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Make It Your Best Summer Ever !!

18/7/2016

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You did your very best! You stayed focused and studied all year round. Now the summer has arrived. The longest holiday of the school year is finally here. A period when students everywhere quit hitting the books so hard and relax a bit, focusing on things that are not necessarily 100% academic. Now is the time for epic adventures, amazing experiences and finding the things that you love.

What are your plans to to have a terrific time? If you are fishing around the internet, uncertain of what to do, here are some suggestions; things that you can do this summer to make it your best summer ever. 

Take a ferry to the islands. 
This can be an adventure especially if you're used to hopping on a plane to get to your destination. Travelling by boat might be an ancient way of getting around but feeling the fresh breeze on your face and taking in picturesque views of landscapes and seascapes can be thrilling and fascinating. The Caribbean region, being made up of many small islands strewn across the Caribbean sea, is the perfect place to experience journeys by sea. And, because the islands are in close proximity, it is common to find a ferry that can take you to a neighbouring island within the same state e.g. from St.Vincent to Bequia or to a different state e.g. from St.Lucia to Martinique. Sometimes boat companies even have sea cruises to a different location on the same island. Check with you sea Port Authority to find out what’s available in your country.

Attend a summer camp.
Summer camps come in a variety of flavours. There are day camps that accommodate you only during the days; you will be picked up typically about midday or at the the end of the day. Then there are those live-in camps where you spend a few days; as little as two to as much as seven days with a group of people. What ever the type, there is usually a main focus. This can be anything under the general themes Academics, Arts & Culture, Science & Technology and Sports. I've seen camps with a focus on dance, video production, sports and mobile apps development. Look for camps that provide activities that you are already enthusiastic about or that you’re willing to try. This way you will go all-in and enjoy it to the best because it was something you were already interest in.
Recommended: 

Growing in popularity across the region is the Science, Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Camps. While this might sound too academic and much like going to school, these programs provide an opportunity to explore topics in a really interactive way and in an environment that's not like your classroom. You may be inspired onto your career after participating in one of these. Give it a try.

Get creative.
Your mind is the most powerful tool in your body. We all have creative abilities. Find yours this summer and use it. Write a poem. Paint a picture. Draw a portrait. Make jewellery. Learn to sew or cook. Decorate your study area or room with easy Do It Yourself crafts ideas. Do whatever helps you to express who you are and what you love and then find a way to document it. The possibilities are endless. This tip is much more fun if you do it with someone else. So call a friend, a cousin, an aunt or uncle and get creative.
Now, you have it. There are many options. Which ever ones you choose you’ll be on your way to creating some unforgettable memories very soon.

​Tell me what are you doing this summer?
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Author - Antonia Warren

Antonia has been teaching Physics for 10 years. She gets excited about new technologies and looks for ways to integrate the two. If your Interested in learning physics in a fun and interactive way?
​Check out her personal website SmartStudySolutions.com

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How To Solve Any Physics Problem

11/5/2016

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People often say that physics is a very difficult subject and the reason they say this, is usually because, the questions at times seem almost impossible to solve, however this simply isn't true. This lack of confidence when faced with a challenging physics question is often simple a result of just not understanding the correct methodology of problem solving. I this post I will attempt to list all of the steps that I personally use when working with physics problems:

  • Read And Understand The Problem Statement Carefully – This first step seems elementary, but as a teacher, I strongly have to point out that 'sometimes ENGLISH is harder than physics'. If the question isn't clearly understood and meditated on before you start to write, then you are doing yourself a disservice. I recommend if possible, to form a mental picture in your head of what is going on in the problem statement and gather from your memory reserves all of the relevant information that you learnt that will help you with the question.​
  • Draw A Labeled Picture (even if it’s crude) illustrating the problem for both you and the examiner/teacher. There are also some physics specific diagrams that you will learn for and therefore should seek to draw them when ever they turn up in an exam.  (e.g. Free-Body diagrams, Ray Diagrams, Energy Conservation Diagrams).
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  • Write Down Your Equations And Principles that pertains to the question at hand and also because most teachers/examiners always give at least one mark just for knowing the concept and equations.
  • Write Down The Known Variables neatly on the side of your paper and Convert Them To SI Units if needed.
  • Use Simple Algebra Methods To Simplify The Equations And Solve For The Unknown Quantity and we do this step before we actually put in numbers and I also give marks for this step.​
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     NB. The main algebra skills to brush up on are:
  1. Scientific Notation
  2. SI Units ​
  3. Significant figures
  4. Change of Subject
  • Substitute Given Values, Including Units Into The Final Equation(s) And Calculate.
  • Check Your Answer To Make Sure It Seems Reasonable Based On The Problem Given. If not, repeat steps 4 -7. If it is correct however, you can breath your sigh of relief (Ahhh), smile and go on to the next one.
Once you internalise the seven steps I have outlined above I believe your physics nightmares will soon be over and that you can confidently approach any physics related question and maybe you can even apply some of these steps to help solve real world problems.

This post was inspired by the following video by Art Wiggins about the Joy of Physics.
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10 Habits To Avoid For Effective Studying

30/9/2014

 

How Do People Normally Study ?

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My ODE (Ordinary Differential Equations) exam is a few days away, I'm sooo screwed.
Let's be real with ourselves and admit that we have all been there at some point in our life when exams are silently and quickly approaching and you have a mountain of coursework to review and even learn for the first time. We tell ourselves its time to roll up our sleeves, buckle down and study; we open up our books and we try to passively read and memorise notes, theories and equations only to realise that we have re-read the same page about 10 times.  What I want to share with you today are some Common Study Techniques To Avoid as explained by experts:
Excerpted from “A Mind for Numbers: How to Excel in Math and Science, Even if You Flunked Algebra, by Barbara Oakley. Penguin, July 2014.

Avoid these techniques—they can waste your time even while they fool you into thinking you’re learning!

  • Passive rereading. Sitting passively and running your eyes back over a page. Unless you can prove that the material is moving into your brain by recalling the main ideas without looking at the page, rereading is a waste of time.
  • Letting highlights overwhelm you. Highlighting your text can fool your mind into thinking you are putting something in your brain, when all you’re really doing is moving your hand. A little highlighting here and there is okay—sometimes it can be helpful in flagging important points. But if you are using highlighting as a memory tool, make sure that what you mark is also going into your brain.
  • Merely glancing at a problem’s solution and thinking you know how to do it.This is one of the worst errors students make while studying. You need to be able to solve a problem step-by-step, without looking at the solution.
  • Waiting until the last minute to study. Would you cram at the last minute if you were practicing for a track meet? Your brain is like a muscle—it can handle only a limited amount of exercise on one subject at a time.
  • Repeatedly solving problems of the same type that you already know how to solve. If you just sit around solving similar problems during your practice, you’re not actually preparing for a test—it’s like preparing for a big basketball game by just practicing your dribbling.
  • Letting study sessions with friends turn into chat sessions. Checking your problem solving with friends, and quizzing one another on what you know, can make learning more enjoyable, expose flaws in your thinking, and deepen your learning. But if your joint study sessions turn to fun before the work is done, you’re wasting your time and should find another study group.
  • Neglecting to read the textbook before you start working problems. Would you dive into a pool before you knew how to swim? The textbook is your swimming instructor—it guides you toward the answers. You will flounder and waste your time if you don’t bother to read it. Before you begin to read, however, take a quick glance over the chapter or section to get a sense of what it’s about.
  • Not checking with your instructors or classmates to clear up points of confusion. Professors are used to lost students coming in for guidance—it’s our job to help you. The students we worry about are the ones who don’t come in. Don’t be one of those students.
  • Thinking you can learn deeply when you are being constantly distracted.Every tiny pull toward an instant message or conversation means you have less brain power to devote to learning. Every tug of interrupted attention pulls out tiny neural roots before they can grow.
  • Not getting enough sleep. Your brain pieces together problem-solving techniques when you sleep, and it also practices and repeats whatever you put in mind before you go to sleep. Prolonged fatigue allows toxins to build up in the brain that disrupt the neural connections you need to think quickly and well. If you don’t get a good sleep before a test, NOTHING ELSE YOU HAVE DONE WILL MATTER.
Try out her free Coursera Course - Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects.

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    Antonia Warren

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