Think back to the most memorable teacher you’ve ever had, be it your favourite, your least favourite, or the quirkiest one.
· Did they require absolute order and silence in class, or did they stand in the doorway and shout “Hello world!” at the top of their voice? (One of mine did.)
· Did they stick to the textbook or act like the teacher from “Dead poet society”?
· Did they give you the details or the overview?
· Did they march around the room with you pretending to start the French revolution?
· Did they encourage projects such as mini-plays, craft or group work to help put the new concepts across?
· Were the tests that they set up traditional or eccentric?
· Were their classrooms decorated with learning tools and visual prompts?
Every teacher has their unique teaching style: the way in which they explain new and difficult problems. But chances are, the teachers that you love and remember best are the ones who can expand their teaching style beyond the traditional and the expected.
(To analyse your own teaching style and improve your job satisfaction, have a look at this free online demo.)
Many schools find it difficult to employ or retain good teachers. Could it be that teachers find their teaching style mismatched to the school’s expectations? Or are teachers simply disillusioned by the lack of discipline and the hate of learning displayed by the new generation of students?
Most discipline issues can be solved by reaching the students through understanding and appreciation of their unique learning needs. To find out more about the topic, please email info @ clc.co.nz.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Learning Styles and School Discipline
Many otherwise successful countries (USA, Great Britain, New Zealand) are struggling with educating their children. That’s despite access to fabulous resources such as free schooling, the latest computer technologies, free libraries, learning tools and experienced teachers.
Why?
According to teachers who worked both in developing and in developed countries, it’s all a matter of the environment’s attitude to education. People in Korea or Thailand, just to name a few, have a lot of respect for the school system, and teachers are respected as “the other set of parents away from home”. Education is expensive there, with at least a third of the family’s income being swallowed by schooling costs, and children are appropriately mindful not to waste the hard-earned opportunity they are given.
In contrast, children in developed countries often assume it’s their right not only to have a wonderful free school nearby, but also to get educated by osmosis and without the least bit of effort on their part. If they fail, it’s the teachers’ fault for not teaching well, or the parents’ fault for not choosing the right school, or the school’s fault for... the excuses just get more creative. The result is lack of academic progress and slack discipline at school (see the news box about new measures schools are forced to adopt).
It's time we stopped passing the blame. We are blessed and privileged to have brilliant education assets at our disposal, and all we need to do is change our attitude to learning.
Learning should not be a chore.
Learning should be fun!
The human brain wants to learn: it evolved (or was designed, whichever theory you wish to follow) that way. All you need to do, is get the children’s attitude right, their learning environment optimal to their unique learning style needs and learning tools suitable to multi-sensory stimulation. If you look at the elements in the Learning Style Pyramid, you will see that Motivation, Responsibility, Conformity and Persistence are some of the Attitudes that determine a child’s success at school and their individual learning style.
Your child’s learning style is the way
in which they understand
and remember new concepts.
To analyse your child’s learning style, have a look at this free online demo.
Why?
According to teachers who worked both in developing and in developed countries, it’s all a matter of the environment’s attitude to education. People in Korea or Thailand, just to name a few, have a lot of respect for the school system, and teachers are respected as “the other set of parents away from home”. Education is expensive there, with at least a third of the family’s income being swallowed by schooling costs, and children are appropriately mindful not to waste the hard-earned opportunity they are given.
In contrast, children in developed countries often assume it’s their right not only to have a wonderful free school nearby, but also to get educated by osmosis and without the least bit of effort on their part. If they fail, it’s the teachers’ fault for not teaching well, or the parents’ fault for not choosing the right school, or the school’s fault for... the excuses just get more creative. The result is lack of academic progress and slack discipline at school (see the news box about new measures schools are forced to adopt).
It's time we stopped passing the blame. We are blessed and privileged to have brilliant education assets at our disposal, and all we need to do is change our attitude to learning.
Learning should not be a chore.
Learning should be fun!
The human brain wants to learn: it evolved (or was designed, whichever theory you wish to follow) that way. All you need to do, is get the children’s attitude right, their learning environment optimal to their unique learning style needs and learning tools suitable to multi-sensory stimulation. If you look at the elements in the Learning Style Pyramid, you will see that Motivation, Responsibility, Conformity and Persistence are some of the Attitudes that determine a child’s success at school and their individual learning style.
Your child’s learning style is the way
in which they understand
and remember new concepts.
To analyse your child’s learning style, have a look at this free online demo.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Learning Styles and Raising Smart Children
Your child’s learning style is the way in which they understand and remember new concepts.
In November 2007, an article in the Scientific American claimed they’d cracked the secret of raising smart children (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids&print=true).
All you need, it seems, is to NOT praise your children’s intelligence.
Praise their diligence and hard work instead.
The reasoning is simple: there is very little a child can do to improve their inborn intelligence, however, there is something they can do about the amount of effort and enthusiasm they put into their learning.
Furthermore, if a child believes their lack of success at school is due to their lack of brainpower, they will get de-motivated. On the other hand, if a child believes their lack of success at school is due to their lack of conscientiousness, they will probably try harder next time.
So how does that tie in with Learning Styles?
If you look at the various elements in the Learning Style Pyramid, you will see that Motivation and Persistence are two of the Attitudes that determine a child’s individual learning style.
If you child has a need for being externally motivated, they will thrive on praise and external rewards.
If your child’s persistence is fluctuating or low, you will need to address the reasons: do they believe schoolwork is too hard, do they think they are not intelligent enough, or is it that they don’t see the point of seeing a task through?
To analyse your child’s learning style, have a look at this free online demo.
In November 2007, an article in the Scientific American claimed they’d cracked the secret of raising smart children (http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=the-secret-to-raising-smart-kids&print=true).
All you need, it seems, is to NOT praise your children’s intelligence.
Praise their diligence and hard work instead.
The reasoning is simple: there is very little a child can do to improve their inborn intelligence, however, there is something they can do about the amount of effort and enthusiasm they put into their learning.
Furthermore, if a child believes their lack of success at school is due to their lack of brainpower, they will get de-motivated. On the other hand, if a child believes their lack of success at school is due to their lack of conscientiousness, they will probably try harder next time.
So how does that tie in with Learning Styles?
If you look at the various elements in the Learning Style Pyramid, you will see that Motivation and Persistence are two of the Attitudes that determine a child’s individual learning style.
If you child has a need for being externally motivated, they will thrive on praise and external rewards.
If your child’s persistence is fluctuating or low, you will need to address the reasons: do they believe schoolwork is too hard, do they think they are not intelligent enough, or is it that they don’t see the point of seeing a task through?
To analyse your child’s learning style, have a look at this free online demo.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
WHAT TEACHERS MAKE - A learning story
The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher? Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."
To stress his point, he said to another guest: "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"
Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied,
"You want to know what I make?
· Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
· I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honour.
· I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.
You want to know what I make?
· I make kids wonder.
· I make them question.
· I make them apologize and mean it.
· I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
· I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.
· I make them read, read, read.
· I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
· I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
· I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
· I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.
· Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant...
You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?"
Here, at Prashnig Style Solutions, we believe we also make a difference with our learning style analysis. We make a difference:
· to teachers
· to parents
· to the students of today
· who will become the world tomorrow.
To stress his point, he said to another guest: "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"
Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied,
"You want to know what I make?
· Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
· I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honour.
· I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.
You want to know what I make?
· I make kids wonder.
· I make them question.
· I make them apologize and mean it.
· I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.
· I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.
· I make them read, read, read.
· I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
· I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity.
· I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
· I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.
· Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant...
You want to know what I make? I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make Mr. CEO?"
Here, at Prashnig Style Solutions, we believe we also make a difference with our learning style analysis. We make a difference:
· to teachers
· to parents
· to the students of today
· who will become the world tomorrow.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Learning Style Analysis - Spotlight on the MINI
Learning Style Analysis Junior MINI (or LSA MINI) is one of our products designed to assess the learning styles of children as young as 5 years of age.
Of course, in many countries children don’t learn to read until they are 6 or 7 (even later if they follow the Rudolf Steiner schooling system). So how can they do the LSA MINI questionnaire?
· The most obvious solution is for the parent to read it out to their child, or for the teacher to read it out to the class one question at a time, and taking a break after every three to five questions.
· An idea that might appeal to a child’s sense of wonder is for the computer to read the questionnaire out loud (using the free speech functionality of Windows XP or Vista).
· The parent may elect to answer the questionnaire themselves, putting themselves in their child’s shoes and using the knowledge they have of their child’s behaviour patters and interests.
The LSA MINI is also a great tool for older children whose concentration span is short, children who are learning-different, and people of all ages whose command of English is more suitable to shorter, simpler phrases (please check our website to find out whether we’ve already translated our products into your home language).
What happens once all the questions have been answered? The results of the questionnaire are processed algorithmically into three comprehensive reports (one for the student, one for the parent, one for the teacher), with summaries, graphs, pictures and detailed text, including information about the child’s predisposition towards computer technology, Internet safety, giftedness and underachieving. Take a look at this free online demo of LSA MINI.
What’s to come in 2008: all our LSA Parent reports will include important facts about learning styles and ADHD, learning styles and obesity, learning styles and smoking, learning styles and computer misdemeanours, learning styles and bullying. We are committed to a better learning future for all and we believe that early knowledge equals prevention.
Happy New Year, everybody!
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