The importance of journal writing

As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. This is especially true when it comes to writing, an activity that many young students find intimidating, tedious or just plain difficult. However, developing strong written communication skills is a vital component of your overall success in primary school, high school and university (as well as in the adult workplace).

This is a skill that is important for you to have. In many ways it can help you say the things you want to say, which makes it an excellent way to communicate your feelings or just simply get things off your mind.

It can also be a fun activity you do to relax. By creating a journal you are allowing yourself to be as creative as you want to be. There is no right and wrong. You are able to express your inner thoughts in any way you desire to.

All that's left for you to do is to get started and make it a habit by including it in your daily or weekly timetable depending on how much time you have to spare for relaxing.

Ideas from: www.cwcoachingclub.com/2011/the importance of successful-journal-writing

Peer Pressure in school

Peer pressure has always been a major issue in teenagers' lives. We all feel the need to be accepted by our peers resulting in a power struggle between our friends, our family and society. More and more we are hearing stories of increased sexual activity among learners from a very young age in schools. Teenage pregnancy, gang initiation in schools, drop outs and lack of school attendance are becoming the norm. Why is it so difficult to say NO, but so easy to get sucked into situations with potentially devastating consequences?

As a learner you have to develop a strong sense of self and very clear lines of communication with people you know only have good intentions for you. It is important that you are active in the role of developing your self confidence and self esteem. Learn to accept yourself and appreciate what you have instead of focusing on what you don't have.

The friends you choose speak volumes to the kind of person you are. Make sure your friends have a positive influence on you and that you have honesty and trust in your friendships. Stand up for your beliefs and don't let anyone tell you, you are anything less that what you know you are because our future lies in your hands and the decisions you make in your youth may make or break your future plans.

Reading is good for you, start now!!!

Reading is one of the best hobbies you can have, but it's sad to know that the majority of us do not know the fabulous world of books. If you are one of the non-readers here are some reasons to start the habit....before you are left behind!

1. Reading is an active mental process: Unlike sitting in front of the idiot box (TV),
reading makes you use your brain. While reading you would be forced to reason out many things which are unfamiliar to you. In this process you would use the grey cells of your brain to think and become smarter.

2. Reading improves your vocabulary: While reading books, especially challenging ones, you will find yourself exposed to many new words you wouldn't have been otherwise.

3. Gives you a glimpse into other cultures and places of the world: How would you know about the life of people living in Mexico if you don't read about it? (unless you are very privileged to visit different countries regularly). Reading gives you insight into the diversity of ethnicity of people, their customs and their lifestyles. You become more aware of different places and their code of conduct.

4. Improves concentration and focus: It requires you to focus on what you are reading for long periods. unlike magazines or e-mails that might contain small chunks of information, books tell the whole story.

5. Builds self-esteem: The more you read, the knowledgeable you become. With more knowledge comes more confidence. More confidence builds self-esteem. So it's a chain reaction.

6. Improves memory: Reading requires remembering details, facts and figures and in literature, plot lines, themes and characters.

7. Improves you discipline: Making time to read is something we all know we should do, but who schedules book reading time every day? Very few... That's why adding book reading to your daily schedule and sticking to it, improves discipline.

8. Improves creativity: Reading about diversity of life and exposing yourself to new ideas and more information helps to develop the creative side of the brain as it instills innovation into your thinking process.

If you want to break the monotony of a lazy, uncreative and boring life, go and grab an interesting book. Turn the pages to explore a new world filled with information and creativity.

Making an effective timetable

A Daily timetable will help you plan every part of your day, from the moment you wake up to the moment you crawl into bed at night. You'll be able to take control of how you spend your time from one hour to the next.

Here's how to make one. You might want to make a separate timetable for each day of the week, or one for weekdays and one for weekends.

1. Take a sheet of paper and a ruler. Draw a chart of all your working hours, using
one square for each half hour. If you're awake for 16 hours each day, you'll
need 32 squares: 8 across, 4 down. Using graph paper can help.
2. Label each square with the starting time for that half-hour block of time.For example, if you wake up at 6:00 in the morning, label the first half-hour square 6:00 a.m, and the next one 6:30 a.m, and so on.....
3. Sit down and examine your day. Make a list of all the things you need to do, from taking a shower to doing homework and after school activities.
4. When you begin to write things into your timetable, start with the things that
have specific start times. For instance, if you know you have to be at the bus
stop 7:00 a.m, fill in that square with Bus Stop.
5. Give yourself a break or several! If doing all your homework in one chunk is too
much for you, then schedule a little bit of free time between subjects.
6. Consider using a different colored pen or marker to colour in different types of
responsibilities. You could use yellow for family chores, red for school events,
and blue for school activities, and so on. This way you'll get a good sense of how
your day is planned just by looking at your timetable. This will also help you
identify if you are overloaded with something eg: sports.
7. Remember that you cant predict what's going to happen every day, and time
management involves being flexible.

Back to school

It's that time of the year again! You've been on holiday enjoying your days off, playing and sleeping late but now you need to prepare for the year ahead.

To get a head start when school opens, make sure all your books are neatly covered and your uniform is washed and ready for when the day arrives. This is the time to use your excitement and extra energy to your advantage.

There are three very important things you can do to make the year a success.

Firstly, set goals for what you want to achieve in the next 12 months, so that you don't lose sight of what you need to do to achieve this. Make sure your goals are important to you and realistic, and that you are ready to work hard to reach them. For this to happen, you must write them down and re-look at them constantly during the year.

Secondly, make sure you know what is happening in your school and that you have your timetable ready for the year. Now you know what opportunities you can embrace to reach your goals.

Thirdly, inform your parents about your goals and get them involved in what you are doing at school. Make sure that you have their support in all you do.

The new year is here and you have to make it count.

GOODLUCK AND ENJOY!!!!!!!

Goal Setting- Why it matters.......and how to do it

Is goal setting a good idea? Properly learnt and managed, yes, absolutely! Knowing how to set and achieve goals is a life skill that many people never make the most of. Make sure you learn this well as, it is a valuable skill for managing time and life.

WHY?

-Goal setting students are more likely to focus on what they want and less on what they don't.
-You will learn how to plan, prioritize and produce to get the results you want.
-You will learn the importance of persistance, making it easy for you to have the ability to be persistant when reaching to achieve your goals.
-Whether you achieve the goal or not, you would have learnt to take 100% responsibility for every outcome of your actions.
-Goal setting and achievement creates confidence, raises self esteem and leads to a real sense of satisfaction.
-It will create challenges to overcome, and opportunities to learn and grow by tackling them.

HOW?
Six tips to take that will really improve the quality of your goal setting

-START SMALL. Keep goal setting sweet and simple. Long term, conceptual goals can be tackled with time and experience of personal goal setting.
-OWN IT. Make sure your goals really are your own and no one else's.
-KNOWING WHY YOU WANT IT. Motivation starts goals, whereas persistance is usually what finishes them. Both can be built if you have a compelling reason for why you want something. To help you understand this, write a list of reasons for your goals.
-GET SMART. A short term goal is more likely to be achieved if it is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound.
-WRITE GOALS DOWN. Writing it down is the best and most effective way of remembering what exactly you are aiming for. Write, read and review each day, this will help you keep your goals in mind.
-GET SUPPORT. Have someone you trust there to encourage you when your goals seem to hard.

Starting your own Book Club

The first step to organizing a book club is to nail down the details. You don't want the club to be too small or too large, so limit the number of participants to about 12 or so. Once you have a twelve interested peers, you'll have to decide how often the group will meet and where. Monthly meetings are frequent enough to keep all the members involved, and it gives them plenty of time to read the book selected. The meetings could be bi-monthly, depending on the participants and their schedules. Selecting a meeting place for the book club may be a challenge. You probably don't want your home to be the exclusive meeting spot, so think about asking other parents if they're willing to host a meeting. Other meeting locations could be the local library, a local recreation center, a nearby church, or your school. The meetings themselves should be organized by the members, and you might want to recommend that the meetings last about an hour and a half. So the members have about 30 minutes to discuss the book, 30 minutes to eat and enjoy each other's company, and 30 minutes to go over any book club business, such as selecting next month's selection.