14 Strategies for Writing Better College Papers

14 Strategies for Writing Better College Papers Learning how to write solid college papers is literally half the battle with most majors. In this 3-minute article we’ve broken down the 14 most effective strategies involved. Breeze through each one and ingest them at your leisure. 1. Adjust Your Writing Attitude No, writing doesn’t suck, but your attitude might. College writing is actually quite fun and engaging once you get into it. Make it easy on yourself and just settle into the papers as they come. Accept them. Commit to them. 2. Get Interested Intrigued Part of adjusting your attitude is getting personally invested and interested in the subject. The more involved you are the higher the quality in most cases. Your personality will come through. The things you learn will be genuine. The paper won’t feel forced. Get it? 3. Master the Craft of Outlining Once swept away into the passion of writing (expression), it’s easy to get artsy and try to wing it. Don’t. Instead, make it a habitual practice to get an outline drawn up. Love them. Outlines are just structure to help your thoughts mold along certain parameters. Without them you can find yourself either a) mid-paper and at a dead end, or b) mid-paper and completely off the radar. 4. Get a Second Opinion Show your initial outlines and drafts to other people. If your friends and family aren’t interested, then find people who are. Or, pay someone a couple bucks. It’s worth it. A second pair of eyes can tell you things that are simply invisible to you as the writer. 5. Begin Writing Sooner rather than Later Even if the paper isn’t due for three months, be engaged and working on it from day one. However, don’t try to turn it in super early. There’s no real benefit to doing so other than saving mental space perhaps. Otherwise just take all the time you have and relax. Craft something amazing because you’ve got plenty of time. 6. Visit a Writing Center Once in a While Yeah, really! Grab your outline/draft and head over to the writing center. See what kinds of things they say. Critiques are worth their weight in proverbial gold. They’ll help you edit/polish as well as nail down your thesis. Plus, they know everything about all the small formatting details (more on this in a moment). 7. Don’t Freaking Plagiarize! It’s so tempting! Yes, you can definitely use quotes and cite small supportive paragraphs from relevant sources but there’s a limit. Now, aside from that it’s also quite tempting to try and just copy/paste someone else’s thinking†¦don’t do it. Professors these days have many tools at their disposal to find duplicate content. 8. Let Your Thesis Evolve By beginning the writing process as early as possible you give it lots of time to naturally evolve or settle on the primary thesis you’re searching for. Go with the flow, but stick to deadlines. Give your thesis room to breathe. Don’t stay so narrowed in focus/perspective that you end up with a narrow paper (something most professors are likely to dock you on). 9. Start Thinking Analyzing like a Professor Speaking of professors, look at your thesis statement, outline and drafts like a professor would. If you aren’t sure what your professor will say, then show it to them! Throughout the process try to step into their shoes and critique yourself. It helps. It’s a sobering practice. 10: Spend Serious Time on Formatting The writing center can really help here. All the many formatting details with citing courses, subtitles, adding graphs/charts, etc. can be daunting at first. Instead of wasting tons of time doing it yourself, get some help until it becomes like second nature. Little errors add up fast! 11. Be Creatively Risky In essence college really isn’t a time to strictly follow the rules and conform. Don’t be afraid to test professors and truly express yourself. Don’t be afraid to bend the rules a little as long as it doesn’t have to do with the technicalities. Like, as long as your paper is well-written, though out, formatted correctly and clear, it’s going to be hard for a professor to dock you even if you went a little left field. 12. Let Information Marinate Never underestimate the power of absorbing ideas/concepts and then letting it marinate in your mind or subconscious where ideas form. Let it sit and settle. Let the information coagulate and mold together naturally. Don’t force writing. Follow your gut instincts here. 13. Learn to Take Thorough Notes If you ditch class and skimp on notes it will translate into more hours researching. Take proper notes with your paper in mind. 14. Don’t Forget to Think Critically This is serious business and seriously lacking in America today. Be objective as possible, and then color that cold data with your subjective self. Get it? Be critical. Think critically. Deduce things critically. Okay all you aspiring and accomplished college paper writers out there, how do you do it? Share your wisdom!

Schools Have Options When Penning a Cell Phone Policy

Schools Have Options When Penning a Cell Phone Policy Cell phones are increasingly becoming more of an issue for schools. It seems that every school addresses this issue utilizing a different cell phone policy. Students of all ages have begun to carry cell phones. This generation of students is more tech savvy than any who has become before them. A policy should be added to the student handbook to handle cell phone issues according to your district’s stance. Several different variations of a school cell phone policy and possible consequences are discussed here. Consequences are variable as they could apply to one or each of the policies below. Cell Phone Ban Students are not permitted to possess a cell phone for any reason on school grounds. Any student caught violating this policy will have their cell phone confiscated. First Violation: The cell phone will be confiscated and given back only when the parent comes by to pick it up. Second Violation: Forfeiture of the cell phone until the end of the last day of school. Cell Phone Not Visible During School Hours Students are permitted to carry their cell phones, but they should not have them out at any time unless there is an emergency. Students are allowed to use their cell phones only in an emergency situation. Students abusing this policy could have their cell phone taken until the end of the school day. Cell Phone Check In Students are permitted to bring their cell phone to school. However, they must check their phone into the office or their homeroom teacher upon arriving to school. It can be picked up by that student at the end of the day. Any student who fails to turn in their cell phone and is caught with it in their possession will have their phone confiscated. The phone will be returned to them upon paying a fine of $20 for violating this policy. Cell Phone as an Educational Tool Students are permitted to bring their cell phone to school. We embrace the potential that cell phones can be used as a technological learning tool in the classroom . We encourage teachers to implement the use of cell phones when appropriate into their lessons. Students will be trained at the beginning of the year as to what proper cell phone etiquette is within the confines of the school. Students may use their cell phones for personal use during transition periods or at lunch. Students are expected to turn their cell phones off when entering a classroom. Any student who abuses this privilege will be required to attend a cell phone etiquette refresher course. Cell phones will not be confiscated for any reason as we believe that confiscation creates a distraction for the student which interferes with learning.