Entertainment
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See also: Entertainment (disambiguation) and The Entertainer (disambiguation)


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* It may need a complete rewrite to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since May 2009.

A mime working for tips, Paris, France

Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as games or sports, are more often considered to be recreation.[1] Activities such as personal reading or practicing a musical instruments are considered as hobbies.

The industry that provides entertainment is called the entertainment industry. There are many forms of entertainment for example: cinema, theatre, sports, games and social dance. Puppets, clowns, pantomimes and cartoons tend to appeal to children, though adults may also find them enjoyable.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Forms of entertainment
o 1.1 Animation
o 1.2 Cinema and theater
o 1.3 Comedy
o 1.4 Comics
o 1.5 Dance and music
o 1.6 Games
o 1.7 Other forms of entertainment
* 2 See also
* 3 Footnotes
* 4 External links

[edit] Forms of entertainment
[edit] Animation
An animated cartoon horse

Some people find animation to be entertaining. Similarly, some people find cartoons to be entertaining.[2]
[edit] Cinema and theater

Many people find cinema /or theatre and other live performance such as circus, plays, musicals, farces, monologues and pantomimes to be entertaining.
[edit] Comedy

Comedy provides laughter and amusement. The audience is taken by surprise, by the parody or satire of an unexpected effect or an opposite expectations of their cultural beliefs. Slapstick film, one-liner joke, observational humor are forms of comedy which have developed since the early days of jesters and traveling minstrels.[3]
[edit] Comics
Felix the Cat comic strip

Comics comprise of text and drawings which convey an entertaining narrative.[4] Several famous comics revolve around super heroes such as Superman and Batman. Marvel Comics and DC Comics are two publishers of comic books. Manga is the Japanese word for comic and print cartoons.

Caricature is a graphical entertainment. The purpose may vary from merely putting smile on the viewers face, to raising social awareness, to highlighting the moral vices of a person being caricatured.
[edit] Dance and music

Many people find involvement in social dance to be entertaining. Some people listen to or watching musical entertainment.
[edit] Games
Bingo

Games provide relaxation and diversion. Games may be played by one person for their own entertainment, or by a group of people. Games may be played for achievement or money such as gambling or bingo. Racing, chess or checkers may develop physical or mental prowess. Games may be geared for children, or may be played outdoors such as lawn bowling. Equipment may be necessary to play the game such as a deck of cards for card games, or a board and markers for board games such as Monopoly, or backgammon.[5] This can include ball games, Blind man's bluff, board games, card games, children's games, croquet, Frisbee, hide and seek, number games, paintball and video games.
[edit] Other forms of entertainment
Sporting events are a popular form of entertainment.

* Concert
* Lecture
* Magic
* Mass media
* Radio
* Sports
* Storytelling
* Television

read more...

Business plan
Business plan
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This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (October 2009)
Corporate finance

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Capital investment decisions
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A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals.

The business goals may be defined for for-profit or for non-profit organizations. For-profit business plans typically focus on financial goals, such as profit or creation of wealth. Non-profit and government agency business plans tend to focus on organizational mission which is the basis for their governmental status or their non-profit, tax-exempt status, respectively—although non-profits may also focus on optimizing revenue. In non-profit organizations, creative tensions may develop in the effort to balance mission with "margin" (or revenue). Business plans may also target changes in perception and branding by the customer, client, tax-payer, or larger community. A business plan having changes in perception and branding as its primary goals is called a marketing plan.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 Audience
* 2 Content
* 3 Presentation formats
* 4 Revisiting the business plan
o 4.1 Cost overruns and revenue shortfalls
* 5 Legal and liability issues
o 5.1 Disclosure requirements
o 5.2 Limitations on content and audience
* 6 Open business plans
* 7 Uses
o 7.1 Venture capital
o 7.2 Public offerings
o 7.3 Within corporations
+ 7.3.1 Fundraising
+ 7.3.2 Total quality management
+ 7.3.3 Management by objective
+ 7.3.4 Strategic planning
o 7.4 Education
+ 7.4.1 K-12
* 8 Satires
* 9 See also
* 10 References

[edit] Audience

Business plans may be internally or externally focused. Externally focused plans target goals that are important to external stakeholders, particularly financial stakeholders. They typically have detailed information about the organization or team attempting to reach the goals. With for-profit entities, external stakeholders include investors and customers.[1] External stake-holders of non-profits include donors and the clients of the non-profit's services.[2] For government agencies, external stakeholders include tax-payers, higher-level government agencies, and international lending bodies such as the IMF, the World Bank, various economic agencies of the UN, and development banks.

Internally focused business plans target intermediate goals required to reach the external goals. They may cover the development of a new product, a new service, a new IT system, a restructuring of finance, the refurbishing of a factory or a restructuring of the organization. An internal business plan is often developed in conjunction with a balanced scorecard or a list of critical success factors. This allows success of the plan to be measured using non-financial measures. Business plans that identify and target internal goals, but provide only general guidance on how they will be met are called strategic plans.

Operational plans describe the goals of an internal organization, working group or department.[3] Project plans, sometimes known as project frameworks, describe the goals of a particular project. They may also address the project's place within the organization's larger strategic goals.[4][5]
[edit] Content
For more details on this topic, see Content of a business plan.

Business plans are decision-making tools. There is no fixed content for a business plan. Rather the content and format of the business plan is determined by the goals and audience. A business plan should contain whatever information is needed to decide whether or not to pursue a goal.

For example, a business plan for a non-profit might discuss the fit between the business plan and the organization’s mission. Banks are quite concerned about defaults, so a business plan for a bank loan will build a convincing case for the organization’s ability to repay the loan. Venture capitalists are primarily concerned about initial investment, feasibility, and exit valuation. A business plan for a project requiring equity financing will need to explain why current resources, upcoming growth opportunities, and sustainable competitive advantage will lead to a high exit valuation.

Preparing a business plan draws on a wide range of knowledge from many different business disciplines: finance, human resource management, intellectual property management, supply chain management, operations management, and marketing, among others.[6] It can be helpful to view the business plan as a collection of sub-plans, one for each of the main business disciplines.[7]

"... a good business plan can help to make a good business credible, understandable, and attractive to someone who is unfamiliar with the business. Writing a good business plan can’t guarantee success, but it can go a long way toward reducing the odds of failure." [7]
[edit] Presentation formats

The format of a business plan depends on its presentation context. It is not uncommon for businesses, especially start-ups to have three or four formats for the same business plan:

* an "elevator pitch" - a three minute summary of the business plan's executive summary. This is often used as a teaser to awaken the interest of potential funders, customers, or strategic partners.

* an oral presentation - a hopefully entertaining slide show and oral narrative that is meant to trigger discussion and interest potential investors in reading the written presentation. The content of the presentation is usually limited to the executive summary and a few key graphs showing financial trends and key decision making benchmarks. If a new product is being proposed and time permits, a demonstration of the product may also be included.

* a written presentation for external stakeholders - a detailed, well written, and pleasingly formatted plan targeted at external stakeholders.

* an internal operational plan - a detailed plan describing planning details that are needed by management but may not be of interest to external stakeholders. Such plans have a somewhat higher degree of candor and informality than the version targeted at external stakeholders.

Typical structure for a business plan for a start up venture[8]

* cover page and table of contents
* executive summary
* business description
* business environment analysis
* industry background
* competitive analysis
* market analysis
* marketing plan
* operations plan
* management summary
* financial plan
* attachments and milestones

[edit] Revisiting the business plan
[edit] Cost overruns and revenue shortfalls

Cost and revenue estimates are central to any business plan for deciding the viability of the planned venture. But costs are often underestimated and revenues overestimated resulting in later cost overruns, revenue shortfalls, and possibly non-viability. During the dot-com bubble 1997-2001 this was a problem for many technology start-ups. However, the problem is not limited to technology or the private sector; public works projects also routinely suffer from cost overruns and/or revenue shortfalls. The main causes of cost overruns and revenue shortfalls are optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation.[9][10] Reference class forecasting has been developed to reduce the risks of cost overruns and revenue shortfalls.
[edit] Legal and liability issues
[edit] Disclosure requirements

An externally targeted business plan should list all legal concerns and financial liabilities that might negatively affect investors. Depending on the amount of funds being raised and the audience to whom the plan is presented, failure to do this may have severe legal consequences.
[edit] Limitations on content and audience

Non disclosure agreements (NDAs) with third parties, non-compete agreements, conflicts of interest, privacy concerns, and the protection of one's trade secrets may severely limit the audience to which one might show the business plan. Alternatively, they may require each party receiving the business plan to sign a contract accepting special clauses and conditions.

This situation is complicated by the fact that many venture capitalists will refuse to sign an NDA before looking at a business plan, lest it put them in the untenable position of looking at two independently developed look-alike business plans, both claiming originality. In such situations one may need to develop two versions of the business plan: a stripped down plan that can be used to develop a relationship and a detail plan that is only shown when investors have sufficient interest and trust to sign an NDA.
[edit] Open business plans

Traditionally business plans have been highly confidential and quite limited in audience. The business plan itself is generally regarded as secret. However the emergence of free software and open source has opened the model and made the notion of an open business plan possible.

An open business plan is a business plan with unlimited audience. The business plan is typically web published and made available to all.

In the free software and open source business model, trade secrets, copyright and patents can no longer be used as effective locking mechanisms to provide sustainable advantages to a particular business and therefore a secret business plan is less relevant in those models.

While the origin of the open business plan model is in the free software and Libre services arena, the concept is likely applicable to other domains.
[edit] Uses
[edit] Venture capital

* Business plan contests - provides a way for venture capitals to find promising projects
* Venture capital assessment of business plans - focus on qualitative factors such as team.

[edit] Public offerings

* In a public offering, potential investors can evaluate perspectives of issuing company

[edit] Within corporations
[edit] Fundraising

Fundraising is the primary purpose for many business plans, since they are related to the inherent probable success/failure of the company risk.
[edit] Total quality management
For more details on this topic, see Total quality management.

Total quality management (TQM) is a business management strategy aimed at embedding awareness of quality in all organizational processes. TQM has been widely used in manufacturing, education, call centers, government, and service industries, as well as NASA space and science programs.
[edit] Management by objective
For more details on this topic, see Management by objectives.

Management by objectives (MBO) is a process of agreeing upon objectives within an organization so that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what they are in the organization.
[edit] Strategic planning
For more details on this topic, see strategic planning.

Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. Various business analysis techniques can be used in strategic planning, including SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats ) and PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological analysis) or STEER analysis involving Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors and EPISTELS (Environment, Political, Informative, Social, Technological, Economic, Legal and Spiritual)
[edit] Education
[edit] K-12

Business plans are used in some primary and secondary programs to teach economic principles.[11] Wikiversity has a Lunar Boom Town project where students of all ages can collaborate with designing and revising business models and practice evaluating them to learn practical business planning techniques and methodology.
[edit] Satires

The business plan is the subject of many satires. Satires are used both to express cynicism about business plans and as an educational tool to improve the quality of business plans. For example,

* Five Criteria for a successful business plan in biotech uses Dilbert comic strips to remind people of what not to do when researching and writing a business plan for a biotech start-up. Scott Adams, the author of Dilbert, is an MBA graduate (U.C. Berkeley) who sees humor as a critical tool that can improve the behavior of businesses and their managers.[12] He has written numerous critiques of business practices, including business planning. The website Dilbert.com - Games has a mission statement generator that satirizes the wording often found in mission statements. His book The Dilbert Principle – A Cubicle’s Eye View of Bosses, Meetings, Management Fads & Other Workplace Afflictions discusses the foibles of management and their plans as depicted in the Dilbert comic strips by Scott Adams.

* In the article "South Park's" Investing Lesson, the The Motley Fool columnist "Fool on the Hill" uses the Underpants Gnomes to illustrate the fallacy of focusing on goals without a clear implementation strategy. The Underpants Gnomes episode satirizes the business plans of the Dot-com era.

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PROGRAM FOR LEARNING IN GERMAN DEVIDE IN INDONESIA

Programs for Learning GermanPhoto courtesy of m00by at Flickr.com With the ever increasing power of the European Union both in economic strength and number of member states, it makes sense for a person wanting to learn a foreign language to choose one spoken in the European Union. At the heart of the EU not only geographically, but economically as well, is Germany. That being the case, a student who chooses to learn German has excellent prospects for future employment in jobs which require the ability to speak a foreign language. Many top universities offer excellent German departments, but there may also be a very strong German department at a lesser-known university near you.
.The Facts
Aspiring German students can get a feel for the quality of various German departments by reading "The Gourman Report", the brainchild of author, political scientist and professor Dr. Jack Gourman. According to "College Confidential," the report ranks the quality of a German department using "dozens of criteria, from faculty salaries to how well the mission of the department is defined, to produce the quantitative rankings."

Many well-known schools make Gourman's list, including Yale, Princeton and Indiana University (Bloomington). They offer scholarships and have large, well-funded departments plus a slew of study abroad opportunities. But these schools are not the only place an aspiring German learner can go to learn the language.
Considerations
It isn't always possible for students interested in learning German to attend one of the biggies. However, that doesn't mean that the student attending the local university can't get a quality education in the German language. The most important considerations to keep in mind when selecting a German program are whether or not the program emphasizing the learning of all of the key components of language acquisition---reading, writing, speaking and listening comprehension.

Additionally, the department should offer a well-stocked language lab with access to movies, educational CDs, interactive exercises, German television via the web and other tools for improving language acquisition. There should be a requirement for students to attend language lab with a native or near native speaker of German in order to practice the language on a weekly basis. The student's progress should be monitored.

Finally, no German department hoping to encourage students to really learn the language should be without a study abroad option. Very often, a university will offer a direct exchange program which means that it costs the same amount in tuition to live and study in Germany as it would to live and study in the United States.
Benefits
Very often a small school that offers a degree in German is a good option. Not only is the education usually more affordable, but very often, the class sizes as well as the department are smaller. Many times departments such as these have a more family-like atmosphere, because students have spent a number of years learning German together and have taken a number of classes together.
Misconceptions
Very often, the student interested in studying German is advised to study a more practical language, like Spanish, the idea being that a German student will not find work upon graduation. This simply isn't true. Many companies are going international and very often people who speak German and other less commonly spoken languages in the United States command higher salaries, because there are fewer of them.
Expert Insight
In terms of receiving money to study abroad, German students at smaller, less known schools often fare better than those who come out of larger programs. The year that I received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad in Germany, seven people from Boise State University (my alma mater) were awarded the grant. Of the seven, two of us were from the German Department. That year BSU ranked in the top 20 for schools for students who had received the Gilman---ranking us higher even than Cornell for the number of students receiving the grant.

The point in all of this is, of course, that the best programs for learning German are not always the biggest ones, but ones where students have a chance to really immerse themselves in the language and culture on a daily basis.

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THE WAY TO GIVE GOOD BEHAVIOUR FOR CHILDREN

Step
1Play with your child and introduce new concepts as you are playing together as a team. If you are trying to get your child to understand the concept of sharing, play a game and have your child wait a few extra moments for her turn. This will teach her both sharing and patience.

Step
2Avoid talking down to your child or trying to explain things to him. Most often, children cannot rationalize what you are saying and thus, doesn't follow through with the correct behavior.

Step
3Model what you want your child to understand or achieve. If you want your child to understand what love is all about, cuddle often and hug and kiss your child. Do this often as it is good for you too.

Step
4Make new information fun and exciting and sing songs, play jump rope, or indulge in a fun game of hide and go seek while you are teaching the child about spelling, math, or critical thinking.

Step
5Teach your child using positive reinforcement or negative consequences. If your child does well or obeys, hug him! If your child misbehaves at school, take away a special privilege that he enjoys doing with you.

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HOW TO LOSE A BORING TIME

Step
1
Spread untrue rumors about them, especially to mutual friends. To make it plausible, twist something that they said or did in an unfair way to make them look bad. This is always guaranteed to affect and upset someone.

Step
2
Post mean blogs about them and delete them from all your "friends" lists on your social networking pages. Not the most subtle way, but seeing something horrid about themselves in print will make them think twice about wanting to be your friend anyway.

Step
3
Throw a party or organize an outing and don't invite them. For this to be effective, they have to find out about it, so ensure that you invite other people they know and publicize your party as much as you can.

Step
4
Tell them upfront that they are boring and you don't want to be friends with them. Make it obvious that you aren't sorry and stick to your guns. The reason that you haven't dumped them already is probably because you don't want to upset them. Stay strong and don't be swayed even if they cry or promise to change.

Step
5
Block their number and ignore emails and text messages. Being incommunicado and showing a complete lack of respect by ignoring someone is a surefire way of ending a friendship. They should get the message after three days of snubbing them and with any luck, you'll never hear from them again.

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HOW TO BE A GOOD TEACHER

1
of 57
by C.V.Rajan


A truly great teacher commands awe from the students and the students keep their awe on the teacher even when they grow up to become great themselves. A good teacher always commands respect from the students. A mediocre teacher

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2
of 57
by Charles Bobbitt


The easiest path to becoming a good teacher is to start with your own observations about teaching. Take a quick glance back at the teachers you have had (and can remember), and you will probably have little trouble in distinguishing

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3
of 57
by Vicki Phipps


You might have two or three degrees and still have no ability to teach. You could be the most intelligent man or woman alive, but in a classroom full of students, you'd never survive. Good teachers are born that way, and a college

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4
of 57
by Jeana Marie Balintec


“Many are called but few are chosen.” This Bible verse can very much describe the teaching profession. Many would want to teach but not all can teach. I consider myself lucky to be one of those people who chose to

read more

5
of 57
by Dreamy Girl


First of all, let's find out who is known as a teacher. Well, in fact there is no "the" answer for that question but there are plenty of answers for the question "who is a good teacher".

When a child grows up the very first

read more

6
of 57
by S Langford


What makes a "good" teacher? This is a complicated question to answer because in many respects it depends on the perspective of the person making the judgment. Clearly what defines a good teacher is going to be a remarkably different

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7
of 57
by Felisa Daskeo


When I was in high school I had my favorite teacher whom I considered a very good teacher. She taught us well, gave exams that were not so hard and talked to us like we were her friends. I know that I was right in judging her

read more

8
of 57
by Lisa Bells


If you have entered into the career as a teacher, you must want to be a teacher. Have you prepared yourself to be a good teacher? Do you know the basic requirements for a god teacher? It is a bless for your students to have you

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9
of 57
by Sammy Stein


A good teacher inspires, encourages students to learn, makes lessons fun and commands respect by their own example. They are able to set and keep to behaviour rules when in the classroom, they encourage a respect for each other

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10
of 57
by K. Russell


Teaching is an art and not everyone is artistic. Certainly, there are individuals who have completed their teaching degree program, passed all their tests, read all the articles and written neatly worded essays, but none of thatnecessarily

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11
of 57
by Olivia Emisar


The United States pales by comparison with educators around the world, both in industrialized and third world countries. The educators are not the problem, the support system for education is where we all part company.

read more

12
of 57
by Robert Guphito


Among the burdensome task of teachers, one of the most urgent task and was fundamental as advisers. A good adviser not just give advice, but he should be able to be an example for their students and for anyone who thought he

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13
of 57
by S P


I have entered into this profession without having any initial teacher training. However, I started attending seminars and sessions in the Sir Isaac Newton Professional Development Centre in London fortnightly since 1989-2001.

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14
of 57
by Khair Bakhsh


Teaching is an ancient but the most respectful, noble and prophetic profession in the world. Teaching demands a lot of qualities from a teacher and these qualities can be achieved and acquired by a constant progress in this field.

Successful

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15
of 57
by Albert Aunchman


Our mothers were our first teachers. Good mothers and good teachers share a lot of the same qualities.

A good teacher loves what he is doing and tries to reach each and every student in his class. He establishes a rapport with

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16
of 57
by M. Halyard


Every year, as my daughters skip off to elementary school, I hope that they will each have a teacher who is patient, caring, and motivated to somehow bring out their best. I hope that their teachers will provide an outstanding

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17
of 57
by Ashley Smith


There is much more to becoming a teacher then the amount of qualifications you have obtained. The ability to teach is more important in many ways though the basic rule should be to know more then your pupils about the subject.

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18
of 57
by Joseph Zavarella


Teaching is an occupation like most others that requires an enthusiastic commitment on the part of the aspirant. Although there are certain characteristics such as reasonable intelligence and an ability to work with others that

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19
of 57
by Gerald Drueppel


The Bell Curve Killer

To be a good teacher one need only abide by one guideline. Eliminate competition in the classroom. Competition results in hierarchy and whether you claim equality in your classroom we all know that just isn't

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20
of 57
by Donita Weddle


During my many years as a student and then later as a teacher, I've witnessed firsthand many different teaching styles, personalities, and attitudes. Many combinations work, and many don't. For a first year teacher starting out

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HOW TO BE A GOOD STUDENT

Instructions.Things You'll Need:
•Reliable transportation
•A watch
•Three ring binder with lined paper and divider pages
•Hole puncher
•Pens/ pencils
•Highligter
•Thesaurus
•Study guide (if needed)
•A good attitude
Step
1
Use your reliable transportation to come to class on time. Students who walk in late are not only disrupting the teacher, they may be missing valuable information or the best seat in the classroom. Arriving a few minutes early is a lot different than arriving a few minutes late.

Step
2
Sit in the front row. Not only will you be able to see and hear the teacher better, you will also be far away from mooching students who tend to sit in the back.

Step
3
Be sure that you get a syllabus and then study it carefully. If your teacher goes through it during class, be sure to write down any additional information he or she may provide. Put your syllabus in a safe place and DO NOT LOSE IT. Refer to it throughout the semester whenever you have a question about due dates or class policies. This will save your teacher a lot of time and trouble.

Step
4
Write down all pertinent class information such as: meeting day and time, room number, professor's name, and class section number and code (such as PHI 10, 28779) This will prevent you from getting lost on campus the first few days and will come in great handy if you need to add/drop the class.

Step
5
Learn your professor/ teacher's name and what he or she likes to be called. "Mr." "Ms." "Instructor" or "Dr." may be appropriate. Unless your teacher requests otherwise, use his or her last name to convey the proper respect.

Step
6
Come to class ready to learn. TURN OFF YOUR CELPHONE, PAGER, OR OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICE. Do not leave your cell phone on vibrate; it is still a disruption to the class. Be sure that you have gone to the bathroom, gotten something to eat, and have all your necessary books, pens, and paper. You should not be getting up and leaving in the middle of class on a regular basis, even just to make a phone call. Save those types of behaviors for an emergency.

Step
7
Be prepared by taking good notes. What if you never taken notes before and you're not sure how? The only answer is to practice. Some guidance classes will teach you how to write notes if you need help, but mostly, learning how to listen for and write down important information comes from the experience of actually doing it. You should be taking notes every time your teacher lectures and then storing them in a safe place. Refer to your notes just after leaving class; this way your mind will still be fresh.

Step
8
Get the phone numbers of at least two other class members. That way, if you miss a class, you can call to find out what you missed. Remember, it is your responsibility to know the information that your teacher presents and that is covered in the book. Don't expect a teacher to regive a lecture that they already gave in class. If you haven't spoken to anyone in the class, simply approach them and ask, "Would you like to exchange phone numbers? I always like to have someone's number in case I miss anything." Most students are happy to have a buddy they can rely on. Its a win-win situation.

Step
9
Start working on an assignment as soon as possible. Time goes by faster than you expect it to, and we can't always foresee incidents that will get in the way of our homework. Also, if you plan to get an A on your assignment, you will probably need to spend hours working on it. A lot of people aren't willing to do the work required to get an A. Others are. If you have any questions about how to do the assignment or when to turn it in, consult your syllabus and then your teacher.

Step
10
Turn in all assignments! (extra credit is only optional if you are earning a good grade.) This would seem like a no-brainer, but many students fail to do this. Also, be very familiar with assignment make-up policies. If you have a special situation, talk to your teacher.

Step
11
If you are assigned to do group work, whether its discussion or turning in a presentation, be a good group member. That means that in a group, you are working just as hard as if you were on your own. Bring your ideas and your feedback to the table. Be serious about the assignment. Taking the attitude of, "I'm so bad at this stuff; you guys can handle it. Your ideas are way better than mine," is not being modest; it's being lazy. In the case of discussion, you are depriving your classmates of the feedback they should have received from you. And in the case of an assignment, you are making your group members do all the work! Don't cop out. In contrast, dominating a group and not allowing everyone to contribute ideas is just as bad. Even if you don't like someone else's ideas, you may need to compromise and go along with it, because group work is supposed to be a group effort.

Step
12
Learn from your mistakes. That means if your teacher writes, "Use better grammar" than you should study grammar. If your teacher says, "Excellent! But I feel your conclusion is a little weak" than study how to write a conclusion. If you completely bomb a test, that should be a wake-up call to you. If you procrastinate so long that you are not ready with your project, and it turns into a humiliating experience, you need to ask yourself, "What went wrong? Why did I fail, and how could I do it better next time?" Go to your teacher and ask for feedback if you need more clarification.

Step
13
Have a good attitude. People who show up to a class and complain all the time, talking on their cell phone and behind the teacher's back, are really only displaying their immaturity. Leave your personal problems at home, show up with a smile, and try to imagine why you might need to know this information, if it doesn't seem obvious.

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