Teaching Kids Not to Bully

It can be shocking and upsetting to learn that your child has gotten in trouble for picking on others or been labeled a bully.

As difficult as it may be to process this news, it’s important to deal with it right away. Whether the bullying is physical or verbal, if it’s not stopped it can lead to more aggressive antisocial behavior and interfere with your child’s success in school and ability to form and sustain friendships.

Understanding Bullying Behavior

Kids bully for many reasons. Some bully because they feel insecure. Picking on someone who seems emotionally or physically weaker provides a feeling of being more important, popular, or in control. In other cases,kids bully because they simply don’t know that it’s unacceptable to pick on kids who are different because of size, looks, race, or religion.

In some cases bullying is a part of an ongoing pattern of defiant or aggressive behavior. These kids are likely to need help learning to manage anger and hurt, frustration, or other strong emotions. They may not have the skills they need to cooperate with others. Professional counseling can often help them learn to deal with their feelings, curb their bullying, and improve their social skills.

Some kids who bully at school and in settings with their peers are copying behavior that they see at home. Kids who are exposed to aggressive and unkind interactions in the family often learn to treat others the same way. And kids who are on the receiving end of taunting learn that bullying can translate into control over children they perceive as weak.

Helping Kids Stop Bullying

Let your child know that bullying is unacceptable and that there will be serious consequences at home, school, and in the community if it continues.

Try to understand the reasons behind your child’s behavior. In some cases, kids bully because they have trouble managing strong emotions like anger, frustration, or insecurity. In other cases, kids haven’t learned cooperative ways to work out conflicts and understand differences.

Tactics to Try

Be sure to:

• Take bullying seriously. Make sure your kids understand that you will not tolerate bullying at home or anywhere else. Establish rules about bullying and stick to them. If you punish your child by taking away privileges, be sure it’s meaningful. For example, if your child bullies other kids via email, text messages, or a social networking site, dock phone or computer privileges for a period of time. If your child acts aggressively at home, with siblings or others, put a stop to it. Teach more appropriate (and nonviolent) ways to react, like walking away.
• Teach kids to treat others with respect and kindness. Teach your child that it is wrong to ridicule differences (i.e., race, religion, appearance, special needs, gender, economic status) and try to instill a sense of empathy for those who are different. Consider getting involved together in a community group where your child can interact with kids who are different.
• Learn about your child’s social life. Look for insight into the factors that may be influencing your child’s behavior in the school environment (or wherever the bullying is occurring). Talk with parents of your child’s friends and peers, teachers, guidance counselors, and the school principal. Do other kids bully? What about your child’s friends? What kinds of pressures do the kids face at school? Talk to your kids about those relationships and about the pressures to fit in. Get them involved in activities outside of school so that they meet and develop friendships with other kids.
• Encourage good behavior. Positive reinforcement can be more powerful than negative discipline. Catch your kids being good — and when they handle situations in ways that are constructive or positive, take notice and praise them for it.
• Set a good example. Think carefully about how you talk around your kids and how you handle conflict and problems. If you behave aggressively — toward or in front of your kids — chances are they’ll follow your example. Instead, point out positives in others, rather than negatives. And when conflicts arise in your own life, be open about the frustrations you have and how you cope with your feelings.

Starting at Home

When looking for the influences on your child’s behavior, look first at what’s happening at home. Kids who live with yelling, name-calling, putdowns, harsh criticism, or physical anger from a sibling or parent/caregiver may act that out in other settings.

It’s natural — and common — for kids to fight with their siblings at home. And unless there’s a risk of physical violence it’s wise not to get involved. But monitor the name-calling and any physical altercations and be sure to talk to each child regularly about what’s acceptable and what’s not.

It’s important to keep your own behavior in check too. Watch how you talk to your kids, and how you react to your own strong emotions when they’re around. There will be situations that warrant discipline and constructive criticism. But take care not to let that slip into name-calling and accusations. If you’re not pleased with your child’s behavior, stress that it’s the behavior that you’d like your child to change, and you have confidence that he or she can do it.

If your family is going through a stressful life event that you feel may have contributed to your child’s behavior, reach out for help from the resources at school and in your community. Guidance counselors, pastors, therapists, and your doctor can help.

Getting Help

To help a child stop bullying, talk with teachers, guidance counselors, and other school officials who can help you identify situations that lead to bullying and provide assistance.

Your doctor also might be able to help. If your child has a history of arguing, defiance, and trouble controlling anger, consider an evaluation with a therapist or behavioral health professional.

As difficult and frustrating as it can be to help kids stop bullying, remember that bad behavior won’t just stop on its own. Think about the success and happiness you want your kids to find in school, work, and relationships throughout life, and know that curbing bullying now is progress toward those goals.

Best Wishes,

Master Good Grades

Study More Effectively at a Proper Study Place

Study More Effectively at a Proper Study Place

There are many factors that will affect a student’s ability to understand, remember and recall of the information that they have learnt.

One of the most basic and mostly overlooked factor is having a conducive and properly set up study place.

Studying needs time and effort. Studying should not be done in places where you will not be able to focus well. Choosing the right place involves evaluating your preferences and personality. Knowing your own unique preferences would allow you to choose the most appropriate place. What matters most is being comfortable.

Having said that, I still do not understand how some children can study in a noisy environment such as in a fast food restaurant or coffee joint. With all that noise and distraction, I sincerely doubt their ability to effectively and efficiently absorb the information that they are revising on.

What are the things to consider in choosing the right place to study.

1.       Availability of the place

In choosing where to study, you really need to know the availability of the place. A study place needs to be available for you in times where you really need to study. It will just be a hassle for you if the place is usually unavailable. If you share the same place with others you must schedule things so that you will know when to use it.

2.       Location of the place

The location is very important. Is it far away from your house? If it is, how many minutes will it take you to go home to eat and return. How many minutes will it take for you to go there and study. Saving time is important in studying. So this must be considered.

3.       Interruptions and Distractions

A place away from distractions and interruptions would make your study time efficient. A student who tries to study in a quiet place learns more than those who are open for distractions and interruptions.

4.       Availability of Materials

Your place should contain all the materials that you need in studying such as the reading materials. It should contain supplies such as pens and pencils, paper, ruler, calculator, and whatever else you might need.

5.       Quality of the Place

In choosing the right place, you must consider the quality of the place. These are the things you must consider in seeing the quality of the place.

• Large table. You need to study in a table where you can be comfortable. And having a table where you can put all you materials should be available for you in your study place. Allow enough room for writing and try to avoid clutter.
• A comfortable chair. Discomfort will be a hindrance in your study time. It will distract you while you are studying. You should have a chair where you are comfortable but not a chair which will make you too much comfortable. A chair that is too much comfortable might make you sleepy.
• Storage space. Any kind of materials that are not needed in your studies is a distraction and the only way to get rid of them is to store them in a place. Having a large storing space will allow those materials to be hidden away from your sight.
• Enough light. Lights are important in reading. And studying involves more reading. Proper lighting will prevent your eyes from discomfort.
• Temperature. This will be according to your preferences. There are some who finds cold temperature as the best place where to study. You should consider you preferences. If you find yourself studying efficiently in a warm room, then choose it.

Here are some places which I would strongly encourage students to consider. These places might be available in your place and studying in these places is productive.

Best Places to Study

• Library. The library is a best place, if not the best choice, to study. Any reading materials you need can be found here. Here you will have many resources and normally, students who enters library should be silent at all times. It is a quiet place where you can focus. It is the best learning environment.
• Local coffee shop. Coffee shops usually have WiFi which is very useful in accessing the internet to be able to have the information you need quickly. You can take advantage of the WiFi service there. However, do look for a coffee shop that is less crowded and quieter.
• Parks. You will find it relaxing in parks. Relaxing scenery is also needed in studying. You must be relaxed while studying to improve your brain capabilities.
• Own home. You can create a quiet and tidy corner to study. Studying at home will save you travelling time, to and fro external study places.

Choosing the right place to study is the first thing a student must do. Studying is not done only once. You will require a place where you can study effectively on a regular basis. Consider the suggestions above in choosing your proper study place and surely you will find yourself in the best learning environment.

 

Regards,

Master Good Grades

‘You’ve got to find what you love,’ Jobs says

I found this article posted on Stanford University website (http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html)

Though the speech was delivered on 12 June 2005, I still find it a timeless precious gem, which I would like to share it here to inspire young people who are still searching for their true passion in life.

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I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: “We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?” They said: “Of course.” My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents’ savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn’t see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn’t interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn’t know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down – that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I’m pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don’t lose faith. I’m convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You’ve got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don’t settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn’t even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor’s code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you’d have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I’m fine now.

This was the closest I’ve been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960’s, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Thank you all very much.

:Steve Jobs

Bridging the Gap Between Intention and Action

I read a very interesting article on intention and action.

The author shared that good intention is the first step and the simplest to do. But having it alone will not be enough to get you to any achievements. Though it is an important first step, nonetheless.

Sadly, few people can move past this phase into what’s truly the critical component — real honest action.

Action is the “doing”. Imagine a beautiful boat just sitting in the harbor. It has got an incredibly powerful motor with more than enough horsepower to get it swiftly from point A to point B — but without the necessary fuel to actually power the boat, it is like a floating log.

No matter how pretty the boat may be (or well-intentioned its designer may have been) without the fuel (i.e. in our example, the action component) the boat isn’t going to do much of anything except sit there pretty and take up space.

The same is true of your goals and dreams. You are a magnificent person, blessed with untold talents and gifts, but unless you choose to put your blessings to work in your life you very likely are not going to benefit from them.

Consider that a diamond un-mined sitting underground is still very much a diamond, but until it is brought out of the ground, polished, and crafted into some form of desirable form it’s very much like our example above of the powerful boat which lacks the necessary fuel to “bring it to life.”

Understanding this, the key is to bridge the gap from your initial intention to do a thing and the time in which it takes you to actually get started and involved in the particular activity.

In short, your ability to develop actual action steps which will move you closer to your larger goal, and equally essential, your willingness to get started will be the differentiating factor as to whether or not you get to experience the sense of fulfillment for having achieved your given endeavor.

No matter what you want to accomplish there is always an action plan which can be mapped out to get you to where you want to go. That’s not to say it will be obvious, nor that at this point in your journey that you necessarily have the skill sets or experience to make them all work exactly right. But remember and take heart because you can learn, borrow, or acquire whatever skills or resources you might need.

The point to keep in mind is that life has an incredible way of filling in the details for the person who shows the fortitude to set out in pursuit of their dreams. You will most certainly find this to be the case as you become a person of action as well.

As you begin each day take a moment to reconnect with what you want to achieve. Literally envision in your mind what it will feel like to accomplish what you are working towards. See yourself, to the best of your ability doing whatever it is that is required of you. Play out in your mind’s eye how it will feel to achieve what you are working so hard to accomplish.

After you have played your “mental movie” of the what, why, and how you wish to achieve, take a moment to bring things together by looking over and if necessary writing/rewriting out the concrete actions steps you need to be taking in order to get to the place you want to go.

Used in tandem the components mentioned above are very effective. Leave out either one and you may find that you’re spinning your wheels unnecessarily. Leave out the action component and you’re unlikely to see any real progress at all. Everyday make a point to lead with action, fully knowing that as you do so you are moving ever closer towards your intended destination.

It is the same as studying, set an intention, list out your goals, acquire effective study techniques, put in the time and effort to your school work and at the end of the rainbow, you will find your pot of gold.

In summary, commit to being a person who takes action on what you deem to be truly worthwhile and you will find that, more often than not, you will meet with success along your life’s journey.

 

Best wishes,

Master Good Grades

7 Effective Strategies to Study for Exams

7 Effective Strategies to Study for Exams

Are you searching for methods or techniques on exactly how to study for exams more effectively?

To be honest, I have been a student before and getting ready for tests and exams are actually the most stress filled times. Preparing well will allow me to perform superbly well during an exam. If you find yourself struggling to get good grades, this article will provide you with some tips to prepare for your exams more effectively and score straight As. Here are the tips:

1. Do not slough in your seat when studying

Try to sit upright with your chair supporting your back while you are studying. A chair which is overly comfortable could result in a lack of attention. While learning, your body must be comfortable in order to make sure that you will be able to focus fully on the study materials.

2. Study at the right hours

If you want to study for your exams in the shortest possible time, you have to make sure that every minute spent studying is worth its while. You must be aware of your own most productive time during the day. If your productive time appeared to be in the morning, then do not try to study late at night. You will likely be wasting your time, simply because you might not be able to store much information into your brain. Learn at the time when you do best, and focus during those times. Additionally, learn the toughest material when you perform best, and save the less complicated material for all those times when you cannot focus that long.

3. Reduce intake of caffeinated drinks

A perfect recommendation is always to drink a good amount of water, especially when you start to feel sleepy. Drinking plenty of tea, coffee or coke will most likely increase your stress levels. In the same way, taking small regular meals is more beneficial as opposed to taking heavy meals which will likely fatigued your mind from all the digestion work that needs to be done.

4. Know your dominant learning style

Every person has a different learning style. Figure out what type of learner you are and follow the effective learning style that fits your personality. There are three common types of learning skill: visual, auditory, kinesthetic and audio digital. Knowing the right techniques for you will ensure that your time spent on studying will be easier and storage of the information will be more effective.

5. Rewrite notes

Making your own notes allows you to ponder on what you are writing and make retention of the information easier. This technique is perfect for the visual and kinesthetic learners. Remember to highlight your notes with bright-colored pens for better memory recall. All it takes is a little effort to get everything into your brain.

6. Avoid cramming

As mentioned earlier, cramming is not a good way to study. It will pressure you and will tire your brain. Having time constraint can affect your memory and you may not remember all the notes you reviewed in such a short period of time. As a result, you will not be able to get the grade you want for your exam. Plan a weekly timetable for studying and keep to it. Pacing yourself properly while preparing for your exams can make wonders to your results.

7. Find a perfect place to study

A place where you can concentrate is very important for an effective learning habit. As much as possible, avoid studying in an area near your television or refrigerator. This will disrupt your attention and focus on the lessons you are revising. Find a comfortable place where there is less noise and clutter. A conducive learning area can greatly boost your concentration. Take note of this if you want to learn your lessons effortlessly.

Conclusion

Studying for your exams can be easy when you use right and effective study techniques. You can get a straight-A grade for your exams with less effort when you are properly guided.

Try out these tips and techniques. Happy preparing!

Best Wishes,

Master Good Grades

25 Powerful Speed Reading Tips

25 Powerful Speed Reading Tips

1. Remember why you are reading: When reading, remember why it is important for you to read what you’re reading right now. It helps to focus your thoughts and energy on the key facts within the text.
2. Pick an ideal time to read: Understand yourself and find out which part of the day do you possess the highest level of energy. Many students are able to improve their reading speed and concentration by reading important material during those parts of the day. It could be early on in the day or early evening. Test to find out what works best for you.
3. Read with a pointer: Use a pointer to get your eyes to follow along quickly. The best pointer is your index finger!
4. Use your hand and finger to get your reading pace: With your right hand, or your left hand if this is your master-hand, and then use your finger as your pointer to train your eyes to read the letters and words faster.
5. Practice regulating your reading speed: Learn how to speed up or slow down your reading speed depending on your needs and the context you are in (quiet versus noisy environment).
6. Adjust your reading speed: Adjust your reading speed based on the difficulty and importance of what you are reading as well as the context and situation you are in. Be realistic – you cannot read at top speed all the time.
7. Select and choose what you read: If you think you are reading something that is not really important, quickly move on to something that is more essential. This can save you up to 50% of your study time.
8. Review before you start to read: Warm up before you start to read by looking at headings, subheadings, the introduction, and conclusion. Then you know what to read, often skipping over pages and chapters that are not relevant and saving you valuable time.
9. Skim your material before you start to read: Pick out the most important information before you actually read the text. This helps your brain to get ready to accept the information and can increase your reading speed by as much as 50%.
10. Do not Re-read: Do not go back to reread as you will interrupt the flow of reading. Try to slow down a little and pick up the pace when you are in the zone. You may come across some of the words that are inconsequential initially. Believe that you can piece it together subsequently.
11. Read like it matters: Pay attention and reading in an active manner. It is better to be focused for 10 to 20 minutes than to waste an entire hour going through the motions.
12. Read in smaller chunks: You do not have to commit hours at a time to reading. When you fit it into your day in small chunks, you will get a lot more done – the trick is to remember to carry your book(s) with you all the time!
13. Read in phrases but do not skim: Do your reading in chunks of words rather than individual ones, but avoid skimming and skipping words as this will just confuse you.
14. Remove distractions: Reduce or totally remove distractions in your environment when you are reading to improve your reading speed. Sometimes having your iPod on with instrumental music helps block out ambient noise and other distractions.
15. Avoid fidgeting when you read: If you are susceptible to nervous habits while you are reading, you can quickly break your concentration. Speed reading requires more focus and attention than standard reading. It will take time getting rid of your idiosyncrasies, but it will pay off in the long-term.
16. Work on expanding your vocabulary: Build up your vocabulary by reading more advanced texts and documents so that you will not have to pause to check out the meaning of unfamiliar words. Of course, this is a double-edged sword. Trust that with exposure to reading more advanced texts, you will soon figure out the meaning as you read, often without reaching for the dictionary.
17. Seek answers to questions as you read: Make your reading more active and allow better retention of information by questioning yourself as you are going through the text. At first it will be hard to think and read at the same time, but you will quickly get the hang of it with a little practice and patience.
18. Read alone: Let others know that you are trying to read and that you do not want to be disturbed.
19. Read right through punctuation: Do not pause for periods, commas and other punctuations. You will notice that this alone will speed up your reading quite a fair bit.
20. Highlight and underline only important words: Stay focused on only the most important details by highlighting and underlining only the most important words. Research has shown that bored students use highlighting tends to be a procrastination tool. Do not do it.
21. Write down your thoughts as you are reading: Using a notepad to write down thoughts or questions that you can address later allows you to focus on reading. Else, you are trying to think and read at the same time and that’s not going to work when you get to the next topic.
22. Limit your reading time: By giving yourself less time to read, you will train yourself to read faster with a target to achieve. Be realistic and pick a time period that you know you can get it done without distractions and stress, but just enough pressure to push yourself.
23. Take breaks when necessary: Take breaks from reading if you find your focus slipping. Often, that just means looking up, getting comfortable on your chair and stretching. Do not let breaks interrupt your flow and momentum, otherwise you will start from scratch to get into the flow of reading all over again.
24. Avoid vocalization: Try not to read the material aloud, as this will slow you down. The less you speak the words, the faster you will read. However, if you are an auditory learner, then only read aloud the key words.
    
25. Do not speak the words in your mind: Just like reading aloud, speaking the words in your mind takes extra time and effort. This prevents you from reading faster. When you stop saying the words in your mind, you get way beyond 500 words per minute, if you cannot break this habit, you will never be able to surpass that level.