How to Improve Reading Comprehension With Self-Questioning

Everyone knows that to get the right answers you need to ask the right questions. Asking questions about the text as you read significantly improves reading comprehension. "Talking to the text" improves concentration and helps the reader interact with the author. Reading becomes a two-way active process, not a one-way passive activity.

But, what questions will produce the best understanding of the text? Try these eight questions to boost your reading comprehension and retention.

1. What's the big picture here? Constantly ask how each reading section relates to the main idea(s) of the chapter.

2. What's the author going to say next? Stay one step ahead of the author by anticipating what will be said next. Prediction significantly boosts reading comprehension. Check the outcomes of your predictions as you read.

3. Think about the "expert questions" that fit the subject about which you are reading. For example: History is big on compare and contrast, cause-effect and sequence related questions. Science can ask classification, chemical and physical properties and literature might focus on theme, genre, character, and plot.

4. What questions does this information raise for me? Your questions may and should differ from the expert question as they are related to your own background knowledge and your interests. Remember that some very good questions have more than one answer!

5. What information is important here? As you read, decide which information is important enough to include in your notes.

6. How can I paraphrase and summarize this information? Translate the author's important words into your own. Use as few words as possible without changing the meaning. Do this at the end of each subtitle section in a textbook or at the end of the chapter in a novel.

7. How does this information fit with what I already know? Think about the "big picture" and how pieces of information fit together to improve reading comprehension.

8. Ask WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN and WHY questions as you read. Note introduction and description of characters, major plot changes, setting descriptions and changes, and reasons given to explain important ideas.

Higher Education Opportunities for Everyone

Almost every student who appears in an examination would like to score the highest possible marks. A student who does well in examinations is regarded as intelligent, hardworking or both. We all know that it is necessary to be intelligent and hardworking in order to do well in examinations, but few realize fully that there is much more to success in examinations than merely being hardworking and intelligent. There are a number of other measures and techniques required to do well in examinations. The very best of students follow many of these techniques instinctively or by training. Knowing these techniques an average student can get brilliant results and a good one may reach the heights of excellence.

Good health, if not a robust one is an essential prerequisite to success in most things including examinations. The mind and the body are dependent upon each other. If one deteriorates, the other is likely to deteriorate sooner rather than later. A fundamental requirement for maintaining good health is physical exercise. Physical activity not only improves health but it also improves circulation of fresh healthy blood to the brain. It improves alertness and concentration, a must for a brilliant performance in any examinations. About forty minutes of brisk physical activity, five or six times a week, appears to be sufficient for most students. Too much can distract. It can reduce the time available for study. Food has an effect not only on our health but also in the way we feel and think. We may not notice this always but you can be sure that everything you eat contributes in some way to your thinking as well. We only notice the change when the effect is dramatic as for example with strong coffee or alcohol. But you can be sure that even the humble vegetable you eat has some subtle effect on your psyche and behavior. Good food is required for good health. If you have to appear in an examination this food has to be good not just for your body but for your intellect also. Yogurt or fish if available daily in a meal accompanied by vegetables, bread, rice or potatoes is one of the best foods to consume for students from an intellectual point of view. Fresh leafy vegetables such as cabbage, lettuce or spinach are full of beneficial nutrients and chlorophyll and must be included in some of the meals. Consumption of eggs as a regular part of diet helps to improve health and vitality in general.

There is no denying the fact that much study is a necessity for doing well in examinations. How much should one study? The simple answer is as much as you can. Most top ranking students spend all of their available time studying, beginning several months before an examination. However studying much does not mean missing out on other essential duties such as bathing, physical exercise, meditation etc. An adequate amount of sleep is necessary. An adequate amount of sleep is such that one does not feel sleepy during the rest of the day. Start a revision program in good time before the exams. Whilst you do not want to tire yourself out too early, leaving revision too late is a common cause for stress. Sometimes students avoid study as tiring work. However doing work often takes less effort than avoiding doing work.

A healthy respect for punctuality and time schedules is desirable for the good student. When time schedules go wrong - as they do at times - it is usually because they were planned too tightly and did not allow for sufficient flexibility: Time schedules need plenty of blank space to allow for the unexpected.

A student studies from books and classroom notes. As studies progress it is a profitable practice to make a new set of personal notes in brief outline form. This should be maintained in a separate bound register or notebook (not loose sheets). They must be made out as neatly as possible with neat headings for each topic. Never prepare these notes in a crowded style that saves paper, but rather in an open style with much white space around the written matter. Such blank spaces improve absorption of material during revisions. Blank spaces also come in handy for inserting an additional note if required. Just the process of preparing neat elegant notes will greatly assist the process of assimilating subject matter. Such notes shall also be extremely useful for last minute revisions just before the examinations.

An important thing to study besides the subject is the type and pattern of examination to be held. Each examination has its own unique pattern and that must be studied if one wishes to do well in an examination. In order to do this one has to locate question papers from previous years for the same examinations. Question papers of famous and popular examinations such as TOEFEL, GRE, GMAT, CAT, and JEE etc. are available in book forms. Often local libraries maintain old question papers of local school or college examinations. Another source is seniors who have taken that examination before. Seniors can provide useful tips besides old question papers. What if the examination is completely new and being held for the first time! In this case look up similar examinations of similar subjects. In a university, try and look up other examinations of the same Professor even in a different subject. Each Prof has his own pet peeves. Most examinations follow a pattern that they repeat year after year. Knowing the pattern in advance gives you an edge.

Some students fret and worry before an examination. A few can even work themselves up into a fever. All this happens because they have not yet developed the attitude that produces best results. The most important thing to realize is that whatever study, magic, prayer or anything else that you can do on the last day is not going to make any big difference to the results. The time for worry and study was over yesterday. There is one thing though that can effectively spoil your results now and that is worrying and fretting. That is the worst thing to do. Therefore loosen up and relax. The results will be what they will be. No academic exam is the end of a life. So what, even if one fails! Great successes often follow great failures. Get all thoughts of the results out of your mind. Leave them in the hands of the Almighty or fate if you do not believe in the Almighty. Your job now is to play your part well and the best way is to relax and do your best. Best of Luck!

Drawing Tips And Techniques

Here are some things I've found some things that has helped me draw better.

All these techniques and tips are based on Win Wengers principle of Image Streaming. Image Streaming is very useful, and I've found it especially useful to improve myself.

The Brain

Before I begin, I want to say something about the human brain. It's quite important to know what your brain can do, and what it does in order to learn to your full potential. I'm still learning more about the brain but here are some things that I've learned.

More Pleasure, Less Pain

Your brain steers away from pain, and goes towards pleasure. Most of you probably know this already, but I'll give an example anyway.

I'll give homework as an example, because everyone loves homework =D. Some people dislike doing homework because it causes them pain (ie. Boredom, confusion, other things that you don't like), but enjoy drawing because it brings the creative juices into play, and the brain is engaged, in other words pleasure. But you end up doing your homework anyway because you don't want to feel the pain of parents yelling, teacher yelling, detention, test failing etc.

Repetition, repetition, repetition

Another important thing about the brain is that is that You get more of what you reinforce". Very important rule. Example, the more you procrastinate your homework, the easier it will be to procrastinate. The more you visualize your pictures, the easier it will be to visualize it next time.

Oh yeah, fear and stress shuts off vital parts of your brain, including your creative side. So you need to be calm when you draw (though some people draw just to express themselves). Generally you do better when you approach things playfully and with curiosity (beginners mind).

Last note, everyone is unique in their learning and what they prefer. This is what has worked for me, but I know everyone is different. So I encourage people to experiment.

Enjoy Yourself!

First and foremost, you MUST ENJOY YOURSELF! =) It might sound trivial, or even common sense, isn't that why you're drawing in the first place?

But you'd be surprised of what people think when they draw. Examples of this are "I gotta make this picture good so I can show my friends", "I gotta make this good otherwise people will put me down." and another which is border-lining: "I gotta make this good so I'll be happy with my pictures". You mustn't have any fear! I know this sounds cliched but so many people fall in this trap of fear and stress and they wonder why their pictures aren't good. Though saying must might not be a good thing to say, because people may fear of fear, which happens =).

You might think this is a little stupid, but think for a moment. This "fear" is the innate fear of pain. It's this uncertainty, uncertainty to move forward, because running away is a solution to not getting pain too. This is also where the "you get more of
what you reinforce" quote. The more you run away, the easier it
will be to run away and so on and so forth.

You might lose interest after drawing for long time too. If that happens, come back to it later. But remember go back to it. If you think about it, do it. And if you don't... well you know what happens =) Of course, if you think about it and you have no easy access to it, you can visualize yourself drawing drawing. Just imagine yourself drawing, feeling the pencil and the paper.

Imagine!

Imagination is also very important to your human brain. Imagination is your brains playtime, so you shouldn't hinder it =). As a child, your imagination roams free without being hindered. Until you get "taught" at school.

Through traditional schooling, yes your conscious mind gets trained and it gets trained to focus. But your subconscious mind, the one that comes up with all these images from drawing (plus other very important information) is hindered. That is because we were all told to pay attention in class.

This meant that you had to "squelch" your unconscious mind in order to focus, as the images that come through do distract you from what you're doing.

So your wonderful mind is forgotten, and some people even "forget" how to draw up images from mind after traditional schooling. So remember, if you see something strange and some images appear, don't squelch it, let it flow and it will encourage your creative mind to keep doing what it does best.

You can read more about it here:

Two GUARANTEED Ways to Profoundly Improve Your Intelligence

Drawing Tips
Finally we're up to the good stuff! Why did I ramble on about the
human brain? This is Drawing and art, right? not Psychology? Wrong! Of course, the human brain is vital to your drawing skills. Depending on your mood and condition of your mind, you can draw brilliant images, or fall into a slump or a art block. I'll tell you how to get rid of these later.

So basically, in order to draw better, knowing how the brain itself works, even a little can help. I can write a whole article on what I've learned so far on the human brain, but most of you wouldn't like that, right? =P

Anyway, if you'd like to find out more about the human brain,
Remember, don't read it because you have to, read it because you enjoy it. It makes things so much funner, and you learn more too.

Getting Rid of an Art Slump
Many people know this, and know this well =D For those people who don't know what I'm talking about, an art slump/block is when you can't draw a thing, or can't draw properly and you know you can't, so you don't.
There are a couple of solutions to this: 

• One, it might be that you're not having fun. Surprisingly, some people might have blocks, similar to the block that people have for maths. You know that one that makes you say "Aaah~! I don't like maths, I always stuff it up! Waaah~!". This statement about yourself is quite true, but thats only because its a self-fulfilling prophesy. You made yourself think that by just saying it. Funny how the brain works =). Other reasons are probably because from a (or lots of) bad experience/s (like getting a low mark for a test, the teacher going so slow that you get bored and don't understand or ie. Someone severely criticized your work and made you feel bad). Though drawing may not be as blocked as maths, it might be there, and it's stuffing up your drawing. A way to do this is to do the Noise-removal technique in Win Wengers article - "How to Unblock Blocks and Undo Phobias". I've found this technique very useful, especially for maths =P. So if you have this artist block, use the noise-removal technique on it, and it should clear up.
• When you have a burst of inspiration, stop what you're doing IMMEDIATELY, and start writing (or draw) things, about your inspiration. It can be an excellent picture that you have in mind, a sudden insight on how to draw clothing, or drawing in a specific way. DO THIS! It will encourage the spontaneous, creative side and it will be easier to get rid of that block. Remember "you get more of what you reinforce" =P.
  
  If you can't draw it or write it down, describe it out loud to yourself (or in your head). Or use your powerful tool, imagination. Imagine drawing it, or watching the events unfold or whatever.
  
• One last thing, an easy way to get unblock yourself is to get inspiration from different sources. It might be from TV, an Anime, looking at pictures, a person, or even some trivial object like a tree. Waiting for this inspiration is also an option too (but it might encourage yourself to stop drawing at every slight block that you encounter, which isn't a good thing =P)
  

Tips on Drawing while Drawing

Here are some things I've found that has helped me a lot while
drawing.

Creative Drawing

Sometimes when you're drawing, you have an best reaction.