My Boarding School Blog

Active learning is a technique wherein students participate in a lecture instead of just being a listener to the teacher. Students participate by processing, discovering and applying knowledge gained in the process. It comes from two basic theories that (1) people learn by active endeavor and (2) learning is different between individuals. Many researches show that learning increases as students practice active learning.

In a traditional setting active learning may bring some resistance to students who are used to just listen to their teachers. But with this kind of teaching method a student with a limited attention span will soon become bored and when this takes place learning is halted. Research shows that active learning is better than traditional way of teaching. It is best to explain the objectives before doing the exercises that initiates active learning to lower resistance and achieve best results. Active learning can be done in different settings-inside the classroom or outside and is applicable to all levels of students whether in primary or graduate school. Here are some examples of active learning techniques.

1. Think-Pair-Share activity. Students take some time to ponder on the previous lesson to be discussed later among one or two peers and lastly to share it in class. An overview of the topic should be given to the students so that they can somehow discuss it among themselves them misconceptions can be corrected when they discuss it in front of the class. This exercise is helpful to learners to determine and relate what they already know to others. A good preparation with detailed instructions is the key in making the discussion among their group fruitful and substantial.
2. Games. Crossword puzzles can be incorporated in review tests in order to check on understanding from lectures and lessons. It can be a group activity or individual review exam types.
3. Student debates. It can be formal or informal in nature. This gives the students an opportunity to take a stand on what they believe in, fostering analytical thinking and developing verbal communication skills when raising arguments towards the opposing parties. This builds confidence in a student.
4. Concept Mapping. Students will create visual graphs and representations of models, ideas and concepts and show their relationship with each other. This can be done as a group or individually. The student explains their model in front of the class and demonstrated the relationship of their model to other concepts and ideas.
5. Reaction to video. Watching a video clip is enjoyable for students to break the monotonous teacher lectures. This also enhances their visual creativity by seeing visual resources of the topics being studied at hand. It will be best to ask questions before showing the video presentation to give them an outline of things to look out for as they watch the video.

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Do you ever feel too tired and weak to lift that math book and start to study for today’s homework? Have a big exam the next day but you feel too lazy to review your notes? It’s not surprising to feel this way as most students undergo the same situation in school. How can we help these students to increase their motivation to study? Here are some tips on how to boost your child’s self motivation in studying.

Set a Goal – It is always good to set a goal for things that we do because it reminds us the reason behind doing these things. Surely doing your homework everyday will become a routine and eventually increases boredom. Set a goal that is realistic that your child will be able to achieve in a given period. For example, if your child has completed a week’s worth of homework he can play video games on weekends. Start with small goals and when a child grows the goals will evolve into something that is long term and serious. If a student graduates with honors from secondary school she will be able to apply for higher education in prestigious schools. If this is envisioned by the child he will be able to dream big and strive to fulfill that dream.

Plan – Setting a goal will be useless if you don’t lay out the ways on how you’ll do it. Discuss a sound plan on how to achieve the goals. Try to make alternative plans in case the first one fails, it’s always good to have a back up plan.

Optimize – Surround yourself with people with whom you share the same goals. This will help you keep your plans at work and your eye on the goal avoiding distractions that can cause you delay or to procrastinate.

Reward every once in a while – Reward doesn’t have to always be at the end of the road To cultivate self motivation teach your kids to reward themselves once in a while when they have reached significant milestones in their plan towards the goal.

The hardest part of studying is getting started. We always think of ways and reasons to procrastinate and set important tasks aside. One way of getting motivated will be to start right away, by doing this you have already accomplished half of the task now finishing it is where your will power and determination will be put to work.

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An approach in learning is the main definition of a learning style. It is important to know the learning style of students to maximize learning advantages. Once you have determined this you can effectively incorporate strategic teaching tools to better enhance teaching students with individual learning needs. It is possible to have more than one style in a student depending on their personalities.

1. Logical – Children categorized with logical learning styles are mathematically inclined. They like solving math equations and enjoy working anything that involves numbers. They are particularly interested in how things work, how they came about and their reason for being. They are straightforward and very bright. In teaching students with a logical learning style one needs to be patient to answer their series of questions as they are very inquisitive. Teaching styles can involve the use of graphs and model objects to show the relationship and correlation of subjects will enhance their learning.
2. Linguistic – These children enjoys reading, writing and story telling. They have strong memory and can easily recall things told to them. Best way to teach these students is to encourage creativity by cultivating their interest in things that they see, hear and read. They will excel in competitions and creative writing.
3. Spatial – These kids are more of the visual kind. They like watching movies and day dreaming. They express themselves best in drawing pictures than by talking. They are very artistic but most of the time they have difficulty expressing it which is why you will need to promote creativity in extracting their ideas and opinions.
4. Musical – Kids who enjoy listening to music, playing instruments or singing are characterized by this group. Musical learners have great attention to details. They can transform abstract to a more concrete model. For a teaching style adept to these students the teacher can probably ask them to incorporate lessons in a song or rap them out. By encouraging their love of music you can tap into their skills and abilities.
5. Interpersonal – Students with interpersonal learning styles are often found in the company of friends. They can adapt easily into any situation as they have the qualities of understanding, patience and empathy. If taught well and guided properly students with an interpersonal learning style can become a great leader. The work well with a team and most likely become the leaders of such team or group.
6. Intrapersonal – These students like to work alone. Being independent is their main trait and by this they tend to be original and most of the time unique from everyone else. Try to integrate them into a group to facilitate collective learning and facilitate group participation.

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The Grade Point Average or commonly called GPA is what most students are concerned about throughout their school days. A student’s hard work to get good grades will amount to his or her GPA at the end of the school year. GPA is a key into getting into a good school and in qualifying for a scholarship program. Since GPA is an important indicator of academic performance it is important to know how to calculate your GPA correctly.

All schools have a uniform accepted grading system for evaluating student performance in examinations. Teachers from different subjects assign a grade to each student in which these scores are computed into what is known as the GPA. These grades are represented in letters. The highest is A while the lowest is F. Some schools split the grades in three sub categories like A+, A- and A. Here is the grade point equivalent of the letters.

A – (3.5 to 4)
B – (2.4 to 3.49)
C – (1.5 to 2.49)
D – (1.0 to 1.49)
F – (0.0)

There are two methods to calculate GPA. The first method entails simple averaging. The second is computing for a weighted GPA. Since every subject has its own level of difficulty a simple average GPA may not show a true evaluation of student performance. Nevertheless with a good recommendation and good test results from standardized tests, a good GPA can boost your chances for getting in a prestigious college or university. The US News and World Report says that having a high GPA is necessary to those people who dream of getting in graduate schools like Harvard Medical School (3.8 average GPA), Stanford Business School (3.6 average) and Yale law (3.9 average GPA). Most colleges accepts freshmen students with a 3.0 average GPA.

It is a good thing that employers don’t specify a certain GPA when they accept applicants. But they tend to look at the university or college where an applicant comes from, most employers take into consideration the enormous load of school work a college graduate has besides the painstaking curriculum they also need to juggle extra curricular activities at the side to earn credits in overall academic performance. Employers are keen to look at experience in forms of internship and practicum where a high GPA is not necessarily required.

Calculating your GPA is easy. Make a list of the different courses you have taken for the semester then write the scores you acquired for each subject in their alphabetical form. On the side of each alphabetical score write the equivalent grade points for each subject to sum it all up. Divide the sum of the grade points to the total number of courses and you’ll get your GPA.

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Kids belonging to the adolescence stage are the most difficult students to handle. Their transition from being a kid to a grown up does not usually come smoothly. As any parent would know understanding what they are going through- physically and emotionally plus all the stresses of peer pressure and the desire of belongingness make them very vulnerable to the slightest criticism, comment or disapproval.

For teachers these are challenging times like when Mrs. Kaufman, a teacher of 17 years at Seth Low Intermediate School in Brooklyn, learns first hand how to mediate between fist fights and cajole students whose self esteem has been dumped low by bullying or humiliation from other students. It takes a lot of courage and strength to be strong to withstand ridicule, pranks and other humiliating acts by middle school students on a daily basis. Unfortunately some teachers cannot bear the challenge and give up easily.

A significant rise in teacher attrition is happening in middle schools in the city. The main causes are student’s impulsive behavior, unpredictable bouts of anger and violence and poor academic performance.

Researchers in Philadelphia learned that 34.2 percent of newly hire middle school teachers quit after their first year. Most teachers who quit are highly qualified teachers on an academic level. They match the job description for teaching the middle school curriculum but they often lack the training in class management and adolescent psychology.

In an attempt to give middle school teachers an edge to handle the most difficult of students the New York State offers certification that focuses primarily on how to teach young adolescents effectively. Knowing techniques on how to adapt to them psychologically will help teachers to integrate teaching styles fit for their needs.

New teachers who are part of the program, Teach for America, are the common new recruits for middle school teaching. While most of them leave after their 2 years contract, a handful will stay and will be toughen by the experience. Most of them share that showing a stern face and strict implementation of the rules are less likely to work in middle school students. Instead if you will reach out and level with them they will begin to open up to you. But it usually a long painstaking process to make this achievable your patience will be tested and your emotions push over to the brink. Part of becoming a teacher for middle school is the ability to withstand cruel jokes, offensive remarks and spontaneous fits of anger.

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