Self-Conscious About Your Singing Try These 3 Tips

Self-Conscious About Your Singing Try These 3 Tips Suzy S. Wondering how to get over stage fright when singing? Or even just feeling comfortable with singing in front of a small group? Check out these helpful tips from North Hollywood, CA teacher Jackie B... As a lifelong musical theater performer â€" and owner of a big, brassy voice â€" I often hear people complain to me that “they wish they had talent” or lament the fact that they are “tone deaf” and therefore unable to enjoy singing. While I can appreciate the fact that people are born with varying degrees of musical ability, I firmly and truly believe that everyone can put together a winning performance and find a way to love singing. Think about it: how many times have you been bored to tears hearing someone with a beautiful voice give a limp or perhaps overly self-indulgent performance? And how many times have you leapt to your feet over a pitchy-but-rousing karaoke number? The honest truth is that confidence and preparation trump lifeless but talented any day. So the real trick is knowing how to get over stage fright when singing and overcoming your self-consciousness enough to give the performance of a lifetime every time. While they may not substitute for a Juilliard education, here are three key tips to get you out of your shell and onto the stage: 1. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others I cannot stress this enough. If you are so focused on Julie’s vibrato or Karen’s comic timing, you are missing out on the important opportunity to find your own value and strengths. I often tell students that pretty blonde girls with killer voices are a dime a dozen. In fact, I think these talented bombshells actually have more competition despite their genetic gifts. Instead, focus on what makes you special. Maybe you arent the next Julie Andrews, but would being a Patti LuPone, Elaine Stritch, or Bea Arthur be so bad? 2. Find A Personal Connection The best antidote to a dull performance is a connection to the material.  I once had a student who wanted to sing a classic Disney song for a cabaret performance, but was struggling with nerves. I asked her what the song meant, and she dutifully paraphrased the lyrics. When I asked her instead what the song meant to her and asked her “Why would you sing this to someone? How would these lyrics change someone’s mind about something important?”, tears began to stream down her face as she found an immediate connection to a beloved family member in crisis. When she sang the song again it was personal, confident, and beautiful. 3. Prepare, Prepare, Prepare Notice I did not use the standard p-word (“Practice”) as it implies a more rote and repetitious exercise. By “prepare,” I mean: focus on delving into the story and the performance. Where are there opportunities for a varied dynamic? Are there places that can offer unexpected comic relief? Of course you should always take the time to memorize the lyrics and work on vocal technique, but a strong performance requires work outside of your class time where you can really let the story sink in. Practice and repetition are also important â€" once you have the story down, try it out in front of as many people as you can. It is one thing to sing a song confidently in the shower, and another to sing with the same enthusiasm in front of your mom and her reading club, but I urge you to do it. We only have one life, and it is such a shame to waste our passion on an unresponsive showerhead, don’t you think? If you use these tools in combination with a technique and a coaching-oriented vocal instructor, you are well on your way to giving an honest, unique, and fantastic performance. Now get out there and sing! Jackie B. teaches singing and acting in North Hollywood, CA. She has worked with singers of all ages and experience levels who want to improve performance, vocal expression, and range. Learn more about Jackie here! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo  by  Boelseye Lisa Boels

What to Do When Youre Waitlisted by a College

What to Do When You’re Waitlisted by a College Unlike a definitive yes or no response, being placed on a college waitlist means that you can only attend if a space becomes available. It can feel frustrating to get this kind of response from a college, especially if its your dream school. How do you move forward if you know a school is theoretically willing to accept you, but only if a spot opens up? When youre waitlisted by a college, its important to decide whether or not you wish to remain on the waitlist, have a backup plan in place, and touch base with the admissions office of the school at which you were waitlisted. Have you been placed on a college waitlist, but arent sure how to proceed? Keep reading to learn what to do when youre waitlisted by a college. When waitlisted by a college, decide whether or not to stay on the waiting list When colleges send you a waitlist decision, you may be asked to confirm whether or not you want to remain on the list. You should only keep your name on the waitlist if you really want to attend that college. Therefore, this is the time to re-evaluate if this school is the right fit for you. When making your decision, you should consider whether or not there are any consequences of remaining waitlisted. Sometimes, students who are waitlisted miss out on items like financial aid or housing opportunities since they will learn of their admission later than other applicants and cant apply in time. If getting these items is important to you, this could be a downside of choosing to remain waitlisted instead of focusing your energy on getting accepted to another college. Try to find a colleges waitlist admissions rate online or through its admissions office. Finding out where you are on the waitlist may also help you make a more informed decision about whether or not its worth your time and effort to stay involved with that school. [RELATED: 6 Things for High School Seniors to Remember as Graduation Nears] When waitlisted by a college, create a backup plan You might choose to remain on a waitlist if you feel passionate about a school and if it makes financial sense for you to attendeven if you dont get first pick of financial aid, housing, etc. However, you should get ready to attend another college if it turns out you dont get selected for admission after all. Take a hard look at all of the colleges that have accepted you (without a waitlist) and select the one that you feel is the best fit. Fill out any necessary admissions paperwork and send in a deposit right away to secure your spoteven if youd rather go to the school that has waitlisted you. If you ultimately choose to go to the school thats waitlisted you, youll lose this deposit. But since admission from a waitlist is not guaranteed, its best to at least know you have a college to attend. [RELATED: 4 Financial Aid Tips for Students] When waitlisted by a college, contact the schools admissions office Being waitlisted means a college is fairly sure or knows you have what it takes to be a student at their institutionat least based on your academic records and admissions essays. Sending an additional letter to the admissions office of the college thats waitlisted you may help to push admission in your favor. In the letter, you can include the following: Restate your interest in the college Mention any new accomplishmentsacademic and extracurricularthat you werent able to include on your application [RELATED: Is It Important to Declare a Major Before Starting College?] When youre waitlisted by a school, its important not to panic. Take this time to create a backup plan, research the schools waitlist admissions rate, and analyze whether this school is the best fit for you. Any topics you want to know more about? Let us know! The Varsity Tutors Blog editors love hearing your feedback and opinions. Feel free to email us at blog@varsitytutors.com.

5 Ways to Know Your SAT Test Well

5 Ways to Know Your SAT Test Well 0SHARESShare Even before you start preparing for SAT test, it is necessary to know SAT well, along with its various sections such as SAT writing and SAT subject tests such as SAT Biology and SAT chemistry.  1-  Time Management: One of the critical aspects of the SAT test is time management. Solving SAT or any other competitive tests such as GMAT/GRE are all a race against time. The SAT test time management skills will make you a much better manager than what you are now. 2- Multiple skills, varying degrees: The SAT test is not just about one subject; hence it is known that a student should have multiple skills. If the student can write well then sure that student can do well in English SAT. This is to say that talent should be developed by developing your new skill-sets to manage deadlines and multiple skills. 3- Setting the right priorities:  You know you have a SAT test is due the next week on Friday. Focusing on a particular subject requires one to know what is expected from the student?Setting the right expectations from the online tutoring is essential but at the same time students also make their well-known presence by felt by asking questions and queries? 4- Setting the right expectations: You know, it will be difficult to have a perfect score but it is not impossible. Setting the right expectations will allow you more time to think over problems and appear them thoughtfully, one by one. 5- Know your syllabus: You are good at Math and science and you know the formulas. But you don’t know the syllabus. It is essentials to know all the 4 points along with the syllabus.   [starbox id=admin]

Physics Online Tutoring Can Rescue From Tough Physics Topics

Physics Online Tutoring Can Rescue From Tough Physics Topics Every child when is in school thinks of reaching college level. They think college to be a different place where they can live their life to the fullest. Movies always have a bigger impact in our lives. We always tend to get drenched into the life what is portrayed in movies. But it is not always possible. Movies can never be depicted in real lives and vice versa. It is very certain for all of us to know that movies do inspire us, but when you are a teenager then it inspires you more. You begin to think your life as an ongoing movie and move away from the reality of life. Every movie that has college life in it shows the life to be larger than life. In reality things are not as that is shown in movies. Yes, it is true that college lives are different from school days. You can play pranks, bunk classes, and go for outing and all such stuffs which is never possible during school life. But along with all these you also need to have studies beside it. Studies are a big part in college days as well. Without the help of studies college life lands nowhere. The number of subjects is very less in college life as compared to school. You have to concentrate on only one subject and its various parts. It is quite natural that during school days we need private tutors more than in our college days. School days help you to create our base and college helps us to make that base stronger. It is very essential that one should be very much dedicated towards their studies so that they can have a much better future ahead. Private tutors are very essential for any school student as school do not help anyone in that manner. Some amount of extra help is always needed for them to uplift their knowledge as well as grades. Nativities of private tutoring But with time everything is changing and thus the teaching process is also changing to a great extent. Private tutors are also least concerned about the students they are teaching and they do not belong to any responsibility of helping the student to get more support. This decreases and affects the grades of students largely. With lack of good and proper guidance they are not able to reach to a certain limit and fall off hitting themselves. A good guidance is very important at this high age. Without the help of a good teacher it is not at all possible for anyone to lead a better life. Private tuitions fail to provide you with all the facilities and guidance that you being a student truly deserve. Good opening for online tutoring services It is a situation of lot of pain as tension as now from where will you get some other help. But it is no more a cause of worry for you as with the advent of various technologies newer ways of help has been introduced. Online tutoring is an entirely new concept which is being liked by people largely and students are taking a chance to enroll oneself into these institutes to get help from them. The number of institutes is increasing day by day and this is helping students lot. Today internet is being used by all students and it is helping them. Physics online tutoring is also a great way and can be said as one of the easy way through which you can get into the nerves of the subject and the subject properly. It helps you to raise your marks very instantly and with ease. Online tutoring has many features that help a student and their parents to get attracted towards it. Let us now note down some of the features that will help them to know the subject better. The teachers who are involved with this process of online teaching make it a point to know the subject deeply so that they can know how to teach a weak student as well. They have lot of knowledge with the subject which they can pass on to their students. All the weak students can be benefitted by their teaching and can increase their grades easily. With the increase in their grades comes a high level of self confidence in them. This high level of self confidence helps them to lead a much focused and new approach towards life. The online teachers help in making you look deep into the subjects and not only with the topics but it also helps you to know the subject better. It helps you to complete your homework and get good response in the class by knowing the topic beforehand. The assignments and projects are also controlled by the online tutors and thus they turn out to be perfect in all respect. The no limitation to time is one of the best factors that online teachers provide you. When you are into no time bondage then you can explore and fly high. Whatever and whenever you have doubts, you can easily clear it off and this is because of the fact that you can attend the class whenever you want as per your convenience. The charges are very affordable for any parents to bear it. Today each parent wants their child to be better than other and they make every possible help to make it true. But sometimes due to high charges it is always not possible for each parent to afford such tuition classes. Online tutors bring relief in such cases with the amount that they charge. Every middle class parent also can afford it that easily. TutorPace and its help Today you will get many such institutes those who help you for a better life. But very few are there who conduct the entire process is a much better way than other. College physics online tutoring  is a service that is enlisted in TutorPace service list that is not found anywhere else.  

Encouraging Literacy Through Public Service

Encouraging Literacy Through Public Service Encouraging Literacy Through Public Service Many parents work hard to find ways to teach their children to be good citizens and caring people, but with a little planning, you can also foster your childs interest in reading at the same time. If you volunteer as a family or are looking for opportunities to help worthwhile organizations in your community, here are a few ideas that may benefit your child. Read in a siblings classroom. If you have an elementary school student and a preschooler, talk with your preschoolers teacher about having your older child read to his or her little brothers or sisters class. This is a great chance for both children to feel special and an opportunity for your older student to see how much younger children enjoy being read to. Work with organizations to help low-income children. Your child might be surprised to know how many children in the United States and around the world do not have access to books. Organizations like First Book (www.firstbook.org), a nonprofit that strives to provide books to schools and programs for children in low-income families, works in hundreds of communities across the U.S. You and your child can reach out to a First Book Advisory Board near you to find out how you can help. For other ideas, check with your local library. Share your books. Your child could get involved with BookCrossing (www.bookcrossing.com), a worldwide book sharing program. This program is a fun way for your child to celebrate literature by sharing and tracking books he or she no longer needs. Talk with your school or local library, too, for other ideas on how your family can share books you no longer want with organizations in need (or volunteer with those same organizations). Start a book drive. There are many great local and national organizations that strive to add to libraries inventories, give books to organizations in need (homeless shelters or nursing homes, for example) and get books into the hands of children. Check with schools and libraries in your area, and also check out organizations near you for ideas on how to start or get involved in a book drive. BooksEnds in California, Chicago Book Drive (www.chicagobookdrive.com) and Books4Cause (based in Chicago but serving the Midwest) are all great examples. Volunteer at the library. One of the best ways for students to serve their communities while gaining valuable exposure to books and literature is to volunteer at the library. Your public library likely has many opportunities for young students to get involved, such as read-aloud programs, childrens story times and other programs, special projects, shelf and display organizing, and materials sorting. Look throughout your school and town for opportunities to help others enjoy reading and encourage your student to get involved. The more you can incorporate reading into your childs daily lifeboth by having him or her read and fostering reading in your communitythe better. Of course, while these are great activities, there is no substitute for frequent reading. If your child is struggling or could use targeted help, call Huntington. We can develop a customized learning program to help your child become a stronger reader, which will help him or her learn to enjoy this wonderful pastime.

The importance of practice tests

The importance of practice tests Hello AJ Tutoring clients and friends! We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and youre ready for the busy December season of finals, concerts, and family gatherings.One thing on the minds of many juniors these days is getting ready for the March SAT. At this point, Ive already completed a couple tutoring sessions with many of my juniors and theyre getting ready to take their first full practice tests.Completing full practice tests is a great way for students to get the feel of the test and track their progress. Sometimes, though, a student will come to our next tutoring session with the test partially completed, or not done under ideal circumstances. This ends up partly wasting the students time, since we cant get an accurate idea of where hes at with the test. Which begs the question: what should it look like when students do practice tests for homework?If possible, we always encourage students to take proctored tests offered some Saturday mornings at AJ Tutorings Palo Alto offic e. Well tell students what to do and when, just like the day of the test. This takes guesswork out of the equation and gives accurate results. Plus, students get their tutoring homework done in one morning. Win-win!But if its not possible to come in for a proctored test, students should do the test at home, in an environment that resembles the testing environment as closely as possible (minus all the other stressed-out students). What should this look like?1. NO DISTRACTIONS! This is so important. Most high schoolers treat their phones like extra appendages. You cant have phones during the SAT, so dont have them out while youre taking a practice test. You can use the phone as a timer, but put it across the room. No talking, no texting, no Facebook. 2. Do the whole test in one sitting. Yes, this is hard, and yes, it will take about four hours. Yes, we know you have sports and theater and hours of homework to do. But test day is a marathon, not a sprint. Lots of students could get gre at scores, if only they could split up the test over three days. Dont be one of those people! The SAT is partly testing your ability to focus and think for several hours straight, so you need to practice that. No shortcuts here! 3. Time it like the actual test. Follow the timing directions at the top of each section, and set a timer to go off when times up. Stop writing when you hear the timer, and dont fill in more answers. 4. Go in order. Dont do all the math sections at once, or all the reading and writing sections together. Complete sections in the order theyre presented in the test. 5. Take the test when youre feeling rested. Weekend mornings are a great time to take practice tests because the test itself is given on a Saturday morning. Regardless of what day you choose to complete the practice test, dont start it at 9 pm on a Thursday night after you finished all your other homework. Practice tests completed at 1 am never end well, trust me. 6. Parents, help create a good envi ronment. Make sure your son or daughter has a cleaned-off place to sit and complete the test without distractions. Dont interrupt them to talk or ask questions. Encourage them to do the test in one sitting, and provide positive reinforcement when they get it done. Put the test up on the fridge after they get the score back (okay, you dont have to do the last part).Completing several practice tests under testing conditions is one of the best predictors we at AJ Tutoring have found for a students eventual score improvement. Implementing the advice above is sure to help you have a great test day when March finally rolls around.

Finding Your Passion and Career Path

Finding Your Passion and Career Path via Pexels.com Pursue Your Curiosity If you’ve been stressing out about what your passion truly is, you may be overthinking things a bit. Sometimes, trying to think about something as subjective as your passion in purely logical terms is not helpful. Instead, consider what you’re curious about. If you’re currently in college, now is the perfect time to experiment with a variety of fields you may be interested in (and don’t worry about not graduating within four years even if you switch majors multiple times, you can still graduate on time. It’s been done). Deena Varshavskaya suggests thinking about what you would be interested in doing if money were not a factor. Adopting this sort of mindset, without worrying about the financial trappings of your future potential career, frees you to figure out what you’re genuinely interested in. It could be a hobby you already enjoy doing in your free time, or it could be something new that you end up exploring through a college class or club that you join. Whatever it is, give yourself the freedom and opportunity to expand your horizons and go after what you’re curious to learn more about. Be Realistic and Take Healthy Risks A super important attitude to have towards your dreams and your career path involves being realistic. On one hand, you don’t want to discourage yourself from pursuing your passion just because you think it’s too difficult or even impossible. On the other hand, it’s necessary to keep your ambitions in check so that you don’t end up chasing a dream without any solid support or alternative options in place. That means reflecting on what’s important to you, weighing your options, and knowing what the consequences are, within reason, for your next steps. What’s more, following your passion doesn’t mean you have to stick to the same dreams and ideas that you’ve had ever since you were five years old or even since you were fifteen or twenty-five. Don’t be afraid to reflect on your core values and what you really want to do in order to take some healthy, informed risks. Of course, that can look different for different people. It’s important that you know what is feasible for you based on your particular goals and your circumstances. Don’t Prioritize Money It’s important to keep your true goals in mind when it comes to pursuing your passion which means that sometimes you need to put aside your money priorities. Instead of focusing on how much you can earn financially from a certain job, focus on what you can gain in terms of experience and skills. That way, you will be able to concentrate on improving yourself without getting bogged down by worries about money. Define Your Goals Once you’ve arrived at a clearer picture of what you’re curious about, you have a starting point from which to set some goals for your career path. After all, knowing your motivations for studying a certain major or going into a specific field is essential, so that you have something driving you to get through college and pursue a career. Be Aware of When Things Aren’t Working Out If you’re already working a job that you don’t enjoy or don’t see a future with, perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate. Even if you don’t know exactly what you want to do instead, it’s important that you take action to figure out your next steps. On the other hand, if you’re working a job in a field that you’re somewhat interested in but aren’t sure where things are going, you may want to stick with it and stay committed for the time being to see where it will lead. Even if you aren’t sure exactly what your purpose is in this job, you may be surprised. When it comes to figuring out how your passion and your future career path align, don’t overthink it. Explore your curiosities and set goals for yourself, and you will be well on your way.

Meet the Teachers David Zora teaching in Pavlodar Kazakhstan

Meet the Teachers David Zora teaching in Pavlodar Kazakhstan Canadian teachers, David and Zora, began their Teach Away placement with Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools in Kazakhstan in January 2015. We caught up with them to learn how they're enjoying her teaching abroad experience in Pavlodar so far.What initially interested you in teaching abroad?My wife and I are both long-time teachers, and we both love adventure. We have taught in the UAE twice, in several parts of Canada, and now in Kazakhstan. Teaching abroad was a natural choice for us.Why did you decide on Kazakhstan and the NIS program?The NIS program came to our attention through my contact with Teach Away on another possibility. We leapt at the chance and don’t regret it!Describe the school that you teach at.The school is great, and the kids are amazing! I have taught in many different environments, and I have never met a group of students who are ALL so eager, friendly, welcoming and extremely nice. It is a genuine pleasure being in a classroom with these kids!What does the typica l workday look like?We (the international teachers) teach 18 40-minute periods in a five-day week, Monday to Friday. We also have to make up a number of hours of ‘extra-curricular’ activities. These may include English lessons with our co-teachers, tutorial sessions, clubs, or other activities. This year, my classroom time consisted of three Grade 8 classes with a Russian-speaking co-teacher, and one Grade 9 class with a Kazakh co-teacher. Class time was roughly split between us, usually in our relative languages. My co-teaching experience has been wonderful this year … classes were a real combined effort, both in planning and delivery. Between classes was time for lesson prep, personal responsibilities such as banking, medical appointments, etc. and collaboration. We are required to be in school from 8am to 5pm, with one hour for lunch between 12 and 2. There are also some required cultural events to attend on the weekends, but these are usually great fun. There are also Kaza kh and Russian language lessons once a week.What's the cost of living like in Kazakhstan?We are living in Pavlodar, and the cost of living is pretty low. We understand that it is more expensive in big cities like Astana or Almaty. Also, we have been told that the salaries are higher outside of the big cities. It doesn’t really matter to us, because we don’t like city living and LOVE Pavlodar! We have been to more cultural experiences in four months than in four years teaching in Northern Alberta. The kinds of events we’ve been to include some excellent Russian dance troupes (look up Todes), a jazz evening, concerts, the ballet, and more!Do you have any tips for teachers who are looking to apply to teach abroad or for the NIS program in particular?It is a wonderful experience! Kazakhs are a lovely, warm and welcoming people. NIS seems to be a super place to work. I highly recommend working abroad, in general, and working for NIS in particular. However, to anyone who is used to a set plan/schedule and is ‘rigid’ by nature - you really must be totally flexible, and ‘go with the flow’ to survive. Any final pieces of advice or suggestions?Yes! Where do I start… 1) You are paid essentially for an 11-month year. Paid leave days are accrued and can be applied either to Christmas or summer vacation. Remember the rest of your leave is unpaid. 2) In terms of medical and dental care, you are covered for most things if you go to an approved clinic. You will have to locate one yourself and take a translator. It has often been easier to just find a good one close by and pay ourselves as health costs are quite low compared to home. 3) You MUST keep original receipts (preferably credit card statements) and original boarding passes in order to be compensated for travel to Kazakhstan and for vacations. I had a huge problem because I paid cash, and had only my boarding passes and e-tickets, which was not considered enough evidence.Long and short, we love it here, both working and living, and although there are little idiosyncrasies to overcome, we recommend it very highly!Inspired by David and Zora's experience? Take a look at our current teaching positions with NIS.