University of California Now Accepting More Out-of-State Applicants

If you want to go to any of the UC (University of California) campuses and you are not a California resident, the scale has begun to tip in your favor. According to Bloomberg news, UC has now begun to admit more out-of-state students (and allocating less spots for in-state students.)

The reason behind this is purely financial. UC in recent years can no longer depend on funding from the state. Since out-of-state students pay almost twice as much as in-state students, UC is now beginning to admit more out-of-state students to make up for the decreased funding from the state.

Now, this is a complete change from their previous long standing tendency of favoring the admission of in-state applicants. I of all people know this first hand. As an out-of-state student (from New York), I attended UC in the 1990’s, and I had worked after graduation at three different UC’s working closely with a variety of students.

I now work in CUNY (City University of New York) and have come across a few students trying to get admitted to UC. Of all the people I know from New York applying to UC (as out-of-state students), only two (including myself) have been admitted. Three years ago, I was tutoring a student in CUNY who applied to several UC campuses and to Columbia University. He was rejected by all the UC campuses to which he applied, but he was admitted to Columbia (which should be more difficult to get into). This really shows UC’s long standing policy of admitting a smaller percentage of out-of-state students. However, this has now begun to change completely as UC needs the extra money from out-of-state students.

For potential out-of-state applicants, I want to clarify that this change in UC policy by no means indicate that it’s easy to get into UC. Students and parents residing in California have known that UC is the best state university system in America and it is not easy to get in, even when they previously favored in-state residents. So, I want clarify that I am not saying it is easy, but it is now a bit easier if you are applying from out-of-state.

My Video and Happy Holidays!

Here's my video holiday greeting. Happy Holidays!

The Day Before a Standardized Test (such as ACT, CATW, SAT, or GRE)

On the day before a standardized test, know that you have the ability to do well and you will do well, as long as you simply apply everything I've taught you in this blog (and also in class if you are my student.)

On the day before a standardized test (such as the CATW, CATR/ACT Reading, Compass Math Exam, SAT, ACT, and GRE), you should not be studying or practicing - as I've mentioned at: http://cuny.SpirFit.com/2011/07/day-and-days-before-standardized-test.html

On the day before a standardized exam, it's good to relax and do some inspirational reading (not related to the exam). The following are some recommended inspirational readings:

From Me
Facing Uncertainty - Opportunity in Disguise (Part I)
http://Life.SpirFit.com/2009/06/power-of-uncertain-part-1-opportunities.html

Facing Uncertainty - Do Not Fear the Unknown (Part II)
http://Life.SpirFit.com/2009/07/facing-uncertainties-part-2-do-not-fear.html

Facing Uncertainty - UNDERSTANDING THE POWER OF YOUR MIND (Part III)
http://Life.SpirFit.com/2009/08/facing-uncertainties-part-3.html

Facing Uncertainty (Part IV)
http://Life.SpirFit.com/2009/08/facing-uncertainties-part-4-harnessing.html

How Do I Forgive
http://Life.SpirFit.com/2010/03/how-do-i-forgive.html

Dealing with People at Work
http://Life.SpirFit.com/2009/12/dealing-with-people-at-work.html

I'm Dying
http://life.SpirFit.com/2011/06/im-dying.html

Follow Your Heart, Don’t Live Someone Else’s Life
http://life.SpirFit.com/2010/10/follow-your-heart-dont-live-someone.html

Habitual Thoughts Determine What
http://spirfit.com/2009/05/habitual-thoughts-determine-results.html

Not Imprisoned by Our Past
http://www.myspace.com/constanzo/blog/164298676?MyToken=11305cd4-12b1-4da2-9b51-08aefe73f3fb

Don’t Leave the Great Project
http://Life.SpirFit.com/2010/08/dont-leave-great-project.html

Is There Room in Your Cup
http://life.SpirFit.com/2009/07/is-there-room-in-your-cup.html


From Other Teachers
http://www.innerself.com/Spirituality/becoming_spiritual.htm
http://www.franklincovey.com/tc/resources/view/art
http://peacepilgrim.com/book/chapt6.htm
http://www.drwaynedyer.com/articles/seven-secrets-of-a-joyful-life
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success.html
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/frankl.html
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/voices/frankl.html


Funny or Fun
http://www.myspace.com/constanzo/blog/502076264
http://life.SpirFit.com/2010/12/smashing-video.html

CUNY ACT Reading - Getting Familiar with Computer Format

Here’s a link to a site where you can get familiar with the format of the test on the computer. Be sure to go through the practice tests to be completely familiar with the format so you know your way around inside the virtual environment (inside the computer). For example, be sure to click the down arrow to read the WHOLE passage.

Also, this site is good in allowing you to get a feel for the computer format, but it doesn’t provide all the important strategies you’ve learned from me and from your professor. DO NOT THROW OUT THE STRATEGIES WE’VE TAUGHT YOU! Apply them in the computer test.
To get familiar with the computer format, go to the tutorial at:
http://www1.cuny.edu/readingtutorial/guide.html

If you want to do well, review my ACT Reading Protocol again at:
http://cunyEnglish.blogspot.com/2011/11/cuny-act-reading-protocol.html

CUNY ACT Reading Practice Exams

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More CUNY ACT Reading material at 
http://spirfit.org/Academy/actreading/index.htm

For many of you (who are my students), you are taking the ACT Reading next week. Below are additional ACT R practices. Do them following all the steps below (if you want to pass):

CUNY ACT Reading Practices (Click these links and print them out)

Exam Practice A9

Exam Practice A9 Answers

Exam Practice A36

Exam Practice A36 Answers



Steps in Doing the CUNY ACT Reading Practice Exam Packets
- DO NOT LOOK AT THE ANSWER KEY. Give the answer key to a friend, a spouse, or someone helping you with this.
- Start doing the practice exam applying the protocol at http://cunyEnglish.blogspot.com/2011/11/cuny-act-reading-protocol.html
- Have that someone with the answer key check you answers. For the questions you got wrong, he/she should put an X next to your wrong answer choice, BUT THEY MUST NOT PROVIDE YOU WITH THE CORRECT ANSWER.
- DO NOT LOOK AT THE ANSWERS YET. They should give the test back to you and YOU SHOULD DO THE QUESTIONS YOU GOT WRONG ON YOUR OWN. Read the ENTIRE passage from beginning to end before answering again each question you got wrong.
- Now you can check the answer key on your own.
- If you still can't figure out why you got some questions wrong, feel free to ask me at - http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpirFit/141881909215772

Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.org

ACT Reading, CUNY ACT Reading, Kingsborough, Hunter, Baruch, CCNY, Queensborough, Brooklyn College, BMCC, Reading Comprehension, Kingsborough ACT Reading, BMCC ACT Reading

English 91 Departmental Reading Exam

For your departmental exam (timed exam) this week, I think most of you can pass IF you remember to annotate the reading when you read such as by summing up each paragraph in a phrase. However, you should not be spending a lot of time annotating since the test is timed. It should take only a few seconds to write a phrase or a sentence on the margin for each paragraph.

Quickly review my example of annotating and turning the annotations into a summary at: http://cuny.SpirFit.com/2011/10/improve-reading-by-annotating-smart.html

Again, if you want to do well, you should at least remember (if you remember nothing else) to:
1. Annotate while you read.
2. Simply turn your annotations into a summary (for the question asking you to summarize).
3. Make sure the first sentence of the summary has MAT (main idea, author, and title)
4. If you have time left at the end, re-read the passage several times and check your answers to the questions. Also, check or edit your summary.

If you remember to do all these, you will be fine.

CUNY ACT Reading Approach

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Most students have the ability to pass the CUNY ACT Reading Exam, but some students with the ability to pass may fail because of bad habits. If they apply a few pointers in their approach to this test, they can pass. I’ve been mentioning these pointers to my students throughout this semester, as I have in previous semesters.

First of all, what does not work is the habit of reading the passages hastily (quickly and carelessly) and reading only once.  Also, not taking the time to check your answers does not work. This mentality (common in students who fail the ACT Reading Exam) of quickly getting it over with does not work. This is evidently true to me and other teachers who’ve seen students fail with this ineffective approach.

If you have this ineffective tendency or habit, you must change it. If you rush to finish quickly, you will fail quickly, leading to prolonged misery (in being held stagnant in your college career not allowed to take many of your core classes until you pass the ACT reading exam. You would be spending unnecessary extra time and money.) For those who still refuse to change, it has been said that it is absurd to do something same way again and again, and expect a different result. Clinging to the same habit that led to your failure will put you back in the same place.

Here’s the approach of students who pass the CUNY ACT Reading exam. This approach involves working in a fashion that may be tedious, but it is better to “suffer” in the short-term than to fail the CUNY ACT Reading again, and suffer in the long term. The effective approach in passing the ACT Reading can be summed up in one sentence:

Have the discipline and endurance to read to obtain an in-depth understanding of the passage (not neglecting any details.) Be meticulous, not hasty.

Here’s how. The following is a specific list of what you should do to increase ACT Reading comprehension (which would result in a higher reading score), in addition to the common sense advice of getting to the test early:

1. Ask for scrap paper.
2. Read passage CAREFULLY at least twice. Sum up each paragraph in one phrase/sentence on scrap paper (and label it with the paragraph number.)
3. Write in one sentence the overall message, or main idea, of the author.

4. Write in one sentence also the attitude or tone of the author (toward an issue, a character, or toward whatever the passage is addressing).  For example, does he have an objective tone or an opinionated tone? Is he strongly for or against an issue covered in his writing? Write down the tone or attitude (or at least do it in your head) before you move on to answer the questions for the passage.

5. Begin answering the questions. For each question, re-read from the beginning of the passage up to the point where you believe the answer is located. (If you do this and you have the author’s main idea/overall message in mind and have his attitude or tone in mind, you will do well.)
6. BE SURE YOU ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY AND CHECK THEM OVER BEFORE YOU MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SCREEN. You may not be able to go back to previous screens. (Leaving a question blank is the dumbest way to get a question wrong!)

Different Types of CUNY ACT Reading Exam Questions

The following are various types of questions commonly found in CUNY ACT Reading Exams:

• Vocabulary questions. When you come across a vocabulary question, go back to the passage and re-read the passage from the beginning up to the place where the word is found in the passage. Do this even if you know the definition of the word (since the word in the context of the passage may be different from the definition of which you know.)
• Main idea questions. When you come across a question that requires you to know the main message (or main idea) of the passage, re-read the entire passage.
• Questions about the author’s attitude or tone. Re-read the entire passage before you answer.
• Questions about the attitude of a character in the story, or passage. When you come across a question about the attitude of a character in the passage, re-read the entire passage.
• Questions about a specific point in the passage.  Often, you may still get this type of question wrong even if you find the location of that point in the passage if you do not keep in mind the overall main idea of the entire passage.
• Whenever you are in doubt about a question, re-read the entire passage.

From my experience, students who started to apply these pointers drastically improved in answering the vocabulary questions correctly. Students who refused to do so continued to get these common types of questions wrong, and they continued to fail the ACT Reading.

By the time you are done with the entire exam, you should have read the passages at least three times (but probably more.) If so, you’ve greatly increased your chances of passing this exam.

If I am to simplify this lesson into one word, that word would be – RE-READ. Speed counts for nothing (in the CUNY ACT Reading), as this exam is not timed. Having the discipline to endure in the short-term to get in depth understanding will lead to passing the ACT Reading Exam.

When you do practice tests, apply everything I’ve mentioned here (so that they become habit.) If you are my student, all of these should just be a review.

Also, I highly recommend reading the CUNY ACT Reading Protocol http://cuny.SpirFit.com/2011/11/cuny-act-reading-protocol.html and preparation recommendations on the day and days before a standardized test (such as the ACT Reading Exam) at http://cuny.SpirFit.com/2011/07/day-and-days-before-standardized-test.html  if you haven't done so yet.  (Feel free to print them out.)

To subscribe to this blog for free on your reader, feel free to click “Subscribe to Posts” on the right.

Copyright: © 2009, 2011. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at life.SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org/Academics

CUNY ACT READING EXAM  Kingsborough  English  KCC  English r Eng r  English 04  Eng 04

CUNY ACT Reading Protocol

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The CUNY ACT Reading/CATR Exam is administered on a computer and it is not time-limited. The questions are all multiple choice questions. I have created a protocol in taking the ACT Reading Exam which many students have found useful. They have found that following this protocol improved their performance in reading comprehension and resulted in having more of the answers correct. Also, you may adjust or revise this protocol according to your individual needs. You should definitely use this protocol for ACT Reading practice exams provided by your professor or instructor.

ACT Reading Protocol
1. Ask for scrap paper.
2. Read passage CAREFULLY at least twice. Sum up each paragraph in one phrase/sentence on scrap paper (and label it with the paragraph number.)
3. Write in one sentence the overall message, or main idea, of the author.

4. Write in one sentence also the attitude or tone of the author (toward an issue, a character, or toward whatever the passage is addressing).  For example, does he have an objective tone or an opinionated tone? Is he strongly for or against an issue covered by his writing? Write down the tone or attitude (or at least do it in your head) before you move on to answer the questions for the passage.

5. Begin answering the questions. For each question, re-read from the beginning of the passage up to the point where you believe the answer is located. (If you do this and you have the author’s main idea/overall message in mind and have his attitude or tone in mind, you will do well.)
6. BE SURE YOU ANSWER ALL THE QUESTIONS IN EACH PASSAGE CAREFULLY AND CHECK THEM OVER BEFORE YOU MOVE ON TO THE NEXT PASSAGE.  Once you move on to the next passage, you won't be able to go back to the previous passage and the questions to that passage.

Note
•By the time you are done, you should’ve read the entire passage AT LEAST THREE TIMES, but probably more times.

• Keep in mind that the creator of the questions in most cases is not the author of the passage. Think in the perspective of the creator of the questions who is probably an English instructor or professor. You have to try to get into the minds of two people, the author of the passage and creator of the questions.

• Use POE (the process of elimination) when answering the questions.  First, eliminate the answer choices that are certainly wrong.  Do this in your head or on scrap paper (such as writing the question #, and the certainly wrong letter choices crossed out.)

• Be careful not to just focus on one detail or one small area of the passage while ignoring the rest.  (This is a common mistake from students who have trouble passing the ACT Reading Exam.)  Use the entire passage to get to the main idea (or the main message) as well as the attitude and tone of the author (as mentioned in steps 2 and 3.)


An Unconventional Tip
Before reading, get your mind into the alpha state which will help you increase reading comprehension. You can put yourself into the alpha state within 20 seconds by doing a breathing exercise, a mind-calming technique, or saying a prayer. This is backed up by scientific studies. The alpha state is also known as the “relaxation response” or the relaxed alert state. The more practice you have in reaching the relaxed-alert state, the more success you will have in improving reading comprehension.

What NOT to Do

• Do NOT be late to the test.  (They will close the door promptly and won’t let you in, if you are late.  Get there at least 30 minutes early.)

• Do NOT schedule important appointments, meetings, or dates for the day of the exam.  (You don’t want to be rushing from an important meeting to the test.  Also, you don’t know how long the test will take, and you don’t want to subconsciously rush through the exam to get to a later appointment on time.  Don’t make any important appointments for that day.)

• During the exam, do NOT be hasty and do NOT rush.  (Be meticulous.)

Additional Note
This lesson applies to the CUNY ACT Reading. The ACT Reading exams outside of CUNY may be somewhat different. 


Copyright: © 2006, 2010, 2011. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for your web site, blog, or e-zine if and only if you include this copyright notice with the following statement and web links. More teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at:

cuny.SpirFit.com
SpirFit.org/Academics

Seriously I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres - Books

Police Pepper-sprayed Student and Faculty Protestors

Chilling videos show police officers at UC Davis (University of California, Davis) pepper spraying a line of seated helpless protesters.  The students and faculty members were participating in a peaceful movement against rising tuition costs, cuts in state funding for education, and previous police brutality at UC Berkeley against peaceful protesters there.  At UC Davis as the police spray the students and protesters, bystanders are screaming for the police to stop followed by their yelling, “Shame on you!”  (as you may see in the videos.)
 

Since I was a student at UC Davis where I’ve also worked and I had also worked closely with faculty and students at UC Berkeley, I cannot be passive.  So, I am writing about this that has occurred.  

This behavior by the police is unacceptable and someone must take responsibility, starting with identifying and firing the officers who sprayed the students and work up the line of command firing those who authorized such unnecessary force.

It makes no sense.  Chancellor Linda Katehi (who ordered police onto campus) and the police justified their actions stating that they took action because the protestors camping out on campus pose a potential health risk.  Yet, the police in pepper-spraying the protestors immediately caused health problems – protestors were hospitalized, some coughing up blood after being sprayed down the throat.  So, the chancellor and the police are saying that the reason they moved in on the protestors and inflict immediate and certain health problems on these students and professors was because they were trying to prevent potential health problems.  That makes no sense.  What makes more sense is that they are trying to come up with some excuse or justification to save their ass, now that the videos and the pictures are out, and they are experiencing a PR nightmare.

I also like to point out that it’s ironic that the UC Davis protestors were met with police brutality when one of the cause of that protest was against police brutality in the UC Berkeley protest.

A UC Davis English professor wrote an open letter to Linda Katehi, the UCD Chancellor who ordered the police onto campus, demanding her resignation at:

http://bicyclebarricade.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/open-letter-to-chancellor-linda-p-b-katehi/

The news story about the incident at UCD can be found at:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/19/us/california-pepper-spray/index.html

English Departmental Exams: Annotating and Summarizing

For Departmental Reading and Writing Exams and Practice
If you want to do well in these departmental exams from the English Department, you should do the following:

1. Annotate (each parapraph), but you shouldn't spend too much time doing this, especially when you are taking a timed Departmental Reading test .  They don't have to be in complete sentences as long as you can understand what you've written.  (You'll convert them into complete sentences when you summarize in step #4.)
2. Write down Main Idea in one sentence.  Attitude, and Tone in another sentence.  (MAT)  You may do this on top of the article.
3. Answer the questions.  (This step applies only to the Departmental READING.)
4. Write the summary.  (Most likely, one of the questions in the Departmental Reading Exam asks you to do this.  For the Departmental Writing Exam, you should do this summary along with #1 and #2 when you receive the reading ahead of time .)
           
How To Write A Good Summary
To write a good summary, simply turn your annotations into complete sentences.  Then add the first sentence to include the Main Idea, Author, and Title (MAT).  Go over and revise the summary if you have time.  (In doing this, you will automatically have a good summary that is as brief as possible while including all the important points.)

Here are examples of how I annotated and summarized an article 
http://cuny.SpirFit.com/2011/10/improve-reading-by-annotating-smart.html

General Reading Techniques

In college, you will come across various types of readings, whether it's history, science, psychology, English literature, or any other subject.  You need to have a set of techniques to approach your reading, but you also need to be flexible-minded enough to adjust to various types of readings.  You should at least start with a set of techniques and adjust as you approach different readings.  Here's a set of reading techniques for you to start with:

http://SpirFit.org/CUNY/Downloads/GeneralReadingTechniques/ReadingTechniquesToMaximizeReadingComprehension4.pdf

 I strongly recommend that you print it out and have it with you as you approach different readings throughout your college years.  Feel free to revise or add to this set of strategies according to your individuality (to make it work better for you).  Remember, the purpose is to read with in-depth understanding (and if you could do that in less time, that's even better.)


Copyright: © 2011, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for your web site, blog, or e-zine if and only if you include the following statement and web links-

More teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at:

cuny.SpirFit.com
Life.SpirFit.com
SpirFit.com

ESL Exercise: Common Expression 7

Megan will start her new job ____  December 10^th.

A.     A.  in

B.     B.  to

C.     C.  at

D.     D. on

Scroll down for the correct answer

Choice D is the correct answer.

Megan will start her new job on December 10^th.

It’s a waste of time to try to rationalize why choice D is the correct answer. For fluent English speakers, we just immediately know the correct one because we’ve heard it a million times. We don't pause for two minutes trying to rationalize why we choose the words “on December 10th" or why we choose the preposition “on” before the date in such a case. The best way for you to learn this is to see or hear it a million times.  Okay, maybe not that many times.  Here are some examples of sentences using “on December 10th”, or using the preposition “on” before a date.

“On April 20, Vanderbilt sent an email to announce that Festus Ezeli, John Jenkins, and Jeffrey Taylor would be back in school…”  (Athlon Sports)  http://www.athlonsports.com/college-basketball/vanderbilt-commodores-2011-college-basketball-preview

“Miami’s last win also took place at the Meadowlands in upset fashion, an ugly 10-6 decision over the rival New York Jets on December 12 of last season.”    (Scott Garbarini, Sports Network) http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/27/3232018/nfl-preview-miami-0-6-at-ny-giants.html

“On August 24, 2011, the company also purchased from the U.S. Treasury the 10-year warrant, issued on December 19, 2008…”  (Market Watch)

 http://www.marketwatch.com/story/first-california-continues-earnings-momentum-with-2011-third-quarter-net-income-of-25-million-2011-10-27?reflink=MW_news_stmp

“It was way back on September 16 that people started searching for OWS.”  (Celeste Katz, Daily News)  http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-v-tea-party-the-metrics

“On September 30, 2011, the Company was in the process of drilling seven gross operated wells and had 21 gross operated wells waiting on completion in the Bakken and Three Forks formations.”  (Market Watch)   http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oasis-petroleum-inc-provides-preliminary-third-quarter-2011-results-and-an-update-to-financial-guidance-2011-10-27

“Participating players will be invited to a special Welcome Party on December 9^th.”  (Titanpoker.com) 

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/10/27/4011012/titan-poker-launches-1000000-ipops.html

Needless to say, you may also use “on” for any dates:

-          on June 3

-          on April 15

-          on July 4, 2011

-          on November 1, 1928

Feel free to choose the “Subscribe” options near the upper right side of this page. It’s free.

Copyright: © 2011. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at CUNY.SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

Keywords:  TOEFL, ESL exercises, English, grammar, phrase, common expression, CUNY, Kingsborough, Hunter, Baruch, CCNY, Queensborough, Brooklyn College, BMCC

Improve Reading By Annotating: The Smart Transfer

Here’s a demonstration of how you should read, annotate, and summarize an article.  The original article can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/education/edlife/22merrow-profile-4.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=junior%20collegetransfer%20University%20of%20California&st=cse&oref=slogin

To help me better understand and remember the reading, I annotated this article at:

http://www.spirfit.org/CUNY/Downloads/SmartTransferArticle/TheSmartTransfer_Annotated3.pdf

Notice on my annotated copy that I also wrote down the main idea, attitude, and tone of the author after reading the article. 

Using my annotations, I wrote my summary as shown at:

http://www.spirfit.org/CUNY/Downloads/SmartTransferArticle/SmartTransferSummary.pdf

In CUNY English classes, knowing how to annotate (including writing the main idea, attitude, and tone of the author in a sentence each) and to summarize (as shown in the above samples) will help you do well in the reading exams.  It will also help you partially with the writing exams (as most of the writing exams involve writing in response to a reading.)  Understanding the reading well will get you half way on the road to doing well.

If you are my student, I recommend that you print out the above sample annotated copy of "The Smart Transfer" and my summary. This will help you remember how to do the same (or do something similar) for reading assignments and writing assignments about the readings (commonly given by CUNY professors).

 

Copyright: © 2011. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.org/Academics and CUNY.SpirFit.com

Steve Jobs Passed Away; His Work and Lesson

Steve Jobs died from complications of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday at the age of 56. The world has lost a great visionary. More info and his lesson at- 

http://life.SpirFit.com/2011/10/steve-jobs-passed-away-his-work-and.html

Whether you're a Mac or PC user, iPhone or other smartphone user, iPad or Kindle user, iPod Touch, or a user of other devices, your life has been changed by Steve Jobs.  The Macintosh influenced PC's.  The iPhone influenced all smart phones.  The iPod influenced all portable music players.  However, Steve Jobs most important influence was a talk he gave at Stanford as I've posted in the past.  You can find it from the link above.

Punctuation Saves Lives

Do You Really Think You're a Good Writer

I sometimes come across students in my remedial English labs who would say, “I am a good writer. I don’t know why they put me in a remedial class.” This reminds me of the show American Idol, especially the early episodes of the season when you see a lot of people who tell everyone, “I am a good singer. I am the next American Idol.” Many of them ended up rejected.

However, there are some in my remedial English labs who actually have writing abilities above the remedial level where they are placed, but I emphasize “some”. Whether your writing is as good as you think or not, your approach is the same - work to improve your writing.

Instead of wasting time and energy complaining and thinking counterproductive and negative thoughts, use the energy and time to improve your writing. Better writing skills (along with public speaking skills) are generally correlated with better pay and increased chances of advancement in the working world, as studies have shown. Even if you are right and they made a mistake placing you in a remedial class, use the time to improve your writing. I’ve had a student, Vlado, who began the semester sitting back in my class not willing to do any work, because he thought he didn’t belong in a remedial class. I told him exactly the same thing about using the time to improve his writing anyway. I also used the analogy of the greatest players in sports such as Michael Jordan, Steve Young, and Lance Armstrong. These “best of the best athletes” continued to work at becoming better and better, despite being way ahead of the rest of the field.

If you are as good a writer as you think you are, you have nothing to lose if you use the time in the remedial class to work to become even better. That way, you can show the professors and administrators that they did make a huge mistake. That’s exactly what Vlado did. In time, I realized that Vladeo was right. He was actually a good writer, but he really took to heart my advice and worked harder than everyone else who didn’t have his writing skills. Evaluators of his writing portfolio eventually made a rare exception for him that they allowed him to skip some hurdles that remedial students usually have to go through. This saved him both time and money.

If you are wrong however, and you are not as good a writer as you think you are, the approach should be the same. Use the time in the remedial class to improve your writing. Really work to improve you writing. Whether your writing is superior or sub-par, the approach should be the same.

Unfortunately, I have seen some cases where the student wasted their time in class or lab thinking they don’t belong there, and they end up having to retake the class. They end up frustrating themselves wasting more time and tuition money, since they have to pass the remedial classes and their writing proficiency exams before they can take other core classes.

The lesson here also applies to other parts of your life. If you are required to be somewhere, such as in a class or at practice (for athletes), use the time to actively improve yourself rather than passively sitting back. Whether you are as good as you think you are or not, the same approach applies.


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Copyright: © 2009. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org