Wednesday 23 August 2017

Opportunity for Children Tell a story, meet Ruskin Bond

Tell a story, meet Ruskin Bond
This bit of news made us wish we were a child all over again. A leading bookstore chain is organising.
Child Reading To Child, an annual storytelling initiative for kids between six and 14 years.Five winners, who will be selected by a jury of eminent authors, will get to travel all the way to Landour to meet none other than Ruskin Bond at his residence. The acclaimed octogenarian author has made the mountains his home for several decades.
The competition requires participants to select a title from Scholastic's repertoire and read out a story to other kids. Bond, who has been regaling generations with his tales, will teach the winners the art of storytelling.
Source:http://www.mid-day.com/articles/mumbai-diary-friday-dossier/18343183

NCERT books online soon

NCERT books online soon

You will soon be able to order NCERT books online just like you do at Flipkart or Amazon with the government launching a portal for placing orders this month itself. 

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has developed a portal that will allow schools across the country to place textbook orders directly with it online to ensure they are available in time to students for next year. 

The move will help parents save money, which is usually spent on sourcing books from private publishers, often on account of the non-availability of NCERT books. There have been several complaints in the past about the non-availability of the books and schools end up recommending those by private publishers. 

“The portal will be launched this month itself and schools as well as individuals will be able to place orders for books online and it will be delivered to them,” said a senior HRD official. 

Through this portal, schools and individuals will be able to track the status of their consignments online too as it will indicate the delivery date. Currently, NCERT prints books and they are delivered through authorised vendors across the country. Sources said approximately 42.5 million books are used by CBSE-affiliated schools. 

Schools will not be required to make the payment immediately but individuals will be allowed to make the payment and books will be posted to them. 

“Schools and those who place the order will also be able to track the movement of books, right from placing an order to the delivery. We are hoping that schools will give us the estimate of the number of books that are required for next year so that they are available much before time,” said a senior ministry official. 

Sources said that the NCERT is also in talks with Flipkart and Amazon to host their books and deliver them too. 

Source | Hindustan Times | 5 August 2017

Friday 4 August 2017

WILD WISDOM QUIZ

source:http://www.scholasticworld.in/p/wildlife-quiz-books.html

Time Management Tips

Time Management Tips

New academic session has started. You must have studied that "slow and steady wins the race". The same applies here too. Steady study plan is much much better and effective than the last month study of 12 hours. You have a complete year and a number of activities to perform. Proper time management skill is the key demand of the hour. We provide you seven effective time management tips to prepare you for any battle that comes in your way ...be it semester exams, formative test, olympiads or any other competitive exams.


1. Use the weekly planner: Organize your study on a weekly basis. Plan your weekly schedule every Sunday evening and adjust it daily. 

2. Book the firm activities first: Block off class time, work time, and any other pre-determined weekly activities. Also schedule the essentials such as sleep, eating, and relaxation (fun and exercise). 

3. Schedule short study sessions before and after lectures: Set aside 20 minutes each to preview the textbook before the lecture and to quickly check your notes after the lecture. This will save hours of study time later on. 

4. Avoid marathon study sessions: Break down your study sessions into one-hour segments with 50 minutes of study and 10-minute breaks. Alternate subjects if you have scheduled consecutive hours. 

5. Use a timer: A countdown timer is a great tool to help you concentrate for intensive study and to trim down your non-productive hours. 

6. Arrange peak hours for core study: In time, you will learn your best study hours of the day. Use them for core study activities that require high concentration, such as reviewing lecture notes and reading the textbook. 

7. Allow flexibility: Leave room for the unexpected and plan for the unplanned. Set aside open time on your planner for this.
Source:https://pcmbtoday.com/time-management-tips 

Unlock The Brain Power and Retain 90% of What You Learn

Unlock The Brain Power and Retain 90% of What You Learn

Have you ever wondered why you always forget what you learn in your School lecture? Why you don’t remember the formula in an exam, you learned last night? There is only one reason for it, our Brain can retain only 10 % of what it reads, but it has the capacity to learn up to 90% of what we experience. So, what is the right way of study to retain 90% of it? The answer to all your questions is learning pyramid. Almost all of us waste 90% of our time, resources and learning time, because we don’t understand a simple concept called the Learning Pyramid. The Learning Pyramid was developed way back in the 1960s by the NTL Institute in Bethel, Maine. Here in this blog we will explain you how to Unlock Brain Power and Retain 90% of What You Learn.

To summarize the numbers (which sometimes get cited differently) learners retains approximately:
1. 90% of what they learn when they teach someone else/use immediately.
2. 75% of what they learn when they practice what they learned.
3. 50% of what they learn when engaged in a group discussion.
4. 30% of what they learn when they see a demonstration.
5. 20% of what they learn from audio-visual.
6. 10% of what they learn when they’ve learned from reading.

So why do you retain 90% when you teach someone else or when you implement it immediately?
When you try to teach others or implement it, you make mistakes and your brain tries to rectify them by increasing the concentration power. So, it learns to correct the errors and understand the topic deeply. Hence, you will gain 90% of that part with all the possible doubts cleared in your head.

75% When practicing what you learned
When you try to solve problems or start practicing the topic learned. You create an impression of that topic with images in your brain. When the same topic is practiced again and again brains with different problems related with it. Brain creates an image in it and retain 75% of it.

50% When you start group discussion about a topic
Why it is said that group studies are the best ways to learn? Yes, they are, when you get involved in group discussions about a particular topic you came to know about different points, views and methods about it and your brain’s different senses works to learn that. It increases the concentration about that topic with increased visuals and sounds to learn. It creates a complete sequential image which is easy for it to remember and learn. So, always try to discuss the topic with your teacher and classmates to learn it in a better way.

30 % when you see a demonstration
Your brain can learn a sequence of images instead of broken parts. Whenever you learn a topic with clear sequential demonstration. Brain create a complete path of it and increases its chance to learn in a better way. So, always make a sequential pattern for your studies to retain 30 % of it.

20% retention by Audio-Visual
When you learn by watching a video brain’s two sensory organs, eyes and ears work to create a complete and correct sequence out of it. This helps in retaining 20% of what you have watched.

10% of what they learn when they’ve learned from reading.
You will learn only 10% of what you have read. So, whenever you try to learn new topic you forget it fast because the brain can learn only 100 words in one day and it move the rest of the words in temporary storage and delete them all when you sleep. When you read a topic brain tries to learn it. But a topic without much practice, discussion, problem solving and clear visuals will not remain for a longer period in your brain.

The next time you pick up a book or watch a video, remember this. Listening or reading something is just listening or reading. It’s not real learning. Real learning comes from making mistakes. And mistakes come from implementation. And that’s how you Unlock Brain Power and Retain 90% of What You Learn
Source:https://pcmbtoday.com/unlock-brain-power-and-retain-90-of-what-you-learn

Study techniques to improve memory

Study techniques to improve memory

Our brain is a complicated organ and its learning pattern varies from person to person. Every student has his own technique of learning, but there are some which works for everyone. Here, we are listing 10 study techniques to improve memory and performance in exams.

1. Exercise before exams – It’s been proven through many researches that exercise improves brain power and memory. Only 20 minutes of daily exercise can make your body and brain healthy to learn faster than the usual.
2. Speak out loud – Whenever you study, make sure that you speak loud. You can learn much more when you have said it loud. You can check the difference by yourself.
3. Teach what you have learned – Try to teach someone, what you have learned. It is the best way to understand something and clear concepts in mind.
4. Create mind maps – A mind map is a complete layout plan about a chapter on paper. It provides a quick glance of complete chapter. Mind map works like a chain process and help brain to remember, what is learned. The faster you connect, the better you learn.
5. Draw diagrams – Drawing is a student’s favorite subject, but when it comes to drawing, large complicated diagrams, it seems very difficult. Drawing is an essential part of learning and it creates a complete image of a topic in your mind. Drawing increases your learning speed 10 times faster. So, always try to learn by drawing diagrams of topics.

6. Watch related video of the topic – Try to watch related videos of the topic on the internet. As we all know, a video work much better than the rest of the other methods of studying. It creates a continuous moving chain linked process in mind to memorize things. It will make your learning easier.
7. Create flash cards – Creating flash cards is a nice way to learn tough topics. Write down hard topics over flash cards and stick them at the places, where you can see them easily. Flash cards are the small notes on a tough topic on sticky papers.
8. Listen correct music – Music work like a medicine to soothe and relax the mind. It not only works as a stress buster but also as a brain booster. During exam time, correct music breaks are very much needed for proper learning.
9. Practice – There is a saying, “Practice makes a man perfect” and it is true. The more you practice, the more your brain learns it. So, practice to be confident during exam.
10. Use Scents or Gum to Jog Your Memory - This may seem a bit random, but spraying an unfamiliar scent while you’re studying can help jog your memory when you spray it again just before an exam. Chewing a strange kind of gum will work the same way.

Our final piece of advice for those of you sitting exams is to stay positive. It’s amazing how a positive attitude can impact on your exam results or motivate you to complete that assignment when all you want to do is go to bed! And don’t forget to try these 10 techniques to improve memory.
Source:https://pcmbtoday.com/10-study-techniques-to-improve-memory

Thursday 3 August 2017

Overcome Exam Anxiety to Double your Performance

Overcome Exam Anxiety to Double your Performance

Exam anxiety is very prevalent during exam time. It is a state of nervousness which can hugely affect performance of a student even if a student has learned enough to perform better. It could be a general factor in dropping your exam performance and health.
Whenever exam comes near stomach butterflies and negative thought, ponder into the minds of students. The only way to deal with it and perform best is overcoming your exam anxiety. Here we are sharing tips to overcome exam anxiety to double your exam performance.
Tips to overcome exam anxiety
1. Make time table and study regularly – It is always better to start studying as soon as the exam dates are announced. Make a timetable and start studying on a regular basis so that you will be able to finish your studies before the exam. By this way you can get enough time to revise syllabus. Along with the time to relax, especially the day before the exam.
2. Organize your notes and schoolwork – Keeping all the notes handy will undoubtedly save your time while studying. You will not get nervous about not finding any of your notes on your book shelf. Organize your notes to get them on time.
3. Take rest - Your brain has a learning capacity and beyond which it can’t work properly. It is always good to take breaks while studying to relax your mind. This will help in overcoming exam anxiety.
4. Eat healthy food and take proper sleeps – Eating healthy food and taking proper sleep will  not only remove the symptoms of anxiety, but also increases your brain learning power to multiple folds.
5. Stay positive and avoid negative thoughts – Your thinking impacts your brain functioning, thus it is better to stay positive and avoid negative thoughts from coming in mind. Positivity will increase your performance more in the exam and reduces chances of error which occur due to panic.
6. Take help – If there is a problem in some topics which you think can affect your exam performance, then take help of your teachers, classmates and friends for clearing doubts. It helps in avoiding, state of confusion. Hence reduces nervousness and fear of facing questions related to the topics.
7. Make short notes – Make short notes to revise fast and learn better. It will help you out in gaining confidence over your studies and reduce anxiety during the exam.
Always stay prepared and ready for exams. Exam anxiety is a normal problem that comes during the exam, but always try to stay relaxed and try to gain confidence over your study. Try these some of the tips to avoid exam anxiety it will definitely double your exam performance.
Source:https://pcmbtoday.com/overcome-exam-anxiety-to-double-your-exam-performance

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