Increasing student confidence and being a motivator is a core and a vital part in being an honest teacher. The high of teaching is the amount of respect you get from your students. It is each teachers dream to see his student be a great achiever.  The aim of this article is to explore new method for students to learn better. Effective learning ensures dialogue and communication and must constantly flow between teacher-student paradigms.

Advances in each scientific discipline and knowledge technology have the potential to remodel education and coaching in ways that was previously impossible. If students aren’t encouraged to be told then they’re possibly not concerned within the lesson and if they’re not concerned within the lesson they’re rather more likely to cause management issues within the class rooms.

Therefore, it’s essential for academics to extend student motivation to be told and also the best method to change the way our students express learning so as to spark student interest at the initial stage of each lesson.

Below given are methods for motivating students to change their learning strategies:

1. Use essential thinking queries; the good factor regarding using these varieties of queries is that they do not essentially have a right or wrong answer thereby inspiring students to express their own opinions.

2. Use music to show ~ Music is one in all the foremost underrated learning tools and could be a good way to spark student interest. As an example, once teaching a lesson on the traffic a teacher of mine introduced the subject by enjoying the Marley songs “Buffalo Soldier” and “Catch a Fire”. It has till date stuck with me.

3. Use video ~ Video is one of the most misunderstood teaching tools and is commonly abused. However, if used properly video may be an excellent tool to increase student. The secret is to use short clips from movies and documentaries at the starting of lessons instead. Hollywood movies form great example for this, however you’ll use documentaries, famous speeches and entertainment to show a style of literature.

4. Associate what students learn compared to what’s occurring within the “real world”. This can clearly accomplish some subjects than others, however it may be done. Students ought to grasp “why” they’re learning one thing.

5. Associate what students learn to what is vital to them. The trick here is to urge to your students to grasp and encourage them to study more and more topics of their own interest.

6. Use technology, not just for the sake being modern but realize and apply it to save time and increase efficiency. Do measure application of technology at regular intervals. The periodic assessment will help you ensure that it actually does solve your purpose or the amount of revision required for better output.

7. Educators should specialize in new competencies and should be constantly researching as well as testing their research in practical markets. Changes at such huge magnitude need accepted wisdom of education both in terms of the syllabus as well as within the development of pedagogies.

The constant researches will insure that each student acquires the high level of skills required to thrive within the dynamic world of the twenty first century.

8. Technological fluency needs to be a basic ability. As assured user of technology, we must be able to use computers and internet to derive information and as we use to from a library at our schools. Technology is setting new records each day and is progressing and penetrating deep in even third world countries. To get our students to be techno-savvy is one of our greatest achievements as well as a constant challenge at Education Avenue.

9. Education should prepare students not just for jobs but for real excellence. If our challenges are restricted to getting ready folks for the styles of jobs accessible these days, we’d still have plenty of labor to try to. Honestly our challenge as an educator is far more bigger and it is our genuine duty to ensure that our students actually adapt to the challenge of changing times.

We all know that in a traditional classroom, it is the teachers who control the students and provide them with study materials when required. Gone are those days, today online teaching and learning plays a vital role where students and teachers both participate equally to obtain an enhanced learning experience.

There are many learning institutes coming up, offering different styles and methods of teaching, but we have to be very alert before choosing the best one for our child. PracTutor is one of the education programs, which provides K12 students with an adaptive platform of learning and mastering subjects like Math and English. Some important key features stated below should to be implemented in order modify the methodology of teaching to a more technological and customized online learning.

1) Student Presentation

It has been observed lately that, K-12 classrooms which have executed web-based learning, have observed drastic changes in the performance of students. Together with this, tests are conducted, in order to analyze their understanding abilities. On the basis of these collective results, the teaching style or course can be emphasized to enable the students grasp well. Online learning can play a major role in the overall development of a child.

2) Student Engagement and Achievements

Online learning inspires student’s engagement to a greater extent than ever before. The reason is because students really get a chance to come up with their difficulties to their faculty in real time without long waiting for hours. Also another benefit of online learning is most of the teachers and lecturers have organized online forums and communities to permit their students to join in. Under this forum, every student gets a chance to discuss, resolve their query and also share their learning materials and coursework with other students. In addition to this, teachers are available 24×7 to revert to their queries and clarify their doubts pertaining to a lesson or assessment work.

3) Features for Teachers

With the introduction of customized learning technology in the educational sector, we find changes in the role of teachers as compared to a traditional classroom where, teachers use to play a typical role speaking on a topic, then asking questions to students about the concept, and eventually assigning homework to them for the next day. However, implementing this online customized methodology of learning has brought in a paradigm shift from conventional teacher-based knowledge to meet the educational demands of the learners. Nowadays we find that teachers pressurize students and give more stress on the customization of content to meet the needs of individual students.

Practutor advices you think about Your Needs. Then, Consider Our customized learning Programs.

With PracTutor, we strongly believe student will reach “xPotential”, in other words their innate, personal possibility; therefore it is essential with the growing necessity to change the methodology of learning and teaching in order to guide schools and districts to face the challenges of student success, shortage of resources, and the expectations of 21st century learners.

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Watch what we do

Do you regularly use the cool software or play games like ‘Angry birds’ or watch animated movies like ‘Ice age’, ‘Shrek’, ‘Cars’? Do you use Xbox, or Wii or Playstation? Chances are you have done one or more of these things at least once or more times in your life.

All these animated movies, games, consoles have one common thing, Software Code. They all have some kind of programming that runs them. All those cool characters and cars run as they have some geeky code behind them.

Most people fear coding and feel that it is kind of a monster, which needs super intelligent people and excellent Math skills. . Is it really true?

Let’s start with some games. I believe kids learn faster in an entertaining environment.

http://www.ecogiochi.it/giochi-gratis-online/puzzle/magic-pen/

http://www.ebog.com/racing-games/10759/mad-monkey-mike.html

At times, it is actually difficult to explain kids about computer programs or how challenging it is to just make a simple button press work. Expecting huge breakthroughs prior to a particular age is unrealistic. Language like JavaScript is not recommended at a very early stage. Instead, go for Logo. It is simple and powerful educational programming language. It is basically a turtle on a canvas and a command console. You just command the turtle and it follows. It is absolutely attractive to the kids. This would definitely help them get into the language world. Leading to interest in learning other difficult ones.

Scratch is another common programming language downloaded more than a million times. However, I would recommend that for a little older group. As parents, we should understand that every child is different and so is their understand level. Real analytical skills often appear after the age of 11.

Now let us see how important is mathematics in computer programming

Machines do not understand words. Programmers communicate with PCs using numbers. Developing a mathematical understanding of data organization, number sequencing and logic is essential in order to acquire good programming skills.

Recently, I came across a very simple example stating the importance of math in programming. Suppose you go to an ice cream parlor. The owner does not know about the most popular flavors, or if he has in stock your favorite.  He does not understand how many combinations of flavors are possible. You would prefer to try some other outlet. Right!

Now, suppose the owner has a simple computer program that stores all the data. He knows if he has your favorite ice cream in stock. In addition, probably he would order for the same, before the stock finishes. Just to make you happy!! His program can also suggest new combinations for you to try. Doesn’t that sound tempting!! Well, this so very simple thing requires instructions to be given by the programmer. The simplest detail has to be told to the computer, like to count each ice cream order. Permutation and combination are other mathematical concepts that a programmer needs to understand. Calculations are also important in the science of computers. Geometry is used in the development of graphics.

Curious!! We all would like to know how the characters in the movie Cars actually move. Or how do we get to play a video game. Believe me, this is very exciting rather than just sitting and playing such games.

Many such interesting details to follow. Keep an EYE!!!

When it comes to expressing ourselves, it is the fluency over our language of expression that makes the major difference whether what we are saying is perfectly put across or not. And so as to interact with maximum precision, it’s quintessential that our vocabulary is strong.  Most of us learn the basic words and expressions of our mother tongue simply by listening to the interaction between our elders and – others in our circle. So, from a tender age unknowingly we start collecting the treasure of words in the chest of our memory.

During our student life we are exposed to better set of words and our vocabulary increases further. Even though, a teacher teaches all the students in the same manner, there are very few who really can recall the right word during communication. And when you fail to construct a proper meaningful sentence due to lack of vocabulary, you lose confidence to speak amongst your friends and social circles. If this problem is not tackled at the right time, then it can continue to overshadow your performance all through your career making you take a back step every time its time to confront any issue publicly or in a group.

That is the reason, why, parents and teachers together should find ways of enhancing the vocabulary of students and encourage them to put in more efforts to learn better words through direct or indirect techniques. Reading and writing are the rudimentary steps which can be followed on regular basis to increase the proficiency of a kid in a particular language.

One of the best ways is making the kids read a particular story or a comprehension and make them rewrite the whole thing in their own words. This way you can evaluate how much they have understood through reading and how effectively they can express their knowledge. Organize regular essay or letter writing sessions to inculcate writing habit in the kids right from young age and make them read their written work in front of everyone to build confidence. Regular writing and reading aloud contribute in enhancing the prowess of a kid in that particular language. During these practice sessions a teacher can clearly analyze the drawbacks of the students including their vocabulary strength and accordingly take decisive steps to help them increase their skills.  Stated below are some techniques teachers can follow these are highly effective and remain with the students as a perpetual habit. They also help in contribution to the overall growth of a child. With personal experience, I would surely recommend these steps to be followed by teachers,

• Ask the students to read a lesson one by one in the class.
• Tell the students to underline any word which is new to them.
• Now, ask the students to find the meaning/ synonym of the words and also its antonym as a home-work and advise them to go through the thesaurus for better understanding of its presentation and placement in the sentences and phrases.
• The next day ask the students to write sentences using the difficult words,  their two synonyms and antonyms.

This way, the students are introduced to new words. If, during each lesson students find at least five difficult words, their vocabulary can be increased by 25, by the time you end teaching the entire lesson.  You can follow the same technique for teaching/ learning all different languages as well.

However, just increasing word knowledge is not enough. Students should also know how the same word can be used differently depending upon sentences. For example, when you say ‘God blessed me’ (here, blessed is used as a verb), while when you say ‘I am the blessed (ble-ssed) one’ (here, blessed is used as a noun).. For proper diction and pronunciation one should take help of audio CDs and teach the kids the basics of phonetics. Only then   he will be able to speak confidently in the public.

“I remember the first time that a grading rubric was attached to a piece of my writing….Suddenly all the joy was taken away.  I was writing for a grade — I was no longer exploring for me.  I want to get that back.  Will I ever get that back?” Claire, a student (in Olson, 2006)

How true is this? Since decades, there has been an ongoing argument whether gradation system should be stopped or continued. Enough has been written and published about it.

The basic function of grades is to provide information to the parents, peers and others about how the student is performing and quantifying it. A very private thing done very publicly! The grading may happen once a quarter, month or even on a weekly basis. A Continuous and comprehensive evaluation is also gaining popularity to assess and teach the student on a daily continuous basis.

There is one school of thought who feels that gradation contributes in motivating the students for learning more and fosters competition which is necessary in a flat world today.

But the research conducted by some of the eminent psychologists Condry & Koslowski in 1977 and Deci & Ryan in 1987 have revealed that gradation system affects the motivation, diminishes the learning interest and reduces the mental ability to be creative and think of solutions to problems. It produces more robots, mechanical work force rather than thinking human beings.

In a bid to receive high grades, there are many ambitious students who choose tasks that are much below their capacity. This in turn reduces their chances of learning more and sharpening their skills.

When it comes to gaining knowledge, instead of how much you have learnt, it is important to know how better you have understood it so that when it comes to practical applications, the same knowledge can be used effectively. But gradation system creates a division between the higher grade students and lower grade students due to which unknowingly an attitude of superiority or inferiority gets developed in them.

The students with low grades feel that they are not on the right track and are losers whereas those who receive high grades feel that they are going to be super successful. Once such grade-oriented thinking starts seeping in the minds of the students, they feel motivated only to get high grades and not to learn and explore more or to develop something new from what they have learnt. That is the reason why, there are many ‘yes ministers’ around instead of innovators and creators.

 A student asked his Zen master how long it would take to reach enlightenment.  “Ten years,” the master said.  But, the student persisted, what if he studied very hard?  “Then 20 years,” the master responded.  Surprised, the student asked how long it would take if he worked very, very hard and became the most dedicated student in the Ashram.  “In that case, 30 years,” the master replied.  His explanation:  “If you have one eye on how close you are to achieving your goal that leaves only one eye for your task.”

So we could establish the following from research and from opinion of many educators, teachers and learners.

• Grades are tools to quantify the result but not all results can be quantified, not all learning lead to assessment
• Grades de-motivates students and creates a division
• The students getting higher grades also become a lot lax and eventually learning doesn’t happen

We know most of the things above, so what can be done? The first question that comes to everyone’s minds is then how will the students get into colleges/universities.

Well, I have news for you. There are quite a few universities who accept students based on the detailed descriptions of the curriculum, recommendations, essays, and interviews which collectively offer a fuller picture of the applicant than does a grade-point average.

Although these points have been discussed since the past 2-3 decades, the grade system is here to stay, so the following are things I feel that can be done to ensure that the impact of grades do not scar the students.

• Evaluation cannot and should not be restricted to learners alone, teachers and parents play an equal part in a child’s education and should be evaluated; hence both of them are equally responsible for the child’s failure or success
• The students rather than getting a quantitative report card should get a qualitative feedback report card and a feedback for improvement on a weekly basis
• The parents should be involved in those feedback sessions (as far as possible) and onus should be on the parents and teachers for the child’s success.

Having mentioned all this there is a silver lining. Several classes have been de-graded.

Jim Drier, an English teacher at Mundelein High School in Illinois never gives his students “a number or grade on anything they do.  The things that grades make kids do are heartbreaking for an educator”:  arguing with teachers, fighting with parents, cheating, and memorizing facts just for a test and then forgetting them.  “This is not why I became a teacher.” Without grades, “I think my relationships with students are better,” Drier says.  “Their writing improves more quickly and the things they learn stay with them longer.  I’ve had lots of kids tell me it’s changed their attitude about coming to school.” 

It’s a known fact that Albert Einstein was a very poor student and Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and several others left their college half-way. Thankfully, these people never let the grades make any impact on their minds. But it cannot be so with every student. There are devastating effects of grades on certain students, several students commit suicide since they cannot handle the pressure of the competition. We do not want our children to be measured quantitatively but qualitatively and completing the curriculum should not be the priority over making them understand and explore the concepts. It is high time to challenge the conventional system and act to improve it!