Thursday, August 22, 2013

How To Pass Your GCSE Maths

Passing your GCSE Maths can be a difficult task. Over 40% of students failed their GCSE Maths last summer. So, why do many people fail their GCSE maths?

Firstly, students do not polish their basic skills from a young age. By basic skills, I mean addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. These are the very first concepts you learn in primary school. What tends to happen is students do not strengthen these skills at a young age and then progress to the more advanced concepts. This results in a partial understanding of all the topics learnt.

Before you can move on to the harder topics, you must master the basics. This means you must practise your arithmetic (addition/subtraction/multiplication/division) on a consistent basis. Once you can answer a wide range of arithmetic questions in a matter of seconds, you can move on.

When you are learning maths, you must perceive it as 'the subject of basics'. Unlike every other curriculum subject, maths derives from the basics. For instance, before multiplication and division came about, there was addition and subtraction. That is why it's very important to master the fundamentals. Once you do, you will be able to grasp the harder ones fairly quickly.

Moreover, when you are attempting to solve a maths problem, you must have this theory of basics, in mind. This is so you can 'think' back to the basics if you're ever stuck on a particular problem.

 For example, say you were given this question in an exam:
Solve for x: 3x^2 = 75

You may be a little put-off by this question, at first, but by 'thinking' back to the basics, you will come to a

solution. Firstly, you would attempt to break down this statement. So we have an 'x^2' which simply means a


 number multiplied by itself (x squared). Altogether, this statement reads: 3 times a number multiplied by itself

is equal to 75. To find out this unknown, you work backwards. So, divide 75 by 3 to put the unknown

completely on its own. This works out to be 25. Now, the statement reduces to x^2 = 25. You would need

to know your square numbers at this point to deduce that x = 5 (or -5).

When you view maths in this way, the solution begins to unravel and it becomes dead easy! Did you see how we referred back to the previous concepts? We really thought about what the statement said. We know that in algebraic equations, you never see a multiplication sign. Instead numbers and letters are bunched together. Also, we had to think about the notation for a square (which is x^2) and that square roots have both a positive and negative solution.

Ultimately, your maths skills are measured by an examination at the end of a particular course. An exam is simply a set of questions from a wide-range of topics. Exam questions are contextual. This means they're applied to real-life scenarios. Be careful because these questions are quite 'wordy' as opposed to standard maths problems. As you're examined by these type of questions, it is best to work solely on exam questions. Keep practising them. Get a feel for the nature of these questions because this is essentially, how you're assessed. Once you've perfected you're exam technique, you are guaranteed to ace your exam.

Another important issue is memory. Again, an exam is a test of how much you can remember. The more you can remember, the higher the result. It's as simple as that! From past experience, I found that the best (and only) way to improve memory is through repetition. Attempt exam questions over and over again. What you'll notice is, after a while, the methods used will store in your memory banks. Solving these questions will become second nature to you. I emphasise methods because maths questions are generally solved in a step-by-step format. So memorize these methods and pass your maths exam with flying colours!

How to Improve Your Math Grades

You can pass many exams in school. But one of the most important is mathematics.
And it's not hard to see why.

Colleges and employers highly value the results from math exams. A top grade in mathematics shows you are somebody who can think clearly, follow instructions, solve problems, and work under pressure. These are all desirable traits in a future employee.

So you need to pass math. You need to crack the tests. You need to get the grades, the higher the better.
Fine. But how?
If you're not naturally gifted at math, what can you do to improve your exam scores?
Answer: you can do more than you realize. Despite its reputation, mathematics is a remarkably human subject. And that means you can learn math like anything else, provided you approach it in the right way. So here are three quick human tips to help you in your math studies.

1. Develop your PMA

Yes, a Positive Mental Attitude does make a huge difference to your grades.
And yet without realizing it, you are mentally beating yourself up with negative phrases like "I can't do this" or "I'm no good at math".

You need to tell this negative little voice to be quiet. Better still, drown it out with some positive self-talk. Say to yourself phrases like "I can do math. I overcome many challenges every day and I can learn some simple math techniques."

Remind yourself that math is all about solving problems. And you've solved plenty of those in your time.
You already have the characteristics of the person who is "good at math".
Remember there is always a solution.

2. It's not "all or nothing"

Closely related to negative thinking is the dreaded "all or nothing" thinking, where you see yourself either as a success in math - or an abject failure.
Math tends to breed this type of thinking thanks to its perennial focus on getting the correct answer.
In math, you're either right or you're wrong.

Fair enough, but when you are learning the subject, ease up on yourself. Realize you are not a binary switch that has two states of "on" or "off".
You are a human being on a journey. And you are neither at the starting line nor at the finishing line. You are somewhere in between. The point is you are always moving forward. And you will get to the finish line if you'll just keep going.

A negative mind says "I can't do math".
A positive mind says "Okay, I might not understand this topic completely. Yet. But I am getting there and I will understand it."

3. Give yourself time
Nobody said you must understand every math lesson immediately.
But it's easy to think this way thanks to today's increasingly fast world. With television beaming instant successes every hour of the day, it's easy to develop a false sense of reality. You can start to believe that your success should come fast and without any challenges. Real success is rarely so easy.

So give yourself time to understand a new math concept. If you don't understand it the first time, look over the lesson again later when your brain has had time to relax.

And if you still can't make sense of the topic? Then do what smart people always do in this situation:
Get a second opinion!

In other words, ask someone else for help.
Whether it's a friend, a mentor, or even an Internet search engine, it's amazing how somebody else can explain the same topic in a different way that suddenly makes perfect sense.

Think positive. Keep going. Give yourself time.
 These tips won't make you a 100% math student overnight. But they will change the way you look at mathematics. And your math grades will improve as a result.

Best Three Online Teaching Degree Institutions in America

If you've always had the dream to gain your teaching degree but never got the chance to do so due to other commitments, then maybe it's about time you went ahead and chased your dream. With online teaching schools, you don't need to give up your job, family commitments or even travel as you can gain your degree at home and on your own time as well. With so many teaching schools out there, here are the top 5 online teaching degree schools to help you get started.

The Kaplan University has got a huge selection of specialties for you to pick and gives working adults the chance to explore their passion in teaching with a wide range of professional disciplines. The great thing about this school is that they focus and emphasize on skill development and real life knowledge which would be applied in the student's actual professional life.

Besides that, there is Walden University which is an accredited university with various specializations for you to study. With over 35,000 graduates, Walden looks towards making changes in the community by giving their students a quality education and pushing them to become the best people the can be. They believe that knowledge is important and can make a huge difference when put to good use.

Furthermore, Jones International University was the nations very first institution to come up with a 100% online program. They help individuals find their best potential and help them strive towards successful careers. The added benefit of this institution is that students would be able to get a one-on-one mentoring from elite of the diverse faculty from some of the most renowned academic institutions in the world.
All in all, there are actually a lot more online teaching degree institutes that are accredited and would be able to give you just what you need to pursue a career in teaching. Look it up online and you would be amaze to find just how many schools there are worldwide.



Correct a Professional Mistake With Online Teaching

Academics not engaging online teaching on a daily basis are making a professional mistake. Undoubtedly, the results of deep cuts to public education budgets make this idea plausible since there seems to no visible end to the teacher layoffs on the traditional campus. Obviously, any educator with an earned graduate degree or any teacher with a bachelor degree who is willing to enroll in graduate school and earn a master degree can actively address this situation by learning how to teach online for the thousands of post-secondary academic institutions that offer online college classes to their enrolled college and university students.

The number of available online adjunct positions is growing each semester as academic administrators begin to appreciate the cost efficiency of online education when compared to what it costs to deliver the same post-secondary instruction in a physical classroom on a traditional campus. Additionally, new and returning college students are very enthusiastic about the convenience of being able to earn an academic degree from their personal computers at home or at work because a growing number of students enrolled in community colleges and four-year state universities are non-traditional students with family and employment obligations that make traveling to a remote physical campus at odd hours of the day or evening a problem.

This means that educators concerned about the future of their professional lives should take a hard look at the benefits of an online teaching schedule that can be coordinated from practically any spot on the globe that provides access to the online college degree programs located on the Internet. The mobility inherent in an online teaching career cannot be stressed enough. To be able to choose the geographical location from which to teach can result in less stress and increased academic productivity. Additionally, the lack of any need to be physically present on a particular campus literally increases the number of post-secondary institutions an online teacher can work for at any given time.

Many educators have given little thought to the benefits of being able to teach from any town, city, state or country they choose to be in any time of the day or night. This lack of awareness of the inherent mobility associated with teaching online for a variety of online bachelor degree programs and online master degree programs is hardly surprising since the traditional career path for an intellectual that leaves a graduate program with the academic credentials required to teach at the post-secondary level of the educational system leads to one state position at one state college or university.

Of course, that one state teaching position is immovable and when the budget funds for faculty salaries are cut to the point that layoffs start the academic depending on the work from just one physical post-secondary academic institution is left in the proverbial dust to try and make a living in an economic landscape that does not lend itself to such an effort by individuals with educational credentials.

The result of this absence of awareness of the mobility assigned to an online adjunct instructor coordinating an online teaching schedule filled with online college classes actually prevents a great number of academically qualified teachers from making the effort to begin applying for online university employment on a daily basis. The teacher that wants to successfully confront the growing number of teacher layoffs should take distance education technology seriously and begin visiting the websites of four-year state universities and colleges, technical schools, community colleges and for-profit colleges in order to locate the faculty application sections in the schools' websites.

Every educator interested in continuing to earn a living from teaching should take concrete steps to learn how to teach online for post-secondary academic institutions. For example, every prospective online adjunct instructor should construct a rotational application schedule that produces as many as twenty applications each day. The reason it is vitally important to make so many inquires about available online adjunct positions in the beginning is that most community colleges, four-year state universities, state colleges and technical schools are still trying to catch up with the for-profit colleges that discovered the efficiency of online college courses a decade ago.

Of course, now that the traditional schools are making strides to replace the physical classrooms with online bachelor degree programs and online master degree programs there are new online degree programs emerging in almost every imaginable academic discipline each academic year. The next concrete step to take after creating the application schedule is to learn how navigate the Internet quickly and smoothly from a personal computer so that it is possible to enter and exit the various post-secondary academic websites on a daily basis. The combination of a well-developed application strategy and sharp computer skills added to the technical savvy needed to move about the Internet without hesitation will help an online adjunct build a fulltime online teaching schedule. While it may be difficult to take these concrete steps after spending all day in the physical classroom, the effort will be worth it in the event the next round of teacher layoffs produces even more academic unemployment.

Undoubtedly, many college instructors will be shocked to have their notions of traditional academic employment described as a professional mistake. However, it should be crystal clear that the mistake is in continuing to pursue traditional teaching jobs while ignoring the changes that are taking place. In the end, the issue isn't about pedagogy; it's about how to earn a decent living as a teacher now that online college degree programs are the vehicle of choice for academic administrators. The adjunct college instructors that lean how to teach online are and will be the winners as distance learning becomes the driving force in the delivery of post-secondary instruction.
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Michael Greene is a full time online teacher. Greene has learned that the academic wanting to continue earning a living from teaching should recognize the growing popularity of distance education programs at the post-secondary level of the academy. Educators qualified to teach at the college level can discover that it is possible to acquire and coordinate multiple online college jobs by developing a concrete search strategy that includes making multiple applications to online degree programs each day. Greene has learned over the last five years that online adjunct instructors can be delightfully surprised when they discover that many distance universities actually need technically prepared online instructors to teach online and that online college degree programs are the future of post-secondary instruction for students and teachers


Online Teaching is the Effective Way to Pursue Education

The real meaning of online teaching is to draw up a lecture of a teacher instead of attending class room education. The world has transformed into global village and information technology makes it possible to transmit message from pole to pole. So, distance education makes it possible to bring online teaching to your threshold and at your finger tips.

In the occidental countries most of the people who used to be busy like a bee and failed to finish their desired education in the nick of time got their degrees by online study. Online teaching method enabled them to pursue learning in home following work. Virtual teaching functions like that. Because, now-a-day, it is almost impossible to achieve   greatness without being of service. All the great men and women became great since they have contributed their talents and abilities to the service of mankind. Online teaching system became great through their convenient and flexible method of education.

Teaching online has multi dimensional facilities via online examination, online lecture, and flexible audio-visual lecture, CDs, DVDs and advanced research methodology in terms of education texts and scripts. So, people are more turning to education since online teaching brought up multifarious facilities and made learning a pleasant experience.

Virtual teaching is undoubtedly a boon to any nation. The progress of a nation cannot be brought about by keeping its people illiterate. Illiteracy hampers the development of a country seriously and so online teaching system enables people to develop and learn many things. Knowing how to apply scientific method in the field of education is necessary for any educational institute.

So, to remove illiteracy, it is our painful duty to spread information about online teaching so that no one remains illiterate in any part of this planet. Online teaching is a complete way to gather knowledge, and developing the world into a global village. Therefore, we should encourage people to follow online teaching system and have the benefit of teaching advantages.

We must be proud that in this age we are able to gain access to education online thru convenient teaching facilities with the advancement of information technology.  You can study whenever you want and wherever you want. This will give you flexibility so that you can you can imbibe whatever you study without any time pressure. Online education is the lone path that can bring a nation to the peak of prosperity by eradicating illiteracy.

Internet teaching is cost effective, flexible, and very easy for learners. Now electronic technology has ushered too many online teaching facilities for busy people and it is that kind of boon in which people are coming up. So since people have access to online education and they too can learn any course they want at a very affordable price. You can know of many online colleges by visiting any educational site. Surf the internet and you can find many accredited colleges that offer online education. In this age of science and technology, distance education has come as a boon to the students.