Recent Development in Education sector

Firstly some development on the NOC from the state government (please see the clipping below) which may no longer be required.

 

Accreditation: The New Trend in School Improvement

For hundreds of years there have been varying philosophies about education, based on various models of study. In modern times, parents, students, and educators continue to explore the different philosophies on education and how they impact learning. While each education philosophy has its own belief in the driving forces behind it, the issue of provision of education quality exists in the wake of the recent globalization. Numerous education systems exist throughout the world; however, education providers have not been able to develop a consensus on what to teach, what teaching methodologies they should adopt and how the examinations should be assessed.  The question that arises is how the quality of education can be assured when numerous education systems exist across the world.

There are numerous regional accreditation agencies and bodies across the world that assess the education providers of their specific regions on different factors.  They evaluate an educational institution based on the years of education students acquire and how many of them pass their exams. The problems that arise is since these exams are not similar in different countries, they do not really allow an agency to evaluate the quality of education imparted to the students. The quality of education cannot be assured because the academic programs around the world are not the same and cannot be compared to each other.

To standardize the quality of education globally and accredit education providers on an international scale, organizations like IAO have developed accreditation standards that are both regionally and internationally recognized and accepted.

Traditional and Non-Traditional education providers today have realized the importance of establishing global educational standards through international accreditation, adding tremendous value to the brand name of their establishment. In this regard, to prove the legitimacy of such organizations, University of Bangalore recently received Candidacy Status from IAO, which is a major achievement for the education sector of India. It will encourage reputed education providers to get internationally accredited and recognized for providing quality education. Not only this, this accreditation will offer international recognition to all its stakeholders, a factor considered very important by students and university placement programs around the world.

With IAO’s international accreditation, education can reach out across geographic boundaries and has greater appeal for foreign students. Graduates of internationally accredited universities find it much easier to pursue careers in foreign countries because their academic credentials are accepted worldwide. This quality of international accreditation plays a vital role in career development for students and increases the value of international accreditation for students.

Classroom Displays

Classroom displays are an integral part of a classroom.  They help children feel valued and involved.  Their artwork is often displayed on the walls but needs framing appropriately.  Classroom displays can help. We stock a huge number of classroom display products, from display letters to banners, borders and trimmers, all designed to offer you choice.  Classroom displays are critical to your success.

School bulletin boards and Classroom Displays can be updated as often as you like – some themes will obviously last longer than others.  Children are very engaged in their classroom displays and will no doubt have strong views as to what should, or should not, be included.  It is a simple way and impactful way to share information and update others on the work going on in your classroom.   Schools have a number of communal areas which can create a welcoming and high impact first impression when classroom display products are used effectively.  The atmosphere of an area can be changed almost instantly.

There are a number of free resources available on the web which can help you with ideas for what to put up in your displays.  Sites such as Classroom Displayhave a huge selection of great value and high quality resources which can be used again and again.

classfSchool Improvement

'Classroom Displays'

Cut , Copy , Paste

This article considers how teachers can deal with the culture of plagiarism.

Plagiarism – the intentional or unintentional use of material from another source without acknowledgment – has become a “rot” that has set into Indian society, especially into the educational system. While this happens more often than not because of the ease of the process of copy-pasting from the Internet, or due to lack to time, or because it is just easier to use someone else’s work than spend time and energy creating your own, it is also because children often just don’t realise that it is not the right thing to do. 

You open the first project file, slick and sharp in its clear plastic cover and blue spine, with a beautifully illustrated cover. “This child has certainly taken a lot of trouble over her work!” you think. You sit back and begin to read, expecting the content to live up to the promise of the packaging. And indeed it does. The sentences indicate a fluency that amazes you, the ideas expressed with clarity and elegance. You’re impressed. Paragraph after paragraph of perfectly formed ideas, building an argument that wins the day. You give the project top marks, then turn to check the name on the cover as you enter the marks into your register. Hmm…strange, this child never showed this much potential before.

On a hunch, you type a random paragraph from this project into the Google search bar on your computer screen and voila! an entire paper on precisely the topic you had assigned. With a few changes here and there, this is the project you had just graded, word for word.
Such a scenario is becoming increasingly common, with a number of children in urban schools having easy access to readily packaged information on the Internet. It’s easy to copy and paste text, often images as well, and simply turn it as your own work, most often, with no acknowledgments made. Sometimes, a sloppily put together list of web sites (with incomplete addresses) serves as a reference list but it is never clear what extent of information was just lifted straight off those sites and how much of the paper is the student’s own analysis or insight. Of course, copying is not restricted to material off the Net; it can just as easily (though with slightly more labour) be done from a book in the library, a report taken from a family member or friend, or a project submitted by another child in another school.

Plagiarism – the intentional or unintentional usage of material from another source without acknowledgment – has become what one blogger (“Sunil”) calls a “rot” that has set into Indian society, especially into the educational system. Students at all levels think nothing of using ideas and words without citing the source, often not even noting it for their own records. While this happens more often than not because of the ease of the process of copy-pasting from the Internet, or due to lack to time, or because it is just easier to use someone else’s work than spend time and energy creating your own, it is also because children often just don’t realise that it is not the right thing to do. No one has sat them down and explained what intellectual and academic honesty mean.

We cannot get away from the Internet. Nor can we escape the fact that there’s so much formation around us; students today have an amazing array of sources to choose from when they begin exploring a topic. They are exposed to a variety of perspectives as well, and if they choose to, they can draw from a whole range of sources, conventional (printed reference sources, subject experts) and unconventional (talk radio, internet sources such as blogs as well as reference sites such as Wikipedia). What we need to ensure is that they understand the fine line between drawing upon other people’s work to build their own ideas, and simply presenting a ready-made analysis as their own.

Plagiarism can be unintentional, as in when you forget to cite a source or use material without complete information on the source but do not actually claim it is your own. This is more a matter of intellectual sloppiness than dishonesty, and can be corrected by communicating clear instructions on how to handle references and academic citation conventions. It may help for teachers to provide a style sheet for references and citations, and to give examples of where and how source material needs to be acknowledged. Students may not realise that it is important to cite sources even when they do not reproduce material verbatim. The process of paraphrasing in a way makes it their own. They need to understand that the author owns the idea just as much she/he owns the words in which the idea is expressed.

Intentional plagiarism is of ourse a clearer case of dishonesty and is perhaps tackled more easily. But here too, a policy must be laid down and standards set for citing sources and giving credit not only for quoting verbatim but for ideas as well. It is not enough to simply state that plagiarism will be punished but to discuss in the class what exactly constitutes plagiarism.

Some teachers believe that insisting on handwritten assignments to some extent discourages students from copying outright – and even if they do copy word for word, the act of writing it out ensures that some amount of learning or internalisation has taken place. Printed assignments on the other hand could be just cut-copy-paste jobs from a variety of web sites, sometimes not even read through carefully. One teacher cites the case of a student who turned in a printed paper that was clearly a copy-paste job, with even the web address still on the top of the page!

There are more complex issues concerning the copy-paste culture and the various grades of plagiarism. Idea theft – where an idea has been discussed by someone informally and then appropriated and presented by another – is difficult to identify and even more difficult to prove. There are cases where parents put together material for their children to use, sometimes going so far as to have projects commissioned by experts. The school system is not entirely blameless in this area. Often projects are assigned that are much beyond the ability of a single student, both in terms of their intellectual demands and sheer physical scope. Parents are expected to help, not just with advice and feedback, but with the actual putting together of the project. So from a very early age children get used to the fact of depending on others for their work, often without giving explicit credit or acknowledgment for these inputs.

A teacher can help set ethical standards by discussion and by practice early on in a child’s school career. Even in primary school projects, children can be encouraged to talk about how they did a project and who helped them with it, without penalising them for taking help. The point to be emphasised is that we all need help with our work and it is important to give credit to those who help us – or to the sources where the help comes from, if it is not a particular person. Asking simple questions like “Where did you get this idea?” and “Did your mother/father help you with this?” in a climate that is not threatening but simply interested, will encourage children to share the process of their learning and to understand that it’s okay to ask for and take help – and that it’s not only okay, but essential to say so.

In higher classes, teachers need to not only insist on clear documentation of project work but also lead by example in talking about where they access information and where certain ideas have come from in their own lectures and notes. Plenty of examples exist in the scientific and academic literature of the consequences of plagiarism and intellectual theft, and it might be worthwhile to share some of these, so that children understand the larger issues that could stem from a simple copypaste activity. Teachers need to emphasize that while the Net is a valuable and convenient source of information, overdependence on it as a source of information can also lead to a certain intellectual laziness – apart from the fact that a Google search can often end up being like a needle-in-a-haystack exercise unless you know where and how to look, and what to look for!

At the school level, it’s important that there is a uniform and accepted policy in place to deal with plagiarism, and that this is widely disseminated to staff, students and parents.

The ease with which images, text and even sound can be copied, manipulated and reworked to create new products out of bits of old ones leads to a situation where no one recognises where the idea (or set of ideas) came from in the first place. For instance, the whole ‘re-mix’ revolution is based on the idea of taking an old thing and changing it. So where does ownership lie? To what extent can the ‘new’ form be claimed as a completely original idea? Is this plagiarism or simply creative imitation? And then there are cases of literary successes who then turn out to be merely skilful copiers who stitch together stories from a variety of sources and package it as something new.

Surrounded by a popular culture where copying is the norm, where footnotes and cumbersome reference lists are considered not only passé but redundant, children often find it difficult to recognise, let alone respect, ethical boundaries. School is the place where these ethics have to be reclaimed. After all, if scholarship is about anything, it is about ideas and their growth. And unless we teach children to respect other people’s ideas and words, they will never learn to recognise and then value originality.

The concept of plagiarism can be discussed in a variety of ways, and it has ramifications beyond copied projects. Students in high school could be encouraged to think about some of these issues. For instance, are there ideas that have no owners, ideas that are part of a common intellectual realm that exists outside of individual thought?

How can we distinguish between ‘common knowledge’ and individually generated ideas? Is copyright and ownership of intellectual property only a way of limiting the spread of ideas and knowledge? You could discuss the implications of patenting and bring up issues such as the differences between patenting products and processes. What relationship does plagiarism and copying have with the whole issue of patenting?

How can teachers spot plagiarism? 
Here are some things to look out for.

• Unusual sophistication in ideas or their articulation
• A last minute submission of exceptional quality
• Lack of any documentation in the text or no references in a complex assignment
• Wide variation in style within a document
• The cropping up of sudden names or isolated markers without explanation
• The appearance of similar blocks of text in more than one student’s project

How do teachers address the situation?

• Work through a project with the entire class: bring in a set of reference texts and ask the class, in groups, to arrive at a synthesis which draws from these texts. In the process show them how to cite and refer, what constitutes acceptable paraphrasing, etc.
• Arrive at an assessment method that takes into account the process of working on a project as well as the product-this will then address issues such as how well and clearly references have been used and cited, how much originality has been applied, etc.
• Assign short summarising and critiquing exercises that build skills in precis writing that goes beyond just drawing out selected sentences verbatim from a source text.

Can Concentration Really Improve Memory?

Expert answers the big question, can concentration improve memory? The basic memory mechanics exposes the power of concentration to improve memory. You can combine yoga with the basic memory mechanics to concentrate and focus to enhance encoding information in the brain. We’re a group of navigation engineers that take pride in navigating readers to the Correct Knowledge to obliterate harsh learning curves. We know from experience that knowledge is not power, but the correct use of knowledge is power. This article is about making the correct choices to improve memory and prevent from traveling down long lost dreary roads, stumbling into rattle snake pits and the lion’s dens.

Can concentration improve memory? Yes, concentrating can increase the amount of information encoded in the brain. Concentration enhances the basic memory mechanics by creating a healthy, vibrant and energetic brain. Most of my readers want to add additional skills to enhanced brain encoding methods and functionalities of the brain.Combining basic memory mechanics and concentrating creates the perfect chemistry. You are deeply encoding information in the brain, which makes recalling important and relevant information faster.

First I highly recommend practicing the basic memory mechanics, which are enough: (1) water-10 glasses per day (2) sleep-6-8 hours per day (3) consumption of memory foods, vegetables and fruits (4) consumption of memory vitamin-supplements with memory foods, because vitamins cannot assimilate and digest alone.

Secondly practice proven methods that work for you.

Thirdly you can practice additional skills to increase encoding in the brain. Yes, concentration can improve memory when your brain is healthy and fit. You should always practice the basic memory mechanics and brain encoding methods; then add concentration skills. Believe me it requires excellent concentration and focus to practice in sequence and to create healthy learning habits.

Yoga is the “Master” of meditating, focusing and concentrating, which can: (1) increase concentration to improve memory, as well as (2) enhance encoding information in the brain. There are many types of Yoga’s, which are known to connect the mind; body and soul. Maybe you are still wondering, “How can concentration improve memory?” Any healthy brain can add additional skill concentration skills that can enhance encoding information in the brain.

Most of my readers want to know, “How concentration improves memory?” I intend to answer this question with accuracy, definition and precision. Encoding information in the brain is a simple process that grows and builds from practicing a proven process that healthily position and prepares the brain to encode as well as enhance amount of information the brain encodes.

Basic Memory Mechanics

The “Basic Memory Mechanics” is simple a way of caring for the brain, which can make the brain care for you. This process of caring creates a healthy vibrant and energetic brain. Through experience, wisdom, knowledge and understanding you can rely on the basic memory mechanics to keep you on track, which is: (1) sleeping 6-8 hour per day, (2) consuming 10 glasses of water daily, (3) consuming memory foods daily, and (4) consuming memory vitamins with your memory foods. The basic memory mechanics is practiced process that creates a healthy, ready and prepared brain. The brain is boosted, energized, stimulated, and ready to practice the brain encoding methods that work for you.

Brain Encoding Methods

A healthy brain is the key to encoding information in the brain as well as enhancing amount of information encoded in the brain. You’re healthy, energetic and stimulated brain can encode important and relevant information much better. Most of my readers are experts at practicing the basic memory mechanics and proven encoding methods. Beginners should practice 3 proven encoding methods per month, 3 times per week for 2 hours and for 6-12 months, which is highly recommended. I many of my readers are known to practice 5-7 encoding methods, however I realize that some have been practicing encoding methods from as early as Pre-K and Kindergarten, which mean that encoding may be deeply rooted learning habits. Therefore practicing numerous encoding methods may vary depending on the amount of encoding experience you may have.

Additional Skills

Practicing the following in sequence can benefit you immensely:

(1) basic memory mechanics

(2) proven encoding methods that work for you

(3) Adding additional skills to enhance brain encoding methods, which can increase amount of information brain encodes. Your brain muscle should be positioned, ready and prepared to practice additional skills to enhance encoding information in the brain.

Can concentration improve memory? You have a blue print that you can utilize to healthily add skills to enhance brain encoding through proper focus and concentration.

The Importance of Computer and Internet Access at Home

The internet is something most of us take for granted.  We look up recipes, stay connected to friends and family, and research many different topics.  More and more devices such as phones, e-readers, and MP3 players connect
to the internet.  And many students use the internet on a regular basis to do research for papers and other school assignments.  In addition to the internet, many students use programs such as word processing programs, drawing programs and photo shop programs.

It should be reassuring that more and more students are using the computer.  That is until you look at statistics in the states that perform worst where education is concerned.  Recent statistics out of Louisiana, which routinely ranks near the bottom in terms of education and graduation rates, show that between 32 to 40 percent of students do not have access to computers or internet at home.

For a whole generation of parents and grandparents that number may not seem too alarming, after all, they managed to go to school, even to college and advanced degrees without internet access.  But the world has changed.  In years past, one expense that many parents incurred early in their child’s life was the purchase of an encyclopedia set.  As the computer and internet became a household fixture, many families replaced the purchase of encyclopedias with internet access.  It could be argued that students with computer and internet access at home have an unfair advantage over students who do not have that access.

Consider the student who does have internet access at home.  With a five page report due, that student sits in their own home, pulls up the internet on the computer, and at their fingertips have thousands of sources from which to gather information.  After collecting his or her data, this student types in the report, giving little care to the correct spelling or grammar, since both of those are easy enough to fix with an adequate word processing program.  Finally, the corrected research paper is printed out and tucked into a folder to be turned in.

In comparison the student who does not have computer and internet access at home has to find a source to gather information from for the paper.  The library might be a good source for that, but first the student must secure a ride to the library.  If that student is lucky, she can then use library resources.  This is a much slower process, requiring more time.  Some students might then wait in line for computer time at the library, with hopes of getting time to enter their report and print it out.  However, computer resources at the library are limited, and not everyone will have the time or opportunity to type in their report.  This means that this student will then spend additional time hand-writing the report.  In addition, this student will not have the benefit of grammar and spell checker software.

The contrast between the time spend for each of these students to complete the same report is startling.  The depth of research will not be equal for these two students, nor will the grammatical and spelling accuracy.  This puts the student without computer and internet access at a decided disadvantage before the paper is even graded.  Because of those disadvantages, the technologically challenged student may fall behind simply because it takes more time to complete assignments, and that additional time spent will take time away from the study of other subjects.

Over the course of a student’s elementary, middle and high school years this disadvantage will probably be cumulative and may also lead to lower self-esteem, as grades may slip, or at best require more work, and longer hours to remain competitive with other students who have technological advantages such as home computer and internet access.

In a time when we are blaming teachers for poor performance, and in states that score low in academics, maybe
one way to improve the standing of students and the states in general is to look at the gap between the students who have home computer and internet access and those who do not.  It is beyond the scope of this writing to suggest a solution to this dilemma, however it is interesting to consider that home computer and internet access might contribute to improved grades, and ultimately high academic performance within a state.

Teach the Future, Foster Innovation

The Common Core State Standards, along with the recently released Next Generation Science Standards, have educators mobilized, even if uneasy. Many are hopeful these rigorous new standards will fix whatever is wrong with American education and boost U.S. standing in international comparisons. Why shouldn’t U.S. students be scoring at the top on these tests, along with Singapore and Finland?

I’ve just returned from a meeting in Singapore, whose education leaders meet frequently to take stock and look ahead, and I was interested in what might be on their minds. Are they resting on their laurels, content that their national investment in education has paid off—perhaps even hesitant to make any changes to what appears to be working so well?

To the contrary, I found them uninterested in the status quo, eager to invest in new approaches, and concerned to identify objectives that are not being met. A current major concern, and the focus of the meeting I attended, is developing curricula that will foster innovative thinking in students, an attribute the country’s leaders see as critical to 21st-century success, and one, by the way, that international assessments have yet to tap.

Singapore’s leaders are not at all confident that the international assessments they participate in are measuring what’s most important for students to learn. What curricula have we instituted in the United States, I was asked, to develop creativity and innovative thinking in American students?

I had to respond that this is not a current priority in U.S. classrooms. A number of well-regarded educational thinkers and writers, I explained, embrace these objectives, arguing for the importance of developing students who are flexible, generative thinkers ready to address the yet-unknown issues that will confront their generation. But these writers are not the individuals in positions to mandate curricula on any broad scale in the nation’s schools.

Those who do have a say in what is taught and how in U.S. schoolrooms—from district superintendents to classroom teachers—are preoccupied with other concerns at the moment. The new, now widely adopted common standards are just that—standards stipulating what students are to have mastered at each grade level.

How teachers are to teach the material and ensure their students meet the standards is left to local discretion, with guidance for individual teachers scarce, at best. Unsurprisingly, anxieties about measuring up to new expectations are running high.

With their plates full, U.S. teachers are unlikely to find time to nurture attributes such as creativity, or other qualities that we don’t yet know how to measure well or that don’t enter into student- or teacher-performance evaluations. So, while high-level talk continues about the need to equip students with “21st-century skills,” attention on the ground is focused on improving students’ performance on more-rigorous standardized assessments that will bolster their international rankings.

The problem is that these international assessments represent the past and present, not the future. It’s countries like Singapore that are hard at work looking at what could be, not what is, with respect to educating their youths. They have already moved beyond mere talk of 21st-century skills to better identify just what these skills are and, most important of all, how to foster them.

Is it possible, then, that a decade or two from now the United States will find itself left behind, having devoted its resources to boosting student performance on the kinds of tests that the most educationally forward-thinking countries will have replaced?

It needn’t be so. The United States has long been known as a center of innovation. Why not in education, where we might expect innovation to be both central to practice and fostered in the next generation? Something to move us in this direction might be attention to a missing voice among the stakeholders in the debates on standards: that of students themselves.

"[I]nternational assessments represent the past and present, not the future."

What is going to motivate students to invest the greater effort required to achieve the new, more rigorous standards? In the end, teachers can only successfully teach students what they are willing to learn.

I recently asked urban public middle school students in three different classrooms to write a letter describing their ideal school to potential applicants. A few students treated the assignment as an opportunity to fantasize, describing amenities such as locker rooms equipped with Jacuzzis. These were the exception, however.

The surprise, given the open-ended nature of the assignment, was how frequently two themes appeared: One was student choice in what they would study. The other was time to pursue their interests. A 6th grader, for example, described a school in which “[students] are put in learning groups with people whose interests are very much like their own. ... Because of this curriculum, students realize their interests, which helps later when they begin their careers.”

Learning groups formed around individual interests? An intriguing idea worthy of serious consideration, but how does it happen to occur to a 12-year-old?

Surprisingly, she was not alone, although students expressed their ideas in different ways. Some had a rhetorical flair for the persuasive in describing the mission of this ideal school in which students have a say in defining the curriculum: “We help students reach their goals,” one wrote. “We’re here to pursue their dreams,” wrote another.

Like most adolescents, these students have begun to envision who they might become and would like to see the way from here to there. Several echoed this idea in making the case for choice: “Adults make almost all their choices for themselves, so one of our main goals is to incorporate personal choices into our school.”

Another said the school would “teach students to be responsible and to make their own decisions,” adding that “most schools don’t agree” with this philosophy.

Were schools to allow students the space to invest in their own intellectual interests, only the luckiest would develop a passion strong enough to shape who they become. Not all tinkerers in the family garage become Steve Jobs. But many could have the chance to forge concepts of themselves as specialists in something, whatever it might be. It is in such sustained investment in problems of their own choosing, rather than only in a packed-full, standards-dictated curriculum, that the seeds of innovation lie.

The education and cultural critic Neil Postman characterized education as “the central institution through which the young may find reasons for continuing to educate themselves.” This is the ultimate goal if we seek to educate for the future.

Although adolescents’ visions of a future are at best vague, their typical school experience does little to make these clearer. The implicit message their history classes convey is that learning about the past takes precedence over contemplating the present or future. Why not teach the future?

Few classrooms engage students in significant debate of serious issues of the day, arguably the best practice to prepare them to address the issues of the future, and to develop their identities as citizens with the capability and responsibility to address these issues.

America’s investment in education could start to take a different direction, if we summon the vision and the will to look to the future and to invest generously and wisely in it. Americans need not defer to other nations to take the lead in educational innovation, nor should we fail to nurture a new generation of innovators.

Learning Tips for Multiple Intelligences

We learn through all of the intelligence styles, but we have certain learning preferences that are stronger than others. Choose strategies that support your student’s strongest learning preference when helping them with homework or studying.

For Verbal/Linguistic Learners

These learners learn by saying, hearing and seeing words. They can easily memorize names, dates, places and trivia. To help verbal/linguistic learners:

-Use descriptive language

-Have them study by reading, writing, telling stories, playing word games and working with jokes and riddles

-They are good at creating imaginary worlds

-Create crossword puzzles for practice at www.puzzlemaker.com 

For Logical/Mathematical Learners

These learners are adept at categorizing, classifying and working with abstract patterns and relationships. They work well with reasoning, numbers, abstractions, logic, problem-solving and moving from the concrete to the abstract.

-Compare and contrast ideas

-Create a timeline

-Classify concepts/objects/materials

-Read or design maps

-Use a Venn diagram to explain…

-Teach using technology

For Bodily/Kinesthetic Learners

The brain’s motor cortex, which controls bodily motion, is the key to the intelligence of bodily/kinesthetic learners. These learners process knowledge through bodily sensations and need to touch, move and interact with space.

-Create hands-on projects

-Conduct hands-on experiments

-Create human sculptures to illustrate situations

-Reenact great moments from history

-Make task or puzzle cards for…

For Visual/Spatial Learners

Visual/spatial learners rely on their sense of sight and the ability to visualize an object. They create -Make a visual organizer or memory model of the material being learned

-Graph the results of a survey or a course of study

-Create posters or flyers

-Create collages

-Draw maps

-Color-code the process of…

For Musical/Rhythmic Learners

Musical/rhythmic learners recognize tonal patterns. For optimal learning, suggest that they hum or sing the information they want to grasp or have them move their bodies while they study.

-Create “raps” (key dates, math and poems) or write new lyrics to a song so that it explains…

-Identify social issues through lyrics

-Analyze different historical periods through their music

-Make up sounds for different math operations or processes

-Use music to enhance the learning of…

For Interpersonal Learners

Person-to-person relationships and communication are necessary for interpersonal learners. They study and work best with others.

-Analyze the relationships in a story

-Review material/concepts/books orally

-Discuss/debate controversial issues

-Find relationships between objects, cultures and situations

-Role-play a conversation with an important historical figure

-Solve complex word problems in a group

-Peer Tutor the subject being learned

For Intrapersonal Learners

Almost the exact opposite of interpersonal learners, intrapersonal learners thrive when working alone. Self-paced instruction and individualized projects work best with these students. Suggest that intrapersonal learners keep a daily journal, as their thoughts are directed inward. They have a great degree of self-understanding and they rely deeply on their instincts.

-Keep a journal to demonstrate learning

-Analyze historical personalities

-Imagine being a character in history, a scientist discovering a cure or a mathematician working on a theory and describe or write about what you imagine to demonstrate learning

For Naturalist Learners

Naturalist learners observe and understand the organized patterns in the natural world. Provide them with visualization activities and hands-on activities that are based on nature. Bring the outdoors into their learning environment whenever possible. Study in ways that call on the naturalist learner’s abilities to measure, map and chart observations of plants and animals.

-Sort and classify content in relation to the natural world

-Interact with nature through field trips

-Encourage learning in natural surroundings

-Categorize facts about…

Effective learning patterns for successful Students

Always keep one thing in mind – “Good Leaders are Good Readers”. To become a successful student, you must have good study routine. Successful kids apply many good habits to all their classes. Read about some excellent study routine and try to develop the study pattern that you do not comprise.

Superior study practice for booming kids:

• Try not to read too much at a time: If you attempt to study to a larger extent at a time, you will get exhausted and your schoolwork will not be very effective. Distribute your work to be done in short periods. Taking short breaks will bring back your mind power.
• Map specific time period for studying: Study time is any time that you do something related to schoolwork such as completing some assignments, or preparing for an exam etc. Being punctual in life is very important. Schedule specific times throughout the day for your learning time.
• Study at the same times each day: If you can try to study at the specific time daily, set up a routine that becomes a regular habit of your life, such as eating or sleeping. When the scheduled time arrives on the day, you will be mentally prepared to begin studying.
• Set objectives for your study hours: Goals help you stay focused and observe your improvement. Only sitting down for study has slightly less value. You must be clear about what you want to achieve during your study times.
• Begin to study at the scheduled time: Can you delay your beginning time for study because you do not like an assignment or think it is very complicated. Any holdup in studying is called “leaving it for later.” If you leave things for later for whatever reason, you will find it more difficult to get things done when you need to do them. You may have to hurry to make up for the time lost at the beginning, which can result in careless work and errors.
• Work first on assignment which is most difficult: Your most difficult assignment will require the most effort. Start with the most difficult assignment since at start you have the most mental energy.
• Review your notes before every assignment: The re-analysis of your notes can help you make sure you are performing properly on the assignment. Also, your notes may include information that can help you complete the assignment in effective way.
• Keep concentrated during your hours of study: Two problems may occur if someone calls you during your study times. First, interruption to your work. And not so easy to pick up the thread of what you were doing previously. Second, the other person can talk about things that can distract you from what you need to do. Simple ideas - turn off your cell phone, switch off your TV and shut the doors during your study times.
• Don’t hesitate for friends help with a difficult assignment: This is a case where “two heads are better than one.” You can solve out problems effectively if you work in collaboration with your friends.
• Review your work over the weekend: Of course, weekend should be a time for entertainment. But there must be some time to review your previous work. This will help you be ready to start on Monday morning when another school week begins.

These are some of the study habits that can help you in improving your learning skills and knowledge. Make sure they are your learning practice.

Social Networking : It Belongs In The Classroom

 

Perhaps the title of this post is bold, but I strongly believe in the use of social media and social networking (including, but not limited to, Twitter, YouTube, Skype, Scoop.it etc.) in the classroom to promote learning. I recognize that social media and social networking are nothing more than another tool in a pool of options available to us as teachers. However, social media and social networking allow teachers to provide students with a learning experience that is not possible within the confines of their own classroom walls.

There are many arguments for and against the use of social media in the classroom. Lederer (2012) states that the pros of social media in the classroom include fostering collaboration and discussion, creating meaningful dialogue to share ideas, boost student interaction and prepare students for successful employment. Alternatively she discusses how social media can be a distraction, increase opportunities for cyber bullying and discourage face-to-face communication. Although I respect her arguments against social media, I do not fully agree with them.

Digital Citizenship is one of the competencies outlined by Alberta Education in the “Framework for Student Learning: Competencies for Engaged Thinkers and Ethical Citizens with an Entrepreneurial Spirit” (Alberta Education, 2011). A goal of the digital citizenship competency is to “help [students] find information, communicate with others, solve problems and make decisions” (Alberta Education, 2011). The point of integrating social media into the classroom is to promote student understanding of the benefit of it’s use. Social media can be used to teach students about exercising integrity while interacting with others online. If we are to genuinely teach our students about digital citizenship, we must use technology to do so. Discussing the online world that exists, and that our students are already involved in, without allowing them to engage in real world applications does not promote learning.

Bullying has been a reality in our schools for years and with the influx of technology use, cyber bullying is on the rise and becoming a more pertinent issue. Teaching our students about their digital footprint and how to interact with individuals online in a professional manner will help to decrease cyber bullying. Many students don’t understand that what they do online is tracked throughout their life and follows them into their adult life; this is not like a nasty note passed around a classroom that can easily be destroyed. If we discuss, with students, the implications of their actions this will help to deter students from making poor choices. The key to success is early education, we cannot begin this in high school, but need to begin in elementary. If we start educating our students at younger ages, they will grow up with an understanding of the intricacies of the Internet and in the older grades we can continue the discussion of digital citizenship, but with a focus on their future and not on cleaning up, or burying, their past.

To discuss Lederer’s (2012) argument pertaining to the affect social media has on face-to-face communication, I believe that it could actually increase face-to-face interaction if this is done properly. Sawmiller (2010) discusses the way blogging, a form of social media, gives silent students a voice. I believe that as students engage with one another online, they will become more comfortable in their classroom environment and this will transfer directly into the face-to-face classroom. It is also important that the teacher engages students in conversations in the classroom, not just online. Combining these forms of interaction will increase the positive learning community in the classroom and promote student learning. As with anything there are drawbacks, however with careful planning and implementation negatives can be reduced to provide students with a fantastic opportunity to learn.

Before exposing your students to social media, I recommend you get involved yourself, so that you can model exceptional practice to your students. I have personally had a fantastic experience with Twitter since becoming active in PSI. Below is a selection from a previous post, “Twitter: A Social Media Platform that Promotes Collaboration & Learning by Teachers & Students”:

“What I didn’t see coming, was the pure enjoyment and excitement I would find in reading other professionals posts, developing my Personal Learning Network (PLN) and composing my own relevant educational tweets. I couldn’t believe the vast number of resources that are available on Twitter; it is absolutely wonderful! In the past six weeks I have enjoyed and learned a lot through this simple social media platform and made connections with some extremely interesting professionals. The importance of collaboration is one of the key lessons I have taken away thus far from my Education degree; there are few ways easier to collaborate with professionals worldwide, than through Twitter.”

What I have learned from my personal experiences with Twitter is directly transferrable to the classroom and our students. Before you resist the use of social media in the classroom, take the time to learn it yourself and you will see the wonderful learning tool it can be for your and your students.

References

Alberta Education. (2011). Framework for student learning: Competencies for engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit. Retrieved on July 8,2013 from http://education.alberta.ca/media/6581166/framework.pdf

Lederer, K. (2012). Pros and cons of social media in the classroom. Retrieved on July 10, 2013 from http://ht.ly/8GiRd

Sawmiller, A. (2010). Classroom Blogging: What Is the Role in Science Learning?. Clearing House: A Journal Of Educational Strategies, Issues And Ideas, 83(2),44-48.

Top 20 behaviour strategies

As a quick reference point and a reminder of strategies, this Behaviour Matters lists the top 20 behaviour strategies to include in your toolbox of behaviour management techniques

Everyone has their own range of strategies and styles of managing the behaviour of pupils in their classroom; however, it is sometimes worth reviewing the effectiveness of these strategies and also adding some perhaps forgotten ones to your list.

It is also quite easy to fall into the trap of using, or attempting to use, strategies which either do not work, or have long ago lost their impact. A typical example of this is the school that uses detentions as a strategy. When staff were asked if they used the strategy, the reply was a very firm: ‘Yes!’ During one week a member of staff issued 17 detentions to a variety of pupils. All detentions were logged, parents were informed, rooms were allocated and staff were scheduled for supervision. By the end of the following week, only five of the pupils had actually turned up for their detentions, which then led to further actions and more staff time being used but no change in the day-to-day behaviour of the named pupils. In fact, the message that some pupils had not turned up for detention had a major impact on the behaviour of others!

Detention is a perfectly acceptable response to some behaviours, but if it is failing to change behaviour and is causing stress and more work for staff, it’s time to review, modify or dispense with this approach.

Use the reminders list of the top 20 strategies to review your own techniques and school procedures, and consider adding some you feel comfortable with to your toolbox.

Practical Tips

1. Voice matching: Your voice should be at the volume and intonation you expect from the pupil. A loud and aggressive voice will usually result in a loud and aggressive response.

2. Self-calm: Practice all your self-calming skills. Remember that the first person who needs to calm down in a confrontation is you!

3. Move in: If you are speaking to an individual pupil, don’t shout across the room or remain rooted behind your desk; move in. Be aware of your speed of approach!

4. Move out: Once you have spoken to the pupil, the temptation is to remain close by, waiting for compliance. You are far more likely to see success if you move away, expecting compliance. This enables the pupil to make a good choice without the stress of your presence.

5. Personal space: For most of us, personal space is approximately the radius of an outstretched arm; any further away, and it is difficult to work out who is being spoken to. Any closer and you begin to invade intimate space. If you need to be that close, consider standing slightly sideways and avoid a confrontational manner.

6. Hurdle help: Use positive posters as rule reminders (written and illustrated) to help pupils overcome the hurdles that prevent them from complying with your rules and expectations.

7. Positive ethos: Set a positive ethos in your classroom from the outset. Be on time, be prepared and concentrate initially on the pupils who are on-task and complying with the classroom guidelines.

8. Proximity: This is similar to personal space — remember that simply standing near the off-task pupil will be sufficient to make them consider their behaviour.

9. Proximity praise: Rather than giving random praise, spot the off-task pupil and make sure you praise the pupil nearby who is on task and complying. This is far more positive than simply noting the wrong behaviour.

10. Non-verbal language: Be aware that more than 60% of all communication is non-verbal. What is your body language saying?

11. Antiseptic bounce: This is a classic strategy. Send the target pupil to a colleague with a note or message. The note says, ‘Tell (pupil’s name) “Well done” and send him or her back!’ The pupil has been removed from the problem situation, received praise and has returned in a fresh state of mind.

12. Meet and greet: Some pupils are simply not in the right frame of mind at the start of the day or the lesson. Set up a system with you or a TA to meet and greet and settle the pupil.

13. Track behaviours: It is vital that you have an accurate and objective system for tracking, monitoring and evaluating behaviour.

14. Refocus: Don’t be verbally misled by arguing pupils. Refocus them on the issue by using a statement of understanding (‘Yes, I see, but that is not the point; you need to…‘)

15. Broken record: Avoid engaging in an argument, and be prepared to repeat your instruction or direction up to three times (use the exact same wording) before raising the level of your response

16. Time out/Change seat: A change of environment will often help to focus a pupil. Don’t forget, the emphasis should be on time. Make sure you have a plan of how to reintegrate the pupil back into your teaching group.

17. Think sheet/Self-review: A simple process to enable the pupil to reconsider their actions and to decide on a more appropriate course of action next time.

18. Rules/Rewards/Consequences: Involve pupils in the development of rules.

19. Hierarchy of response: Have at least five levels of response and remember that your role is to use the responses to keep the pupil at the lowest level possible; not to escalate the problem!

20. Communicate: Make sure that you have systems in place to enable the sharing of information with parents, other staff and the named pupil. It is easy to determine ‘hot spots’, problem lessons, personality clashes and how different adults perceive the pupil if information is shared.