5 Advices : Some Good Tips in How to Study

Working with homework

One of the changes you no doubt have found as you moved into the junior-high years is that you are expected to study a great deal more on your own. You have more homework, and you have longer assignments than you did in earlier years. Some of these assignments may not be for your next class meeting but may be given for a week or even a month or so in advance. As a result you will have to learn how to study and how to plan in advance for things you must do.

Find a Good Place to Study

Find a comfortable, fairly quiet place where the lighting is good and where you can spread out your books and papers.

Try to have at hand the books, pencils, pen, paper, ruler, dictionary, and other materials you are likely to need in your studying.

Be Clear about the Nature and Purpose of Assignment

Write down your assignments in a regular place, preferably in a notebook. If the assignment is not clear to you, ask a teacher about it before you start it. Be sure to put the date when the assignment is due.

Think about the purpose of the assignment before you start to work. Ask yourself, “What am I to learn from this?” or “What are the main things I am to do or to find out?”

Adopt Good Study Habits

In a reading assignment, try reading the whole lesson quickly to see what it is all about. Once you get the main ideas, reread the material more carefully and fill in important details. If the assignment seems awfully long, break it up in to small parts and tackle one part at a time.

Spend time after reading some lesson to think over what you have read. See if you can tell about it in your own words.

Keep trying to see the importance of what you are studying and to think of real-life examples of the things you are reading about.

If the assignment has been a written one, always check your finished work with the assignment directions to be sure you have done what you were asked to do.

Look for chances to talk over with others the things you have been studying.

Work on Learning to Concentrate

Try to keep your mind on what you are doing. Do not take too much time out of daydream about the party on Friday, the new sweater you want, and so on.

Stay with the job. Do not hop up and down to do things you suddenly think about or to make telephone calls. These can wait.

Give yourself a break. Do your homework early enough in the afternoon or evening to avoid being tired out before you start.

Learn to Plan Ahead

If you have time for study in school, decide which work you can do best in school and which would be better to save for doing at home. Work that you find difficult may best be done when you teacher for that subject is available to help you.

Study your hardest subject first, when you are still fresh.

Allot the time you have for study among the assignments you must cover. Try to keep to your time limits whenever possible.

Divide you assignment into parts – those are due the next day and those that are due later on. Then plan your daily work so that you have some time set aside for working on each of your assignments.

Do your daily work first. If you cannot cover it and long-term assignment in evening study, set aside a definite time on weekends for long-term assignments. Do some experimenting to find out when you work best, morning, afternoon, or evening, or just before or just after meals. When possible, schedule your studying for such times.

Make use of small periods of time. You can sometimes accomplish a lot in 15 minutes.

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10 Reactions When Emotional Needs are not being Fully Satisfied

Emotional Needs

Use Illness as an Excuse

If a person is afraid to face difficult situations or situations in which he feels unsuccessful, he may use illness as a means of avoiding them. He may, for example, develop a sudden headache or upset stomach on the day of the English test.

Make Alibis or Sulk

To avoid criticism or to keep from feeling unsuccessful, a person may invent excuses of one sort or another. Or he might sulk or indulge in self-pity.

Avoid Situations He Does Not Like

If a person does not feel at ease with those his own age, or if he feels unwelcome as a member of a group, he may begin to avoid others whenever he can. He may, also, repeatedly forget things that need to be done or sleep too much.

Daydream Too Much

A person who is unable to achieve desired success in school or with friends may spend far too much time daydreaming about imaginary triumphs.

Always Try to Be With a Crowd

If a person feels lonesome and lest out f he is not always surrounded by other people, he is depending too much on others. Everyone needs some time alone.

Scapegoat

If a person feels threatened by a situation, he may blame a person or group when the blame is completely unwarranted. The person or persons blamed may be singled out because they are of a different race, religion, social group, or economic class.

Become a “Show-Off”

If a person fails to get enough attention and approval from others, he may use such methods as teasing and showing-off to make people notice him.

Become Loud or Bossy

A person who feels unsuccessful or unnoticed may become loud and try to push or boss other people around to cover up his real feelings.

Try to Bully Others

If a person is lonely, if he feels that others do not like him, if he feels unsure of himself, or if he is angry about something, he may take out his feelings by trying to bully others.

Brag a Great Deal

If a person does not feel too sure of himself, if he feels deep inside that he is not worth very much, he may cover up his real feelings by bragging a great deal. Or he may say mean or belittling things to or about others.

A person may sometimes use one or more of these undesirable ways of behaving to make up for an unsatisfied need. Different people use different ways of making up for unmet needs. One lonely boy, for example, may avoid people; another may strike out at others by bullying or teasing.

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Learn to Manage Your Emotions Wisely

Manage emotions wisely

In commenting about emotions, Dr. Bailey, spoke of the importance of learning to manage them wisely (Artikel Personality Development). How can this be done? How Can You Learn to Manage Your Emotions Wisely?

You can begin by considering what an important part emotions play in everyday life. Your emotions are a part of almost everything you do. Such feelings as happiness and affection add zest to living and make life worth while. And there is certainly a place in the world for such strong emotions as fear and anger. Fear of accidents and injuries aids in keeping you safety-minded, and anger over cruelty or destructiveness has helped to bring about many needed social changes and reforms. Thus the problem is not to get rid of emotions; it is to learn how to develop such emotions as those of happiness and affection – and how to cope wisely with strong feelings such as those of anger and fear.

Cultivating Such Emotions as Affection and Happiness

Your feelings of affection can “get through” to other people. Show by your smile, your facial expressions, your words, or your actions the love you feel for your parents and other family members – and the affection you have for your friends.

Your family and your friends have a basic emotional need for love and affection – as you do; they will have a hard time knowing how you feel about them if you never show your emotions.

Try to find hobbies or kinds of recreation that give you fun and relaxation. Everyone needs some activities into which he can throw himself completely and with pleasure.

Look for opportunities to do things for others. Some of your most satisfying feelings can come from doing things for others.

Managing Hurt or Angry Feelings

Perhaps you have thought that you ought to try to achieve such “self-control” that you would never become angry or show your anger. On second thought, however, you can see this really would not be desirable, for it is quite natural to become angry at cruelty or unkindness or destructiveness. If no one ever became angry, such things might never be stopped.

It is natural, too, for you to feel hurt or even angry when you think you are not being treated fairly or are being left out of things unfairly.

Out first impulse when we are hurt or angry is often to hit out at or hurt another person either physically or by cruel words. Such behavior can have serious consequences for ourselves and for the other person. It is essential that we learn to control this destructive kind of anger.

Of course, we cannot keep hurt or angry feelings locked up inside us for very long, either. As long as we have such feelings, we will be irritable and unhappy. Nor can we readily hide these feelings. They may come out disguised in such ways as teasing or bullying; or the angry feelings we try to keep bottled up may be expressed as physical ailments such as headaches.

Because we all do feel angry and hurt now and then, we need to learn constructive ways of managing these emotions – ways that keep us from hurting others or ourselves.

In last article, What can I do when I feel angry or hurt?, there are some helpful ideas about managing angry feelings constructively.

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You Must Know: Personality Development (Part 2)

Parental Guidances Personality Development

This article is second part of You Must Know: Personality Development (Part 1).

The Part Played by Heredity

As you know, heredity plays a part in influencing personality. What you inherit is sometimes called the raw material out of which your personality will develop. The chief element of this raw material is your physique.

Physique include your body build and structure, your blood type, your sex, the color of your eyes and skin, the texture and color of your hair, and the shape of your head and facial features. All these you inherit, as well as your individual pattern of growth – the rate at which you progress through the various stages of physical development.

Heredity is thought, also, to set the broad limits of your mental powers. Yet no one knows the full extent to which a given amount of intelligence may be used and developed. Probably no one uses to the almost the mental ability he has; and few develop fully their other special strengths.

Your temperament, too, is considered to be at least partly dependent upon your heredity. Evidences of this appear in the differences in reactions of babies in their very first days of life. Some babies, for example, even from the start, seem more placid and easygoing that others; some respond more vigorously to hunger and discomfort.

You must always remember, though, that your inherited characteristics are only what you begin with. As you grow older, you can use, or fail to use, your inherited characteristics to good advantage. Thus, while heredity provides your physique, it does not by any means fully determine your personal appearance. That depends upon cleanliness, neatness, good grooming, the choice of the right kind of clothes. You can grow in learning to make the most of yourself in appearance as well as in other ways.

You are all born with the ability to feel and to react, but you can grow in learning self – control – in learning to handle your emotions wisely instead of letting them “run away” with you.

The Part Environment Plays

What does your environment, or all your external surroundings, have to do with your personality development? You are what you are, in part, because of such features of your environment as your family, your friends, your school, your community, your church or mosque.

From your family you absorb attitudes and view-points, standards and ideals, interests and curiosities, and many of your feelings about yourself and others. You are also influenced by your church or your mosque, your teachers, and your friends.

You Can Change

In thinking about your environment, it would be a mistake to decide, “I am what I am because of my experiences so far, so there is nothing much I can do to change myself!” It would be equally foolish to take a similar attitude about your heredity. Just as you can assume some personal responsibility for building upon your inherited characteristics, so can you begin to change your environment in ways that will result in desirable personality growth. For example, your friends, reading materials, radio and television programs, internet and their social media, hobbies, and recreational activities can to a large extent be a matter of your own wise choices.

Your personality is yours alone. You can have a big part in developing that personality. As you grow older, you become increasingly accountable for the direction and extent of your personality growth.

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You Must Know: Personality Development (Part 1)

Source: Husband and Wife Store

There is much interest in personality development these days. If you open almost any magazine, watch the ads on television, ads in web page or social media, or look at some of the popular books in bookstores, you will see many evidences of this interest.

Some of the suggestions offered in sources like these are helpful ones; others are poor, if not actually harmful. Many suggest short cuts to an outward personality – one which might seem pleasant on the surface but which could never be real unless it reflected the person you really are.

The Meaning of Personality

A great many people seem to think a person either has personality or does not have it. The fact is, everyone has personality – distinguishing qualities or characteristics that make him different from anyone else in the world.

Your personality includes your body and its functioning, your appearance, you habits and attitudes, and your abilities. Personality is also the result of all your experiences. So you see, your personality is all of you.

What is usually meant by the expression “he has lots of personality” is that a person has the kind of personality which makes other people want to know him. Actually, as you realize from its definition, no one person has “more” personality than another. Each person has his own special personality.

Personality is not fixed. It can grow and change and improve if you are willing to work at developing it. Dr. Karl M, a famous psychiatrist, once described personality as “all that anyone is, and all that he is trying to be.”

A Slow Process

Every new experience you have, every new problem you learn to meet, gives your personality a chance to develop more fully. Personality development does not take place over night, however. It is a slow process. It cannot be accomplished in a “few easy lessons.”

If you start now to think about the kind of person you want to be, you can help your personality grow so that you will become more nearly that kind of person. You must begin, of course, by recognizing yourself as you are today – and under – standing some of the factors that have contributed to your personality.

Next article You Must Know: Personality Development (Part 2)

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Parent Tips : Handling Self-Conscious Feelings

Stop being so self-conscious

Carlotta, as you may remember from her statement previous article, is reluctant to recite in class. She is a good student, but she just cannot bring herself to speak out in class – not even when she has something interesting or worth while to offer to the discussion.

What can Carlotta do about her self-conscious feelings? And what can you do, if this a problem that you also have, to handle such feelings?

First of all, keep reminding yourself that you are not the only one who ever feels this way. Do not be deceived by what seems to be great self-confidence in others. Often what seems to be self-assurance in one of your acquaintances is just a cover-up for below-the-surface feelings of uncertainty.

Next, remember that there are helpful ways of handling your self-conscious feelings and ways that are not so helpful. Carlotta, for example, lets her self-conscious feelings get the best of her. She thinks, “That is the way I am, and there is nothing I can do.”

At times, too, Carlotta tries to handle her problem by running away from it. When she was asked to take part in a class program, for instance, she accepted. But on the day of the program she said she had a headache – and she did not go to school that day. By afternoon, however, her headache had disappeared and she was feeling quite well again. What do you think of this method of handling self-conscious feelings?

As you may have decided, running away from a problem never solves it. On the other hand, facing the problem squarely and doing something about it helps you grow in confidence. Once you carry through a task that is difficult for you, you gain confidence and feel better. And each time you face up to a situation you dread, you become a little less self-conscious and afraid. But if you keep running away from difficulties, you never get practice in handling them successfully.

There is something else to remember, too. Other people are not paying nearly so much attention to you or being so critical as you feel they are. So instead of using energy worrying about what others are thinking, concentrate on the job you have to do.

Keep in mind also that there is nothing disgraceful about making a mistake or being wrong about something. Often you may hesitate to offer a comment in a discussion because you are not sure of yourself. “What if I make a mistake?” you think. Well, what if you do? Everyone makes mistakes.

Finally, it is worth remembering that self-conscious feelings can be advantageous to you. Often such feelings can cause you to “take inventory” of your abilities and then make an extra effort to improve yourself.

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Some Tips When You Feel Angry or Hurt

How to Manage Angry Feelings Constructively

These are tips and some helpful ideas about managing angry or hurt feeling constructively:

Keep in mind that angry feelings are not disgraceful. Everyone has them at times and everyone must struggle to handle them wisely.

Be willing to admit your feelings. Do not try to pretend they do not exist.

Remember that some good can come out of your angry feelings. For example, they may lead to a discussion that clears the air and gives you a better idea of another person’s viewpoint. Or the feelings may result in a wrong being pointed out and corrected.

If you are angry about on injustice, look for possible ways to correct the situation.

Try to work off your angry feelings through some physical activity such as taking a walk, raking the yard, pounding a ball hard, doing some carpentry, or cleaning house. Physical activity helps drain off your angry feelings and leaves you better able to cope with the situation that has caused these feelings.

If you frequently feel angry and quarrelsome, stop and ask yourself, “Is it because I always want my own way?” If so, “Why do I always want my own way?” Then try giving in occasionally. If you give others their way at times, they are more likely to go along with you at other times.

When everything seems to be going wrong and you are too angry and upset to figure out what to do, try to turn your attention to something else for a while. Work on a hobby, watch a television program, play a game, visit with a friend, or get a job done. Try to think through your problem when your feel calm and better able to cope with it.

When you have angry feelings that stay with you for a while, talk them over with someone – a parent; teacher; your minister; priest; or rabbi; scout leader; or some other adult you trust. Talking things out helps get your feelings into the open where you may be able to see what can be done about them. You realize, of course, that you should not go around telling everyone about your angry feelings. But it does help to talk things over someone who will keep your confidence and offer counsel to help you.

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Parents Must Know: What Is Personality?

Personality faces

After someone saw the notice about the assembly talk on “Personality Development,” he made an interesting comment in class.
“I want to hear that talk,” he said, “because I didn’t know you could develop your personality. I though personality was something you either had or didn’t have.”
“That what I thought, too,” said Becky. “Isn’t personality what popular people have – and what the rest of us wish we had?”
“Oh, no, I don’t believe that,” remarked his friend. “Why there are books in our school library about how to improve your personality. So you must be able to do something about it.”
At this point, his teacher suggested that each student write his definition of the meaning of personality. “You can discuss this term better if you can come to some agreement about what it means,” she said. “Also, you than the compare your ideas with those of the speaker you are going to hear today.”

How much do you know about personality?

1. Can a person have “no personality”?
2. What characteristics do you inherit? What do inherited characteristics have to do with personality?
3. What are some important things that make up your environment? What effect does your environment have on your personality?
4. Under what conditions can your personality be changed for the better?

Which of these definitions do you think come close to describing personality?

• Personality is the way you are.
• Personality is your inside self.
• Personality is how much you are liked by others and how well you get along with them.
• Personality refers to the inward and outward characteristics of a person.
• Personality means your habits.
• Personality means you disposition and sense of humor.
• Personality means your character.
• Personality includes your actions and you appearance – the way you walk and talk and even how you feel.
• Personality is what makes people act differently from each other.
• Personality is a person’s attitudes, words, acts, look, and dress. It also means his emotions.
• Personality is your reputation – whether good or bad.
• To have personality means that you are well known and smart and popular.

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