Silencing a Noisy Class

1. You are boss – if you do not believe you are in charge, then, your students will not. You have to be able to conduct yourself in such a way that you command respect and conformity in your classroom. Your students must always remember that you are the teacher, and thus, whatever rules and regulations you draw up, must be observed. Do not ever let your students think that you are not in full control of them. The minute they sense this, all hell will break loose. No matter how difficult your students are, do not ever give in. Maintain that strength and soon they will learn to live by your rules.

2. Rules on noise – once you decide on what the rules of the classroom are, then, make it clear to your students. Discuss it with them and ensure that they fully understand. There should not be room for any misinterpretation and argument later on. Consistency is a must in a classroom. If you fail to consistently uphold the rules, then you cannot expect your students to follow them.

3. Entry into the classroom – this must also be regulated. From the minute the students enter your classroom, your rules must apply. Instil in them everything you want, all of it that must be carried out in an orderly fashion. Get your students to line up outside the room before they enter. If they cannot, then, they are not allowed into the classroom.

4. Settling down – once the students have entered the classroom, and if you gauge that they do not seem like they are settling down, set out some work for them to get them settled. Ensure that there is always a ‘twist’ that will get them engaged right away. A time limit is always a great tool to use here.

5. Silence please – some teachers choose to shout down their students while other teachers choose to patiently wait. Some students will respond, while others will not. If the disobedience continues, then you need to have a backup plan. Ensure that whichever approach you choose, it must be powerful and command their attention.

Choosing the Right School for Your Child

Every parent wants what is best for their child. This might be a difficult task, especially with the vast number of schools to choose from.

The best possible option would be to choose a school that is well known and established and one that has a good reputation. You would want the school to provide a good all-round education for your child.
Here is a checklist to help you make your decision:

• Choose a school with a vision.
• The school should place great emphasis on nurturing your child, providing good learning and education, and one that will help your child grow and develop, while keeping their personality in mind.
• A well balanced programme that gives education and extra-curricular activities equal importance throughout the year.
• The staff should consist of well qualified and experienced teachers who have a knack with children, and those who will encourage them to explore and learn new things.
• The school should have the necessary infrastructure in place.
• The student-teacher ratio should be decent.
• Look into how often the school shares pupils’ progress with parents. Ensure this happens fairly regularly.
• Check if the school offers any kind of guidance and counselling programmes or services for its students and even parents.
• The school must be one that encourages multi-cultural values, beliefs, etc.

Other factors that you might want to take into consideration would be the location of the school. If it means your child would have to travel a distance, then it would make sense to evaluate the transport facilities as well. Other important things include hygiene standards, drinking water, safety and security.

Learning Through Heroes

Every kid loves heroes. They all want to be like them and do fantastic things. Taking this into consideration, educators have now chosen to include heroes into the curriculum and teach children various subjects through them. This could include anything from life skills, morals and even science.

Tony R. Sanchez who is an Assistant Professor of Social Studies Education at Purdue University says that using heroes and role models is an effective teaching tool. He points out that this is an excellent way to teach children by promoting the ‘hero’ spirit, which would then be instilled in children and hopefully encourage them to be ‘heroic’ themselves.

The Jemison Group, created by Dr. Mae Jemison, the first African-American in space is one that aspires to bring the latest technology to people worldwide and also to inculcate an understanding and appreciation of science amongst students. She has been invited by many schools around the country, at which she recounts her experiences about space travel. One particular example is after she visited West Clayton Elementary School, a considerable amount of students were more interested in the subject. Children need heroes to inspire them, get them interested in the vast possibilities they have in front of them.

More and more curriculums use heroes. However, these lessons must be thought out carefully. Here are a few pointers:

Find a hero specific to what you are teaching. You might want to use Michael Jordan for sports and not Oprah Winfrey. Try not to pick a hero that is too generic.

Keep the human side of the hero very much in focus. Keep stressing that they are all humans and not superheroes. Tell your students that anyone can be a hero, but you have to have your goals and stay focused. Help your students find their ‘hero’ potential.

The Process of Reading

As much as 33% of the population still cannot read. Quite a number of children pick up the ability to read, quite well, even while not being taught. Some children however struggle through it. For these children, a systematic process must be followed in order to ensure that they will be able to read. Here are a few things to take into consideration.

Liking it – some children love it, some children do not. If children are allowed to read more regularly and have access to material they are interested in, they might cultivate a liking to it. Let your children choose the books they want to read.

Phonics – children need to understand how the reading process works. You need to teach them the individual sounds, how to break up words into syllables, putting sounds together to make a complete word. All this kind of phonemic awareness is absolutely necessary. It must be instilled in them from the very first reading stages.

Phonics and decoding – children must be taught the different sounds the letters in the alphabet represent. They must be able to ‘decode’ words, be able to understand the relationship between individual letters and put it together.

Fluency – in order to read fluently, this process of decoding must happen fairly rapidly. Once this is in place, then other factors like attention and the memory process are necessary to understand what exactly is being read. Fluency in reading is necessary for your child to have good comprehension skills. You must encourage your child to read independently.

Building knowledge – at early stages, read as much material as possible with your child. Help build up their knowledge base. The more they read, the more they will know about the world, and be able to better comprehend new reading material.

Vocabulary – a larger vocabulary means better comprehension levels. Children pick up new words while they read, and more reading means a better vocabulary.

Why Should You Learn a Foreign Language?

With the world growing more and more competitive, knowing a few foreign languages has its bonuses. At some workplaces it is a must. Knowing a foreign language, whether it is for social, professional or personal reasons will have its benefits. Here are a few:

Professional reasons – most people would learn a foreign language because their employer insists on it. Some professions entail knowing at least one or two languages. This depends on the type of job obviously. International languages such as English, Spanish, French and German are requirements especially in development or hospitality related jobs while Russian, Japanese and Chinese are useful if you are in the business trade.

Social – knowing one or two foreign languages will definitely give you that ‘one-up’ in society. Knowing a foreign language can also have its benefits when you meet a foreigner who cannot speak the language you do. Not only will you be able to impress them, if this happens at a business meeting, you might even be able to make a successful partnership as well.

Family – foreign languages come in handy when your family consists of people from diverse backgrounds and nationalities. In most cases, everyone just communicates with the most commonly known language in the family. But if you do know one of their languages, then communication is certainly on better grounds.

A healthy mind – scientific research indicates that learning a new language stimulates brain cells, making your level of understanding and learning other new subjects even better. This could be true, as you need to learn a few thousand new words when learning a new language. You would need to understand the linguistic concepts, grammar, sentence structure, etc.