The SAT is a major deciding factor in college admissions and a major area of focus for most high school juniors and seniors. With so much emphasis on one test, it is no wonder that students get nervous and make small, easily avoidable mistakes that can cost them greatly.

Here are some easily avoidable mistakes that can greatly affect your overall SAT score.

• Getting lost on your way to the SAT testing center
I can’t think of a more frustrating reason for failing the SAT. Therefore, be sure to print out directions to the SAT test center the day before your test and give yourself plenty of driving time to accommodate for traffic or getting lost.

• Dead calculator batteries
Make sure to put fresh batteries in your calculator and bring a couple new batteries with you for back-up.

• Filling in bubbles out of order
Be very careful to fill in the correct bubble in the correct row. Also, if you skip a question, be sure to circle it and make sure that you do not bubble-in your next answer in the skipped question’s place.

• Skipping breakfast
Do not skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast will zap your energy and interfere with your concentration. On the other hand, eating too much for breakfast can also be detrimental, as feeling sick or nauseous will also affect your concentration.

• Losing track of time
The SAT is timed and once the time is up, you must put your pencil down and close the test. Therefore, make sure to closely monitor your time and make sure that you can get through all the questions.

• Waking up early and cramming
If you begin studying for the SAT in advance, there is no need to cram on the morning of the test. Waking up early and putting in a last minute cram session may add more stress and cause you to burn out of energy during the test.

• Writing personal information incorrectly
This happens more than you would think and you get points for completing your name and personal information correctly.

Most of the above mistakes can be easily avoided with preparation. The best way to remain calm and confident during the SAT is to come prepared. I suggest connecting with an SAT tutor for a few hours of tutoring each week leading up to the SAT. And, since all the tutoring takes place online with GlobalScholar, you can tutor at your convenience from the comfort of home.

This week’s homework tip mainly focuses on written assignments, such as essays, book reports or word problems. Having someone proofread your work will help eliminate spelling and grammar errors and help make your homework assignments look more polished.

It is always a good idea to be your own editor, reading through your writing and making sure that everything looks good. However, it is also a good idea to have another set of eyes look through your writing, as you often miss minor mistakes.

Additionally, it is very common to overlook your own spelling mistakes, as your brain will automatically correct them as you read. For example, try reading the text below:

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

Now, I expect that your papers don’t have that many spelling errors, but now you can see how easily they are to read and how it would be easy to miss a few mistakes.

So, once you have completed a homework writing assignment, it is a good idea to have a parent, older sibling, tutor or friend look through your writing for spelling and grammar errors. Additionally, it also helps to read your writing aloud to yourself so you can hear how it sounds and catch any mistakes.

If no one is around to proofread your writing, check out these homework help tutors who would be more than happy to read through your assignment.

• Andrea Wolf – “Proofread, Edit and Revision Help!”
• Tara Rogers – “Peyton’s Place for Proofreading”
• Julie Gniadek – “English”
• Scott Boulding – “English Composition”

When preparing for college admissions, I strongly suggest that you take both the SAT and the ACT. Many students score higher on the ACT, as it applies more to what you have learned in school, rather than just testing your ability to take a test.

I say this simply because I scored significantly higher on my ACT than on the SAT and qualified for a scholastic scholarship due simply to the addition of that test. Therefore, I highly suggest every student take the ACT and get some good study time in.

The ACT has four mandatory sections: English, Reading, Mathematics and Science. Additionally, there is an optional Writing test – take this test! If you score high enough, you will not have to take English 101 in college!

Here are some ACT test taking tips to remember:

• Answers the questions that are easiest for you first. Highlight the ones you skip and go back to them later.

• Don’t spend more than a minute or two on each question. If a question takes longer than that, circle it and come back to it at the end.

• Keep track of your time – try to divide it into 4 or 5 chunks of time.

• Answer every single question – even if you have no clue what the correct answer is. Usually, you have a 25% chance of being correct.

• Be sure to carefully fill-in your answers. Don’t hurt your score by filling in the right answer for the wrong question.

• Read all possible answers before making your selection – don’t just go with the first one you think is correct.

• On the same note as above, don’t second guess yourself too much. If it feels like the correct answer, go with it. But if you are having a hard time deciding, circle it and come back to it at the end.

The most important thing is to be prepared. It’s probably not a good idea to go to a party the night before or stay up all night watching movies. Additionally, don’t try to cram in studying the morning of the test, you don’t want to fry your brain before the test even begins.

Want help preparing for the ACT? Here are some great tutors to check out:

• Sandweiss Test Prep – ACT Preparation
• Tara Rogers – Score Higher on the ACT!
• Sheila Messick – SAT, ACT, GRE, WASL, English Test Prep
• Sarah Stobaugh – SAT and ACT Test Prep

GlobalScholar would like to congratulate this year’s winners of the National Educator Award presented by the Milken Family Foundation. Ronelle Robinson and Cheryl Watkins were each awarded $25,000 for their excellence in education.

Ronelle Robinson is a third grade teacher at Cameron Elementary School in Chicago, IL. She had no idea she was up for the award and went into complete shock when her name was announced.

Ronelle has been teaching at Cameron for 18 years and is truly loved by her students and their parents. Cameron’s principal, David Kovach, said that Ronelle annually receives a high volume of parent requests to enroll their children in her class. Additionally, she consistently displays the most improvement across the whole school in her students each year.

Cheryl Watkins has been the principal at John J. Pershing West Magnet School in Chicago, IL since 2005. Cheryl is said to continuously inspire excellence among her students and teachers and promotes a balanced literacy and inquiry-based approach to inspire critical thinking within her school’s curriculum.

In Cheryl’s school, she has created a wealth of enrichment programs, including African dance and poetry reading, Championship winning ballroom dancing and an archery program. Additionally, she has reduced school bullying by helping students produce a video on the subject.

Ronelle and Cheryl were among 80 educators nationwide to receive a visit from Milken this fall.

To read more about the Milken Family Foundation, the Milken Educator Awards or to learn how to nominate your favorite educator, check out their web site here.

This is music to the ears of online gamers. GlobalScholar now offers 8 free online games that are so fun, you won’t even notice you are learning.

And parents, don’t worry that your kids are spending time online playing games, they are receiving an “edutainment.” Our educational games challenge a student’s mental agility, mathematical skills and spelling. If fact, I encourage you to try them out for yourself or challenge your child to a round of Math Bingo.

Click on any of the following games and all high scores will be recorded on GlobalScholar.

• Math Bingo
• Typing Speed Test
• Word Search
• Scramble II
• Quick Math
• Math Search
• World Capitals Quiz
• Arithmetic Game

Additionally, I would like to challenge anyone to beat my typing on the Typing Speed Test of 70 wpm with 85% accuracy. If you beat me, let me know and I’ll post your score for others to challenge.

This week’s homework tip focuses on preparation and making a space where you can buckle down and get your homework done with the least amount of distractions.

The first step in creating a study center is to choose a place in your house that is quiet, bright and free of distraction. This study center should not be in the family or living room, or in any room that has a television or is a high traffic area for the rest of the family.

Creating a study center in your bedroom or kitchen may be the best place. You will need a desk and a chair and minimal resources including a dictionary, calculator, pencils, erasers and paper. Additionally, depending on your grade level, access to a computer or laptop is also a good idea.

Things to keep out of your study center are cell phones, games, televisions, food and any other distracting objects. You may want to add a clock or a timer and set goals for yourself – such as working on homework for one or two solid hours before getting up and moving from your study center.

Below is a great example of a good study center. Although there is sports equipment around, it is out of reach when you are sitting and shouldn’t provide too much of a distraction.

However, if creating a study center still isn’t helping to improve your grades, the next step is to bring a tutor into the equation. If you haven’t already done so, bring a computer or laptop into your study center and connect with a tutor live. This will provide an additional resource that can help you instantly from your study center.

What do you want to be when you grow up? I’m sure you’ve put some thought into it and have at least a vague idea of what your desired future will look like.

If you are in elementary or middle school, you still have a lot of dreaming to do, but how about you high school students? High school is a time of final preparation for what lies ahead, whether it is college, community college, vocational school or straight into a career, this is a time to really weigh your options.

Going to College?

If college is in your after high school plans, then be sure to take advantage of the free resources available on CollegeFinder.com. Here you will find information on all colleges and universities in the U.S., including admissions, campus size, location and contact information.

Also available at CollegeFinder is CollegeAdvisor, which is a free online resource to help highlight the right schools for you.

What about e-learning?

However, if the high costs of college are keeping you from applying, I recommend checking out your online options. Earning your degree online can cut the cost of earning your degree in half and also takes less time. You can view top quality, accredited online colleges at CollegeFinder and request free information and speak directly with an admissions counselor.

Got a specific passion? What about vocational school?

College is not for everyone and there is no shame in taking an alternative route. If you are an artistic person with talents in a specific area, I suggest trying a vocational, or trade school. This can include a school of cosmetology, the arts, information technologies or plumbing.

Earning a certificate or degree from a vocational school usually takes less time – sometimes around 6 months – and helps you transition right into the workplace.

In the end, the most important decision you should make is to complete high school and get your diploma. You can always decide to attend college later in life and if you do, you will be glad that you earned your high school degree.

At Tuesday’s presidential debate, Senator Obama stressed the importance of education’s impact on the global economy and ranks quality public education and affordable higher education among his top three national priorities.

If you read the blog on Obama’s education plan, you will remember that he places a lot of emphasis on providing educators with the resources and respect they deserve. This is noted in his plan to increase teacher retention and reward teachers for the positive work they do.

The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, which represents 3.2 million teachers and educators. In a nutshell, this is an enormous group of intellectual elite, whose salary and treatment does not come close to matching their worth. They, of course, are thrilled with Obama’s statement and say that increased funding in education will indeed help boost our position in the global marketplace.

One point that Obama touched on was making college affordability a priority.

More than 18 million Americans are currently enrolled in a college or university and spend on average $13,425 on tuition and room and board for one academic year at in-state schools. That is over $50,000 for a four year degree, leaving many young graduates in a position to begin their lives with substantial accumulated debt. 

As more and more high schools work on increasing their college prep courses and scoring higher college preparedness marks, many students avoid the four-year degree program in fear of falling into debt.

It’s time to see some change in education, as teachers and students are willing to put in the hard work; they need to be met by politicians and funding somewhere in the middle.

If you checked in last week, you learned how to break up your studying time into short chunks, optimizing your attention span and learning potential. This week’s studying tip is all about to-do lists.

Staying organized is key to achieving academic success. If you are like me and have a hard time staying focused, creating to-do lists are essential.

To-do lists are the best way to write down and visualize your tasks at hand. A to-do list will help you prioritize the subjects or topics you need to spend the most time on and can outline when the studying needs to be completed.

For example, if a student was preparing for a math exam in their algebra course, this is how their to-do list might look:

1. Get study guide from teacher
2. Gather all class notes and completed homework assignments
3. Create flashcards
4. Find algebra tutor
5. Study 2 hours each night before test
6. Understand quadratic equations forwards and backwards
7. Complete practice test
8. Review practice test

Not only does a list like this keep you on track, but it also helps reduce the stress of a big test by breaking it down into digestible study portions – going right along with last week’s tip!

Additionally, to-do lists can give you a sense of accomplishment and it is very satisfying to cross items off your list.

This week’s homework tip is all about communication and understanding your teacher’s expectations.

Have you ever looked at a homework assignment and wondered what in the world your teacher is asking? Maybe it was unclear what you were supposed to complete, how in-depth your answers needed to be or even what the teacher wanted out of the assignment.

Well, the simple solution is to talk with your teacher.

You can schedule a conference with your teacher at the beginning of a new semester to talk with them about their expectations for homework assignments and tests. Ask them what they are looking for on assignments and the grading rubric they use.

Also, don’t be afraid to talk with them after class as well. If you are unsure about an assignment, just ask for clarification and if your teacher can give you any suggestions on how to start and what to spend the most time on.

You may also want to briefly skim through your homework assignment once it has been handed out. Look for any questions that you are having difficulty with or any questions that don’t make sense to you. Then, after class consult your teacher for clarification.

Teachers are there to help you learn and exceed, so never hesitate to ask for extra help. Make it a priority to talk with your teachers about their expectations and grading rubric so you can approach your assignments and tests precisely and help improve your overall grades.  

Too late to ask your teacher for help? If you are stuck on a homework assignment right now, simply connect with a tutor instantly for help. You can have a live tutoring sessions or simply submit your problem through homework help and check back in later for easy-to-follow steps to a solution.