Posts Tagged ‘students’
December 11th, 2009
Reaching the end of a semester of school should bring on a thrill of excitement for anyone. No more books! No more studying! No more schedules! The winter break should be used as a time to let your brains relax and recharge for the new year of classes. However, there are some students who have a hard time getting back in the swing of things after they have had several weeks of doing absolutely nothing. Sleeping in and staying up late is a hard habit to break when you go back to school. For those who have a hard time restarting their brains for the new school year, here are some activities suggested to help you feel relaxed while keeping your minds from completely shutting down during the whole winter break.
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September 17th, 2009
The Simpsons is a show that is rife with literary references. So rife, in fact, that we had difficulty narrowing it down to our five favorites. Like many of you students, we here at Eduify have seen every single Simpsons episode (at least once). We love the show for its incisive and hilarious writing, its endearingly obnoxious characters, and the strange relevance that a little cartoon can have on our actual lives. So, without further ado, here are our 5 favorite Simpsons episodes and educational links to the literary references therein.
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June 2nd, 2009
Proofreading, like many things, has never been my strong suit. Over the years, however, I’ve picked up some tricks on how to proofread more effectively. By no means a professional editor, I still occasionally gloss over and miss errors in my writing from time to time. But the tricks I picked up really help me in my writing, whether in finding spelling errors that spellcheck doesn’t pick up (like quickly typing “by no means a professional dieter” instead of “by no means a professional editor”) or in correcting grammatical construction or in simply rephrasing sentences to make them sound better the second time around.
Hemingway once advised writers to write drunk and edit sober. While I don’t advise anyone to imbibe whilst writing (especially you underage students), I see some wisdom in that remark. Write with an open mind and a creative spirit, without too much thought to making things 100% perfect. Unplug yourself from doubt and fear and engage in some stream-of-consciousness freedom! That way, you stay as creative as possible. The real work comes afterwards, after you already have your thoughts on paper. Proofreading and editing is when you turn your thoughts in writing. Proofreading is that crucial step in transforming everything you’ve thought of and everything you’ve written down into something legible that makes it fun for readers to read.
Here are my 5 tips for proofreading most effectively.
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May 28th, 2009
Creative writing is often thought to mean fiction or poetry writing, specifically the kind of creative writing taught in workshops at liberal arts colleges where people sit around and ask each other questions about character motivation, symbolism, and whether you’ve earned your cliche.
Actually, creative writing is so much more than that. You can approach any writing creatively, be it a research paper, an essay, a journalistic article, or even a blog entry. I like to think that I’m approaching this blog, even now, from my own creative angle. All ‘creative writing’ means is that you are infusing your writing with your personal creative spirit. That the creative energy of your writing comes from you and you alone. Not only is creative often confused with ‘fiction,’ but it’s also confused with the false idea that in order to be creative, what you are doing has to be a completely isolated work that lives on its own, outside of what anyone else has ever done. That’s simply not true. Writers are often influenced by other writers, and part of being creative is letting yourself be inspired by the work of others. There are many myths to being creative, and the purpose of this post is to encourage students to find their own routes to creativity. We are all endowed with the creative aspect; it’s just up to us to access it!
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May 22nd, 2009
Congratulations! The school year is done (or almost done) for most of you. For all you college bound seniors excited for the next stage of life, this is your last real high school summer. You probably want to spend your summer hanging out with your friends at that one 18-and-over club within driving distance (Eduify does not endorse illegal activities), but you should know two things. First, try not to get arrested. Second, try to read something at some point in the next three months.
I know it’s seriously cramping your style to have to do any sort of mind exercise after you finished your whirlwind year of APs, SATs, and college applications, but college is an entirely different game than high school, and it’s important to keep your minds sharp and fresh. Contrary to popular belief, you won’t melt like the Wicked Witch if you walk into a library. To ease the process of reading, here are some great summer reading (i.e. not too heavy, nothing Pynchonian or Foster-Wallacesque) books ABOUT college life. Some are optimistic, some are pessimistic, and in some, people actually die. All are great books set in a realistic collegiate atmosphere – perfect for those incoming college freshmen looking for hints of what is to come. Not to be ominous or anything.
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