There is a very important lesson or story that may change everything. This story is true with many students struggling with English writing or other academic areas. Watch the video or read the transcript at-
http://life.SpirFit.com/2010/11/your-story.html
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Strategies to Improve Your Reading
Your reading ability is one of your most important abilities. For most decent jobs out there, good reading skills are crucial. A lawyer has to read hundreds of pages of legal documents per day. Doctors and researchers have to read scientific literature. Have you ever tried reading scientific or medical journal articles. They are definitely not the easiest type of reading. My point is: improving your reading skills is crucial in furthering your academic and professional career.
Below, I've provided a list of reading techniques. Practice these techniques in English labs or on your own time. They are not meant to be used last minute for a test, but they are to be practiced over a period of time. Experiment and observe what works. You may need to adjust or revise these techniques according to your individuality. After you practice and experiment enough, your reading abilities will improve which will be very useful for the rest of your college years and your career.
1. If there are reading questions, quickly read the questions once. (If they are multiple choice questions, do not read the answer choices. Read only the questions.
2. Survey or scan: Quickly read the first sentence of each paragraph and read the last paragraph.
3. Read to obtain in-depth understanding of everything the author is trying to communicate to you, the reader. Use your finger to guide you along the page. “Don’t feel you have to rush.” (Stanley D. Frank)
4. As you are reading, annotate (or mark up the reading).
There are many ways to annotate depending on what works for you. One of the simplest ways is to “sum up” each paragraph or section with a sentence or phrase on the left or right margin of the reading passage, in addition to underlining the IMPORTANT points.
If this reading is for a test, you should read it a second time and a third time (at least).
5. Write the main point of the reading in one sentence.
6. Summarize the reading. (A good summary includes all the important points, beginning with the main point of the entire reading. It will leave out the insignificant details. A good summary is as brief as possible but includes ALL the IMPORTANT POINTS).
Note: It is very probable for an English departmental final exam (in CUNY) to have a question asking you to summarize the reading.
Additional tips:
Before reading. Take a few deep breaths and enter a relaxed (yet focused and alert) state. Eliminate any fear, doubt, or worries. Know that you are intelligent and can easily understand the reading completely.
Copyright: © 2008. 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
Shu Chan 陳樹中 Terence Chan LIU
Below, I've provided a list of reading techniques. Practice these techniques in English labs or on your own time. They are not meant to be used last minute for a test, but they are to be practiced over a period of time. Experiment and observe what works. You may need to adjust or revise these techniques according to your individuality. After you practice and experiment enough, your reading abilities will improve which will be very useful for the rest of your college years and your career.
1. If there are reading questions, quickly read the questions once. (If they are multiple choice questions, do not read the answer choices. Read only the questions.
2. Survey or scan: Quickly read the first sentence of each paragraph and read the last paragraph.
3. Read to obtain in-depth understanding of everything the author is trying to communicate to you, the reader. Use your finger to guide you along the page. “Don’t feel you have to rush.” (Stanley D. Frank)
4. As you are reading, annotate (or mark up the reading).
There are many ways to annotate depending on what works for you. One of the simplest ways is to “sum up” each paragraph or section with a sentence or phrase on the left or right margin of the reading passage, in addition to underlining the IMPORTANT points.
If this reading is for a test, you should read it a second time and a third time (at least).
5. Write the main point of the reading in one sentence.
6. Summarize the reading. (A good summary includes all the important points, beginning with the main point of the entire reading. It will leave out the insignificant details. A good summary is as brief as possible but includes ALL the IMPORTANT POINTS).
Note: It is very probable for an English departmental final exam (in CUNY) to have a question asking you to summarize the reading.
Additional tips:
Before reading. Take a few deep breaths and enter a relaxed (yet focused and alert) state. Eliminate any fear, doubt, or worries. Know that you are intelligent and can easily understand the reading completely.
Copyright: © 2008. 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
Shu Chan 陳樹中 Terence Chan LIU
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Once Was; Now Am
In a brainstorming exercise in one of my workshops, I shared the following statement:
I once was on the well-worn path. Now I am on the road less traveled.
If you think you know what this means, let me know. I would be very impressed.
I once was on the well-worn path. Now I am on the road less traveled.
If you think you know what this means, let me know. I would be very impressed.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Additional Tips for Eng 92 Departmental Exam
To My Beloved Eng 92 Students,
At this point, you've done day one of the English departmental writing exam (from what I've been told). You are going back on Thursday for day two.
Here are some additional tips (or actually reminders, since I've mentioned them in the past, if you've been listening.) First of all, I hope that you did not forget to use the writing process (or some version of it, such as (1) pre-write/brainstorm on scrap paper, (2) write, (3) revise, reorganize, and proofread.)
Day one of the exam is essentially steps (1) and (2), brainstorm and write the essay. Day two of the exam is where you should do step (3) fill in any ideas you wish to include in your essay, revise and re-organize, and proofread.
Before you go into the second day of the exam, you should go over the reading again and see if you have any additional analyses or reactions. Make sure you have a thesis or main idea to focus your essay. Include the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. Make sure all the ideas you come up with (for the body paragraphs) are in support of your thesis.
Before going into the second day of the exam, brainstorm some more and see if you want to add any more ideas to your essay. Google if you need to. Since you don't have your essay with you, try to remember what you've written and fill in any gaps. Although you can't take additional notes into the exam, go over your new ideas (notes from brainstorm and reading reactions) until you have them well-remembered. When you get to the test (day two), you should not have to spend a lot of time trying to remember which ideas to add.
The end product of your writing should be clear to the reader. They should be well organized (as much as possible within the time limits). You should do as much revising and proofreading as possible for this desired end-result. However, you should keep an eye on time, as it is limited.
If you finish earlier, that's a bad sign. You should use all the time to keep going over your writing and proofreading, to get your writing to be as clear and as perfect as possible.
God bless.
Copyright: © 2010. 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
At this point, you've done day one of the English departmental writing exam (from what I've been told). You are going back on Thursday for day two.
Here are some additional tips (or actually reminders, since I've mentioned them in the past, if you've been listening.) First of all, I hope that you did not forget to use the writing process (or some version of it, such as (1) pre-write/brainstorm on scrap paper, (2) write, (3) revise, reorganize, and proofread.)
Day one of the exam is essentially steps (1) and (2), brainstorm and write the essay. Day two of the exam is where you should do step (3) fill in any ideas you wish to include in your essay, revise and re-organize, and proofread.
Before you go into the second day of the exam, you should go over the reading again and see if you have any additional analyses or reactions. Make sure you have a thesis or main idea to focus your essay. Include the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. Make sure all the ideas you come up with (for the body paragraphs) are in support of your thesis.
Before going into the second day of the exam, brainstorm some more and see if you want to add any more ideas to your essay. Google if you need to. Since you don't have your essay with you, try to remember what you've written and fill in any gaps. Although you can't take additional notes into the exam, go over your new ideas (notes from brainstorm and reading reactions) until you have them well-remembered. When you get to the test (day two), you should not have to spend a lot of time trying to remember which ideas to add.
The end product of your writing should be clear to the reader. They should be well organized (as much as possible within the time limits). You should do as much revising and proofreading as possible for this desired end-result. However, you should keep an eye on time, as it is limited.
If you finish earlier, that's a bad sign. You should use all the time to keep going over your writing and proofreading, to get your writing to be as clear and as perfect as possible.
God bless.
Copyright: © 2010. 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
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tips for English Departmental Exams
If you are one of my students, everything I’ve been teaching you have trained you to do well in these CUNY English departmental exams (if you’ve been listening and applying everything I’ve been teaching you.) Therefore, these tips are more like review than they are tips.
In the past few years, they may have changed the timing of the test or may have made some small variations in the format. However, the general principles or strategies necessary to do well in these tests have not changed. These are the strategies and principles of which I have always place primary focus in my teachings.
Depending on the English course (04,09,91,92, or 93 in Kingsborough), one of your English departmental exams will provide you with the reading prior to the test. (This is true for only one of the departmental exams, whether it is the one in mid-semester or the other one at the end of the semester. Questions or essay instructions are not provided until you get to the test.)
For the exam where you are given the reading beforehand to take home, here’s what you should do at home before going to the exam:
- Read it at least three times
- Annotate (when reading a second time) the reading to assure an in-depth understanding of the reading. Do this on the pages of the reading. Do not write notes on a separate piece of paper because you are not allowed to take a separate piece of paper to the test. You may make notes on the reading as much as you want, and take that reading to the test. One simple way of annotating is by summing up each paragraph with a phrase or sentence on the side margin next to the paragraph.
- Summarize the reading, starting the first sentence of the summary with the title, author, and the author’s main idea of the reading. (Again, do NOT write a summary on a separate piece of paper. You are not allowed to bring additional pages to the test. Write it on the back of the reading or anywhere on those pages where there’s room.)
Here are some final pointers or reminders:
- If you are given reading questions to answer on the exam, READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY.
- Keep an eye on the clock.
- For reading questions, provide only the information and thoughts from the author. In other words, answer the questions as the author would. Do not include your own opinion or knowledge outside of the reading, if you don’t want to get it wrong.
- Answer questions with complete sentences.
- One of the reading questions may ask you to summarize the reading. (This is common in departmental reading exams.) If so, write the summary including only the author’s information, knowledge, and point of view. (See “summarize the reading” section above.)
- If the exam requires you to write an essay, you should include both the author’s point of view AND your point of view (including your knowledge, opinion, and experiences). You may agree, disagree, or partially agree with the author. You have the freedom to do so in an essay.
- Here’s a final reminder of the difference between an essay and summary. Summary includes only the author's knowledge and point of view from the reading and must not include your own opinion. Essay includes both the author's knowledge and your knowledge and point of view. (I’m re-emphasizing this because you’d be surprised at how many students still didn’t get this in my past experiences, as shown in their exam performance.)
- Here’s another twist. When they ask you to write an essay, they may ask you to include a summary WITHIN your essay. If so, do exactly what they instructed, but the summary should only be a small part of your essay (such as the first BODY paragraph.) If more than 30% of your essay is a summarization of the reading, it’s not good.
A final note for my students. Do not approach me to help you with the specific reading of the exam. It is against CUNY policy for me to explain the reading to you (probably because of fairness issues for all students, in terms of the big picture.) If you open-mindedly practice and apply what I’ve been teaching you, you will do better. On the other hand, if you still cling to your old ways that do not work and you are still going down the same street, don't be surprised if you fall into a hole again (like the story I've told in class.) However, it seems to me that most of my students this semester get it. Most of you have been practicing and applying the various strategies and will continue to do so for the departmental exams.
Copyright: © 2010. 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
In the past few years, they may have changed the timing of the test or may have made some small variations in the format. However, the general principles or strategies necessary to do well in these tests have not changed. These are the strategies and principles of which I have always place primary focus in my teachings.
Depending on the English course (04,09,91,92, or 93 in Kingsborough), one of your English departmental exams will provide you with the reading prior to the test. (This is true for only one of the departmental exams, whether it is the one in mid-semester or the other one at the end of the semester. Questions or essay instructions are not provided until you get to the test.)
For the exam where you are given the reading beforehand to take home, here’s what you should do at home before going to the exam:
- Read it at least three times
- Annotate (when reading a second time) the reading to assure an in-depth understanding of the reading. Do this on the pages of the reading. Do not write notes on a separate piece of paper because you are not allowed to take a separate piece of paper to the test. You may make notes on the reading as much as you want, and take that reading to the test. One simple way of annotating is by summing up each paragraph with a phrase or sentence on the side margin next to the paragraph.
- Summarize the reading, starting the first sentence of the summary with the title, author, and the author’s main idea of the reading. (Again, do NOT write a summary on a separate piece of paper. You are not allowed to bring additional pages to the test. Write it on the back of the reading or anywhere on those pages where there’s room.)
Here are some final pointers or reminders:
- If you are given reading questions to answer on the exam, READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY.
- Keep an eye on the clock.
- For reading questions, provide only the information and thoughts from the author. In other words, answer the questions as the author would. Do not include your own opinion or knowledge outside of the reading, if you don’t want to get it wrong.
- Answer questions with complete sentences.
- One of the reading questions may ask you to summarize the reading. (This is common in departmental reading exams.) If so, write the summary including only the author’s information, knowledge, and point of view. (See “summarize the reading” section above.)
- If the exam requires you to write an essay, you should include both the author’s point of view AND your point of view (including your knowledge, opinion, and experiences). You may agree, disagree, or partially agree with the author. You have the freedom to do so in an essay.
- Here’s a final reminder of the difference between an essay and summary. Summary includes only the author's knowledge and point of view from the reading and must not include your own opinion. Essay includes both the author's knowledge and your knowledge and point of view. (I’m re-emphasizing this because you’d be surprised at how many students still didn’t get this in my past experiences, as shown in their exam performance.)
- Here’s another twist. When they ask you to write an essay, they may ask you to include a summary WITHIN your essay. If so, do exactly what they instructed, but the summary should only be a small part of your essay (such as the first BODY paragraph.) If more than 30% of your essay is a summarization of the reading, it’s not good.
A final note for my students. Do not approach me to help you with the specific reading of the exam. It is against CUNY policy for me to explain the reading to you (probably because of fairness issues for all students, in terms of the big picture.) If you open-mindedly practice and apply what I’ve been teaching you, you will do better. On the other hand, if you still cling to your old ways that do not work and you are still going down the same street, don't be surprised if you fall into a hole again (like the story I've told in class.) However, it seems to me that most of my students this semester get it. Most of you have been practicing and applying the various strategies and will continue to do so for the departmental exams.
Copyright: © 2010. 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
KCC Schedule Change On Tuesday
For Kingsborough students, there is a schedule variation this coming Tuesday, Oct 24. It will be a Friday schedule. In other words, you should attend your Friday classes this Tuesday, Oct 24. Tuesday (Oct 24) is a Friday schedule. You could double check on the academic calendar at http://www.kingsborough.edu/sub-registration/office_of_registrar/academic_calendar.html
This is only a courtesy reminder. Do not expect to see these reminders in the future. You should always keep an eye on the academic calendar and enter all changes (relevant to you) on your calendar.
This is only a courtesy reminder. Do not expect to see these reminders in the future. You should always keep an eye on the academic calendar and enter all changes (relevant to you) on your calendar.
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