Hear,see and be silent!
Every teacher's dream, perhaps?I heard on the radio the other day that there is a young girl in Britain who won the argument to listen to an iPod while completing an exam.. She is unable to concentrate without it apparently! Most people would assume that the iPod opens up a can of worms, esp. the potential to cheat. They managed to work around it by having a dedicated iPod upon which officials would load the student's nominated music selections. This brings me to talk about the different types of learners that are found in the classroom- auditory (hearing), kinesthetic (touch/feel) and visual (seeing). There are numerous websites dedicated to this topic- one source states that knowing your learner type can be the key to improving grades. I know that when it comes to assembling new items I avoid eading through detailed instructions and work it out as I go.. That leans towards kinaesthetic I believe.. I must also confess that I think I'm also auditory- I'd rather be told/listen to something than wade through text .. I try to make sure all these bases are covered in my lessons.. I do think I have a tendency to lean towards more visual/auditory- I love to verbally engage my students- which sets off a chain reaction where students then start talking about unrelated topics..I do also support students having a dialogue about their learning- it helps them to further deepen their understanding of the concepts they talk about. That means my classrooms sound rather noisy at times..
Such is life!
TGBTG
Xo
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
ad astra per alia porci
To the stars, on the wings of a pig..
Oh how I giggled when I read this- I was looking through lists of Latin phrases to use for my latest entry and there it is.. Combines my love of stars (and, by extension, science) as well as my sense of humour, I regularly make the statement "pigs might fly" when I doubt that something might happen!
This post isn't going to have anything much related to my teaching escapades , it's mainly to break a dry spell..
I returned to work last Monday 23/5 after 8 weeks on maternity leave, it was nice to be back.. Although I miss my baby terribly. My students apparently missed me while I was gone, that made me feel appreciated- inflated the old ego too, helped me to focus on serving my students even better than before- it may even involve a little but of tough love!
Sigh- reporting is coming up again soon- my next post may very well be related to that topic- or, maybe not!
One thing I heard the other day were some stats on how many students there were in China- As well as how many students actually graduate from school here in Aus.. It was scary to think about it! China is going to be ahead of the crowd academically, that could have so many ramifications for the future- how on Earth can I get that through to these kids that only care about reading tripe on Facebook instead of working and studying hard?? Guess I shall have to pray about it. In the meantime, when I hear students whinge about why do they have to learn maths or science I could very well tell them it might mean the difference between choosing to speak Chinese or having to speak Chinese as a first language!
That's it for now
TGBTG
Oh how I giggled when I read this- I was looking through lists of Latin phrases to use for my latest entry and there it is.. Combines my love of stars (and, by extension, science) as well as my sense of humour, I regularly make the statement "pigs might fly" when I doubt that something might happen!
This post isn't going to have anything much related to my teaching escapades , it's mainly to break a dry spell..
I returned to work last Monday 23/5 after 8 weeks on maternity leave, it was nice to be back.. Although I miss my baby terribly. My students apparently missed me while I was gone, that made me feel appreciated- inflated the old ego too, helped me to focus on serving my students even better than before- it may even involve a little but of tough love!
Sigh- reporting is coming up again soon- my next post may very well be related to that topic- or, maybe not!
One thing I heard the other day were some stats on how many students there were in China- As well as how many students actually graduate from school here in Aus.. It was scary to think about it! China is going to be ahead of the crowd academically, that could have so many ramifications for the future- how on Earth can I get that through to these kids that only care about reading tripe on Facebook instead of working and studying hard?? Guess I shall have to pray about it. In the meantime, when I hear students whinge about why do they have to learn maths or science I could very well tell them it might mean the difference between choosing to speak Chinese or having to speak Chinese as a first language!
That's it for now
TGBTG
Monday, May 2, 2011
minima maxima sunt
The smallest things are the most important ..
That applies to many facets of life.. In this blog I want to yap about how it applies to teaching junior high school students mathematics...
So often during maths I will demonstrate a new concept, explaining each step ever so painstakingly, get them to copy the example in their notebooks and then set an exercise from the text book to apply the new knowledge. Within five minutes I hear one of two things - "Miss, I don't get it" (that's a whole post on it's own) OR "Do I HAVE to show working?"...
Cue exasperated sigh... My response is a resounding YES!!! As one of my very dear work friends put it, working out is learning how to put mathematical terms into mathematical sentences, followed by paragraphs and then pages.. The latter of which you have to do in senior maths.
I explain this to them in kid speak and also the fact that it may mean the difference between partial marks or no marks at all- and I STILL get moaned at. Honestly, some days I am exasperated at the laziness of this generation- although there's are a select few who are highly motivated and self disciplined. I still hold hope they will be the future leaders of tomorrow!!
I shall have to have a think about a strategy to use on my students that will somehow get through to them that the small things matter!
TGBTG
Xx
That applies to many facets of life.. In this blog I want to yap about how it applies to teaching junior high school students mathematics...
So often during maths I will demonstrate a new concept, explaining each step ever so painstakingly, get them to copy the example in their notebooks and then set an exercise from the text book to apply the new knowledge. Within five minutes I hear one of two things - "Miss, I don't get it" (that's a whole post on it's own) OR "Do I HAVE to show working?"...
Cue exasperated sigh... My response is a resounding YES!!! As one of my very dear work friends put it, working out is learning how to put mathematical terms into mathematical sentences, followed by paragraphs and then pages.. The latter of which you have to do in senior maths.
I explain this to them in kid speak and also the fact that it may mean the difference between partial marks or no marks at all- and I STILL get moaned at. Honestly, some days I am exasperated at the laziness of this generation- although there's are a select few who are highly motivated and self disciplined. I still hold hope they will be the future leaders of tomorrow!!
I shall have to have a think about a strategy to use on my students that will somehow get through to them that the small things matter!
TGBTG
Xx
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