Setting Standards for your Students ..

We all face the never ending problem of trying to motivate our students to excel and do their best so what is the secret ingredient for achieving that goal? I personally believe that in order for our students to attain the best possible results , we as mentors and teachers, should set high standard for ourselves . When we achieve the " impossible" , as some call it, we can help our students to follow in the footsteps of their role models. We constantly complain about how students have become lazy and uninterested in learning, yet we fail to look for the reasons behind that. What I hate most is the old cliche' we all heard when we were growing up " we were better students than you were .." or " You have no goal in life ...whereas we knew where we were heading " and the list goes on. The sad part about those cliche's is that we ourselves use them with our youth. Why does the older generation believe that they were better than the new generation. Its a never ending cycle that needs to stop!!. We should start by:

* Building up our student's self esteem.

* Give credit where credit is due . Over praising is a big no no. Ignoring a student's efforts is also a big no no.

* Find our youth's hidden talents. After all, text books and tests aren't what measure a person's ability to succeed later in life. Some people are book smart others are life smart.

* Have faith in each and every student...never undermine any one student's intelligence and ability to become someone special.

Lastly , believe that you as a teacher are there to make a difference in these kids lives and not just fill their heads with knowledge....its all about believing in what they can achieve.

Testing ...

I am a firm believer of testing ...however...testing should NOT be a way of punishing or intimidating the learners...Testing is part of our everyday lives if we look at the minute details...we test water before we jump in the shower ..we test the food we cook or buy before we actually consume it ...we test our kids on a daily basis ..when they learn to crawl ..we put something in front of them but we tend to put it out of reach to make sure they crawl to it...we have them repeat new words they acquire and correct them at times ...so what makes the class environment any different? Isn't testing a tool of assessing how much my learners actually learned? and is it not a way of measuring their progress and making sure they go to the next step fully equiped with what is needed to move ahead...? I do not know about how others view " Testing" ..I for one believe its a means to an end ..not the end itself ...

" Most of us can read the writing on the wall; we just assume it's addressed to someone else. " ~~Ivern Ball~~

Tapping into Students Hidden Abilities...

I had a recent discussion with a teacher on how to tap into students full potential. She whined and whined about how most students were lazy and didn't study ...and the list goes on. I said one thing .." If you expect students to come to you fully equiped then you no longer need this job. Teaching involves sowing the seeds of knowledge and gradually yet slowly nurturing them. You then harvest the results through quizes , task sheets and projects. How else do you expect us eduactors to bring forth a generation of doctors , lawyers , accountants , teachers, scientists ...etc.?"

My response didn't set well with her. She replied " yes thats so easy to say ...but try teaching this group of students..they're so loud and careless and they are so demotivated" .

What I want to know from anyone who visits my blog is whats the best response to that comment? because I don't want to comment here ..I want your comments ...

" Ask the experienced rather than the learned."

Taking on too much can be hazardous to your health ..haha ..

I bet we all have been in this situation ...we find ourselves juggling so many tasks at the same time ....so lets reverse the roles for a minute...imagine your students in that same situation..never ever give them too many tasks at the same time. They will not give each and every task the needed attention..they'll try to stretch themselves or worse avoid doing all the tasks. You're probably saying " we'll I can do it and I do a good enough job " ...You forget a number of things :

1- We are grown adults and we have experience and expertise as well as time management on our side.

2- We are highly motivated . We choose to multi-task.

3- There is something called individual differences ...not all students have the same capacity to contain and process information and employ it .

This brings to mind the following quote :

"not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer. "

~Albert Einstein~

Connecting with learners...

I have attended so many classes in my profession and what really mesmerizes me is how some teachers capture students attention and keep them busy the entire time they are teaching. How is that possible?Is it a learned ability or is it just a gift? I believe that its a little of both. You might have that out going personality yet if you're not highly motivated and don't love teaching you WILL NOT be able to keep the learners captivated the entire time.
I recently attended a class for a teacher and I myself could not keep from smiling and laughing. She had everyone eating out of her hands. The students enjoyed each and every activity . They were looking forward to the next activity with anticipation . What was her secret? Why were they so enthusiastic? That's easy ...she connected with them ..looked beyond what she wanted out of the curriculum and did a role reverse thing..she knew what her students wanted..fun ..games and laughter..she didn't however ignore what needed to be taught she just implemented it in a mold more favourable to her learners. I applaud such teachers and wish there were more of them ..and one last thing..its not the personality ..its also the ability to care about what your learners want and need...that's all for now ...I simply will say :

" Only three things in life are certain birth, death and change." ...lets all change to the better ..