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Parents Beware

Children are far more aware of what social media is from a very young age.

From an excellent report on www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk

Executive summary

Most social media platforms have a minimum age limit of 13, but research shows a growing number of children aged under 13 are using social media, with 3 in 4 children aged 10 – 12 having their own accounts.

While much is known about how teenagers use social media, this research provides the missing piece to the story, exploring the social media lives of children before they reach the teenage years. In October and November 2017, we conducted 8 focus groups with 32 children aged 8 – 12 to understand the impact of social media on the wellbeing of this age group. The findings of this research are summarised below.

[Read more…] about #018 Have You Heard of “Sharenting”?

Did you know there is a difference between active reading and passive reading?

Think back to a text book you were reading recently. Your eyes were reading the words but your mind was elsewhere – you were thinking about the last football game, or conversation you had with your friends, or fight you had with your friend. Whatever was distracting you, your mind was not entirely focused on the material. You somehow convince yourself that if your eyes are reading the material then your brain is absorbing it – even if you aren’t concentrating on it.

You were passive reading.

One of the most important reading techniques that students must practice is active reading. Active reading means that your mind is fully focused on the material in the book before you. Reading actively also means reading for details. You might try using a highlighter and underlining important points as you go along. Don’t make the mistake of using the highlighter for everything and drifting off to thinking about your friend again though.

Before getting started reading any material you’ll want to ask yourself why are you reading and how much do you need to absorb. By having the answers to those questions you can more accurately determine the type of reading necessary. Knowing the information you require will also help you determine whether the book you choose is going to help you answer those questions. Is the book too easy or too difficult? Does it assume you know too much or would another book better meet your standards.

Different types of information require different ways of reading. For instance, a short math section describing a concept with practice problems requires more active reading than a short fiction piece you are reading for fun. If you have a good understanding of the layout of the material you’ll be able to extract the information more easily and quickly.

For instance, if you are getting through articles from newspapers or magazines you’ll notice that the articles often cover only the highlights and interesting parts because that’s what sells copies. Scan the table of contents or index and get right to the article that interests you. If you are reading specific articles you’ll find that news type articles have the information you need in the first two paragraphs, opinion pieces have supporting information in the middle of the article and feature articles are written for entertainment purposes.

If you are reading technical documents then keep a glossary close by so you understand the concepts and text. It’s usually good to make notes as you go through the process so you don’t lose the concepts you now understand.

The key strategies are to know what you need to know before starting so you are effective and efficient in your reading. Know how deeply you must read to get the information – can you skim, scan or study? Use the supporting documents such as table of contents and glossaries to extract as much information as you can before starting and understand the best way to extract information from different types of material before you start.

It is essential that all students develop reading strategies and techniques that help them learn, understand, retain and retrieve important information and concepts. These skills give them the ability to become stronger and more critical readers that only improve their overall skills as a student

Doing well in examinations depends on several factors, not least of which are knowledge of the content and a strategy to take the test.

There are some basic test taking tips that can be adapted to any test you must take. For instance, before taking any test you should get enough rest so that your mind is functioning best. You must also feed the brain cells with a light, high-protein meal that gives your brain the energy needed to function. Arrive early to the test to get comfortable and relaxed and calm your nerves. Pack the materials you need the night before so you aren’t stressed looking for your Number 2 pencil or eraser. Don’t forget to load fresh batteries in any calculator you are using.

Don’t forget that your mind is a very powerful instrument. If you are able to relax and have a positive attitude about the test you’ll go a long way toward getting the best grade you are able.

Before you take any test preview the questions. Look for the easy questions and answer them first. Mark the harder questions and go back to them when you are finished with the rest of the test. Don’t be caught by the idea that you must answer each question in order. Depending upon the teacher you may find the answers to the first questions in the question toward the end of the test.

Budget your time when you take test the test. Answer questions that are valued higher first and those with the lowest point later. In some cases you might want to write down the most important points to questions and then go back to fill in the blanks later. This helps you to remember salient points and fill in more information.

Check your work once you have answered all the questions. Double check for completeness and correctness of the answers you give. Science tests notoriously have information later in the test that help answer earlier questions, but do not second guess yourself. Don’t ever change your answers unless you are very sure of the new answer.

If you don’t know the answer, don’t worry about it or get frustrated. Know the rules to the test before you take it so you can choose to either guess on an answer or skip it entirely. For instance, some test rules say that the student isn’t penalised if they leave the answer blank and other tests don’t penalise for guessing. Know the rules before you take the test.

When you consider each individual question take them as a four step process. Read the question closely and don’t infer any information. Look for keywords and make a mess of the questions if you can. Mark out the answers that are wrong and narrow it down to two.

Don’t jump to answers immediately, take a few seconds to consider your choices. Eliminate the answers you know are wrong and pick the best remaining answer. Your job isn’t to be able to see the right answer immediately but to throw out the most unlikely answers and choose the best one available.

Test taking is a skill that is best learned by students when they are in middle school or high school.

They are skills, strategies and techniques that help them to be accurately tested on their knowledge and attain the grades and scores that best identify their skill level.

Studying for a test that is to be a multiple choice exam is different from preparing for a test that is short answer, fill in the blank or essay. Even though these tests include the answer somewhere in the choices can actually be more difficult because of the high number of questions and information the student must know and familiarity that the student must have with a large number of specific facts.

Multiple choice tests also have a higher number of badly written questions or poorly crafted answers. They are more difficult to write than an essay question so students may get more bad questions that increase the risk of ambiguity in the answers.

Even with the potential challenges there are some strategies that help to increase the ability of the student to excel at the multiple choice question student. Start by preparing correctly for the test studying the correct information, acquiring a wealth of facts that will be tested and learning to relax before the exam.

When you get to the test read over the questions and preview the test. Answer the multiple choice questions first, which may give you information you’ll need later in the essay questions. Find out how many questions there are to answer and how much time you have to take the test. One of the worst problems that a student will face is getting to the end of the time and having questions left to answer.

If the test is over an hour take a few short breaks where you sit quietly with your eyes closed and take a few deep breaths. This helps to stay fresh during the test keep you productively answering questions.

When you take a multiple choice test answer the questions you are confident about first. Read the questions and the answers carefully and thoroughly. Mark any questions you don’t know the answer to and go back to them later but try to keep that to less than 10% of the total number of questions.

Be careful of the “all of the above” or “none of the above” questions. They are sometimes the correct choice but can also be used to distract or confuse the student.

If a question has negative words such as “none”, “not”, “never”, or “neither” then you’re looking for a catch. Be positive that you know and understand the question because there will be an answer even if your thinking is backwards.

Never overanalyse a question or assume to much about the information being given in either the question or the answer. Eliminate the answers that are obviously wrong and take it down to two possible answers. Figure out how those two answers are different and how they relate to the question. If there is no difference between the two possible answers then the right answer may be one of the ones that you already eliminated.

Know the rules of the test – if there is no penalty for guessing then you should eliminate the options and make a good educated guess. However, if you are penalised for guessing then it is best to leave the question empty. Use any hints you can get from the questions you already know and be sure that if you are changing any answers you are sure about the corrections.

Multiple choice questions are challenging. Most students learn that they aren’t nearly as easy as they once hoped but by incorporating these tips into your test taking strategies students are able to improve their outcomes and scores.