You kiss your kid/tween/teen in the morning and let them go off to school, while you make your way to your day, and you sometimes dont hear from them till that valuable dinnertime hour where you can sit and discuss each others' day.  Fact is though, that most kids dont tell their parents alot of what went on at school that day.  They may give you the good stuff (ex. a good grade) or something, but how do you know what they've been up to all day???

To give you a little insight, parents, the single biggest thing on most kids' minds when they are at school is TO NOT LOOK STUPID.  They would rather die than to look stupid in front of their friends, peers, and teachers.
This is why so many kids like to sit in the back of the class (less chances of getting called on) and most would rather die than getting something wrong in class and oh my goodness....getting laughed at!!!! (Kill them now)

Teachers normally do a great job of getting kids to feel at ease and comfortable in class.  So how to help your kid avoid looking or feeling stupid?  PREPARATION!  The little time invested in this is well worth the effort, because:
Advantage#1 - There is nothing that boosts confidence more than a kid who has read up on and knows a little something on the topic before even walking into class.
Advantage #2 - More facility with the subject, therefore LESS time (or none at all) on homework....they can get it done in class!
Advantage #3 - Ask better & more insightful questions in class.

I dont know about you, but that seems worth it to me!

Making Learning Fun & Effective for All Types of Learners 

As many of you may know, students of all ages like to engage in and learn things they are actually interested in.  In other words, things that speak to their particular tastes, and that they are exposed to at a pace whereabouts they can actually digest the information.

Case in point: last year I started off one of my grade 8 French classes (who were, by the way, not very happy to be there) with an assignment that included them presenting in French, in order to practice their reading, writing and speaking skills.  After the moans and groans of unhappiness and dissatisfaction at yet another “boring project”, they asked “What does the topic have to be on….the Eiffel Tower, or some other Frenchie type of thing?”  I told them it could be on absolutely anything they desired and that they could set up the presentation any which way they wanted.  Students were excitedly asking if they could do it on this basketball star or this music icon – all answers were an emphatic “YES”.

Then the questions of “Can we use prezi, or skits with props, or music, or can we pre-record it?” – again all answers were met with a resounding “YES”.

The kids got excited because it was something they actually cared about, and we found a way for them to include the French component into it.

On top of that, I managed to stretch the unit out.  Not only did we do the seemingly boring verbs in both present and past tenses, but I gave them the general rule of how to correctly conjugate verbs and they were invited to choose their own verbs on which to practice.  The basketball lover picked verbs like “running”, “jumping”, “playing” and “passing”, while the music lover picked such verbs as “singing”, “dancing”, and “rapping”.  The part that I found the most striking was that not only were students so much more engaged in this project than on anything else I had seen, but because they were happier with what they were doing and because it came more easily to them, they were actually taking the time out to help one another on anything that the person next to them needed.

When it came time to presenting two months later, the presentations were all beyond what was even asked for in the main criteria.  Students had gone ahead and made other items to enhance their presentations, such as posters in French to promote this person or that, and a slogan to represent the kind of imaging their basketball star should get.  The presentations were imaginative, exciting, fun to listen to, and the students were so engaged!  They even asked if they could continue the entire year by learning a general concept and applying it to their own example.

One of the most important things we do for our children and our students, is to inspire them and engage them by doing things and choosing activities that speak to them!  Of course, it is important to continue to show them how to expand their horizons and learn things that are beyond their immediate interest points, but I believe that many of the curriculum and study items we provide them with already cover many of those things.  We should look more to their chosen topics, as these are the ones that are newer and really still seem to take many off-guard and get their excitement going. 

Why can’t we incorporate TED talks into English class, or invite real astronauts into the Science class via virtual connections with NASA, or learn about home economics and fashion through designer-made videos on YouTube?

I’ll admit that it is still difficult for a relatively old-school teacher like me to admit that things in the field of education are changing, but when I see how it engages the students and how, given certain technologies or new ways of thinking, we can tailor curriculum and instruction to meet the needs of individual learners, how can I say no?

As we are preparing kids for the next generation and for them to be great visionaries, we cannot ignore the growing trend toward technology and all the discoveries being made through research to push the envelope in education.  After all, isn’t it essential that our end goal for these young, intermediate, and senior minds to be able to learn in the most effective way possible?  And face it, how many times have you fallen asleep when an instructor was talking about something that was of no interest to you?

When any student (youth or adult) enters the classroom, they need to ensure that they are prepared.  This is, in fact, one of the first things a teacher looks for when students are filing into the classroom, and is directly correlated to student success.  After all, how can you be successful at something when you’re not prepared??

Top 3 items a student needs to bring to class:

1)      Agenda – this is where they will actually COMMIT to writing down their homework, points to remember and assignment ideas when they are mentioned in class.  If a student just listens to what the teacher is saying but does not bring his/her agenda and write it down, the chances of them forgetting what was said 10 minutes later increases exponentially.

2)      Class materials – this could include anything from the course textbook, papers to write notes down on, and supplies to highlight and write important ideas.

3)      Thinking cap – being focused in class on the subject at hand (instead of wondering whom they’re going to ask to sign their yearbook or worrying about having plans for the weekend) is so important.  If a student is not focused and is not thinking about the subject matter at hand, they aren’t ready and they are not going to be nearly as effective in the classroom.

If a student can remember to bring these three vitally important items for every class, they are already ahead of the game!

Happy Learning!

The scenario is usually as such: Parents come to me (or their kid's teacher) at the beginning of the school year or some time during the first set of Parent-Teacher interviews and ask me "How can I help my kid do better at school this year?"

My answer to them: To consistently train their children on good study habits as early as possible and to expose their children to the very thing they are trying to improve in.  This answer often makes parents (and their children) happy because it means that the answer to their question isn’t something crazy and outlandish, but something that is totally reasonable and within reach.  (And it is.)

Taking the Example of the Much-Dreaded French Subject

For example, taking the subject of French (a subject area not too keenly adored by many children of varying ages and grades); most children do not enjoy French and therefore do not wish to practice it at home and consequently, do not get better at it.  The key here is to find ways of teaching students and exposing children to French in a FUN way.  This should include as many hands-on and interactive approaches as possible.  Great activities include having them do a food activity where they get to look through real grocery store flyers and budget their spending within a given and set dollar amount.  Following this, they could actually decide to make French foods (that are pre-approved by the teacher and perhaps by the home ec teacher), take a trip over to the local market, purchase the ingredients and actually make the food themselves.  I have tried this and it’s consistently one of the most fun activities of the school year, the kids tell me.

Bringing Quebec and France to Life

The beautiful thing about making the subject interactive, is that the students will actually wonder and question things related to French life, all on their own.  For the sports nut in class, we could talk about the French soccer, basketball or other player.  For the fashionista, Paris fashion is where it’s at.  And the list goes on.  There are so many ways of making things fun and interactive and we need to cater things to their level and liking.  After all, how many times have you fallen asleep when an instructor was talking about something that was totally out of your area(s) of interest??

What You Can Do At Home

Parents should work on and practice things that were done at school with their children, as much as possible.  They should also, from an early age, work on empowering their children with the idea that in order to do better at school, they need to get into the habit of reviewing things at home that were covered in school.  The reason that this needs to be taught from an early age is because this will get them into the habit of doing it, and then they will do it without even thinking about it.

The following are just some of the benefits of developing great study skills and habits early on: ·        

+ Without even having to put much thought or effort into it, children will know to get their work done early and then be able to relax the rest of the time ·        

+ When it comes time to the teacher announcing a test or a quiz, children will be ready and not need to worry about it ·         Being prepared in advance or reading ahead allows children the time and convenience of asking their teacher clarification questions if need be ahead of evaluation time ·        

+ There is not too much that IMPRESSES a teacher MORE than a student who is prepared ahead of time and puts effort into their work on a consistent basis (not just when report card time comes near or when interview time is looming around the corner).  Teachers love to see effort being put forth! ·        

+ No feelings of dread on Sunday evening, a time when you want to and deserve to rest and spend time with the family ·         This will allow them for one heck of a competitive advantage later on in later school years as well!   The best part is: it’ll be so ingrained in them that it will be effortless. In summary, creating good study skills and habits early are a major key to child and student development