them choose you as their cuddler. Then you can use that to go to other people for referrals and build a website around that idea.Use pictures for your profile photos that reflect how you’ll show up to your sessions.I see some women and men post really suggestive or misleading photos of themselves: women in bikinis, men shirtless, clubbing photos, using Snapchat or Instagram pictures, etc.Those are all nice photos, but they don’t send a good message for who you want to attract to your professional cuddling practice. Take a photo of yourself while you’re wearing your cuddle attire so people can see upfront how you’ll show up for your sessions.Don’t be afraid to talk about professional cuddling in public.When I was on Tour and met strangers I would tell them I was a professional cuddler. More than a few times I got replies like “I’ve heard of that but I’ve never met someone that does that.” There’s way more media coverage on professional cuddling than when I first started, but people need to see that it’s in their communities as well in order to start normalizing the profession. Start talking about it like it’s a real profession because it is.Educate yourself.I don’t care if you’re a massage therapist, a psychologist, or a high school dropout. If you’re going to do professional cuddling, you need to be continually learning to get better and show up for your clients better. That doesn’t have to be professional cuddling specific training, but it definitely helps to see how other people are doing it.Don’t reinvent the wheel if you don’t have to like I did, but don’t be afraid to pull skillsets from other areas if they’ll add to your practice. For example, I use Authentic Relating Games and Circling to help understand my clients better and guide the way I communicate clearly with them.Are you looking to hire for certain positions right now?Looking for part-time VA for 5 hours a week to start.Mostly big projects such as converting spreadsheets of leads to a CRM program, putting social media-friendly photos from phone into an album, batch editing blog posts and newsletter emails, and able to do academic-level research for scientific sources.Native or fluent English speakers are welcome to reach out at sam@snugglewithsam.com and I’ll have a test task for you to see if we’re a fit.Where can we go to learn more?Snugglewithsam.comsam@snugglewithsam.comIf you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!Liked this text interview? Check out the full interview with photos, tools, books, and other data.Interested in sharing your own story? Send me a PM

[livingbutamireally]

AY2019/2020 Y1S1 Module Review

AY2019/2020 year 1 semester 1 review

Started school around august after orientation camp in july, and had to study after doing nothing for months after a levels and finally had the taste of the rigour of this major.. semester 1 went by too quickly..

Modules taken this semester:

CS1010S

MA1101R

MA1521

BT1101

GER1000

CS1010S Programming Methodology (Python)

Prof: Ben Leong

Exam Dates: 2 Oct (Midterm) / 16 Nov (Practical Exam) / 27 Nov (Finals)

Weightage:

Coursemology – 25% (25%)

Participation – 5% (5%)

Midterm test – 15% (-)

Practical exam – 15% (20%)

Final assessment – 40% (50%)

(those in brackets are for those taking alternative final)

S in CS1010S is for science students, most students are either science students (DSA/ Life Science plenty) or BZA students.

Overall this module easily had the highest workload compared to other modules, having to rush missions every week, complete tutorials (this is pretty standard duh) and lecture trainings before deadlines for bonus points on a gamified platform. One could sit at their table wracking their brains for the whole day and still not be able to come up with a feasible code, or have their codes stuck with some bugs and not knowing how to continue. Really, without the help from fellow friends this module would be hard to get through. Luckily my TA was kind (and patient!) enough to explain such that my brain could get it. Ended up having to IP this module sadly… This module really requires your wholehearted devotion and really tests your patience i must say, especially for people who are not too intellectually inclined (aka me)..

They introduced a new scheme this semester aka Alternative Final, meaning you get to retake your midterm and finals by tabao-ing it into the next sem except you do your finals during the recess week instead of the finals, kinda like a half-retaking a module? Your grades for finals are IP-ed (in progress) rather than letter grades and the finals and midterms will be accounted for in the following half a semester albeit under different weightage components.

They said its a introductory module, but …………..

This year’s practical exam was particularly hard i think i had friends (even the zai ones) getting single digit marks… banked full in on the Method of Life question (Q5) of finals which is a giveaway question asking you how you can apply the concepts to other parts of your life and your main take-aways from taking this module (filled up the whole page and got full marks for it 4m) without this question i would have failed the paper..

Now i have to work hard the next sem… its kinda sad for us BZA students because CS1010S is a prerequisite for those wanting to take BT2101 and CS2030/2040 modules in the following semester (y1s2). Future students (esp BZA) please take the advice to consider this when deciding whether to IP…. because guess who didnt and regretted not thinking deeper…..

Ah one more thing to take note is the weightage is quite different for those IP/ alternative final people, theres higher weightage for the papers :_D

Ben Leong is a pretty good lecturer, hes solid in delivering concepts except my brain may be a little too slow for him.. Theres also lecture videos online that you can refer to and thousands of papers (with solutions!!) waiting for you to do.. something uncommon for many modules i heard? also, you get to see your final (scanned) paper through a website, in ben leong’s words “how cool is that?” he also uploads the mark scheme for your reference which is pretty cool imo. He’s a very interesting lecturer.

MA1521 Calculus for Computing

Prof: Leung Pui Fai

Exams: No midterms, just an online quiz (4 questions, most get full marks for), and the finals

Weightage: cant really rmb the weightage but i think its 40-60? i think tutorial attendance isnt graded..

They said this was just a repeat of H2 maths with more stuffs well boy i must say this wasnt as easy as they said.. okay maybe for me, ive always struggled with maths for a really long time. Surprisingly got a B for H2 Maths, i got a B3 for O levels really the blemish in my results. Got a B- for this module. Many people will say this is an easy module, you can trust them a little different in my shoes i guess. I didnt turn up for lectures for the half part of the semester since he talks a bit too slowly so i just watch the webcast sped up. But being a procrastinator i’m really behind on webcasts by the time the exams came.. i think i spent too much time on CS1010S and its still not enough.. if you dont have the discipline to watch them religiously at home, i would suggest you go for the lecture even though he may talk abit slowly but it forces you to not miss out on them. I dont really had the time (is it i wonder?) to do the tutorials either so i was also behind on them.. most of the time i just sat for tutorials and took the answers down to only work on them many weeks later (much regrets) so i didnt really understood what was going on as the TA went through. please dont be like me… the recess week was for sure not enough to revise/ learn all the content for all your mods for both midterms/finals so please dont be lazy like me…. this is the suffering i brought upon myself TT

Overall i think. it is not that hard a mod if you do your work consistently.. things got a little confusing towards the end i heard they dropped a whole chapter this semester glad they did.

MA1101R Linear Algebra I

Prof: Wang Fei

Weightage:

Finals (28 Nov, 2h)— 60%.

Mid-term test (4 Oct, 2h)— 20%.

3 homework assignments (4% per assignment) — 12%. 

An in-class Lab (MATLAB) quiz — 8%.

This was one of my most hardest period in my life and i say this on PERIODT. As if maths wasnt tough enough, this will really declare a survival of the fittest among your remaining brain cells. Friends told me maths came into their dreams… pls extinguish my soul. You must be thinking i am crazy for wanting to take 2 math mods in a sem right? ?

Yeahh no one really does that but it was my idea because i didnt want to do maths together with all the core core mods (BT and CS) next sem so i decided ah i should just get maths over and done with ( hAH real joke bc i couldnt clear CS1010S and i cant take 2k level mods for BT and CS and unlocked clown outfit because theres one more ST2334 core mod that involves probability and stats so much for thinking i will be over and done with for dealing with maths– someone tell me why did i choose this major again?)

Somehow along the way i realised the bell curve for this was surprisingly high i think those who chose this mod intend to delve even deeper in mathematics, mayhaps i joined the wrong major. The R in MA1101R actually stands for rigorous i didnt realise until my friend read the fine prints in the SOC Course Curriculum for BZA or sumn. Pure hell. There are 3 homework assignments (graded mind you) and most of the students get around 50++/60 i think i was the one of the rare few who flunked quite badly and always eyeballed by my TA (who is a prof for some 3k or 4k level maths, not for this mod though). I approached him for consults and for help and he was nice enough to sit me down and explain slowly. He’s pretty good at explaining slowly although he’s pretty fast in class (and most of the semester i had close to ZERO idea what was going on in class for pretty much most of the mods). Shockingly managed to pull out a C from my butt. The intellect of the students are no joke.. Homework assignments are every 3 weeks starting week 6 i think (so week 6, 9, 12) and i think are there to make sure you catch up with the work.

Oh lectures-wise, i sat for ½ of his classes, i really absorb almost nothing.. the rest of the lecture hall seem to get it though or so it seems. so i stopped attending my own lectures to watch the webcast for Prof Victor Tan too. His webcasts/lectures are really popular and it really owe it to his teaching, apparently he taught Wang Fei before and of course had over ten more years of experience. WF’s lecture turn-outs are comparatively less compared to VT. And on panopto (webcast platform) i think it was almost always 360++ views for VT as compared to a 80++/ was it 30++ for WF if i recall correctly. VT slides are also more concise and simple to understand where as WF’s ones are similar to the textbook. You are also required to purchase a textbook for this module costs around $20 from the co-op store in science and i urge you to purchase it asap when the profs announce they are made available bc they run oos quite fast.. the tutorial questions are from the textbook and the textbook is very simple and straightforward and put together by some of the lecturers/profs in school.

BT1101 Introduction to Business Analytics

Prof: Dr Sharon Tan, Desmond Ong

Weightage:

1. Online Quiz & Datacamp Assignments — 7%

Tutorial 1-4 — 8%

Tutorial 5 onwards — 15%

In-class Assessment (Written) — 10%

Practical Assessment — 20%

Final Assessment — 40%

In class assessment is held 2ish weeks after your midterms week so its kinda like your midterms?

Mm i would say this module is the most ?? its hard to put in words but if you read up the confessions page (NUSwhispers) regularly you would see many complaints that the mod is structured not as neatly as CS1010S its quite here and there everywhere and personal opinion, sometimes i dont know what i am supposed to learn but i guess its like that? The profs seem to value not wanting to spoonfeed and us learning on our own and stuff like that. I heard the mod was much harder in previous years and they simplified it a lot compared to in the past (which i really thank god) but its still a bit ?? They split it into two halves, first half of the sem is taught by Dr ST (Descriptive Analytics) and the next half by DO (Prescriptive and Predictive Analytics).

There are online videos to be watched every week even though you get lectures once every 2 weeks when Dr ST teaches and tutorials to be submitted to your TAs that are graded only after about 6/7 weeks. They leave comments (½ sentences someitmes shorter) and your marks received and thats about all so you dont really know where you went wrong since they are not marked paper and pen way. The tutorials are coding exercises for questions using the R language. They also used Datacamp to drill some of the basics of R for a headstart. Her workshop style lectures are a lot of on the spot learning how to code and stuff which i lag behind a bit because she goes a bit fast in order to cover everything. We learn new content via the online videos that we have to watch every week and theres quizzes for them too weekly iirc.

The next half by DO had no online videos (great!! and no quizzes!!) but weekly lectures and graded tutorials are due every 2 weeks(!!). There are still weekly tutorials but its only graded for every 2nd one, wow this saved me a lot of time phew. I didnt get to do the tutorials for those that are not graded but read through the questions so that i get a gist of whats going on, and somehow i really dont have the time to do it? CS1010S really absorbed a large chunk of my time cries. Finals was a oK it was not that bad i think. There are 20 MCQs and then about 4 structured questions? Closed-book with 1 A4 sheet cheatsheet.

Oh and the bad part about the tutorials are the tutors wont provide you with the model answers/codes so you’re really just on your own. You either get it or nah. :_D

GER1000 Quantitative Reasoning

Weightage:

1. Tutorial — 10%

2. 10 Weekly Quizzes — 20%

3. Project —35% (Presentation 10%, Final Report 25%)

4. Finals (28 MCQs, 2h) — 35%

No lectures so no profs, just weekly online videos and quizzes.

Tutorials are every odd/even weeks depending on the slot you chose.

Groups are arranged by the TAs beforehand.

This was pre-allocated for us so (grits teeth). Honestly a waste of time. One of the mods i neglected till the end to focus on other mods (which was worth it). The workload was manageable, of course (if not how to neglect). Every 2 week you meet together wiht your groupmates to discuss tutorial questions (each group will discuss 1 qn) and every tutorial class ended about 30min earlier. Nearing the end theres a group project report and slides to be done. Report is in the form of QnA so you just answer the questions and slides/ presentation is going through an article of a topic you chose (theres about 10) and you analyse the QR part of it what is good what can be better, etc. Theres also a bit of the stats part with probability and stuff but its a OK. Bell curve steep for finals (40 MCQ, 2h) but most finished in 1h and left the hall, i was one of the few who stayed till the end even though i was just staring at the paper into the depths of my soul for reasons unknown) It’s a lot about experiments not really the scientific/ calculations part of it but understanding about coming up with experiments, the pros and cons of carrying things out a certain way in loose terms something like the art of crafting experiments? makes you think a bit deeper how and what people think and not so dry i guess.

Epilogue

i guess thats a wrap–new semester starts soon :( i think this might be the first module/semester review tumblr blog but i hope this can be of help to anyone, to anyone at all. the owner of many of similar review blogs get really stellar results which i may be too out of league from so i hope this brings comforts to those who are doing not so well and encourage them because im not any different we exist, and we’ll survive.

CARPE DIEM 2020 LETS GEDDIT

[growthvue]

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Patti Duncan on episode 275 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Patti Duncan shares some of the common mistakes she finds that schools implementing Next Generation Science Standards make. If you’re implementing NGSS in your school or state, this is a must listen.

Legends of Learning has amazing game based science experiences for students in 3-8 aligning with Next Generation Science and select state standards. Go to coolcatteacher.com/science and sign up for your free account now.

Whether it is earth science, life science, or physical science you can reinforce, reteach, and take kids further as they play the science games at legendsoflearning.com. And thanks to Legends of Learning for sponsoring science week this week on the 10-Minute Teacher.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Link to show: http://ift.tt/2piqrUa Date: March 16, 2018

Vicki: Today we’re talking with Patti Duncan @yoyosciteach about five ways to NOT implement the Next Generation Science Standards.

So, Patti, lots of folks talk about how TO do this, but what’s our first way to NOT implement NGSS?

Patti: I think, Vicki, the biggest thing that I see people struggling with that they try to do immediately is find a way to make NGSS fit in their current curriculum.

So, instead of looking at the standards as they’re intended, they look at them in little pieces, and then they try to say, “Well where can I do science and engineering practices and colligative properties?” instead of thinking, “Where do colligative properties fit in the bigger picture of things?”

1. Don’t try to fit NGSS into the current curriculum.

Vicki: So really, just trying to change as little as possible, right?

Patti: Yes. Looking at it more of a cookie cutter type of way of meeting aspects of using it in totality, the way that it was intended.

Vicki: OK. What’s our second?

Patti: I think the second one that I would say, primarily is they overthink it.

This sounds like the opposite of what I just said, but there some are folks who just totally freak out. “Oh my, I have these new set of standards. They’re totally confusing, and I I have to scratch everything I’m doing and start all over again.”

2. Don’t scrap everything you’re currently doing, either.

That’s not the case. You don’t have to start all over again. You just have to rethink what you’re doing, and do it in a different way.

Vicki: OK. So there’s obviously a happy medium here between this. (laughs)

Patti: (laughs) Yes.

Vicki: OK, what’s our third way NOT to?

Patti: The third way not to be… Take your curriculum and force it into NGSS.

So what I mean by that is… When people look at… We’ve been brainwashed, Vicki, basicly, as educators to think that what has to be “covered” is what the books have said has to be covered. Or what’s on the test.

3. Don’t take your current curriculum and force it into NGSS.

The reality is, especially for states that are implementing NGSS in totality, and the assessments are going to become based on the NGSS standards, it’s not going to be like any book .

So looking for a book that’s going to the solution to the NGSS standards is not going to work.

You have to find a multitude of resources, a variety of resources — whether they be web based or text based, or internet based or kit based or module based.

There are going to be multiple things that need to be pieced together. But I don’t know that anybody right now has any one solution… and it certainly isn’t going to come from a book, because that’s not the way the NGSS thinking works.

Vicki: Yeah, because isn’t a lot of it about how you teach?

Patti: Yes. So that’s another piece of it, right?

So if I say the fourth thing would be to think that it’s all about curriculum. Because it’s not.

It’s a combination of the content and how we approach the content, but also what we do.

I’ve been saying this about STEM for years, too, right? STEM is more about how we teach than it is what we teach.

4. Don’t focus on checking items off. Concentrate on experiential learning.

It shouldn’t be about necessarily I’m making these checkmarks and hitting these levels of meeting certain DCIs or science and engineering practices or crosscutting concepts as much as it is about, “What experiences am I bringing to the students, through my planning? What am I being intentional about bringing into my classroom so that the students experience these things to develop these skills, to see these connections, to understand this content in the context of solving a real-world problem and where they answer questions about real scientific phenomena.

Vicki: I love because on a recent show that we’ll link to in the Shownotes, Meg Ormiston talked about a school she was working with that was “over rubricked.” They were checking all the boxes, but they couldn’t collaborate, and they couldn’t think, and they couldn’t create.

Patti: Right. Because just like with any new set of standards or any new thing that comes through — especially when something, as you know, Vicki, you’ve been doing this for a long time.

When something comes through an administration, and they’re all crazy about it and excited about it, but they don’t fully understand it themselves, maybe. It’s more about, “Do I see these certain things? And if I can check these boxes off, then everything’s cool. But that’s not necessarily the case. And that’s not going to help us implement NGSS with fidelity.

Implementing NGSS with fidelity is going to take some time. But it is also going to take — like you said — collaboration, and thinking about what we’re doing, rather than just checking off boxes.

Vicki: OK, so what’s our fifth?

Patti: I think that is the last one, right?

The fifth one is to not think that it has to happen overnight.

You don’t have to re-create your entire classroom tomorrow.

5. Don’t think that the shift to NGSS will happen quickly. It won’t. It can’t.

A lot of teachers are doing the right thing, and they’re getting professional development. A lot of folks are going to conferences, and they’re trying to understand the most they can. But people shouldn’t feel overwhelmed that they have to change everything, that they have to meet certain expectations.

I think that the biggest way that NGSS might fail in any district is if the expectation is that things are going to change immediately.

It’s a BIG difference to go from:

“Do we know a lot of content? And can we take standardized multiple choice tests and spit out things we’ve memorized?”

to:

“Can we apply scientific knowledge, technology, mathematical knowledge, engineering concepts, a good ELA base work? Can we apply all of that to an understanding of scientific phenomena?”

That’s a shift. And it’s going to take time. A lot of time.

And we have to be patient.

Vicki: So Patti, if you got stuck on an elevator, with someone who was trying to understand NGSS. How would you give them an elevator pitch about how this is going to improve the science classroom?

How is NGSS — done right — going to improve our science teaching?

Patti: That’s funny that you should ask that, because I was just talking to some middle school kids yesterday. We were sitting around talking, and they asked me what I did, and I told them.

And they were like, “Oh, well, our science class is boring.”

And I said, “Well, what do you think science should be about?”

And they said exactly what it should be about.

First of all, they think it should be fun. Science should be fun, but all learning should be fun. Right?

They also said, “It should be about figuring things out.”

And so NGSS is about helping students look around — with what I like to call their science eyes — and noticing things and asking, “Why? Why is this way? Why does this do this?” Applying what they’re learning in the context of answering those questions.

So, as a teacher, my role is to bring those phenomena into the classroom to make them ask that question, to make them want to learn more about what’s going on so that they can understand the science behind it.

Vicki: And sparking the curiosity!

Patti: Right.

Vicki: I mean, isn’t that so much part of it?

Patti: It’s a huge piece of it. Sparking curiosity. That’s what the phenomena is all about. I think that if I could even add a sixth “don’t”…

What a lot of people are trying to do is like they’re getting all worked up over phenomena. I actually had a conversation with somebody last week who thought that if it wasn’t “phenomenAL”…

Vicki: (laughs)

Patti: … something big and fantastic like a volcano erupting, that it wasn’t appropriate.

BONUS: Don’t get hung up on big and fantastic and amazing. Spark curiosity.

And I said, “No, you’re misunderstanding that word. The word “phenomena” simply means an observation. It means something that happens in nature.

When we look at the world, when we look around us… why right now when I look out on my front lawn is the snow all melted around the trees?

That’s a phenomena and something I could look at. Those are the kinds of things you want to ask the students.

I actually took some pictures last week when we were in a storm of a full pot of snow, and then the resulting pot of melted snow. We were using snow to melt in the house because we didn’t have power. And I posted that on an NGSS website, and they were like “That’s awesome! What does it mean?” (laughs)

And I said, “Well, that’s exactly what I want the kids to ask! If you needed a full pot of water, how many pots of snow would you have to melt? And why does snow take up much more room?”

Those are the kinds of things that our students need to think about when it comes to science.

Vicki: Oh, and I love the illustration you said about observing a phenomenon versus it having to be phenomenal.

  Patti: Right.

Vicki: Because people do kind of, I guess, when words are very similar, they can easily get off track, can’t they?

Patti: Yes. They can. And that is a part of the issue, too, when you’re talking about the “don’t” when you’re talking about NGSS, right, because there are three different parts of standards.

There’s the science and engineering practices, there’s the cross-cutting concepts, and then the disciplinary core ideas.

A lot of folks are spending a lot of time with the disciplinary core ideas because that’s very similar to standard curriculum. But they’re kind of ignoring and/or putting aside these two other pieces.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. It’s meant so that students understand that it’s more than just memorizing things.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. Don’t focus on only one part.

And so when you look at, in particular, the cross-cutting concepts — things like energy and scale and more importantly, models. That’s what makes me think of it.

So modeling science is all about not only creating a physical representation of something that’s too big or too small to see in real life, but it’s about creating something, or coming up with an example of something that could be used to explain something or be used to predict.

That’s one of the things I’m struggling with in the folks that I’m working with in professional development — is this concept of modeling — because they only hear “model” and they think, “Oh, it’s that representation of the solar system I made in sixth grade. It’s hanging in my mother’s attic.”

Vicki: Ohhh.

OK, so this is so exciting. You know, when we get kids to get excited about observing, and they become scientists, and they’re not just reading things in a book that other people have done. I mean, we’re really about transforming the classroom.

Patti Duncan is an expert in this area. I hope you’ll check her Bio in the Shownotes.

Thank you Patti. This is very insightful. Sometimes to learn how to do something, we have to learn how to not do it, don’t we? (laughs)

  Patti: Yes. Yeah.

Because knowing what we don’t need to do helps us figure out what we do.

Vicki: That’s right!

Patti: Thanks, Vicki.

Contact us about the show: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/contact/

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford kymberlimulford@gmail.com

Bio as submitted

Patti Duncan is a scientist, educator and presenter. She has 10 years experience as a food chemist, 20 years as an educator and 15 years in professional development. Patti has presented world wide on the topics of science, STEM, Professional Learning Networks and educational technology. She is currently developing programs to help teachers implement NGSS.

Blog: duncanpatti.wikispaces.com

Twitter: @yoyosciteach

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards published first on https://getnewdlbusiness.tumblr.com/

[succeedly]

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Patti Duncan on episode 275 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Patti Duncan shares some of the common mistakes she finds that schools implementing Next Generation Science Standards make. If you’re implementing NGSS in your school or state, this is a must listen.

Legends of Learning has amazing game based science experiences for students in 3-8 aligning with Next Generation Science and select state standards. Go to coolcatteacher.com/science and sign up for your free account now.

Whether it is earth science, life science, or physical science you can reinforce, reteach, and take kids further as they play the science games at legendsoflearning.com. And thanks to Legends of Learning for sponsoring science week this week on the 10-Minute Teacher.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Link to show: http://ift.tt/2piqrUa Date: March 16, 2018

Vicki: Today we’re talking with Patti Duncan @yoyosciteach about five ways to NOT implement the Next Generation Science Standards.

So, Patti, lots of folks talk about how TO do this, but what’s our first way to NOT implement NGSS?

Patti: I think, Vicki, the biggest thing that I see people struggling with that they try to do immediately is find a way to make NGSS fit in their current curriculum.

So, instead of looking at the standards as they’re intended, they look at them in little pieces, and then they try to say, “Well where can I do science and engineering practices and colligative properties?” instead of thinking, “Where do colligative properties fit in the bigger picture of things?”

1. Don’t try to fit NGSS into the current curriculum.

Vicki: So really, just trying to change as little as possible, right?

Patti: Yes. Looking at it more of a cookie cutter type of way of meeting aspects of using it in totality, the way that it was intended.

Vicki: OK. What’s our second?

Patti: I think the second one that I would say, primarily is they overthink it.

This sounds like the opposite of what I just said, but there some are folks who just totally freak out. “Oh my, I have these new set of standards. They’re totally confusing, and I I have to scratch everything I’m doing and start all over again.”

2. Don’t scrap everything you’re currently doing, either.

That’s not the case. You don’t have to start all over again. You just have to rethink what you’re doing, and do it in a different way.

Vicki: OK. So there’s obviously a happy medium here between this. (laughs)

Patti: (laughs) Yes.

Vicki: OK, what’s our third way NOT to?

Patti: The third way not to be… Take your curriculum and force it into NGSS.

So what I mean by that is… When people look at… We’ve been brainwashed, Vicki, basicly, as educators to think that what has to be “covered” is what the books have said has to be covered. Or what’s on the test.

3. Don’t take your current curriculum and force it into NGSS.

The reality is, especially for states that are implementing NGSS in totality, and the assessments are going to become based on the NGSS standards, it’s not going to be like any book .

So looking for a book that’s going to the solution to the NGSS standards is not going to work.

You have to find a multitude of resources, a variety of resources — whether they be web based or text based, or internet based or kit based or module based.

There are going to be multiple things that need to be pieced together. But I don’t know that anybody right now has any one solution… and it certainly isn’t going to come from a book, because that’s not the way the NGSS thinking works.

Vicki: Yeah, because isn’t a lot of it about how you teach?

Patti: Yes. So that’s another piece of it, right?

So if I say the fourth thing would be to think that it’s all about curriculum. Because it’s not.

It’s a combination of the content and how we approach the content, but also what we do.

I’ve been saying this about STEM for years, too, right? STEM is more about how we teach than it is what we teach.

4. Don’t focus on checking items off. Concentrate on experiential learning.

It shouldn’t be about necessarily I’m making these checkmarks and hitting these levels of meeting certain DCIs or science and engineering practices or crosscutting concepts as much as it is about, “What experiences am I bringing to the students, through my planning? What am I being intentional about bringing into my classroom so that the students experience these things to develop these skills, to see these connections, to understand this content in the context of solving a real-world problem and where they answer questions about real scientific phenomena.

Vicki: I love because on a recent show that we’ll link to in the Shownotes, Meg Ormiston talked about a school she was working with that was “over rubricked.” They were checking all the boxes, but they couldn’t collaborate, and they couldn’t think, and they couldn’t create.

Patti: Right. Because just like with any new set of standards or any new thing that comes through — especially when something, as you know, Vicki, you’ve been doing this for a long time.

When something comes through an administration, and they’re all crazy about it and excited about it, but they don’t fully understand it themselves, maybe. It’s more about, “Do I see these certain things? And if I can check these boxes off, then everything’s cool. But that’s not necessarily the case. And that’s not going to help us implement NGSS with fidelity.

Implementing NGSS with fidelity is going to take some time. But it is also going to take — like you said — collaboration, and thinking about what we’re doing, rather than just checking off boxes.

Vicki: OK, so what’s our fifth?

Patti: I think that is the last one, right?

The fifth one is to not think that it has to happen overnight.

You don’t have to re-create your entire classroom tomorrow.

5. Don’t think that the shift to NGSS will happen quickly. It won’t. It can’t.

A lot of teachers are doing the right thing, and they’re getting professional development. A lot of folks are going to conferences, and they’re trying to understand the most they can. But people shouldn’t feel overwhelmed that they have to change everything, that they have to meet certain expectations.

I think that the biggest way that NGSS might fail in any district is if the expectation is that things are going to change immediately.

It��s a BIG difference to go from:

“Do we know a lot of content? And can we take standardized multiple choice tests and spit out things we’ve memorized?”

to:

“Can we apply scientific knowledge, technology, mathematical knowledge, engineering concepts, a good ELA base work? Can we apply all of that to an understanding of scientific phenomena?”

That’s a shift. And it’s going to take time. A lot of time.

And we have to be patient.

Vicki: So Patti, if you got stuck on an elevator, with someone who was trying to understand NGSS. How would you give them an elevator pitch about how this is going to improve the science classroom?

How is NGSS — done right — going to improve our science teaching?

Patti: That’s funny that you should ask that, because I was just talking to some middle school kids yesterday. We were sitting around talking, and they asked me what I did, and I told them.

And they were like, “Oh, well, our science class is boring.”

And I said, “Well, what do you think science should be about?”

And they said exactly what it should be about.

First of all, they think it should be fun. Science should be fun, but all learning should be fun. Right?

They also said, “It should be about figuring things out.”

And so NGSS is about helping students look around — with what I like to call their science eyes — and noticing things and asking, “Why? Why is this way? Why does this do this?” Applying what they’re learning in the context of answering those questions.

So, as a teacher, my role is to bring those phenomena into the classroom to make them ask that question, to make them want to learn more about what’s going on so that they can understand the science behind it.

Vicki: And sparking the curiosity!

Patti: Right.

Vicki: I mean, isn’t that so much part of it?

Patti: It’s a huge piece of it. Sparking curiosity. That’s what the phenomena is all about. I think that if I could even add a sixth “don’t”…

What a lot of people are trying to do is like they’re getting all worked up over phenomena. I actually had a conversation with somebody last week who thought that if it wasn’t “phenomenAL”…

Vicki: (laughs)

Patti: … something big and fantastic like a volcano erupting, that it wasn’t appropriate.

BONUS: Don’t get hung up on big and fantastic and amazing. Spark curiosity.

And I said, “No, you’re misunderstanding that word. The word “phenomena” simply means an observation. It means something that happens in nature.

When we look at the world, when we look around us… why right now when I look out on my front lawn is the snow all melted around the trees?

That’s a phenomena and something I could look at. Those are the kinds of things you want to ask the students.

I actually took some pictures last week when we were in a storm of a full pot of snow, and then the resulting pot of melted snow. We were using snow to melt in the house because we didn’t have power. And I posted that on an NGSS website, and they were like “That’s awesome! What does it mean?” (laughs)

And I said, “Well, that’s exactly what I want the kids to ask! If you needed a full pot of water, how many pots of snow would you have to melt? And why does snow take up much more room?”

Those are the kinds of things that our students need to think about when it comes to science.

Vicki: Oh, and I love the illustration you said about observing a phenomenon versus it having to be phenomenal.

  Patti: Right.

Vicki: Because people do kind of, I guess, when words are very similar, they can easily get off track, can’t they?

Patti: Yes. They can. And that is a part of the issue, too, when you’re talking about the “don’t” when you’re talking about NGSS, right, because there are three different parts of standards.

There’s the science and engineering practices, there’s the cross-cutting concepts, and then the disciplinary core ideas.

A lot of folks are spending a lot of time with the disciplinary core ideas because that’s very similar to standard curriculum. But they’re kind of ignoring and/or putting aside these two other pieces.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. It’s meant so that students understand that it’s more than just memorizing things.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. Don’t focus on only one part.

And so when you look at, in particular, the cross-cutting concepts — things like energy and scale and more importantly, models. That’s what makes me think of it.

So modeling science is all about not only creating a physical representation of something that’s too big or too small to see in real life, but it’s about creating something, or coming up with an example of something that could be used to explain something or be used to predict.

That’s one of the things I’m struggling with in the folks that I’m working with in professional development — is this concept of modeling — because they only hear “model” and they think, “Oh, it’s that representation of the solar system I made in sixth grade. It’s hanging in my mother’s attic.”

Vicki: Ohhh.

OK, so this is so exciting. You know, when we get kids to get excited about observing, and they become scientists, and they’re not just reading things in a book that other people have done. I mean, we’re really about transforming the classroom.

Patti Duncan is an expert in this area. I hope you’ll check her Bio in the Shownotes.

Thank you Patti. This is very insightful. Sometimes to learn how to do something, we have to learn how to not do it, don’t we? (laughs)

  Patti: Yes. Yeah.

Because knowing what we don’t need to do helps us figure out what we do.

Vicki: That’s right!

Patti: Thanks, Vicki.

Contact us about the show: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/contact/

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford kymberlimulford@gmail.com

Bio as submitted

Patti Duncan is a scientist, educator and presenter. She has 10 years experience as a food chemist, 20 years as an educator and 15 years in professional development. Patti has presented world wide on the topics of science, STEM, Professional Learning Networks and educational technology. She is currently developing programs to help teachers implement NGSS.

Blog: duncanpatti.wikispaces.com

Twitter: @yoyosciteach

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards published first on https://getnewcourse.tumblr.com/

[strivesy]

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Patti Duncan on episode 275 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Patti Duncan shares some of the common mistakes she finds that schools implementing Next Generation Science Standards make. If you’re implementing NGSS in your school or state, this is a must listen.

Legends of Learning has amazing game based science experiences for students in 3-8 aligning with Next Generation Science and select state standards. Go to coolcatteacher.com/science and sign up for your free account now.

Whether it is earth science, life science, or physical science you can reinforce, reteach, and take kids further as they play the science games at legendsoflearning.com. And thanks to Legends of Learning for sponsoring science week this week on the 10-Minute Teacher.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Link to show: http://ift.tt/2piqrUa Date: March 16, 2018

Vicki: Today we’re talking with Patti Duncan @yoyosciteach about five ways to NOT implement the Next Generation Science Standards.

So, Patti, lots of folks talk about how TO do this, but what’s our first way to NOT implement NGSS?

Patti: I think, Vicki, the biggest thing that I see people struggling with that they try to do immediately is find a way to make NGSS fit in their current curriculum.

So, instead of looking at the standards as they’re intended, they look at them in little pieces, and then they try to say, “Well where can I do science and engineering practices and colligative properties?” instead of thinking, “Where do colligative properties fit in the bigger picture of things?”

1. Don’t try to fit NGSS into the current curriculum.

Vicki: So really, just trying to change as little as possible, right?

Patti: Yes. Looking at it more of a cookie cutter type of way of meeting aspects of using it in totality, the way that it was intended.

Vicki: OK. What’s our second?

Patti: I think the second one that I would say, primarily is they overthink it.

This sounds like the opposite of what I just said, but there some are folks who just totally freak out. “Oh my, I have these new set of standards. They’re totally confusing, and I I have to scratch everything I’m doing and start all over again.”

2. Don’t scrap everything you’re currently doing, either.

That’s not the case. You don’t have to start all over again. You just have to rethink what you’re doing, and do it in a different way.

Vicki: OK. So there’s obviously a happy medium here between this. (laughs)

Patti: (laughs) Yes.

Vicki: OK, what’s our third way NOT to?

Patti: The third way not to be… Take your curriculum and force it into NGSS.

So what I mean by that is… When people look at… We’ve been brainwashed, Vicki, basicly, as educators to think that what has to be “covered” is what the books have said has to be covered. Or what’s on the test.

3. Don’t take your current curriculum and force it into NGSS.

The reality is, especially for states that are implementing NGSS in totality, and the assessments are going to become based on the NGSS standards, it’s not going to be like any book .

So looking for a book that’s going to the solution to the NGSS standards is not going to work.

You have to find a multitude of resources, a variety of resources — whether they be web based or text based, or internet based or kit based or module based.

There are going to be multiple things that need to be pieced together. But I don’t know that anybody right now has any one solution… and it certainly isn’t going to come from a book, because that’s not the way the NGSS thinking works.

Vicki: Yeah, because isn’t a lot of it about how you teach?

Patti: Yes. So that’s another piece of it, right?

So if I say the fourth thing would be to think that it’s all about curriculum. Because it’s not.

It’s a combination of the content and how we approach the content, but also what we do.

I’ve been saying this about STEM for years, too, right? STEM is more about how we teach than it is what we teach.

4. Don’t focus on checking items off. Concentrate on experiential learning.

It shouldn’t be about necessarily I’m making these checkmarks and hitting these levels of meeting certain DCIs or science and engineering practices or crosscutting concepts as much as it is about, “What experiences am I bringing to the students, through my planning? What am I being intentional about bringing into my classroom so that the students experience these things to develop these skills, to see these connections, to understand this content in the context of solving a real-world problem and where they answer questions about real scientific phenomena.

Vicki: I love because on a recent show that we’ll link to in the Shownotes, Meg Ormiston talked about a school she was working with that was “over rubricked.” They were checking all the boxes, but they couldn’t collaborate, and they couldn’t think, and they couldn’t create.

Patti: Right. Because just like with any new set of standards or any new thing that comes through — especially when something, as you know, Vicki, you’ve been doing this for a long time.

When something comes through an administration, and they’re all crazy about it and excited about it, but they don’t fully understand it themselves, maybe. It’s more about, “Do I see these certain things? And if I can check these boxes off, then everything’s cool. But that’s not necessarily the case. And that’s not going to help us implement NGSS with fidelity.

Implementing NGSS with fidelity is going to take some time. But it is also going to take — like you said — collaboration, and thinking about what we’re doing, rather than just checking off boxes.

Vicki: OK, so what’s our fifth?

Patti: I think that is the last one, right?

The fifth one is to not think that it has to happen overnight.

You don’t have to re-create your entire classroom tomorrow.

5. Don’t think that the shift to NGSS will happen quickly. It won’t. It can’t.

A lot of teachers are doing the right thing, and they’re getting professional development. A lot of folks are going to conferences, and they’re trying to understand the most they can. But people shouldn’t feel overwhelmed that they have to change everything, that they have to meet certain expectations.

I think that the biggest way that NGSS might fail in any district is if the expectation is that things are going to change immediately.

It’s a BIG difference to go from:

“Do we know a lot of content? And can we take standardized multiple choice tests and spit out things we’ve memorized?”

to:

“Can we apply scientific knowledge, technology, mathematical knowledge, engineering concepts, a good ELA base work? Can we apply all of that to an understanding of scientific phenomena?”

That’s a shift. And it’s going to take time. A lot of time.

And we have to be patient.

Vicki: So Patti, if you got stuck on an elevator, with someone who was trying to understand NGSS. How would you give them an elevator pitch about how this is going to improve the science classroom?

How is NGSS — done right — going to improve our science teaching?

Patti: That’s funny that you should ask that, because I was just talking to some middle school kids yesterday. We were sitting around talking, and they asked me what I did, and I told them.

And they were like, “Oh, well, our science class is boring.”

And I said, “Well, what do you think science should be about?”

And they said exactly what it should be about.

First of all, they think it should be fun. Science should be fun, but all learning should be fun. Right?

They also said, “It should be about figuring things out.”

And so NGSS is about helping students look around — with what I like to call their science eyes — and noticing things and asking, “Why? Why is this way? Why does this do this?” Applying what they’re learning in the context of answering those questions.

So, as a teacher, my role is to bring those phenomena into the classroom to make them ask that question, to make them want to learn more about what’s going on so that they can understand the science behind it.

Vicki: And sparking the curiosity!

Patti: Right.

Vicki: I mean, isn’t that so much part of it?

Patti: It’s a huge piece of it. Sparking curiosity. That’s what the phenomena is all about. I think that if I could even add a sixth “don’t”…

What a lot of people are trying to do is like they’re getting all worked up over phenomena. I actually had a conversation with somebody last week who thought that if it wasn’t “phenomenAL”…

Vicki: (laughs)

Patti: … something big and fantastic like a volcano erupting, that it wasn’t appropriate.

BONUS: Don’t get hung up on big and fantastic and amazing. Spark curiosity.

And I said, “No, you’re misunderstanding that word. The word “phenomena” simply means an observation. It means something that happens in nature.

When we look at the world, when we look around us… why right now when I look out on my front lawn is the snow all melted around the trees?

That’s a phenomena and something I could look at. Those are the kinds of things you want to ask the students.

I actually took some pictures last week when we were in a storm of a full pot of snow, and then the resulting pot of melted snow. We were using snow to melt in the house because we didn’t have power. And I posted that on an NGSS website, and they were like “That’s awesome! What does it mean?” (laughs)

And I said, “Well, that’s exactly what I want the kids to ask! If you needed a full pot of water, how many pots of snow would you have to melt? And why does snow take up much more room?”

Those are the kinds of things that our students need to think about when it comes to science.

Vicki: Oh, and I love the illustration you said about observing a phenomenon versus it having to be phenomenal.

  Patti: Right.

Vicki: Because people do kind of, I guess, when words are very similar, they can easily get off track, can’t they?

Patti: Yes. They can. And that is a part of the issue, too, when you’re talking about the “don’t” when you’re talking about NGSS, right, because there are three different parts of standards.

There’s the science and engineering practices, there’s the cross-cutting concepts, and then the disciplinary core ideas.

A lot of folks are spending a lot of time with the disciplinary core ideas because that’s very similar to standard curriculum. But they’re kind of ignoring and/or putting aside these two other pieces.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. It’s meant so that students understand that it’s more than just memorizing things.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. Don’t focus on only one part.

And so when you look at, in particular, the cross-cutting concepts — things like energy and scale and more importantly, models. That’s what makes me think of it.

So modeling science is all about not only creating a physical representation of something that’s too big or too small to see in real life, but it’s about creating something, or coming up with an example of something that could be used to explain something or be used to predict.

That’s one of the things I’m struggling with in the folks that I’m working with in professional development — is this concept of modeling — because they only hear “model” and they think, “Oh, it’s that representation of the solar system I made in sixth grade. It’s hanging in my mother’s attic.”

Vicki: Ohhh.

OK, so this is so exciting. You know, when we get kids to get excited about observing, and they become scientists, and they’re not just reading things in a book that other people have done. I mean, we’re really about transforming the classroom.

Patti Duncan is an expert in this area. I hope you’ll check her Bio in the Shownotes.

Thank you Patti. This is very insightful. Sometimes to learn how to do something, we have to learn how to not do it, don’t we? (laughs)

  Patti: Yes. Yeah.

Because knowing what we don’t need to do helps us figure out what we do.

Vicki: That’s right!

Patti: Thanks, Vicki.

Contact us about the show: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/contact/

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford kymberlimulford@gmail.com

Bio as submitted

Patti Duncan is a scientist, educator and presenter. She has 10 years experience as a food chemist, 20 years as an educator and 15 years in professional development. Patti has presented world wide on the topics of science, STEM, Professional Learning Networks and educational technology. She is currently developing programs to help teachers implement NGSS.

Blog: duncanpatti.wikispaces.com

Twitter: @yoyosciteach

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards published first on https://medium.com/@seminarsacademy

[patriciaanderson357-blog]

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Patti Duncan on episode 275 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Patti Duncan shares some of the common mistakes she finds that schools implementing Next Generation Science Standards make. If you’re implementing NGSS in your school or state, this is a must listen.

Legends of Learning has amazing game based science experiences for students in 3-8 aligning with Next Generation Science and select state standards. Go to coolcatteacher.com/science and sign up for your free account now.

Whether it is earth science, life science, or physical science you can reinforce, reteach, and take kids further as they play the science games at legendsoflearning.com. And thanks to Legends of Learning for sponsoring science week this week on the 10-Minute Teacher.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e275 Date: March 16, 2018

Vicki: Today we’re talking with Patti Duncan @yoyosciteach about five ways to NOT implement the Next Generation Science Standards.

So, Patti, lots of folks talk about how TO do this, but what’s our first way to NOT implement NGSS?

Patti: I think, Vicki, the biggest thing that I see people struggling with that they try to do immediately is find a way to make NGSS fit in their current curriculum.

So, instead of looking at the standards as they’re intended, they look at them in little pieces, and then they try to say, “Well where can I do science and engineering practices and colligative properties?” instead of thinking, “Where do colligative properties fit in the bigger picture of things?”

1. Don’t try to fit NGSS into the current curriculum.

Vicki: So really, just trying to change as little as possible, right?

Patti: Yes. Looking at it more of a cookie cutter type of way of meeting aspects of using it in totality, the way that it was intended.

Vicki: OK. What’s our second?

Patti: I think the second one that I would say, primarily is they overthink it.

This sounds like the opposite of what I just said, but there some are folks who just totally freak out. “Oh my, I have these new set of standards. They’re totally confusing, and I I have to scratch everything I’m doing and start all over again.”

2. Don’t scrap everything you’re currently doing, either.

That’s not the case. You don’t have to start all over again. You just have to rethink what you’re doing, and do it in a different way.

Vicki: OK. So there’s obviously a happy medium here between this. (laughs)

Patti: (laughs) Yes.

Vicki: OK, what’s our third way NOT to?

Patti: The third way not to be… Take your curriculum and force it into NGSS.

So what I mean by that is… When people look at… We’ve been brainwashed, Vicki, basicly, as educators to think that what has to be “covered” is what the books have said has to be covered. Or what’s on the test.

3. Don’t take your current curriculum and force it into NGSS.

The reality is, especially for states that are implementing NGSS in totality, and the assessments are going to become based on the NGSS standards, it’s not going to be like any book .

So looking for a book that’s going to the solution to the NGSS standards is not going to work.

You have to find a multitude of resources, a variety of resources — whether they be web based or text based, or internet based or kit based or module based.

There are going to be multiple things that need to be pieced together. But I don’t know that anybody right now has any one solution… and it certainly isn’t going to come from a book, because that’s not the way the NGSS thinking works.

Vicki: Yeah, because isn’t a lot of it about how you teach?

Patti: Yes. So that’s another piece of it, right?

So if I say the fourth thing would be to think that it’s all about curriculum. Because it’s not.

It’s a combination of the content and how we approach the content, but also what we do.

I’ve been saying this about STEM for years, too, right? STEM is more about how we teach than it is what we teach.

4. Don’t focus on checking items off. Concentrate on experiential learning.

It shouldn’t be about necessarily I’m making these checkmarks and hitting these levels of meeting certain DCIs or science and engineering practices or crosscutting concepts as much as it is about, “What experiences am I bringing to the students, through my planning? What am I being intentional about bringing into my classroom so that the students experience these things to develop these skills, to see these connections, to understand this content in the context of solving a real-world problem and where they answer questions about real scientific phenomena.

Vicki: I love because on a recent show that we’ll link to in the Shownotes, Meg Ormiston talked about a school she was working with that was “over rubricked.” They were checking all the boxes, but they couldn’t collaborate, and they couldn’t think, and they couldn’t create.

Patti: Right. Because just like with any new set of standards or any new thing that comes through — especially when something, as you know, Vicki, you’ve been doing this for a long time.

When something comes through an administration, and they’re all crazy about it and excited about it, but they don’t fully understand it themselves, maybe. It’s more about, “Do I see these certain things? And if I can check these boxes off, then everything’s cool. But that’s not necessarily the case. And that’s not going to help us implement NGSS with fidelity.

Implementing NGSS with fidelity is going to take some time. But it is also going to take — like you said — collaboration, and thinking about what we’re doing, rather than just checking off boxes.

Vicki: OK, so what’s our fifth?

Patti: I think that is the last one, right?

The fifth one is to not think that it has to happen overnight.

You don’t have to re-create your entire classroom tomorrow.

5. Don’t think that the shift to NGSS will happen quickly. It won’t. It can’t.

A lot of teachers are doing the right thing, and they’re getting professional development. A lot of folks are going to conferences, and they’re trying to understand the most they can. But people shouldn’t feel overwhelmed that they have to change everything, that they have to meet certain expectations.

I think that the biggest way that NGSS might fail in any district is if the expectation is that things are going to change immediately.

It’s a BIG difference to go from:

“Do we know a lot of content? And can we take standardized multiple choice tests and spit out things we’ve memorized?”

to:

“Can we apply scientific knowledge, technology, mathematical knowledge, engineering concepts, a good ELA base work? Can we apply all of that to an understanding of scientific phenomena?”

That’s a shift. And it’s going to take time. A lot of time.

And we have to be patient.

Vicki: So Patti, if you got stuck on an elevator, with someone who was trying to understand NGSS. How would you give them an elevator pitch about how this is going to improve the science classroom?

How is NGSS — done right — going to improve our science teaching?

Patti: That’s funny that you should ask that, because I was just talking to some middle school kids yesterday. We were sitting around talking, and they asked me what I did, and I told them.

And they were like, “Oh, well, our science class is boring.”

And I said, “Well, what do you think science should be about?”

And they said exactly what it should be about.

First of all, they think it should be fun. Science should be fun, but all learning should be fun. Right?

They also said, “It should be about figuring things out.”

And so NGSS is about helping students look around — with what I like to call their science eyes — and noticing things and asking, “Why? Why is this way? Why does this do this?” Applying what they’re learning in the context of answering those questions.

So, as a teacher, my role is to bring those phenomena into the classroom to make them ask that question, to make them want to learn more about what’s going on so that they can understand the science behind it.

Vicki: And sparking the curiosity!

Patti: Right.

Vicki: I mean, isn’t that so much part of it?

Patti: It’s a huge piece of it. Sparking curiosity. That’s what the phenomena is all about. I think that if I could even add a sixth “don’t”…

What a lot of people are trying to do is like they’re getting all worked up over phenomena. I actually had a conversation with somebody last week who thought that if it wasn’t “phenomenAL”…

Vicki: (laughs)

Patti: … something big and fantastic like a volcano erupting, that it wasn’t appropriate.

BONUS: Don’t get hung up on big and fantastic and amazing. Spark curiosity.

And I said, “No, you’re misunderstanding that word. The word “phenomena” simply means an observation. It means something that happens in nature.

When we look at the world, when we look around us… why right now when I look out on my front lawn is the snow all melted around the trees?

That’s a phenomena and something I could look at. Those are the kinds of things you want to ask the students.

I actually took some pictures last week when we were in a storm of a full pot of snow, and then the resulting pot of melted snow. We were using snow to melt in the house because we didn’t have power. And I posted that on an NGSS website, and they were like “That’s awesome! What does it mean?” (laughs)

And I said, “Well, that’s exactly what I want the kids to ask! If you needed a full pot of water, how many pots of snow would you have to melt? And why does snow take up much more room?”

Those are the kinds of things that our students need to think about when it comes to science.

Vicki: Oh, and I love the illustration you said about observing a phenomenon versus it having to be phenomenal.

  Patti: Right.

Vicki: Because people do kind of, I guess, when words are very similar, they can easily get off track, can’t they?

Patti: Yes. They can. And that is a part of the issue, too, when you’re talking about the “don’t” when you’re talking about NGSS, right, because there are three different parts of standards.

There’s the science and engineering practices, there’s the cross-cutting concepts, and then the disciplinary core ideas.

A lot of folks are spending a lot of time with the disciplinary core ideas because that’s very similar to standard curriculum. But they’re kind of ignoring and/or putting aside these two other pieces.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. It’s meant so that students understand that it’s more than just memorizing things.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. Don’t focus on only one part.

And so when you look at, in particular, the cross-cutting concepts — things like energy and scale and more importantly, models. That’s what makes me think of it.

So modeling science is all about not only creating a physical representation of something that’s too big or too small to see in real life, but it’s about creating something, or coming up with an example of something that could be used to explain something or be used to predict.

That’s one of the things I’m struggling with in the folks that I’m working with in professional development — is this concept of modeling — because they only hear “model” and they think, “Oh, it’s that representation of the solar system I made in sixth grade. It’s hanging in my mother’s attic.”

Vicki: Ohhh.

OK, so this is so exciting. You know, when we get kids to get excited about observing, and they become scientists, and they’re not just reading things in a book that other people have done. I mean, we’re really about transforming the classroom.

Patti Duncan is an expert in this area. I hope you’ll check her Bio in the Shownotes.

Thank you Patti. This is very insightful. Sometimes to learn how to do something, we have to learn how to not do it, don’t we? (laughs)

  Patti: Yes. Yeah.

Because knowing what we don’t need to do helps us figure out what we do.

Vicki: That’s right!

Patti: Thanks, Vicki.

Contact us about the show: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/contact/

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford kymberlimulford@gmail.com

Bio as submitted

Patti Duncan is a scientist, educator and presenter. She has 10 years experience as a food chemist, 20 years as an educator and 15 years in professional development. Patti has presented world wide on the topics of science, STEM, Professional Learning Networks and educational technology. She is currently developing programs to help teachers implement NGSS.

Blog: duncanpatti.wikispaces.com

Twitter: @yoyosciteach

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

[ralph31ortiz]

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Patti Duncan on episode 275 of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Patti Duncan shares some of the common mistakes she finds that schools implementing Next Generation Science Standards make. If you’re implementing NGSS in your school or state, this is a must listen.

Legends of Learning has amazing game based science experiences for students in 3-8 aligning with Next Generation Science and select state standards. Go to coolcatteacher.com/science and sign up for your free account now.

Whether it is earth science, life science, or physical science you can reinforce, reteach, and take kids further as they play the science games at legendsoflearning.com. And thanks to Legends of Learning for sponsoring science week this week on the 10-Minute Teacher.

Listen Now

Listen to the show on iTunes or Stitcher

Stream by clicking here.

***

Enhanced Transcript

5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards

Link to show: www.coolcatteacher.com/e275 Date: March 16, 2018

Vicki: Today we’re talking with Patti Duncan @yoyosciteach about five ways to NOT implement the Next Generation Science Standards.

So, Patti, lots of folks talk about how TO do this, but what’s our first way to NOT implement NGSS?

Patti: I think, Vicki, the biggest thing that I see people struggling with that they try to do immediately is find a way to make NGSS fit in their current curriculum.

So, instead of looking at the standards as they’re intended, they look at them in little pieces, and then they try to say, “Well where can I do science and engineering practices and colligative properties?” instead of thinking, “Where do colligative properties fit in the bigger picture of things?”

1. Don’t try to fit NGSS into the current curriculum.

Vicki: So really, just trying to change as little as possible, right?

Patti: Yes. Looking at it more of a cookie cutter type of way of meeting aspects of using it in totality, the way that it was intended.

Vicki: OK. What’s our second?

Patti: I think the second one that I would say, primarily is they overthink it.

This sounds like the opposite of what I just said, but there some are folks who just totally freak out. “Oh my, I have these new set of standards. They’re totally confusing, and I I have to scratch everything I’m doing and start all over again.”

2. Don’t scrap everything you’re currently doing, either.

That’s not the case. You don’t have to start all over again. You just have to rethink what you’re doing, and do it in a different way.

Vicki: OK. So there’s obviously a happy medium here between this. (laughs)

Patti: (laughs) Yes.

Vicki: OK, what’s our third way NOT to?

Patti: The third way not to be… Take your curriculum and force it into NGSS.

So what I mean by that is… When people look at… We’ve been brainwashed, Vicki, basicly, as educators to think that what has to be “covered” is what the books have said has to be covered. Or what’s on the test.

3. Don’t take your current curriculum and force it into NGSS.

The reality is, especially for states that are implementing NGSS in totality, and the assessments are going to become based on the NGSS standards, it’s not going to be like any book .

So looking for a book that’s going to the solution to the NGSS standards is not going to work.

You have to find a multitude of resources, a variety of resources — whether they be web based or text based, or internet based or kit based or module based.

There are going to be multiple things that need to be pieced together. But I don’t know that anybody right now has any one solution… and it certainly isn’t going to come from a book, because that’s not the way the NGSS thinking works.

Vicki: Yeah, because isn’t a lot of it about how you teach?

Patti: Yes. So that’s another piece of it, right?

So if I say the fourth thing would be to think that it’s all about curriculum. Because it’s not.

It’s a combination of the content and how we approach the content, but also what we do.

I’ve been saying this about STEM for years, too, right? STEM is more about how we teach than it is what we teach.

4. Don’t focus on checking items off. Concentrate on experiential learning.

It shouldn’t be about necessarily I’m making these checkmarks and hitting these levels of meeting certain DCIs or science and engineering practices or crosscutting concepts as much as it is about, “What experiences am I bringing to the students, through my planning? What am I being intentional about bringing into my classroom so that the students experience these things to develop these skills, to see these connections, to understand this content in the context of solving a real-world problem and where they answer questions about real scientific phenomena.

Vicki: I love because on a recent show that we’ll link to in the Shownotes, Meg Ormiston talked about a school she was working with that was “over rubricked.” They were checking all the boxes, but they couldn’t collaborate, and they couldn’t think, and they couldn’t create.

Patti: Right. Because just like with any new set of standards or any new thing that comes through — especially when something, as you know, Vicki, you’ve been doing this for a long time.

When something comes through an administration, and they’re all crazy about it and excited about it, but they don’t fully understand it themselves, maybe. It’s more about, “Do I see these certain things? And if I can check these boxes off, then everything’s cool. But that’s not necessarily the case. And that’s not going to help us implement NGSS with fidelity.

Implementing NGSS with fidelity is going to take some time. But it is also going to take — like you said — collaboration, and thinking about what we’re doing, rather than just checking off boxes.

Vicki: OK, so what’s our fifth?

Patti: I think that is the last one, right?

The fifth one is to not think that it has to happen overnight.

You don’t have to re-create your entire classroom tomorrow.

5. Don’t think that the shift to NGSS will happen quickly. It won’t. It can’t.

A lot of teachers are doing the right thing, and they’re getting professional development. A lot of folks are going to conferences, and they’re trying to understand the most they can. But people shouldn’t feel overwhelmed that they have to change everything, that they have to meet certain expectations.

I think that the biggest way that NGSS might fail in any district is if the expectation is that things are going to change immediately.

It’s a BIG difference to go from:

“Do we know a lot of content? And can we take standardized multiple choice tests and spit out things we’ve memorized?”

to:

“Can we apply scientific knowledge, technology, mathematical knowledge, engineering concepts, a good ELA base work? Can we apply all of that to an understanding of scientific phenomena?”

That’s a shift. And it’s going to take time. A lot of time.

And we have to be patient.

Vicki: So Patti, if you got stuck on an elevator, with someone who was trying to understand NGSS. How would you give them an elevator pitch about how this is going to improve the science classroom?

How is NGSS — done right — going to improve our science teaching?

Patti: That’s funny that you should ask that, because I was just talking to some middle school kids yesterday. We were sitting around talking, and they asked me what I did, and I told them.

And they were like, “Oh, well, our science class is boring.”

And I said, “Well, what do you think science should be about?”

And they said exactly what it should be about.

First of all, they think it should be fun. Science should be fun, but all learning should be fun. Right?

They also said, “It should be about figuring things out.”

And so NGSS is about helping students look around — with what I like to call their science eyes — and noticing things and asking, “Why? Why is this way? Why does this do this?” Applying what they’re learning in the context of answering those questions.

So, as a teacher, my role is to bring those phenomena into the classroom to make them ask that question, to make them want to learn more about what’s going on so that they can understand the science behind it.

Vicki: And sparking the curiosity!

Patti: Right.

Vicki: I mean, isn’t that so much part of it?

Patti: It’s a huge piece of it. Sparking curiosity. That’s what the phenomena is all about. I think that if I could even add a sixth “don’t”…

What a lot of people are trying to do is like they’re getting all worked up over phenomena. I actually had a conversation with somebody last week who thought that if it wasn’t “phenomenAL”…

Vicki: (laughs)

Patti: … something big and fantastic like a volcano erupting, that it wasn’t appropriate.

BONUS: Don’t get hung up on big and fantastic and amazing. Spark curiosity.

And I said, “No, you’re misunderstanding that word. The word “phenomena” simply means an observation. It means something that happens in nature.

When we look at the world, when we look around us… why right now when I look out on my front lawn is the snow all melted around the trees?

That’s a phenomena and something I could look at. Those are the kinds of things you want to ask the students.

I actually took some pictures last week when we were in a storm of a full pot of snow, and then the resulting pot of melted snow. We were using snow to melt in the house because we didn’t have power. And I posted that on an NGSS website, and they were like “That’s awesome! What does it mean?” (laughs)

And I said, “Well, that’s exactly what I want the kids to ask! If you needed a full pot of water, how many pots of snow would you have to melt? And why does snow take up much more room?”

Those are the kinds of things that our students need to think about when it comes to science.

Vicki: Oh, and I love the illustration you said about observing a phenomenon versus it having to be phenomenal.

  Patti: Right.

Vicki: Because people do kind of, I guess, when words are very similar, they can easily get off track, can’t they?

Patti: Yes. They can. And that is a part of the issue, too, when you’re talking about the “don’t” when you’re talking about NGSS, right, because there are three different parts of standards.

There’s the science and engineering practices, there’s the cross-cutting concepts, and then the disciplinary core ideas.

A lot of folks are spending a lot of time with the disciplinary core ideas because that’s very similar to standard curriculum. But they’re kind of ignoring and/or putting aside these two other pieces.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. It’s meant so that students understand that it’s more than just memorizing things.

NGSS is three-dimensional for a reason. Don’t focus on only one part.

And so when you look at, in particular, the cross-cutting concepts — things like energy and scale and more importantly, models. That’s what makes me think of it.

So modeling science is all about not only creating a physical representation of something that’s too big or too small to see in real life, but it’s about creating something, or coming up with an example of something that could be used to explain something or be used to predict.

That’s one of the things I’m struggling with in the folks that I’m working with in professional development — is this concept of modeling — because they only hear “model” and they think, “Oh, it’s that representation of the solar system I made in sixth grade. It’s hanging in my mother’s attic.”

Vicki: Ohhh.

OK, so this is so exciting. You know, when we get kids to get excited about observing, and they become scientists, and they’re not just reading things in a book that other people have done. I mean, we’re really about transforming the classroom.

Patti Duncan is an expert in this area. I hope you’ll check her Bio in the Shownotes.

Thank you Patti. This is very insightful. Sometimes to learn how to do something, we have to learn how to not do it, don’t we? (laughs)

  Patti: Yes. Yeah.

Because knowing what we don’t need to do helps us figure out what we do.

Vicki: That’s right!

Patti: Thanks, Vicki.

Contact us about the show: http://www.coolcatteacher.com/contact/

Transcribed by Kymberli Mulford kymberlimulford@gmail.com

Bio as submitted

Patti Duncan is a scientist, educator and presenter. She has 10 years experience as a food chemist, 20 years as an educator and 15 years in professional development. Patti has presented world wide on the topics of science, STEM, Professional Learning Networks and educational technology. She is currently developing programs to help teachers implement NGSS.

Blog: duncanpatti.wikispaces.com

Twitter: @yoyosciteach

Disclosure of Material Connection: This is a “sponsored podcast episode.” The company who sponsored it compensated me via cash payment, gift, or something else of value to include a reference to their product. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I believe will be good for my readers and are from companies I can recommend. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” This company has no impact on the editorial content of the show.

The post 5 Ways NOT to Implement Next Generation Science Standards appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/5-ways-not-implement-next-generation-science-standards/

[eurolinguiste]

Pronunciation is often one of the biggest reasons we feel insecure or lack confidence in our ability to speak the languages that we’re learning.

It’s also one of the hardest things to work on because there are few resources available to help you improve it. Even professional tutors aren’t often able to offer more than “listen and repeat”, so you have no choice but to cross your fingers and hope everything one day clicks into place.

But what if there is a better way?

Meet Speechling: A Way to Get Unlimited Pronunciation Coaching

Speechling is an online language study tool that offers language students a way to get coaching on their pronunciation in French, Spanish, English, and Chinese. While it doesn’t teach vocabulary or grammar, it does hone in on the thing that’s most often overlooked by other tools and does an excellent job of it.

My Experience Using Speechling

In order to form an opinion on Speechling, I decided to try it out extensively. In my first day alone, I made 140 recordings. I enjoyed getting into the content and having the chance to speak without the pressure of a realtime conversation.

It was fun working through the sentences, too. They’re practical and I found myself jotting things down to remember later on. The topics include everything from asking for help to basic questions, money to personal questions, and administrative to health. My favorite option, however, was one of the two Speechling Conversations features – Answer the Question. Not only do you get feedback on pronunciation, but the coaches occasionally correct any mistakes in grammar or word order when offering feedback on the answers that you come up with.

For English, French and Chinese I had feedback within a couple of hours. I didn’t get feedback on Spanish until about a day later. The site promises corrections within 24 hours. And yes, I tried out the English. I was curious to see if anyone would correct my pronunciation! The answer was no.

What I Like About Speechling

Real Voice Recordings // Rather than the computer-generated recordings used by a lot of language websites, Speechling has recordings of real native speakers. Sometimes they speak a little quickly, but it’s a real person. Plus, you can choose whether you hear a male or female voice which is a great way to get used to the ways different people speak.

Quick & Helpful Feedback // For three of the four languages I tested, I had feedback within a couple of hours. This was extremely useful and it allowed me to re-record the things I needed to work on right away. Plus, it motivated me to do a little more that day than I planned because the turnaround on my feedback was so quick. But just because it’s fast, doesn’t mean that it’s not helpful. In fact, the feedback is very useful. The coaches who went through my materials in each of the languages first repeated the words I needed to work on then re-read the sentences. I could then compare my audio before re-submitting a new recording

Multiple Language Combinations // If you’re into language laddering, or want to take things a step further, you can play with the language combinations. For example, if you already speak French well enough, you can use it to work on your Mandarin pronunciation. If you speak Spanish, you can use it to learn French. It’s really versatile.

Ease of Use // It’s really easy to get started with Speechling and make some serious headway in your learning. The platform is incredibly intuitive and user-friendly. You can record and submit your audio straight from your browser or smartphone, review your feedback, and re-record as necessary.

Everything is Color-Coded // The Audio Journal (where your recordings and feedback are stored) is color-coded, so it’s really easy to see the status of all of the phrases you’ve worked on. It’s also a nice motivation to see everything green (or to get you working towards turning it all green).

No Judgement // No matter how terrible you feel your pronunciation is, Speechling is a safe place to get better. The coaches don’t criticize you for any mistakes. They simply record the right pronunciation and then re-read the sentence. It’s a great place to build your confidence and pronunciation skills.

Test Your Listening Comprehension // You can use Speechling in a variety of ways – with the transcription and it’s translation, with the transcription only but no translation, with the translation only, or neither at all. With Chinese, you can show the pinyin as well (but not in every section). It’s a great way to test your listening comprehension in addition to improving your pronunciation.

Use code EURO12 to get 10% off when you sign up for an unlimited account on Speechling.

Things That I Thought Could Be Better

Amount of Content // Speechling has Beginner (A1) up to Advanced (B1-B2) options and several themes you can choose from. However, I noticed that some of the sections seemed limited in content. In working through the prompts, the same sentences kept coming up. It would be nice to see them continue building their library.

Sample Audio Was Occasionally Too Fast // Some of the example sentences were read a little too quickly (especially Chinese). There is a ‘slow down’ feature but having them read naturally slower would be preferable to me even if it’s still a little faster than computer-generated half speed.

The Audio Size / Time Limit // I loved using the “Answer the Question” module over just reading or hearing and repeating. My biggest criticism was here, however. It seemed the audio limit is 7.5 sec or 1 mb. Sometimes I had more to say than that. And other times it took me longer than that to get what I had to say out. I understand the limitation but it was easy to exceed. It did force me, however, to reword my answers or say them more fluidly, which is in itself good practice. It was just frustrating that this got in my way a little too often.

To Sum Up

Speechling currently has two pricing plans. Free gets you 35 free corrections per month. The Premium account is $19.99 per month but you get unlimited corrections from a native speaker.

Use code EURO12 to get 10% off when you sign up for an unlimited account on Speechling.

It’s an excellent way to practice speaking and get feedback at a fraction of the cost of private lessons. However, if you’re looking for a program to cover all the basics, this isn’t it. It’s incredible for learning phrases and working on your pronunciation, but it doesn’t teach individual words and assumes you have some prior knowledge of the language. I personally wouldn’t use Speechling as a complete beginner.

That said, I think that Speechling is a really great tool. Especially if you need a bit of a confidence boost and a no-pressure environment to work on your speaking and pronunciation.

Use code EURO12 to get 10% off when you sign up for an unlimited account on Speechling.

apntag.anq.push(function() { apntag.showTag('ga_os_8544222'); });