Benefits of Virtual Schooling

Many people are aware of virtual schooling as an educational alternative. However, they might wonder just what makes it worthy of consideration. As with other forms of education, cyber schooling offers unique benefits. Here are just a few of them to consider:

Individualized Education

Having educational options means families can make the best choices for their children. Each child has unique educational strengths, weakness, needs and preferences, and virtual schooling allows families and educators to address these differences. In many cases, virtual schools allow families and educators to evaluate a student and provide a customized education geared towards helping the student learn and develop. With education individualized to meet his or her needs, a student may be more willing to learn and more likely to excel.

Learning Pace

A student's learning pace can prove a concern in any type of learning environment. In traditional classrooms, it is often important for students to adopt a pace that suits the classroom, so that no one lags behind others and no one gets too far ahead. Adopting an average pace is often important, in such cases, to keeping the flow of learning consistent and preventing students from becoming bored and frustrated. In a cyber school, however, this is typically less of a concern or a non-issue altogether. Because virtual education programs can be adapted to meet student needs, they often allow students to work towards mastery at the pace that is comfortable for them.

Eight Tips On How To Do Good In School

Below the average, average people and super genius mega minds...nah, it's not about that, well yeah, a part of success is about that but, one still has a long way to go before having the time of his life. And everything starts at home...after that it's school so let's get down to business. Here are eight tips on how to do good in school.

1. Jot 'Em Down

This step is somewhat a must. However, if you consider yourself a super computer robot, you can skip number one and get down to number two...you're still reading so you don't think that you're a mega mind. That's good because it's never great to be too confident with yourself.

Number one is writing them all down. It never hurts to write all of the things you need to do. Write them in a small notebook, a tickler or something, or jot them down in a piece of paper and post it on your refrigerator door or on your own bulletin if you have one. And don't forget to write when you need to do or accomplish these things or in other words, your deadlines.

The Classroom and How to Use NLP

In a majority of classrooms in educational institutions, it is quite rare to find a teacher or professor who employs NLP training methods and principles. But if used inside the classroom, NLP will doubtless improve many aspects of the learning environment and will lead to better teacher-student interactions. For this reason, more teachers need to be aware of NLP techniques and integrate them into their own teaching style.

The question is, how can neuro-linguistic programming be used in the classroom? There are myriad ways by which an educator can apply its principles. NLP is all about improving the way people perceive themselves, the world, and other people. Thus, by learning how to perceive things better and understand people deeper, an educator can improve in facilitating a more conducive atmosphere suitable for learning.

One of the core NLP concepts that an educator should be aware of is the principle of "mind mapping". A mind "map" in NLP is the way an individual perceives the world in general. Each person has a unique map, and it is influenced heavily by one's own beliefs, values and attitudes. To successfully lead an entire classroom to a positive learning experience, the educator should first influence the beliefs, values and attitudes of students towards learning. For example, a student in a math class may be getting low grades as a result of negative attitudes towards the subject. These negative attitudes are originating from his limiting beliefs. Perhaps he is constantly saying to himself that he is not smart enough to grasp mathematical concepts. The solution to this problem is not to give him more math lessons immediately. Rather, the teacher should first identify limiting beliefs and help transform them into empowering beliefs (the "I can" attitude). Once the beliefs are influenced in a positive way, the student's "map" changes for the better and he is able to perceive the world in a different light. Understanding internal states and knowing how to elicit them is a surefire way for a teacher to have high-impact classroom discussions.

Studying Poetry in the Classroom

More often than not, if you ask literature teachers how they feel about poetry, they will tell you that they don’t like teaching it because the students don’t like learning about it. While it is true that many students balk at the mention of poetry, this is usually because the teachers try to teach it just like a book, without explaining things like word choice, form, or even what is going on in the poem. Adding some fun activities to a unit on poetry can really help students come up with their own understanding of poetry, and then they can bring that personal connection to the poems you read in class.

Teaching the Form

One of the most important things to teach when you are teaching poetry is about the form of the poem you are reading. Even free verse poems that seemingly lack a form have an art to them. Poetry is different from prose in that there are lines, and when the poet writes a poem, he or she pays careful attention to those lines. Very often, important phrases end at the line, or poets include important words at the end of the line. This can help draw attention to the words and phrases that are used in the poem, and can help illuminate the meaning of the poem.

Most Important Word

By asking students what they think the most important word in the poem is, you are asking them to think about the poet’s word choice. This is actually a very difficult question for students to answer because usually they want to choose a whole phrase. By asking them to pick one word, you are forcing them to look at the whole poem through a critical eye. If they are stuck and need help, you can always give them hints. Important words can be repeated over and over within the poem. Repetition is always a signal of an important word. Other important words can embody the entire theme or message of the poem, or can be a word that the students like the sound or meaning of. Most importantly, remind the students that, as long as they can explain their choice, there are no wrong answers.

Classroom Under Construction

Classroom Under Construction Building the Foundation for Creative Classroom Instruction is a 107 page, 12 chapter hand book for the new teacher, the tired teacher and all those in between. Practical ideas to pep up and boost instruction as well as celebrations for all the good things teachers do are offered on the pages of this work designed to help teachers improve their classroom effectiveness.

Writer Grimes presents his 'workshop in a book' with chapter 1 Beliefs and Decision-Making. A teaching philosophy is essential to support and frame underlying teacher practices. Grimes says a teaching philosophy is a personal vision and sense of purpose for teaching.

Chapter 2 What's in a Name? Names and what teachers do with them is important. Asking a child what name he prefers is a good way to attack the name issue.

Chapter 3 Pouring the Foundation Grimes tells us that the classroom is a happening place, it is busy, bustling and noisy. It is characterized by joy or anxiety, boredom or stimulation, uproar or silence.

Chapter 4 Time Is Your Friend - And Your Foe Grimes discusses a well known truth to all teachers TIME RULES THE SCHOOL, the day, the week and the year.

Chapter 5 The Doctor Is In Grimes points out that never before in our history has so much been expected of teachers, and it is expected that teachers will willingly educated themselves and be under compensated even as they may be berated by non teachers. 1903 George Bernard Shaw set the tone: He who can does, and He who cannot teaches has been quoted often and loudly by many. Grimes also points out Shaw was not a teacher and did not know what a teacher is about.

Chapter 6 Making the Grade Grimes states that grading mechanisms, including rubrics are needed, however they are mechanical tools. Grimes points out that while student attendance may be a requirement of law, his attention is not and that teachers must be able to create meaningful compelling work for students. Grimes suggests that D and F grades be done away with and material re-taught until students achieve A B or C grades.

Chapter 7 This Class Sucks Grimes affirms that when students act out the reason for their behavior may have nothing at all to do with either the class or the teacher. Teacher's must be perceptive to what is happening with their students, not jump to conclusions, and address problems in a win-win mode rather than blaming and creating problems where had existed before.

Chapter 8 The Dog Won't Eat My Homework the issue of homework is often fraught with emotion and irritation. Grimes provides a peek into how homework may be incorporated successfully into the learning process and offers a description of how homework impacts students, teachers, and parents.

Chapter 9 Cooperation In Learning And Living Grimes discusses the importance of cooperative learning as a time when children are working in concert with their teachers and one another while providing a degree of civility to the competitive forces that are inherently present in schools.

Chapter 10 You Make The Call Grimes addresses those grey areas when good decisions must be made based on judgment, understanding of school law, and common sense.

Chapter 11 Lest We Forget Grimes offers teaching strategies and activities that will facilitate perpetuating the memories of people and events important to our national history. We stay connected as a culture when we know, share and remember our shared heritage.

Chapter 12 Get A Life Grimes discusses the need for balancing professional and personal aspects of life. He points out that teachers who work in a year round setting tend to have a more positive outlook about themselves, their homes and social lives and their teaching than do teachers who teach in a traditional setting.

Rich Grimes' Classroom Under Construction speaks to the core of successful teaching practices. Grimes discusses procedures meant to aid teachers as they bond with each student with the understanding that teacher-student bond is predictable as a requirement for student's academic success. He explains how the teacher's personal belief system will dictate the teacher's attitude toward students, toward assigning of homework and toward presenting grades. Grimes presents suggests teachers are like to attain more success with their students by learning the correct pronunciation of the student's name and using it often when speaking with the student.

I like his idea of homework that goes beyond the student and includes getting parents and other family members involved, energized and motivated because family interest in school and child is a definite contributor to student incentive for learning and doing well. Grimes offers a number of activities that promote student participation.

As a teacher I found Classroom Under Construction to be a valuable tool for beginning or not so beginning teachers. I do have 3 suggestions to make the book more useable: spiral binding will aid in keeping the book open to a particular page, larger print and darker print will be useful for those who may have older eyes. Many new teachers are not 20 somethings, they are part of the over the hill bunch who are looking into a second career. The book has so many valuable suggestions it is a pity it may be cast aside simply because print size and boldness of letters make it more difficult to read.

A must have for every beginning teacher of any age Classroom Under Construction has much to offer those of us old war horses who have been at it for a while. I was sent a trade paperback for review. And will be keeping this edition for my own library, if a spiral bound comes along that will be even better. I will suggest this book for my student teachers as they come to my classroom.