Posts Tagged Writing

Write Your College Application Essay This Summer

The summer before the senior year of High School is a time to unwind after a tough junior year. The summer is also a great time to get a head start into the college application process. It is a time to gather information about potential schools, a time to visit some actual campuses and to prepare for all the paperwork to come. It is a perfect time to make a list of “reach schools” as well as schools which are perfect fits.

One significant piece to the application puzzle is the admissions essay. The essay affords the applicant a chance to promote his or her candidacy by writing about something personal. Do not write about all of your academic accomplishments and extracurricular activities. Do not use the essay to brag about how great you are. That’s what teacher’s recommendations are for. Instead, tell a story which gives the reader insight into who you are-your passions, your outlook on life, your personality, your maturity and your character.

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The Basics of a Criminal Justice Degree

Following the tragic events of 9/11 there is today a much greater awareness throughout society about such issues as homeland security, airport security, public safety and management, international terrorism, criminology and criminal psychology and many other related subjects. Interestingly these are all subjects you can major in or obtain specializations in through degrees in criminal justice/criminology. And more interestingly, such a degree in criminal justice/criminology can get you a job a lot more easily than a degree in a number of other subjects. This is because the US Bureau of Labor Statistics has identified careers in criminal justice as one of the top five careers in the coming years in terms of future job opportunities.

You can get degrees in criminal justice/criminology from both traditional schools as well as online schools. If you are a working adult, online courses will suit you a lot more than a traditional program since to complete an online program you do not have to give up your job or relocate or disrupt your life in anyway.

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Tips for Effective Teaching

The more and more you interact with people, the more and more you will need to teach effectively. Whether you are a stock broker, PG&E technician or professional teacher, you can always work on your communication skills. Do not get me wrong- I have problems too, but I think that I have developed some fairly viable tips, so read on!

  1. Choose the easiest way. Many times, people don’t fully understand topics because they are being taught in a way that is too complicated to understand. So, try to break things down. Way down. Pictures and demonstrations are really easy ways to do this, so make sure to have as many diagrams, instructional videos and models on hand as you can, because once people can visualize something, it usually becomes a lot easier to understand. Also, keep your vocabulary as simple as possible. This is not an insult of the pupil, but a good piece of advice heralded by greats of classic literature-superfluous, overcomplicated words can make things terrible for people trying to understand something beyond your language.
  2. Check in with your student every so often. Make sure that the person is following you, and know their learning pace. Know which topics you can gloss over, and which you need to elaborate on. This makes a world of difference in your learners understanding of a topic, because some things need to be concrete in the mind before understanding the bigger picture. It is really interesting to see how people learn, because you can see how their mind evolves, and also how your communication skills evolve. Being able to communicate with all different types of people is a very, very valuable skill.
  3. Make learning interactive in any way you can. Get your learners help in making diagrams, writing lesson plans or even your own teaching techniques. If you can get the student to help you with the lesson plans and your techniques, you could change the entire class for the better. The pupils are the consumers; therefore they could give you a consumer report to help improve your ‘product.’ Remember, as a teacher, you are trying to convey information as best as you can, not please yourself with the complexity of your ideas and the longevity of your lectures. Teaching needs to be a two way relationship.
  4. Be sure on what you teach, because if you start telling your pupil a sundry of different things, everything starts to get messy. The student will not really trust much of what you said, even though if some of it was right, and he will become unsure of the topic. Learning is a journey, and if someone flakes out on a journey, their entire reputation goes down hill.
  5. Don’t teach something unless you enjoy teaching it. The teacher’s attitude, teaching style and mannerisms have a huge impact on the student in ways that can be irreversible. For example, if you are teaching a math class, but you absolutely detest the entire field of mathematics, chances are some of that disdain will rub off on your student, which could act as a roadblock for them in the future.

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