Friday, October 28, 2016
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Most of My Students Did More Homework than Assigned
I know this seems unlikely, but it was true for my
entire teaching career. I can’t take credit, however. My master teacher
taught me this simple, genius plan. I taught a few years in middle school, but
most of the time, I taught in a public high school. I used this plan when teaching
French, German or English.
I assigned homework Mondays through Thursdays. I never
gave students homework on Fridays, weekends or over holidays. They had a
semester project to complete. They completed them during these non-homework
days.
Homework for the week was posted on my website each
Thursday. I uploaded the assignments during my conference period, after
designing the lesson plans for the next week (which I also did during my
conference period each Thursday). The assignments for each day were also posted
on the whiteboard in front of the room. Students were used to seeing their assignments in this location.
Students could complete as much or as little of an
assignment as they wished. They were rewarded for doing more than assigned. The
grading went this way: Zero=Did not attempt the assignment, Check
Minus=Completed part of the assignment, or it was late, Check=Completed the
assignment as assigned, Check Plus=Completed extra work, in addition to what was
assigned, Plus=Completed double what was assigned.
Homework recorded this way was not graded for quality
or accuracy. It was practice on vocabulary or grammar. The work was checked to
see how much was completed, this was recorded, and the work remained in the
students' notebooks. There, it was often used as a resource. We went
over it while students still had their notebooks open to their completed homework. Then they put their notebooks away. We often had quizzes on these
assignments. It was pointed out to students that those who did extra always did
well on quizzes.
This was part of the incentive to do more than
assigned, but there was more motivation. At the end of each grading period, I
balanced the check marks, pluses and zeroes. If the student balanced into the
positive, I raised his grade to the next level (usually just a plus mark). If,
however, the student’s work ended up a minus, then I lowered the letter grade
one notch (usually a minus sign).
Keeping track was easy. I used graph paper, one for
each row. I put the students’ names on the left, and an abbreviation of the
assignment at the top of each vertical column. Where they intersected, I placed
the symbol earned. It was very visual. Students and I could see clearly when
someone had a positive or negative pattern going.
At times, when going through the papers, I showed a
student his pattern. It was hard to deny when zeroes or minus signs appeared.
At other times, students encouraged each other. This was especially true of other students seated in the same row. They acted as a team and cheered each
other on to improve. Competition can sometimes be a good thing.
Once students are used to this routine, they catch on
to the “tricks”. Since they know their homework in advance, busy and clever
students work ahead. They’re prepared with their completed work on the day it’s
due. Often they do so with double the assignment finished. This makes up for a
day when they’re swamped in another class and perhaps can’t finish everything
in my class.
I can truthfully say most of my students did more
homework than I assigned most of the time. It made all the difference in the
scores on their routine quizzes, their chapter tests and their final grades. I’m
sure those grades made a significant difference when they applied to college
and for scholarships. All this from doing as much or as little homework as they liked.
You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
Photo Credit: Google Images
Monday, October 24, 2016
Friday, October 21, 2016
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Another Tip to Make Learning Easier
Although eating breakfast daily is important for health
reasons, it’s also going to help you learn more, get better grades and even
have a better shot at winning more free cash for college. What you eat at
breakfast matters. A sugary cereal, breakfast bar or blender smoothie masquerading
as healthy food just won’t work.
Each meal should contain different types of nutrients.
Protein is an important one as it enhances concentration, learning and memory.
In other words, eating protein makes it easier to understand what you’re
learning in class and to remember it. How much protein you need varies by your
age, body weight, gender and amount of exercise you get in a day.
One simple to prepare and easy to eat food is eggs. One egg
will give you about 14% of your daily recommended amount of protein. They’re easiest
to add to breakfast of all the different kinds of foods that contain protein
(fish, lentils, chicken, black beans and others). You can even make them in
advance.
Here’s how:
1.
Decide how many days each week you want to
add an egg to your breakfast and multiply that number by how many people will
be eating them. The more eggs, the bigger the saucepan you need.
2.
Place them in a single layer in the pan.
Put enough cold water into the pan to cover the eggs with one inch of water above them. (The
greater the number of eggs, the more water needed.)
3.
Turn the heat up to high, and let the water
come to a boil.
4.
Turn the heat off, and let the pan sit on the
hot burner for ten to twelve minutes. (It’s okay to cook them longer. It just
makes the yolk harder.)
5.
Use the lid to hold the eggs in the pan,
and pour out the hot water (carefully) into the sink. Run cold water over the eggs to stop them
from cooking.
6.
After they’ve cooled off, you can put them
in a bowl and keep them in the refrigerator. (Eat them within five days.)
7.
Peel and eat one each morning along with
your cereal or other breakfast foods.
This isn’t the only way to add protein to your
breakfast, but it’s the easiest way and very low cost. Don’t forget to add a
wholesome (low sugar) cereal or oatmeal, a piece of fresh fruit and a glass of
milk (if you're not lactose intolerant), and you have a complete breakfast. It may seem like a waste of time to eat breakfast each
morning, but the brain needs food to function properly. So do you.
You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Monday, October 17, 2016
If You Want to Feel Good about Teaching
Give students an assessment test the first week of the
school year. Grade it and file it away, don’t record the score. At the end of
the school year, give them the same exam and grade it. Then hand them the copy
of the exam they took the first week of school. Let them see how much they
learned.
Then stand back and prepare for tears. Some of them
will gush and look you straight in the face and choke out the words, “Thank
you.” It’s hard to know the impact teaching makes. It’s hard when teaching
English or math. You never really see how much they have learned and improved
in one year.
It’s easier in a foreign language class. I have taught
both English and foreign languages, German and French. But the best feeling I
ever had teaching is when a student in an eighth grade English class looked at
her two exams and realized how much she had learned. She became emotional and
showed her gratitude on her face. She knew we had done that together. I helped her on her path to college and she was grateful.
You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
Photo Credit: Google Images
Saturday, October 15, 2016
Friday, October 14, 2016
Full Ride Colleges and Universities Still Exist – Yale
The cost of completing a college degree in the U.S. has continued
to increase. Some colleges and universities offer enough financial support to
make them practically free to attend. Most of these universities are private,
and about two-thirds are liberal arts, according to a recent U.S. News and
World Report survey. Half decide how much they provide a student by the
financial need of the family (after looking at the FAFSA form). Others base
their contribution on merit alone.
One place where a Full Ride is possible is Yale University, ranked
number 3 (tied) in the nation by U.S. News. Yale is located in the city of New
Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1701, making it one of the oldest universities
in the country. The campus covers 343 acres. The current undergraduate
population is 5,532 students. It’s a world renown university which provides a
world class education.
The application deadline at Yale is January First. The
early action deadline is November First. There’s an $80 fee to apply to the
university. ACT or SAT test scores are due on March First. The acceptance rate
is only 7%.
The cost of tuition and fees for a year at Yale is $47,960, (2016-2017). But with a Full Ride, this doesn’t matter. Most
colleges that provide a Full Ride do so by combining student loans,
scholarships, grants and a work-study program. The most important aspect of
planning to go to any such university is to make sure that the amount of
student loan required is zero, or close to it. The rest of the aid is free
money. It never has to be paid back. It’s prudent to attend college somewhere
that provides a suitable education without leaving the graduate with a mountain
of student loan debt.
You are reading from the blog:
http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Do This for Better Grades and More Scholarship Money
One way for students to improve their chances of
winning a Full Ride Scholarship to college is to do everything possible to
remain alert in class. A simple way to do this is to eat breakfast every day. I
found it easiest to prepare almost everything in advance. It begins with making
a shopping list. Once the decision is made to eat breakfast daily, deciding on
what to eat comes next.
Steel cut oatmeal provides many of the recommended
nutrients for optimal brain function. Making it from scratch each day really
isn’t practical. It takes too long to cook. There are two possible solutions.
One saves time and money, the other saves much more time than money. Both are
equally delicious and nutritious. Students and their parents just need to take
an honest look at which works best for them.
To save the most time, go to the frozen section in your
market, and find pre-cooked, frozen steel cut oatmeal. Be sure to read the
label, you don’t want to see sugar there unless it’s a very small amount. Sugar
short-circuits thinking, not a great idea for breakfast on a school day. Buy
enough to cover all the people who will be eating breakfast for as many days as
you wish to serve oatmeal in the week. Buy some berries, other fruit or chopped
nuts to top the oatmeal each day. These can be fresh, canned or frozen. Just
buy what you enjoy making sure they don’t contain added sugar.
The night before, lay out all the bowls and cutlery you’ll
need in the morning. Prep berries or other fruit you wish to use to top your
cooked oatmeal. Leave these in a container in the refrigerator. Put everything
else in the place it will be needed for breakfast. This saves time and lets you
enjoy your meal without rushing.
In the morning, follow the instructions on the box. For
the brand I buy, the instructions are simple. I peel off the plastic
surrounding the frozen oatmeal, place the oatmeal in the microwave safe bowl I
want to use, cover it with a piece of waxed paper (or a microwave cover), and
cook it on high for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Then I stir and finish cooking on
high for another 1 minute 30 seconds.
While I’m pouring my orange juice and getting out the
toppings I want to use, the oatmeal rests for one minute. I sit down and drop
berries, cut up peaches or apple slices and a few chopped nuts on top and
enjoy. Notice, I did not sprinkle sugar on top. The fruit contains enough
sweetness and added sugar is counterproductive to learning. Prep time is 5
minutes. Clean up after I eat is also 5 minutes.
To save both time and money, steel cut oatmeal can be
bought in bulk at the market and prepared in advance. Look at the instructions
on the package. Decide how many servings are needed for as many people and days
as the oatmeal will be eaten in a week. Then prepare this number of servings in
a very large pan, following the directions. After the oatmeal is cooked, let it
cool. Then divide it into individual servings scooping it into plastic containers,
or zip type bags. It’s also possible to wrap a big scoop of cooked and cooled
oatmeal with waxed paper, and then place the wrapped oatmeal in a large freezer
safe container or bag.
For serving homemade frozen oatmeal, place an unwrapped
frozen serving in a microwave safe glass container or bowl and microwave. You’ll
have to experiment to see how many minutes/seconds are necessary. Microwave
power varies, and the size of the portion matters too. Experiment
by following the instructions for the store bought frozen oatmeal, increase or
decrease the time until you see what works for your situation.
If you want to get good grades so you have a better
chance of winning a Full Ride Scholarship or grant to college, you have to do
all the right things. Eating breakfast is one of those things. Steel cut
oatmeal is one example of what you might select. It isn’t the only wholesome or
nutritious meal you can have. There are many others. Find something you like,
that’s easy to prepare and eat breakfast every day. You’ll feel better and your grades
will improve.
You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
Photo Credit: Google Images
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
Monday, October 10, 2016
Simple Way to Destress a Teacher’s Day
Teaching is like juggling while standing on a tightrope. Of
course, some days it also feels like someone is throwing rocks at you while you're up there. You can't expect to help students earn good grades so they can win scholarships to college if you're frazzled. I found a simple way to destress my work day. It doesn’t cost
money. It does, however, take stubborn will power to peel off a few minutes to do
what works.
I decided to arrive at school one hour before the beginning
of my first class. I brought my breakfast with me, so I could make this happen.
The hardest parts were setting the alarm back and going to bed earlier. But, I’m
glad I did. Upon arrival at school, I picked up my mail and unlocked my classroom door. I
put everything away, locked up my purse and went back outside. I walked the
campus for fifteen minutes. I planned a route away from where students and
parents arrive each morning. After my walk, I had breakfast, went through my
email and did anything else that needed to be done.
I always set up my classroom for the start of class the afternoon
before. By doing so I missed the crowd in the parking lot. It also gave me enough
time to do my walking the next morning. When students started to arrive, I was ready for
them.
During the six minutes of passing period just before my conference period
each day, I chatted with students and filed anything that needed filing. Once
the campus was clear, I walked for another fifteen minutes. I used the same
route as in the morning. It became a ritual and felt like meditation.
At times a clerk from the office or another teacher joined me in my walk. This
added a little social time to my otherwise jam packed work day. After my walk,
I did all the things you do during your conference period. I was just in a
better mood when I did them. I had more energy too.
I repeated the same procedure during my lunch break. After my walk instead of
returning to my room to do paperwork or work on my computer, I went to the
lunch room and joined my fellow teachers. I brought my own food, so I didn’t
waste time standing in line. If I ever skipped one of these walks, my students
noticed. I remember one of them saying, “You didn’t walk today, did you? You’re
in a better mood when you do.” Exactly.
Walking is good for our health, of course, but it also
reduces stress and adjusts our mood in a positive way. It may seem like a waste
of time, but I found it helped me use time more effectively. My students
appreciated my dedication to walking. It was a great example to them of putting first things first (Covey). Remember what you hear in the plane just before take-off, “When the oxygen mask drops, please put
on your own before helping others.” Walking is a teacher’s oxygen mask.
You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
Photo Credit: Google Images
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Saturday, October 8, 2016
Relieving Student Stress
Life can be pretty stressful at times. Assignments,
deadlines, tests, siblings and even parents can cause students anxiety, stress
and depression. None of this is intentional, but it happens anyway. Three
simple activities can prevent or relieve these conditions.
First is exercise. Don’t roll your eyes. All experts
agree, adding more movement to your day can help you relax, feel better and
improve your grades. Stressed out students make lousy learners. Do the
following and watch your stress level go down and your grades go up.
1.
You already walk between classes. This adds
up to 25 minutes each day. If you don’t walk to school, have your parents drop
you off a ten minute walk from school. Now you’re up to 35 minutes of walking
five days each week. If you ride the bus, start walking to the bus stop ten minutes
earlier than normal. Walk back and forth between there and home until you’re at
the stop at your regular time.
2.
Sign up for a sport. This can be at school
or with the parks program where you live. It doesn’t matter. Find something you
enjoy, which will not take hours of practice each day. If you aren’t into
sports, your school or parks program may offer dance. Either will relieve
stress and look good on college applications.
3.
Remember Jumping Jacks and Jump Rope? They’re
easy, simple and you don’t have to go to a gym to do them. They increase your
heart rate, build stamina and bone density (you’ll be grateful later in life)
and relieve stress. Start small, do five daily. After a week, make it ten. The
third week, up the number of Jumping Jacks to twenty. That’s enough. For Jump
Rope, also start small. Just jump for three minutes daily the first week, five
the next, then ten. You don’t need to do more than ten minutes daily. If you
have a medical condition, please check with your doctor before doing this or
any new exercise.
Second is Meditation. Lots of experts and organizations
preach meditating. They explain the health benefits, which are real, but the
best thing about meditation is it teaches you how to relax. You don’t have to
sit cross legged and chant. Just find a comfortable sitting position somewhere
quiet. Sit relaxed and quiet and concentrate on your breathing. If you find
that hard to do, repeat something simple either out loud or silently. Try “I am”.
It’s easy. Do this each morning and each afternoon or evening for about five
minutes. Once you get the hang of it, increase the time to ten minutes each
session. You’ll find it pretty simple to slip into this relaxed state when you’re
in a stressful situation, like just before a big test.
The third activity that will help you relax, decompress
and avoid or relieve stress is the hardest one. It isn’t tough or complicated,
but it sure is hard to convince students to do it. You probably need to get
more sleep. Unless you’re getting about 9 ½ to 10 hours of sleep each night,
you’re making life difficult for yourself. You’ll feel better. Your stress
level will drop and your grades will increase. Figure out what time you need to
get up to get ready for school and eat breakfast, then count backwards nine
hours. If you’re already going to sleep then, move it back one more hour.
If
you don’t believe me and the thousands of doctors who say these activities will reduce or eliminate stress, try them for a month and prove us wrong.
You are reading from the blog: http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
Photo Credit: Google Images
Friday, October 7, 2016
Thursday, October 6, 2016
Stress Free Testing
A professor in one of my college French classes was on
loan from the Sorbonne. He was great, but caused so much fear during testing, I
didn’t do as well as I could. I remembered him when I began teaching. I knew I
didn’t want to recreate the testing experience I had endured. There’s a
mountain of vocabulary words and grammar to learn and test in a foreign
language class. But nowhere is it written it has to be done in one sitting.
Several times each week, I gave my students a little
quiz. They were little physically, (we used old printer paper ripped into four
pieces) and short (only five questions, with a bonus at times). Since they were
small, frequent and only worth five points (a chapter test was 100 points),
they were low stress. Students prepared for them daily because they knew they
were coming.
If they blew a quiz, it wasn’t devastating to their grade
because it wasn’t weighted heavily. Again, this lowered stress. If a student
was absent the day before, I required him to take the quiz anyway. This way, when
someone was out, he looked online or called a classmate and found out the
homework. Students were usually prepared for the quiz despite being absent.
By giving these vocabulary and grammar quizzes
frequently, students studied throughout the chapter, instead of waiting until
the day before a test. This meant they were better prepared and only needed to
review the night before in order to do well. Stress was reduced, and they were better
able to perform during a test.
It’s easier for a teacher to record lots of little
quizzes than it is to remediate when students do poorly on big tests.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Tuesday, October 4, 2016
Pre-Holiday Classroom Management Activity
The day before a holiday, Thanksgiving, Christmas
Break, Easter Break, even a pseudo-holiday like Halloween, is usually just this
side of insane. Students don’t want to work. There’s candy everywhere. Gifts
are being given. Focus is lost. Just keeping the lid on seems overwhelming; unless you have an educationally sound, kid-approved lesson that keeps them
interested, occupied and engaged. Decades ago I created such a lesson. Kids
loved it. I loved it. It‘s easy, academic and fun! The bonus of this lesson, it
helped with student retention in foreign language classes.
The steps to follow:
1. Completely erase the entire white board. You'll
want the space.
2. Number the entire board from 1 to 35. Place holiday
appropriate symbols, like pumpkins, around each number.
3. Put a large assortment of dry erase pens at the
front of the room. The more color variety the better.
4. After school, the day before a holiday, have each
student in your most advanced class go to the board and draw a culturally
appropriate picture next to a number. If your class is smaller than 35, they'll need to draw more than one. Be sure to explain to the class the night
before they need to come up with three or four ideas for their drawings. Most
students are eager, although the shy need some encouragement. After this has
become a tradition in your classes, you'll overhear students commenting they
look forward to being in the class that gets to draw the pictures. Never let an
underclassman participate in putting the pictures on the board.
5. Check each picture as they finish drawing. A few may
need a little help so their drawings are clear, and some can be too obscure.
You may need to edit, as students can be a bit gross at time. One Thanksgiving
students drew a very vivid picture of a turkey being beheaded. I erased that
one. Remember, all day students are going to see these pictures. You want to
understand them, so you can give hints if necessary. My favorite was The
Twilight Zone Marathon. It became a tradition in my program which was passed
down each year from class to class.
6. Before the first class arrives the next morning,
place a stack of German (French, Spanish, Chinese)/English dictionaries on the
first desk of each row. I always had enough dictionaries so students could
work in groups of two. Three doesn't work. Working alone is tough.
7. Students should look up what they see on the board,
and write the German (French, etc.) on their own papers. Don’t let them put two
student names on one paper. This never works. Trust me on this.
8. They must write the definite article and the noun.
If there's an adjective, like in a drawing of black cat, they must include the
adjective with the correct ending. This allows you to preview grammar not yet
taught. Students are very receptive to this, and ask for help. It’s a contest.
They want to win.
9. Buy a small
bag of individually wrapped candy and give a piece to each member of the first
team finished. Be sure to check the work. Sometimes they make errors, of
course. Don’t be too picky. Perfection is't the goal.
10. After the
first group finishes, and as each group finishes, they'll help their
classmates. You’ll find they don’t give them the answers, but give them hints
instead, especially in grammar.
11. Collect work as it’s finished and the rest at the
end of the period. Grading is subjective. First year classes typically have a
few students who finish by the end of the class period. Most, however, finish
about half of the pictures. Second year will complete more. The majority
complete about two-thirds of the pictures. Most third year students finish them
all, as do AP/IB/fourth year students.
12. There are several goals in this lesson. Students
learn the correct way to use the dictionary. They learn the symbols and
abbreviations. It removes the mind-numbing boredom of a typical dictionary lesson, and replaces it with fun. Students learn vocabulary that’s both meaningful,
and is usually more advanced than where they are in the curriculum. This they
do without complaint. You're able to foreshadow grammar, so when it arrives
later in the school year, you’re able to point back to what they discovered at
Halloween or Thanksgiving. Finally, it keeps students focused, doing an
academic lesson without arguing at a time where students are going nuts in
other classes. I had four decades of happy “day before’s” while colleagues were
losing their minds.
If you don't teach a foreign language class, adapt this lesson to your subject matter. Remember to keep it relaxed and fun, but academic.
Monday, October 3, 2016
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Full Ride Colleges and Universities Still Exist – Harvard
While the cost of obtaining a college degree in the U.S. has
continued to climb, some colleges and universities offer enough financial
support to make them virtually free to attend. Most of these institutions are
private, and about two-thirds are liberal arts, according to a recent U.S. News
and World Report survey. Half base how much they provide a student by the
financial need of the family (as determined by the FAFSA form). The others base
their contribution on merit alone.
One university where a Full Ride is possible is Harvard
University, ranked number 2 in the nation by U.S. News. Harvard is located in an
urban setting in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1636, making it
the oldest university in the country. The campus covers 5076 acres. The current
undergraduate student population is 6,699. It’s a world renown university which
provides a world class education.
The application deadline at Harvard is January
first. The deadline for early action is November first. ACT or SAT scores are
due on the sixth of March. The fee to apply is $75. The acceptance rate is only 6%, but no
worthy applicant should be scared away. The average freshman retention rate is
a whopping 97%.
The cost of tuition and fees for a year at Harvard is $47,074, (2016-2017). But with a Full Ride, this doesn’t matter. Most
colleges that provide a Full Ride do so by combining student loans,
scholarships, grants and a work-study program. The most important aspect of
planning to go to any such university is to make sure that the amount of
student loan required is zero, or close to it. The rest of the aid is free
money. It never has to be paid back. It’s prudent to attend college somewhere
that provides a suitable education without leaving the graduate with a mountain
of student loan debt.
You are reading from the blog:
http://www.roadtofreecollege.com
Photo Credit: Pixabay
Saturday, October 1, 2016
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