YouTube Video Showing Columns Activity

I hope that you are doing well and are enjoying this second, and perhaps most challenging, semester.

Because this semester is chock full of state assessments, I have recently uploaded a Lora the Study Coach video on YouTube.com for you. It demonstrates the “Columns” activity found in The Study Coach’s Easy Study Manual and gives attention to the small details that make this a very effective activity for learning vocabulary in all subject areas; historical dates, events, and people; scientific theories and laws; mathematical theorems and equations and their variables; and more. I hope that you find the video useful!

Link to Lora the Study Coach “Columns” video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNIMhPlHH8c
You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel with this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/LoraTheStudyCoach?ob=0&feature=results_main

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

Wisdom

Wisdom is more than knowledge. It's knowledge coupled with proper judgment, which generally comes with life experiences. We often consider grandparents as wise, because they seem to know all the tricks to getting something done right. Grandparents have lived for such a long time that they have learned what to do and what not to do through their copious experiences. They are so capable of taking in so much information and coming up with the right answer. This is not knowledge; this is wisdom.

Here is what the Bible has to say about wisdom in Proverbs 3:13-16.
13 Blessed are those who find wisdom,
those who gain understanding,
14 for she is more profitable than silver
and yields better returns than gold.
15 She is more precious than rubies;
nothing you desire can compare with her.
16 Long life is in her right hand;
in her left hand are riches and honor.

I am not pretending to be a Biblical scholar, but let me sum this up. Wisdom is more precious than any other riches a person could think of.

In my opinion, wisdom keeps you alive and helps you make good choices in life.

With that said, go and do your best in school. Take from your teachers all the knowledge that they have to give, because without knowledge, you can't have wisdom. And wisdom is the key to many of life's great riches.

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

Do You Leave Scars?

A teacher in New York was teaching her class about bullying and gave them the following exercise to perform. She had the children take out a piece of paper and told them to crumple it up, stomp on it, and really mess it up, but not to rip it. Then she had them unfold the paper, smooth it out, and look at how scarred and dirty it was. She then told them to tell it they were sorry. Now, even though they said they were sorry and tried to fix the paper, she pointed out all the scars they left behind and that those scars would never go away no matter how hard they tried to fix the paper. That is what happens when a person bullies another person - they may say they’re sorry, but the scars are there forever. The looks on the faces of the children in the classroom told her the message hit home. ~ Author Unkown (shared by Charlene Freed-Geimer)

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

It's Thanksgiving!

Wow! It's hard to believe that we are already at this time of year, to me the time of year to give thanks for all the little things. This year, I encourage you to give thanks for your brain, your health, the food that gives you energy, the roof over your head, and for the clothes that keep you covered. Yes, there are many things that we are not thankful for or that we feel we are lacking, but think how life would be if you didn't have a brain that worked, if you were too ill to live a meaningful life, if you were literally starving to death, or if you had no clothing to cover up with.

Food, shelter, clothing, responsibility you can handle (not too much or too little), free time, and friends. If you have these, then you have it all and are lacking nothing.

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

But I Don't Want To!

Every day for the past few weeks, I've thought I have to write a new blog for the web page. Have I done it? No, not until this very moment. It just seemed like too much work to actually press the link on my toolbar. And then I'd have to log in and wait. Then I'd have to actually write something short. Wow, it could actually kill me!

Guess what. I'm not dieing. And you won't die either when you finally decide to do what must be done. It can be so hard to get going on something that you just aren't interested in, but all you have to do is force yourself to get started, and then you'll be done before you know it. Well, if you don't get it completely done, at least you'll have a good start on it.

With school work, it never pays to delay. (Hey, that's a great slogan!) Sure, you can copy from a friend, but come exam time, you'll wish you had just done the work yourself. And if you delay too long, all you have is a pile of work that is impossible to complete with any sort of quality. School work is just like exercising for some of us: we want to exercise, but it takes more effort to get started than it does to actually exercise.

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

Does Your Teacher Teach You Or Is All You Hear "Blah, Blah, Blah"?

Many teachers pride themselves on being subject-matter experts. I pride myself on being a student expert. I can look at a student’s face and determine if he “got it.” I can teach the same material in many different ways, as I look for the way that clicks with my student. That’s what teaching is all about.

Does your teacher know how to teach YOU? If not, take the time to let him know. It may be the most beneficial conversation you ever had!

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

Get Ready. It's Coming!

Hello, disorganized classroom! I went to see my classroom today and spend time getting it ready for you, my students. Don't think that I'm the only teacher who did this. Many of my colleagues go in before it's time to get their and your rooms ready for the new year. I found so much disorganization that I didn't know where to start. Things were everywhere, which is typical due to all that goes on when we go home and the maintenance crew does its thing, kind of like when you sit down to do your homework-everything is everywhere.

Now that I and many of your teachers have spent time preparing for this school year, I want you to do the same. Now's the time to get your pens, pencils, erasers, calulator, paper, notebook, and folders ready, not to take to school but to set up your homework area at home. Gather all of these things and anything else you may need to do your work at home and put them in a box, bag, or container of some sort so when you have to do your homework everything's there, and all you have to do is grab the container and you're ready to go.

Homework is not the most fun thing ever, so why make it more difficult than it has to be? Some parents make you do your homework before you get to do what you really want to do. So why waste time and energy every day going around gathering everything you need just to get started? Maybe your parents want you to earn As and Bs. There's no way you can get that can be easy if you're constantly getting up to get this and get that. There's nothing like finally getting into it and then having to stop because you need something. Homework is already frustrating enough, so why add to it. Having everything ready when you sit down to work makes it all that much easier.

I hope that this year's homework is a bit more tolerable with this simple yet effective strategy. Here's to a great year!

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach