Get a Head Start for Exams

Get a head start for exams

October 25 2011 at 08:54pm

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Dehydration, stress, poor posture and diet are all potential triggers for headaches.

Picture: Boxer Ngwenya

Headaches have become an ordinary occurrence for students around exam times and many of them feel helpless when dealing with this problem. Students are so overwhelmed by the pressure of assignments and exams that they completely forget about the effects this is having on their health.

Dr Elliot Shevel, chairman of the South African division of the International Headache Society, has the following advice:

* Be aware of your posture when studying as this can result in a tension headache. Use a good chair that supports your back and that gives the ideal posture. Visit http://www.headacheclinic.co.za to get a free copy of the ideal computer posture. Learn the right stretching exercises to stretch the muscles of your head, face, neck and jaw. Stretching should be gentle and soothing, not agonisingly painful. Stretch your neck and jaw muscles carefully and you will get results.

* Find out what triggers your headaches by keeping a diary. Each time you suffer from a headache, make a note about the warning signs, triggers and severity. If you can discover some of your personal triggers, you may be able to avoid future headaches. This diary will assist with diagnosing conditions such as medication overuse headache and help you make a decision to go for no-drug methods of treatment.

* Dietary migraine is a common affliction. These are usually triggered by foods that assist with energy such as chocolate. Chocolate raises the blood sugar level quickly and then allows it to drop quickly again. Low GI (glycaemic index) foods give a more even blood sugar level. Use the nutritional facts label to help choose healthy foods when shopping. Compare nutrient levels for similar foods. Common culprits include MSG, red wine, cheese, soy sauce and processed meats. Remember, skipping meals is a surefire trigger for migraines as well. Eat in moderation.

* Beware of medication overuse headache (MOH). Medication is only appropriate for someone who suffers a few times a month. According to the International Headache Society, if you are taking medication more than twice a week, you are at risk of developing MOH. This means that the drugs you are taking will cause the migraine to become more severe and more frequent over time. This leads to a downward spiral into constant medication overuse and constant pain. The more medication you take, the more pain you are in, and the cycle continues.

* It is important that you keep your stress levels to a minimum. Plan ahead to guarantee that you have enough time to study and that you get sufficient rest each night. Take regular breaks.

* Dehydration is a common trigger, so maintain an adequate intake of fluid throughout the day to prevent headaches. The human brain is more than 75 percent water and it is very sensitive to the amount of water available to it. When the brain detects that the water supply is too low, it begins to produce histamines. This is essentially a process of water rationing and conservation to safeguard the brain in case the water shortage continues for a long period of time.

The histamines directly cause pain and fatigue, and the low energy that usually accompanies it. It is best to drink plain water, as many carbonated soft drinks contain substances that can also trigger headaches. Substances that headache sufferers should avoid include common ingredients in soft drinks, such as caffeine.

* A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine tested 32 women with tension-type headache. The investigators studied self-report data on headache triggers, pain interference with sleep and self-management strategies for pain. Eighty-one percent reported that going to sleep was the most frequently used self-management strategy, and this group also rated going to sleep as the most effective. Aim to sleep seven or eight hours a night.

* If your headaches persist, you must get to the root of the problem. The longer the headache persists, the more damage will be done to the underlying structures.

A “multidisciplinary” assessment will need to be done. There are so many different structures in the head, face and neck, all of which can be involved in the migraine process, that no single specialist can have all the knowledge necessary to make a comprehensive diagnosis.

“Which structures are causing the pain… is the million dollar question,” adds Shevel. – The Mercury

Source: http://www.iol.co.za/lifestyle/family/kids/get-a-head-start-for-exams-1.1164664

 

Exam Dates for November 2011 (Grade 6)

Examination Times

Registration: 07:50

Session 1: 08:00 to 10:30

Break: 10:30 to 11:00

Session 2: 11:00 to 13:00

If pupils are not writing an examination, they may be at home provided parents send a letter to their child’s register teacher stating that the pupil will be supervised at home.

Thursday 17 November 2o11

Session 1 – English

Session 2 – Geography

 

Friday 18 November 2o11

Session 1 – Mathematics

Session 2 – Jewish Studies

 

Monday 21 November 2o11

Session 1 – 2nd Language (Afrikaans/French)

Session 2 – Art Theory

 

Tuesday 22 November 2o11

Session 1 – History

Session 2 – 3rd Language (French/German/N. Sotho)

 

Wednesday 23 November 2o11

Session 1 – Natural Science

Session 2 – No Exam

 

Thursday 24 November 2o11

Session 1 – Music Theory/Greek/Hebrew

Session 2 – No Exam

 

Friday 25 November 2o11

Session 1 – No Exam

Session 2 – No Exam

 

Global Warming – man made or a natural phenomenon

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-481613/Global-warming-Its-natural-say-experts.html

Improving concentration when studying

Improving Concentration

Many students have difficulty concentrating while studying. Being able to concentrate while you are studying is essential to doing well in class and on tests.

Here are 10 suggestions for improving your study concentration:

• Study in a quiet place that is free from distractions and interruptions. Try to create a space designated solely for studying.
• Make a study schedule that shows what tasks you need to accomplish and when you plan to accomplish each task. This will provide you with the structure you need for effective studying.
• Try to study at the time of day you work best. Some people work well early in the morning, others late at night. You know what works best for you.
• Make sure you are not tired and/or hungry when you study. Otherwise, you won’t have the energy you need to concentrate. Also, maintain your physical fitness.
• Don’t try to do two tasks at the same time. You won’t be able to concentrate on either one very well. Concentration means focusing on one thing to the exclusion of all else.
• Break large tasks into a series of smaller tasks that you can complete one at a time. If you try to complete a large task all at once, you may feel overwhelmed and may be unable to maintain your concentration.
• Relax! It’s hard to concentrate when you’re tense. It’s important to relax when working on a task that requires concentration. Meditation is helpful to many students.
• Clear your mind of worrisome thoughts. You can get distracted by your own thoughts. Monitor your thoughts and prevent yourself from following any that take you off track. Don’t daydream.
• Develop an interest in what you are studying. Try to relate what you are studying to you own life to make it as meaningful as possible. This can motivate yourself to concentrate.
• Take breaks whenever you feel fatigued. There is no set formula for when to take breaks. You will know when you need to take a break.

Studying without concentration is like trying to fill a bucket with water when the bucket has a hole in its bottom. It doesn’t work.

Managing you academic time

Managing Your Study Time

 There are only so many hours in a day, a week, and a term. You cannot change the number of hours, but you can decide how to best use them.

To be successful in school, you must carefully manage your study time. Here is a strategy for doing this.

Prepare a Term Calendar

At the beginning of a term, prepare a Term Calendar. Update it as the term goes on. Here is what to do to prepare a Term Calendar.

• Record your school assignments with their due dates and your scheduled tests.
• Record your planned school activities.
• Record your planned school activities.
• Record your known out-of-school activities.

Prepare a Weekly Schedule

Each Sunday before a school week, prepare a Weekly Schedule. Update it as the week goes on. Here is what to do to prepare a Weekly Schedule.

• Record your daily classes.
• Enter things to be done for the coming week from your Term Calendar.
• Review your class notes from the previous week to see if you need to add any school activities.
• Add any out-of-school activities in which you will be involved during the week.
• Be sure to include times for completing assignments, working on projects, and studying for tests. These times may be during the school day, right after school, evenings, and weekends.

Prepare a Daily Organizer

Each evening before a school day, prepare a Daily Organizer for the next day. Place a √ (tick) next to each thing to do as you accomplish it.

Here is what to do to prepare a Daily Organizer.

• Enter the things to do for the coming day from your Weekly Schedule.
• Enter the things that still need to be accomplished from your Daily Organizer from the previous day.
• Review your class notes for the day just completed to see if you need to add any school activities.
• Add any out-of-school activities in which you will be involved the next day.

Your Weekly Schedule should have more detail than your Term Calendar. Your Daily Organizer should have more detail than your Weekly Schedule. Using a Term Calendar, a Weekly Schedule, and a Daily Organizer will help you make the best use of your time. Stick to tasks you set for yourself and tick them off as you complete them. You should limit your daily tasks to 5. More than this and you may run out of time in a day.

Reading styles

Becoming a Flexible Reader

To become a flexible reader, you need to know how to select and use a reading style that is consistent with your purpose for reading. There are three important reading styles you should learn to use. Each has its own purpose. Knowing when and how to use these three reading styles will make you a flexible reader. Read to learn about the three reading styles used by flexible readers.

Study Reading is the reading style used by flexible readers when their purpose is to read difficult material at a high level of comprehension. When using the Study Reading style, you should read at a rate that is slower than your normal reading rate. Further, as you read you must challenge yourself to understand the material. Study Reading will often require you to read material more than once to achieve a high level of comprehension. Sometimes, reading the material aloud will also help you improve your comprehension.

Skimming is the reading style used by flexible readers when their purpose is to quickly obtain a general idea about the reading material. The Skimming style is most useful when you have to read a large amount of material in a short amount of time. When using the Skimming style, you should identify the main ideas in each paragraph and ignore the details in supportive sentences. Because you are looking only for the main idea in each paragraph you read, a lower level of comprehension is to be expected than when using the Study Reading style.

Scanning is the reading style used by flexible readers when their purpose is to quickly locate a specific piece of information within reading material. The piece of information to be located may be contained in a list of names, words, numbers, short statements, and sometimes even in a paragraph. Since you know exactly what you are looking for, move your eyes quickly over the reading material until you locate the specific piece of information you need to find.

Before you begin your next reading assignment, identify your purpose for reading. Decide if you are reading for a high level of comprehension, trying to get a general idea about what you are reading, or looking for specific information. Then use the reading style that is appropriate for that task.

How to remember words in order

You can use an acronymic sentence.

Write your list of words you need to learn in order, then underline the first letter. Now make a sentence using those letters as first letters for words in your sentence.

E.g.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

My very energetic monkey jumped straight under Nate.

or

kilometer, hectometre, decametre, metre, decimetre, centimetre, millimetre

km, hm, dam, m, dm, cm ,mm

king henry died a miserable death called measles.

 

You will still have to study the words but the acronymic sentence can be very useful to order the lists in the correct order.

 

Tips for Study Groups

The Power of Study Groups

Working Together Helps Everyone.

You may have noticed that when you’re explaining something you’ve learned to a friend, you begin to understand it better yourself. This happens because, when you explain an idea, you need to think more deeply about it.

The same principle makes study groups useful. Studying with others in a small group is helpful because you:

• Think out loud.
• Share ideas.
• Learn from one another.

In an effective study group, you and other students hash out lesson materials together — explaining concepts, arguing about them, figuring out why one person’s answer differs from another’s — and in the process, you most likely learn more than you would have studying by yourself.

The Benefits of Study Groups

Group study offers other advantages in addition to gaining a deeper understanding of class material. These include the opportunity to reinforce note-taking. If your own study notes are unclear, you can ask a member of your study group to help you fill the gaps.

Share Talents

Each person brings different strengths, such as organizational skills, the ability to stick to a task or a capacity for memorization.

Cover More Ground

Group members may be able to solve a calculus problem together that none would have solved alone. Benefit from a support system. Members often have common goals, such as good grades. Each person’s work affects the other members, which results in making members supportive of one another.

Socialise

It’s more fun to study with others; the give-and-take makes it more interesting. And because it’s more fun, you spend more time studying!

Guidelines for Getting a Group Together

Here are some guidelines for creating and running a study group:

How many?

• Create a group of four to six people.

In a larger group, it’s easy for someone to get left out and smaller groups can too easily get off track.

Who?

Pick classmates who seem to share your interest in doing well academically. Look for people who stay alert in class, take notes, ask questions and respond to the teacher’s questions. Include someone who understands the material better than you and can explain the concepts and someone who doesn’t understand it as well, to whom you can explain the material.

Where?

Hold study group sessions in a place that is free of distractions and that has room to spread out books and notes.

How long?

Meet for no more than two to three hours at a time. Having a time limit helps the group focus. If you know you only have an hour, you are more likely to stay on task.

When?

Try to meet regularly, on the same day and time each week. Treating the study session as you would other activities helps you to keep to a schedule and ensures that everyone attends.

Getting the Most Out of a Session

Here are some tips to help your group get the most out of each study session:

• Decide what you’re going to do in advance.
• Prepare for the session, so you can make the most of your time together.
• Take turns teaching, to reinforce your own knowledge.
• Stick to the session topic.

By supplementing your individual study with a study group, you can reinforce what you’ve learned, deepen your understanding of complex concepts, and maybe even make a few new friends. Whoever said learning can’t be fun?