How to Bring Up Failing Grades

Nobody likes to fail classes, and as much as you might profess to not care about grades, there is likely an inkling of frustration you’re carrying about that failing grade. Bring failing grades up to passing is not as complicated as you might think, although it will require initiative and motivation on your part.

Speak With Your Instructor

Your first step after learning of a failing grade is to speak to an instructor or teacher as quickly as possible. You need to learn why you’re failing the course. Often failing falls into two categories – you haven’t completed necessary assignments and have zeroes bringing down your average or you have failed assignments and tests you have completed.

Learn as much as you can from your teacher including the assignments you failed or are missing and the teacher’s available conference times or tutorial periods.

Complete Missing Assignments

The best case scenario for failing is that you’re simply missing assignments. If your teacher is willing, as most are, simply complete the missing assignments for partial credit. Anything is better than a zero in the grade book – even a fifty. Complete all of the missing work as quickly as possible bringing each assignment to the teacher during tutorials to be sure she sees your progress as you work through the stack of things and you have a chance to ask any questions you might have. When you’ve finished everything, you will likely be passing or have brought up your grade enough that you’ll be passing with a few assignments completed on time for full credit.

Redo Failed Work

If your teacher offers make-up work on things you’ve failed, absolutely take advantage of the opportunity. Even bring failing grades up to a D or C will help your grade quite a bit. If you’re failing assignment after assignment, however, you’re looking at a sign of a bigger problem. For you to pass the course, you need to identify what the problem is. It could be that you’re simply unmotivated and didn’t put any effort into the assignments. Or it might be that you’re trying hard and just not getting it. If it’s a problem of motivation, only you can make yourself care about your work when it’ assigned. If you’re struggling to understand the material, you’ll need to take an additional step.

Go to Tutorials

Before paying for private tuition, visit the teacher during her tutorial or office hours. Ask questions about the material covered and ask the teacher to help you work through some of the more complicated areas of the lesson. Working with peer tutors that are available in many schools is another free way of gaining help. If you have a friend in class who doesn’t mind helping you, you might take advantage of that avenue of assistance as well. If you find yourself still struggling with material and basic understanding, strongly consider a series of private tuition to fill in background knowledge and help teach you the lessons again from different perspectives until it finally clicks and you’re able to do well on assignments.

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Talk to the teacher or instructor about failing grades to learn what is causing the failure
• Make up any missing work that might have a grade of zeroes
• Redo as much work as possible to raise failing grades
• Attend teacher tutorials or peer tutoring to get a bit of extra help with concepts and assignments
• Use private tutoring to fill in gaps of knowledge and to learn material in different ways

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

Private tutoring can vary widely in style, cost and format. Decide ahead of time whether you need help with the occasional homework or if you’re more interested in an extra evening course to fill in gaps and help you learn more overall.

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How to Teach Children’s Sunday School

Teaching Sunday school can be a highly rewarding though challenging experience. It is a unique and fun way to give back to your community and an opportunity to learn about your own faith while sharing with the children of your community.

Sunday School Lessons

The key to successful Sunday school lessons in any teaching environment is truly knowing your audience. Before planning a lesson, evaluate what age group you are teaching, how active are the kids in your class, do they pay attention more to hands on activities or in a lecture environment.

There are many websites devoted to helping you develop lesson plans. Some of these resources may be faith specific but can be tailored to fit your denomination and believes. Always have a backup plan ready just in case, there is always something that can go wrong from a lack of supplies to a larger class than expected, etc.

Sunday School Activities

Sunday school activities are a great way to reinforce the lessons you have taught during your session with your students and also a fun way to build relationships between kids. Activities, like lessons, should be tailored to your specific class needs. High school students would not enjoy coloring and elementary aged kids would hate to have a character debate.

Be sure that activities involve all students in the classroom and allow everyone an opportunity to “shine”. If creating art projects, allow each child a minute or two to explain their art to the class. This will help you gage how well the students understood the lesson and will again allow for students to create lasting relationships within their faith communities.

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Evaluate the learning style, atmosphere and resources of your classroom.
• Choose a specific topic to focus on each week whether an upcoming holiday or a specific bible verse. As you plan the lesson, keep referring back to this original topic and be sure not to stray from your goal.
• Use resources to help you focus. Religion is a big subject and there is a lot to share with your students. Seeing how other people have succeeded and failed will help you better execute your lesson plan.
• Reinforce lessons with an activity to allow students to show you what they have learned and where there are opportunities for continued growth.
• Involve all students, even the shy students. Pick activities that they will be comfortable sharing and performing with the other students in the classroom.

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

Religion is a very personal, sensitive subject matter to teach. When planning lessons keep in mind that each student may have grown up with different traditions and understanding of verses and written word. Keep this in mind when designing your lesson and students will be more receptive to the information you are giving them.

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How to Organize a Youth Group Field Trip

Youth group field trips don’t plan themselves, unfortunately. Whether you are planning a trip across the street or to another state or country, the key to success is anticipating things not going according to plan. Children will get sick, someone will leave something at home and rain will fall. Remember to anticipate these events and have fun planning.

Youth Group Fund raising

No trip can happen without some sort of funding and the more funding available, the more options you will have for activities and outings. The key to youth group fundraising is keeping your expenses down so that your profit is higher. If you spend everything that you make, the fundraiser has served no purpose. Determine how much money you will need to have a successful trip. What items can be paid for with current funds and what needs additional funding?

Find out where your students strengths lie. Are they good sales people, do they like to bake, are they hard workers. Use these skills to your advantage. Car washes bake sales and donations are traditional methods for raising money, but maybe you want to be more creative. Organize a parents’ day out if your group is made up of older children. Have families bring their children to a location and charge a set, low rate for each child.

Have the older children in charge of one or two children for the night and allow them to “baby-sit”. This is a great way to not only raise money but also help parents with a night off and your students with networking for weekend babysitting jobs. Be sure to inform the community around you of your fundraiser and what the money is being used for.

Youth Group Icebreakers

Youth group icebreakers are a great way to set the tone for a day of fun and interacting with new people. Icebreakers create a sense of community and build common ground between people that may have never met before. Remember when planning icebreakers to choose something that everyone will have to participate in. Choose games that require each person to participate to avoid wallflowers sinking into the background. Have leaders participate as well to create a sense of fun and comradery.

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Set a specific goal for fundraising. Include all costs and expenses that may come up.
• Have students in your youth group brainstorm ideas for fundraising. If they are invested in the idea, they are more likely to be invested in the result.
• Advertise fundraising events in your community. The more people that come, the more successful your event will be.
• Divide students into planning groups to help plan the event and the fundraising.
• During the field trip, start the day with an icebreaker to get students ready to interact with one another.
• Have a clear time frame of when you will arrive, leave, etc. Give yourself enough time to really stick to your time frame.

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

Plan for the unexpected. The more well prepared you are the smoother the trip will be and the more fun everyone will have.

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How to Teach Children about Easter

For most children, Easter has become a holiday about candy and toys and a lot of the meaning of the season has been lost. Whether you are Catholic or Protestant or any other denomination, it is important for family traditions and the meaning behind the symbols associated with this holiday to be shared with children.

Easter Sunday School Curriculum

There are several ways to develop your Easter Sunday school curriculum and a variety of online resources that teachers have created to assist you. The most effective curriculums involve the children in the learning process through activities and discussions. A hands-on approach allows learners to interpret information in a way that makes sense to them and personalizes the information being given.

Easter Sunday School Easter Activities

A great way to teach children about Easter is to help them understand why certain symbols are used during this time of year. Try making flash cards with different images such as eggs and chicks as well as crosses and lambs.

Another of the best Sunday school Easter activities is to give each child a plastic Easter egg. Inside each egg is some piece of the Easter story. Have the children put the pieces in order from Good Friday through Easter Sunday. After each piece is in order, read the children the Easter story either from the bible or from a children’s book.

Another final activity is to have each child plant a bean in a cup of dirt. Have them write on the cup or a piece of paper what Easter means to them. Since Easter is a time of rebirth and hope, watching the beans grow will reinforce these lessons.

Allow children to ask questions and there will be difficult questions to answer. Younger children especially like to ask questions about the Easter Bunny and who is Jesus. Answer to the best of your ability but also without possibly contradicting something they have been taught at home. Some children may have been told who the Easter Bunny really is so answer with facts such as why the Easter Bunny is a part of many Easter celebrations.

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Use available resources to develop your curriculum. Most congregations have a variety of worksheets and lesson plans from years past hidden away waiting to be found.
• Keep in mind the age group you are teaching and the size of your class. These are important considerations when planning your Easter lesson.
• Be creative and use hands-on activities to prepare lessons.

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

Be sure to keep your audience involved to avoid losing their attention. Choose material appropriate for your age group.

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How to Teach Children the Christmas Story

Christmas is one of the most exciting holidays for children and is an opportunity to teach kids about some of the traditions and symbols they see all around them. From candy canes to Santa Clause, every symbol can be traced back centuries from even before the dawn of Christianity.

Christmas Games and Ice Breakers

Christmas games and ice breakers are a great way to keep an active, excited class learning and having fun in the process. There are many resources on the internet with great ideas. One great idea is a game where the nativity story is told to the children sitting in a circle. Every time the words “left” or “right” are used in the story, children pass small gifts in the opposite direction (left when the word right is used, etc).

The children really listen to the story in anticipation of hearing these words and it’s a great way to experience the gift of giving and receiving for the kids. Another fun game is to place words from popular carols into a bag for each child and have them match the phrase with the correct carol title. While doing this you can talk about the meaning of each song and even when it first became popular. Most Christmas carols are full of symbolism and hidden meaning from the period in which they were written. Relate these hidden symbols to the original Christmas story and the classic manger scene.

Free Sunday School Curriculum

There are many websites devoted to helping you develop and teach free Sunday school curriculum. Some of these resources may be faith specific but can be tailored to fit your denomination and believes. Always have a backup plan ready just in case, there is always something that can go wrong from a lack of supplies to a larger class than expected, etc.

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Evaluate the learning style, atmosphere and resources of your classroom.
• Allow students to share information about their own family traditions and customs.
• Be creative in how you present information.
• Relate the information presented to the children’s lives.

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

Religion is a very personal, sensitive subject matter to teach. When planning lessons keep in mind that each student may have grown up with different traditions and understanding of verses and written word.

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How to Write a College Application Essay

Applying for colleges is a tedious, stressful, not-fun job that most students dread. College application essays are designed to give the review board the opportunity to not only see what sort of writing style you have and if it will be effective in a college setting, but also a chance to get to know you outside of the standard name, address and social security number questions on most applications.

How to Choose a Topic for Your Essay

Most colleges and universities will provide you with a list of generic topics that you will be able to choose from. These topics are usually extremely broad such as “describe your learning style” or “How has music changed your life”. The important thing to remember when picking a topic is to first find something that you can write about.

Choose a topic that sparks some sort of interest in you. The topics are intentionally broad to force the student to show that they are able to organize a written paper in a manner that makes sense to the reader. During your college career and beyond, you will often be asked to take large topics and organize them into smaller papers so it is very important that you show the admissions board how capable you are.

How to Pre-Write Your College Essay

Hopefully high school English teachers have been drilling the prewriting process into the heads of their students for years but if not, this is what needs to be done. The first step is an outline. Outlines may seem silly, but once again, your admissions board is looking for college level organization.

Remember to include a thesis statement. The thesis is an overview of what you will be writing about. If someone were to only read the thesis of your paper, they should be able to give a fairly detailed summary with no other information. When you write your thesis, be sure that the statement matches the format of your paper. For example, “Over the years my musical tastes have developed as my education has continued from oldies, to pop and rock, to classical music.” If this were the thesis being used, the format of the paper should be oldies, pop and rock, and finally classical.

How to stay within the guidelines

Most schools will give specific instructions about the length of admission essays. These guidelines are not only developed to make sure that you are able to organize your thoughts effectively, but also to help the admissions staff in reviewing essays. Give yourself enough time that you can write the essay and then format it to fit within the given guidelines. Stick to only the important, need to know facts but make yourself stand out a little bit. Remember, 4-6 pages means at least 4.5 pages and no more than 6.

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Choose a topic that will challenge you a little and sparks your interest
• Use prewriting to make all the difference in the organization of your paper and will make writing ten times faster.
• Follow given guidelines to meet all criteria
• Add elements to make yourself stand out a bit from the competition.

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

Be sure to give yourself enough time to write and edit. The best writing comes when you are able to give the paper a look with a set of fresh eyes.

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How to Write a Thank you Letter

In today’s world of fast-paced emails, e-greeting cards and text messages, writing thank you letters has become a daunting and unfamiliar method of communication. Although they may seem old fashioned and tedious, thank you letters are a personal and sincere way to thank someone and can take as little or as much time as you have to commit to the project.

Personalize Your Thank You Letter

There are many ways to personalize a thank you letter. Before you even begin to write, choose some way to make your letter unique to the person you are sending it to. Personalizing can be as simple as naming the specific gift in the thank you letter, or as creative as using a certain design on your stationary. However you choose to do it, make your letter feel like it was made just for the recipient. If you are writing a number of thank you letters, be sure in each one to name the specific gift or act you are thankful for to avoid sounding impersonal.

Writing Your Thank You Letter

When you begin to write, think about what you would say to the person if they were standing in front of you. Keep the tone of the letter as relaxed or as formal as you feel is appropriate, but remember you are sending a reflection of your gratitude so slang and spelling errors are not the best representations. You may choose to talk about how you will use the gift or ways the recipient’s actions have affected you. It might also be helpful, if you are struggling, to write a rough draft before committing to a card or fancy stationary and it is often a good idea when handwriting letters to create a practice document on your computer.

Easy Step By Step

• Personalize-Use stationary, pictures or descriptions to individualize your letter. Think about who the letter is for. Do they have certain hobbies, do they like certain colors, would they like to know how you are going to use their gift: questions that will make your letter feel more personal.
• Brainstorm-Think about what you would say in person, create a practice letter.
• Choose your tone-Is the intended recipient older, younger, family, friend, or even a business associate. Avoid using slang and aim for proper grammar and spelling.

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

Relax and enjoy. You are giving a gift back to someone that gave something to you. Find a quiet place to write. Distractions will make the task seem even more difficult. Proofread before sending and make sure you send the correct letter to the correct person!

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How To Write An Unsent Letter

The unsent letter is a journalism tool often used when you, the writer, have something you want to say to someone and are unable to tell them directly.  Whether the person is physically absent from your life or there are other extenuating circumstances, an unsent letter can help diffuse the negativity of holding something inside.

What are some of the times you might choose to write an unsent letter?

• When the person you want to write is not able to listen.  (The person is dead or in a coma or otherwise completely beyond your voice’s reach.)
• When the person you want to write is not willing to listen.  (The person no longer wants a relationship with you or you are still in a relationship but know from past experience that there are certain things they will never hear due to their own denial.)
• When what you want to say may be more hurtful than helpful.  (You are so angry or hurt by the other person that you need to get that raw emotion out on paper or you will be eaten up by it.)
• When what you want to say is something you don’t necessarily want the other person to know at this point in time.  (You have a personal confession to make but are not ready to fully disclose yourself to the other person.)

The purpose of the unsent letter is to afford you the opportunity to say it all, everything from pain to rage, without fear of reprisal.  You can tell someone to take a long trip off a short pier or confess that, even though they have moved on with their lives, you are still very much in love with them.  You can tell a parent how much their neglect and abuse damaged you; or tell your rebellious child how painful it is to watch self-destructive patterns repeat themselves from one generation to the next.  You can tell a teacher what you really think of the grade you received or your boss what you really think about your job.  The unsent letter can be as rich or frivolous as you need for it to be.

Before you begin to write your letter, set aside a block of uninterrupted time for the actual writing.  Allow at least thirty minutes but be prepared to spend more time because it is not unusual to find yourself pouring out more than you had initially anticipated writing.  It is also not unusual to find that the emotion with which you started writing changes as you write.  I have begun an unsent letter furious with anger and have the letter shift into a compassionate confession where I try to understand why something happened.  Then again, you may find yourself filling pages with vitriolic accusations and never stray from that fury.  There is no right or wrong when writing an unsent letter and very few rules apply.  In fact, there are only three.

One
When writing the unsent letter the first thing you want to do is to date your letter, just as you would any other journal entry or letter you would write.  You want to date your unsent letter for your own purposes.  A year (or ten) from now, if you should reread your letter, you may be surprised by how much your personal attitude towards the person or situation have changed.  This is to be expected but you won’t be able to fully appreciate how far you have come if you don’t know when you were at this place emotionally speaking and needed to write the letter to begin with.

Two
Write honestly and without hesitation. Do not stop to revise yourself.  Above all else, do not censor yourself.  Nobody is going to read what you write.  You are not going to send this to the person.  You don’t have to worry about anyone judging you for being too angry, too weak, too pathetic.  Let everything pour out onto the page, whether you compose it with pen and paper or on a keyboard.  Give yourself to be as transparent as you can be.

Three
This should be obvious but do not send the letter.  Sometimes it is tempting to do so, especially if the person you are writing is still alive.  The consequences of sending the letter are manifold.  If you go into writing this letter without the intention of sending it, you are likely to say things that the other person is not prepared to hear.  Yes, you may want to tell your former lover how much their absence grieves you but it is unlikely that you will receive any sympathy after your letter is read.  If anything, he or she may think you are trying to be manipulative. 

Writing the unsent letter is not meant to be an opportunity for you to tell anyone else what you need to say; its purpose is to afford you the opportunity to say what you want and need to say in spite of the other person’s willingness or ability to listen.  This journalist exercise is incredibly powerful and, although it seems simplistic and may even appear to be useless, the truth is I know of no better way to express yourself honestly and without concern for repercussions than by writing unsent letter.  If you simply must have someone read it afterwards, you can always share it with a friend or you can post it anonymously on the internet. 

The unsent letter is an opportunity to give yourself closure where none is offered and the benefits may not be fully appreciated when you first undertake writing one but you can and will benefit from it in the long run. 

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How To Write an Essay

The formal essay is a fundamental in education. A formal essay is the best way to share knowledge on a particular topic and is a very popular form of exam. An essay can be personal or research based, but an essay generally follows the same format.

The Outline:

A well written essay can easily be tied back to an outline. It is heavily framed than then fleshed out with details. An outline for a classic five paragraph essay looks like this:

I. Introductory Paragraph

II. Main Idea #1

a. Detail about Main Idea #1

b. Detail about Main Idea #1

c. Detail about Main Idea #1

III. Main Idea #2

a. Detail about Main Idea #2

b. Detail about Main Idea #2

c. Detail about Main Idea #2

IV. Main Idea #3

a. Detail about Main Idea #3

b. Detail about Main Idea #3

c. Detail about Main Idea #3

V. Closing Paragraph and Summary

Introductory Paragraph:

The introduction to your essay should contain your thesis statement. This is the one sentence that summarizes your entire paper. All supporting paragraphs will provide details about this statement, so it must be broad enough to say your complete message, but it also must make a solid point. Generally the thesis statement is the first or last sentient of the introductory paragraph.

Body Paragraphs:

Each of the body paragraphs in an essay makes a point. Each paragraph should follow the same format as shown by the outline above. The first sentience of each is the topic sentence for that paragraph. The topic sentence should contain only one supporting point, such as “The French Revolution was disappointing to many of the French peasants of the time.”

Then, each of the remaining 3-4 sentences should give details and proof as to how and why the peasants were disappointed. Each paragraph should make a different point with at least two supporting statements and details following the topic sentence. You can have as many body paragraphs as you do points to make.

The Closing Paragraph:

After you have introduced your topic and stated your point using your thesis statement, you offer support. Your body paragraphs offer supporting statements and details that show your thesis statement to be correct. Finally, you must wrap up your support and close the paper using a powerful ending.

The closing paragraph restates your thesis and ties in the supporting statements. Ideally you should have a powerful final statement that will linger in the mind of your reader and help cement your point. In some cases, the closing paragraph could be shortened to a single sentence and tacked onto the end of the final body paragraph, but it is cleaner to simply add a final paragraph.

Essay Overview:

From a very high perspective, an essay is clean and tidy. You first introduce your topic and tell the reader what you are about to say. Then, you say it. Finally, you wrap it up and tell the reader what you just said. There is no room for extra items or long drawn out side stories.

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How To Write An Email

Email is among the most common forms of communication in businesses and between friends and family. Writing an effective email is different than writing a letter or chatting through a chat room or IM. To be easily read and deliver your message, email must be clean and concise. A good email follows the most basic rules of on screen writing – it must be easy on the eyes and easy to process.

Basic Formatting:
Much of an email follows the basic format of a letter. The first thing you must do is give your email an applicable subject. Avoid non-descriptive subjects like, “Hi!” as these might be overlooked or seem unprofessional. Use a good subject, even for personal emails, to help your recipient know what he’s about to read.

In the body of the email, use an introduction of some kind. A first name will often suffice for simple emails, but business emails should be more formal. “Dear So and So” is standard, or if you don’t know whom to address, you can use, “Dear Sirs.” The greeting can be removed if a conversation springs up between you and the recipient via email, but it should always be used on the initial contact or response.

Be sure to use paragraphs and complete sentences in the body of the email. Punctuation and capitalization is crucial not only to appear educated, but to help convey your message. Paragraphs should be short, often no more than 1-2 sentences to help they eye stay focused. Use an extra line between paragraphs to help break up longer messages.

The end of an email should have a closing or a signature. A signature is a message attached to the bottom of all messages. It usually contains your name, title and contact information. At the very least, you should put your name at the bottom of an email. That will help your recipient identify you and give him an idea of your preferred spelling or contact information for his records.

Email Formatting:

Certain formatting is required for emails that differs from that of print letters. The most important is to AVOID SHOUTING. Typing in all capital letters is shouting online and can be greatly offensive to readers.

Emoticons and text abbreviations are debated in professional emails, but common in personal ones. Be sure to know your audience – they may not know what “ttyl” or “LOL” means. Emoticons and abbreviations are generally accepted in casual style emails among professionals. A smiling face or “j/k” can help clear up meaning and keep the message light. Be sure to limit the use overall as too many symbols or abbreviations can be distracting from your message.

Be aware of your color and font choices. You may love pink, but pink words on a white background are almost impossible for most readers to decipher. Use a clean font and easy-to-read color palette.

Email Messages:

The message in emails is often short and sweet. Ideally, a reader won’t have to scroll through pages of text. A long chatty email is great between friends, but inappropriate in business. Get to the point quickly and use short sentences. Explanations should be simple and follow the main idea. Most professionals skim emails looking for the message and action points – don’t tangle up your reader with too many extra words or an unorganized message.

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