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Student teaching provides students with a hands-on opportunity to get a taste of teaching before they begin their career as an educator and creates opportunities for individuals to work not only with the students in the school, but the staff as well. Educators need to know how to act around students, but a student teacher must also learn how to act around fellow teachers, support staff, administrators, and parents.

Here I will reflected on ideal interpersonal relationships within the school, problems that they hope would not develop, and strategies for solving problems. The importance of maintaining positive relationships at school needs to be in the mind of every student teacher. Things may not always go smoothly, yet a professional should have some ideas on how to handle tricky situations.

Ideal relationships at school help make each day a pleasant day for everyone … teachers, students, support staff, administrators, and parents. Ideal relationships involve the exchange of kind words, good manners, teamwork, and positive attitudes. If such relationships are in place in the school setting, staff can work together in a supportive way to solve problems and to help each other. The staff would care about others and not just their own well-being. Lines of communication would be maintained. The entire staff of the school would work together for the good of the students and to sustain hardworking, dedicated employees. The students would be sure to thrive in such a positive, supportive environment. Furthermore, parents might be more apt to be involved in their child's education if they felt welcomed and appreciated. This is a brief example of what some ideal relationships within the school setting; however, this is not always the reality.

While student teaching, problems between the pre-service teacher and administrator, support staff, students, colleagues, cooperating teacher, and / or faculty advisor can develop. For instance, one hopes that the issue of differing educational philosophies will not hurt a pre-service teacher; however, a student teacher's philosophy may be subject to scrutiny, as s / he does not have the experience that other staff members might have. Another possible issue of contention is that many teachers deal with an enormous number of tasks and issues and often need to vent their frustrations.

Unfortunately, this negative energy may get a student teacher into trouble if s / he partakes in these conversations. Communication barriers may be another problem that can develop between support staff, the cooperating teacher, administrators, and so many more. Some people do not have interpersonal skills, and student teachers need to make sure that s / he does not prejudge based on a look. Additionally, one always hopes not to run into the staff member who just does not care anymore, as this can be harmful to all involved. Finally, not establishing effective classroom management techniques from the beginning with students is a problem that can develop, and one that teachers should avoid at all costs.

Several strategies can and should be implemented when solving problems. First, when dealing with administrators, support staff, colleagues, cooperating teachers, and faculty advisors, confrontations must not occur while a student teacher is emotional. Furthermore, as stated previously, many individuals will express their frustrations to others as a way to cool down. This should not occur in the workplace. The student teacher should ask to speak to the person privately. When solving problems, a student teacher should never use you statements. "You made me mad when …" should be "I felt upset when …." Numerous problems arise due to miscommunication. A student teacher should be willing to listen actively and to try to see the situation from the other person's viewpoint.

When dealing with students, student teachers must first know the expectations and rules of their cooperating teacher. If a cooperating teacher gives permission to actively work through problems with students, a student teacher must maintain composure. Students can sense when a teacher is frustrated, and this will potentially create an explosive situation. The student teacher should talk to the student in private and try to see the problem from the perspective of the student. The student teacher should not be afraid to talk the problem over with his / her cooperating teacher, and when deemed appropriate, the student's parents and / or the school counselor. Many times a fresh viewpoint provides a solution. If a student has a child study team, the child study team should be made aware of the problem, and depending on the severity of the problem, the administrator should also be notified.

This paper was an attempt to reflect on ideal interpersonal relationships within one's school, problems that they hope will not develop, and strategies for solving problems. When dealing with other individuals, problems will occur. Humans are innately different and possess differing viewpoints and perspectives. This can and will lead to conflict. Everyone has an opinion of an ideal relationship, but an ideal relationship is different from a real relationship. When working with people, whether they are adults or children, a student teacher must pick his / her battles. Not all battles are meant to be fought, and not all battles will be won.

The battles worth fighting for are those with the goal to make both sides better for having fought and to create a win-win situation for all parties involved. A student teacher must remember that s / he is not only in the classroom to teach but to be taught. Student teachers should see problems as doorways to learning and growth and not as hurdles to be charged through and overcome.

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Source by Rebecca Schauffele

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High school learners are qualitatively different than younger learners. You certainly can "teach an old dog new tricks" by understanding the cognitive and social characteristics of high school learners. Using the right instructional strategies to maximize the learning advantages and address the learning challenges of high school learners can make all the difference in their success.

High School Cognitive Development

Most high school students have achieved the formal operational stage, as described by Piaget. These students can think abstractly and need fewer concrete examples to understand complex thought patterns. Generally speaking, most students share the following characteristics:

• Need to understand the purpose and relevance of instructional activities
• Are both internally and externally motivated
• Have self-imposed cognitive barriers due to years of academic failure and lack self-confidence
• May have "shut down" in certain cognitive areas and will need to learn how to learn and overcome these barriers to learning
• Want to establish immediate and long-term personal goals
• Want to assume individual responsibility for learning and progress toward goals

High School Social Development

High school students are experimenting with adult-like relationships. Generally speaking, most students share the following characteristics:

• Interested in co-educational activities
• Desire adult leadership roles and autonomy in planning
• Want adults to assume a chiefly support role in their education
• Developing a community consciousness
• Need opportunities for self-expression

High School Instructional Strategies

To address the special learning needs of students this age, Teaching Reading Strategies uses student goal-setting and record keeping. Students assume responsibility for their own progress monitoring. For example, the high interest animal fluency passages provide opportunities for student record keeping and progress monitoring.

High school students are still concerned about the labeling that takes place, when one is identified as a remedial reader. Labels and stereotypes are both externally imposed (by other students and, sometimes their parents), but are primarily internally imposed (by the students themselves). Years of academic failure, due to lack of reading proficiency, have damaged students' self-esteem. Many students have lost confidence in their ability to learn. Students have developed coping mechanisms, such as reading survival skills eg, audio books or peer / parent readers, or behavioral problems, or the "Whatever … I do not care attitudes" to avoid the tough work of learning how to read well . High school teachers need to be extremely mindful of student self-perceptions. A few talking points may be helpful:

• "Unfortunately, some of your past reading instruction was poor; it's not your fault that you have some skills to work on." aka "blame someone else"
• "You can learn in this class. If you come to class willing to try everyday, you will significantly improve your reading, I promise."
• "I know you have tried before, but this time is different."
• "You will be able to chart your own progress and see what you are learning in this class."
• "Some of my past students were like some of you. For example, ___________ and he passed the high school exit exam after finishing this class. For example, ___________ got caught up to grade level reading and is college right now." Personal anecdotes provide role models and hope for high school remedial readers. Any former students who have been successful will provide "street credibility" to the teacher and the class.
• "You are not in this class forever. As soon as you master your missing skills, you are out."

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Source by Mark Pennington

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Teachers learn a variety of different skills and strategies throughout their college education. Once employed, teachers hone their skills by finding out what really works in the classroom for them. Many teachers also further their education by attending graduate school or other professional development workshops and seminars. In so doing, teachers keep abreast of the most effective teaching strategies. The most recent trend among teachers of all kinds is Cooperative Learning. Cooperative Learning can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. Cooperative Learning in its true meaning is probably occurring a fraction of the time that a teacher thinks it is in their classroom.

Cooperative Learning in its true form has groups of students working together to achieve a common goal or task. The problem is we usually end up with group work. Group work is drastically different from Cooperative Learning. When group work is occurring, students are usually bored, unmotivated and not actually cooperating much at all. One student may do all the work and give the answers to the other members of his / her group. Other times, each student may do a few questions each and then give the answers to everyone else in their group. The bottom line is, group work does not allow all students to gain as much as they can from the lesson. It is an unstructured learning experience where some students did a lot of the work and others did very little or none. Because of the lack of structure many students also feel left out.

In true Cooperative Learning, students are given a structured task where everyone is involved and individual accountability is built in. Students are working together to achieve success and have a positive learning experience. They all will participate equally so individuals are not left out or stuck doing the majority of the work. In following through with these basic principles, students can become successful learners and more involved in achieving certain life skills that they can hold onto throughout their school years and careers. Teachers must rid themselves of the same old group work routine and begin challenging their students to be a part of the process so that everyone can benefit from the success of the class.

Cooperative Learning is not the almighty solution to the education of our students, but it provides a framework ensuring that all of our students can be the best they can be. This set-up not only allows for a positive learning environment where everyone is engaged, but it also closely mimics the "real world" that our students will be thrown into. The majority of careers involve people working in teams to complete a common task. Our children must learn the value of cooperating with each other to be effective throughout the course of their lives.

The educational process may seem stagnant over time, but it should never remain still. Educators need to continue to further the variety of strategies that they use in the classroom throughout the course of their teaching careers. Ironically enough, teachers hold the key. Spreading the word of what works and what does not is achieved by educators sharing ideas. Whether it be veteran teachers or first year teachers, everyone must help out in a collegial setting to accomplish a common goal: Education of our youth by the best means possible.

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Source by Michael Michels

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What frustrates parents the most about dealing with the school in relation to their special needs child?

When parents call me to say that they need help to advocate at a school meeting, it is because their child's educational needs are not being met at school and they do not know what they can do to change things. When I ask the obvious question; does your child have an Individual Education Plan in place? They say 'Yes, but it is not being followed'. And THAT is what frustrates parents. They've followed the process of requesting an IPRC meeting to identify their child as exceptional and to determine the correct classroom placement, which finally led to the development of the IEP. The IEP is a document … a plan that should guide teachers on the steps to take in order to meet the educational needs of the student. So why is the student still having so much difficulty at school? You can not MAKE a teacher teach a certain way, or provide the modifications and accommodations that are in the IEP. So what is a parent supposed to do?

Perhaps the reason that the IEP is not being followed is that it is too general – it is not specific to the individual student. Perhaps it was processed in isolation as part of a procedure rather than being developed with input from a multidisciplinary team of professionals with each of the student's needs as the focus of the IEP.

I suggest that the parent request an IEP meeting to include all the key players, which is anyone who can provide input and suggest teaching strategies and accommodations to meet the needs of the child. The principal, because ultimately the principal is responsible for ensuring the implementation of the IEP; the classroom teacher and the educational assistant, because they will be the ones providing the teaching and the accommodations that are in the IEP; the special education resource teacher because he or she is the lead person in the development of the IEP; if the child has motor skills difficulties make sure an occupational therapist attends; if the child has language difficulties make sure a speech and language pathologist attends; if the child has behaviour difficulties make sure a behavioural consultant attends, if the child has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) make sure someone from the ASD support team attends, and so on ….

At the meeting, the first step will be to clearly define the strength and needs of the student. Then go through the IEP step by step to make sure each need is thoroughly addressed, and that the goals and expectations are specific and measurable. Make sure that any equipment accommodations are readily available and can be provided immediately. Identify who is responsible for what service and how often. And finally, request that all school staff who have dealings with the student, are aware of the accommodations in the IEP.

At the end of the meeting, schedule a follow-up meeting in one month to evaluate what is working in the IEP and what is not working. This is not to evaluate the student per se, but rather the effectiveness of the IEP and whether or not it is being implemented successfully. Make the necessary changes to the IEP, and schedule another follow- up meeting in one month. Do this as many times as is necessary.

This is the best strategy to ensure that the IEP is effective and it is being implemented as written.

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Source by Karen A. Robinson

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All ESL teachers – regardless of training, experience, or competency – need a carefully drawn lesson plan in order to assist their students in attaining learning objectives, both on a daily basis as well as the long-term. Having a lesson plan is like having a complete and clear visualization of how a learning session is to take place and how students are able to grasp and retain lesson concepts. Numerous research indicate that pre-visualizing success in athletic competitions as well as business endeavors is a concrete step in the process of actually achieving it. The same is true with classroom engagements. Without a lesson plan, this visualization process is blurred at best and the learning outcomes that will be generated will be far from ideal.

That said, the importance of lesson plans in ESL / EFL education is difficult to overstate. ESL educators simply need to visualize daily lessons in advance and build the most appropriate teaching strategies into a comprehensive lesson plan. Otherwise, going to class without adequate preparation will most likely be detrimental to both the teachers and their students. Unprepared teachers will become mediocre at the job and will be viewed as unprofessional by their peers, superiors, and students. On the other hand, students under inadequately prepared language teachers will enjoy less-than optimum knowledge inputs and will generally have a low quality learning and appreciation of lesson concepts, compared with students under highly competent and prepared educators.

Given the substantial resources pooled into the learning session by students and education providers, an unprofessionally managed class is a terrible waste of time, money and effort. Moreover, students and teachers under this scenario generally have very low motivation to improve. Having a lesson plan and effectively using it as a guide for daily teaching will reflect your professionalism and reliability. You also present yourself as a good role model for your students who will come to appreciate the value of coming to class prepared and primed to achieve the lesson targets.

Lesson Plan 101

If you are new to teaching, a lesson plan is basically just a step-by-step guide on how the teacher intends to present a lesson and the ways by which students are expected to learn and appreciate the various lesson concepts. An excellent lesson plan is one that can be easily and effectively used by another educator in your place. This means that the ideal lesson plan is both clear and comprehensive. The details and elements of lesson plans vary, depending on the specific format mandated by the school or organization. However, the common components of good lesson plan include the following:

1. Lesson Title

2. The period of time (in minutes, hours, days, or weeks) necessary to complete the lesson

3. Class details (class name or section, age, skill level, etc.)

4. The lesson objectives

5. Instructional approach (es) to be used (this section describes the sequence of learning events as well as the techniques the teacher will use in helping students achieve the lesson objectives)

6. Instructional materials (such as a film, an image gallery, a music video, etc.)

7. Summary of and derived conclusions from the lesson

8. Methods for practicing the lesson concepts

9. Evaluation and testing methods to be used

10. Contingency plans or elements (This section describes subsidiary topics or additional techniques and materials that can be used to either fortify the learning gains generated during the session or productively fill up excess time. Fun and engaging, seat work, dialogues, and other activities are ideal for this section)

Unless a specific lesson plan format is required by the learning institution, most ESL practitioners tailor their lesson plans according to the teaching philosophies or techniques they believe in or are most comfortable with. In general, however, excellent ESL lesson plans have common characteristics that you should integrate in your own teaching strategies:

· Ideal lesson plans have a concise summary that fits on a single page. The detailed plan proper may – and often – exceeds this number, but the idea is to allow anyone to have a quick overview of the lesson.

· Great lesson plans are organized in a way that is easy and a delight to follow.

· Lesson plans should be strongly aligned with the needs and learning competencies of their intended audience.

· Each individual lesson plan should adhere to a continuity of lesson concepts and should not only fit in the curriculum but also reflect the overall vision of the subject.

· ESL Lesson plans should establish platforms for students to apply language learning to real-world situations.

In ESL education, lesson plans are crucial even in purely conversational classes. In order to establish an environment that encourages high quality learning and draws non-native speakers to articulate themselves extensively, adequate preparation is of paramount importance. Having a haphazardly designed plan is also inexcusable.

Types of ESL Lesson Plans

There are literally dozens of lesson plan types depending on the teaching philosophy followed by an educator or specific mandated by learning institutions. In ESL and EFL education, the most common lesson plans are those based on three main instructional approaches:

A. PPP (Presentation, Practice and Production)

B. TTT (Test, Teach and Test)

C. TBA (Task-based Approach)

Presentation, Practice and Production. PPP is a recommended lesson approach for many educators of ESL / EFL and is commonly taught in institutions that provide TESOL and TEFL certifications. Most English language educators believe that PPP is the root approach from which other approaches have evolved.

In a nutshell, PPP facilitates the presentation (teacher-centric) of new language concepts, the practice (joint participation of teacher and students) of the new language concepts, and the production (student-centric) of new language concepts. During the presentation phase, up to 80 percent of the period may be appropriated for a lecture or a teacher-led explanation of lesson concepts. During this time, the teacher may discuss grammatical issues, spelling, and common use of the new language concept. The teacher also raises concept appreciation checks to verify the students' understanding of the new concepts. When students clearly understand the new concepts, the teacher may then proceed to the next phase. Otherwise a brief recap of the subject matter should be conducted.

In the practice phase, the teacher encourages students to participate more through orchestrated conversation graded recitation. Ideally, this phase should allow students to articulate 60 to 70 percent of the time, with the teacher assuming a secondary role as moderator. Written and verbal activities and drills should both be used, with varying intensities depending on the new language concept.

Lastly, students should be encouraged to dominate (90 percent participation) the production phase. The teacher only monitors the class dynamics and just give feedback as the lesson ends. By this time, students should be adequately comfortable with the new language concepts that they can accurately and fluently use it to communicate.

Test, Teach and Test. TTT is a frequently used alternative to the PPP method, wherein the production phase is sequentially moved to the first part of the lesson. During the (first) test phase that corresponds to the production phase in the PPP approach, students are more or less abruptly asked to communicatively produce a language concept based on their existing knowledge and without any prior guidance from the teacher. The teacher will then asses the students' level of competency in the particular language area, determine their needs, and proceed with the teach phase (which corresponds to the presentation phase in the PPP approach) based on an overall assessment. The teach phase allows educators to discuss problem areas and guide students towards the correct use of the language concept.

The final stage of the TTT approach is the second test that aims to check how students have absorbed the new inputs from the teacher. The logic of this sequencing is for students to learn the new language concepts better by differentiating its invalid uses (most likely to be committed during the first test phase) from correct usage (likely to be accomplished after the teacher presented the language concept during the teach phase).

In general, the TTT approach is a good way for teachers to determine the specific needs of students in different language areas. With this knowledge, educators can optimize their teaching strategies to produce optimum learning outcomes. It is best used in intermediate and higher competency levels, as well as in classes where the students have mixed language proficiencies. However, one consistent criticism about the TTT approach is that it has an element of randomness since several, unexpected student needs may arise that is beyond the scope of the intended lesson. Despite this disruptive possibility, the TTT approach is still being adopted by many educators because it is very "economical" and "focused" in the sense that valuable time need not be wasted on teaching language areas students are already proficient with.

Task based Approach. TBA is a good alternative to either the PPP approach or the TTT method. In TBA-structured classes, teachers do not pre-determine the language specifics to study but base their lesson strategies on how a central task is completed by the students. Similar to the other two approaches, TBA follows a sequential progression: 1) a pre-task introduction to be conducted by the teacher; 2) the students' completion of a central task involving a particular language aspect; 3) reporting, analysis and feedback to be performed by the teacher concerning how the students accomplished the central task; and 4) practice sessions to hone student proficiencies in the language area.

The task-based approach is advocated by many educators because of several clear advantages. For one thing, TBA allows students to employ all their language resources towards the completion of a task and not just pre-selected language areas as in the case of PPP. In addition, TBA utilizes natural, real-life language contexts that are highly relevant to students. Hence, language exploration and learning directly arises from students' actual needs and not as suggested in textbooks. TBA is also based on the premise that a holistic exposure to language – as opposed to incremental exposures common to PPP – is a better way of learning a new language.

Conclusion

Based on the profusion of online materials, each approach enjoys strong support from their respective proponents. It would not hurt to try out each one depending on your classes' learning environments. Remember, there is no written rule restricting anyone from modifying, combining, or optimizing any of the three approaches. At least in designing lesson plans, flexibility is a more preferred option than dogmatic rigidity. The bottom line is to customize the lesson plan that will help every one attain the learning objectives and deliver the best value for your students.

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Source by Michael Hines

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Kinesthetic learners or those with ADHD or ADD who are kinesthetic learners often struggle with learning vocabulary because it is traditionally taught in an auditory or visual way. Kinesthetic learners learn vocabulary and reading comprehension using different methods and activities from those with other learning styles, such as auditory, tactile, or visual learners. Students with a right-brain preference also learn differently from those with a left-brain preference. If traditional methods of learning vocabulary words do not work for your kinesthetic child, it could be that the teaching strategies do not match your kinesthetic child's best and fastest method of learning.

Kinesthetic vocabulary lessons and activities can accelerate and improve your child's vocabulary and reading comprehension. In a ten-year study of school districts that were failing because they fell below state standards on state reading tests, finding each student's Superlink, or combination of learning style and brain hemispheric preference, and then teaching them reading skills through their best Superlinks method has raised these schools to meet or exceed state standards within six to eight months. Included were kinesthetic methods of learning vocabulary for kinesthetic learners. These worked for students in elementary, middle, and high school.

Why do kinesthetic vocabulary techniques work for kinesthetic learners? Traditional methods involve using looking at a vocabulary book which lists new words and their meanings or reading the words aloud. They may also include writing exercises in which one fills in the blank in sentences with the correct word. These techniques are visual, auditory, and tactile, and predominantly left-brain in their strategies. This puts kinesthetic learners and right-brain learners at a disadvantage because their best Superlinks style is not being used.

For thirty-eight years I have developed an entire pre-K-12 and college reading curriculum, including kinesthetic vocabulary activities. These have accelerated the speed at which kinesthetic learners can learn new words in a fun, engaging way.

Here are two activities out of my new ebook on kinesthetic vocabulary activities your child will love.

Kinesthetic Vocabulary Charades: Help your child make a list of words and their definitions. Take turns with your kinesthetic child selecting a word and acting it out silently, so the other can guess which word is being dramatized. If you go first, select a word, act it out, and have your child guess which word you are acting out. Then have your child select a word and act it out, and you guess the meaning. Points can be awarded for each correct guess.

Kinesthetic Invent-a-Word: Have your kinesthetic child combine roots, prefixes, and suffixes to invent new words and write the meanings of each.

For example:

aquascope: a machine to see water

astrocycle: a bicycle to ride in space.

Have your child write the word on large flip chart paper while standing up or stretched out on the floor. Have your child act out the word.

For other fun and engaging kinesthetic vocabulary activities , tested and proven to make a difference for any kinesthetic learner from grades pre-K-12, then Kinesthetic Vocabulary Activities Your Child Will Love: In Just 27 Days Improve Your Kinesthetic Child's Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension will give you many ideas to improve vocabulary and reading comprehension.

Why wait for an important test, such as standardized reading tests, state reading test, or the SAT or ACT for college preparation, in which your kinesthetic child only has a few days to cram thousands of words into his or her brain? Start today and give your child the competitive edge to have great reading comprehension and a great vocabulary to succeed in reading or in any content area subject or on tests.

End your frustration by helping your kinesthetic child quickly learn vocabulary and reading comprehension in his or her best and fastest way through kinesthetic vocabulary strategies. I also invite you to access my free checklist to see if your child who may have been diagnosed or misdiagnosed with ADHD or ADD or who could be a kinesthetic learner could benefit from kinesthetic vocabulary strategies at KeystoLearningSuccess.com for the free checklist. Your child may also enjoy learning phonics in a kinesthetic way using Off the Wall Phonics, fun games to learn and improve reading. When you teach your child reading in a kinesthetic way, the improvement is dramatic.

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Source by Ricki Linksman

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In the wake of recent government regulatory acts aimed at improving teaching standards, schools are focusing more and more on professional development for teachers. School districts are concerned with how teachers can most effectively help their students learn. In particular, teaching reading is one of the major priorities of schools – literacy is the basis of learning for a student for the rest of his or her time in school, and success can not be had unless the student was able to develop sufficient reading skills. This is why teacher professional development for teaching reading is so important in our current education system.

Studies have shown that the best way for schools to improve student achievement (via some sort of monetary purchase) is by spending more money on getting the most qualified teachers. One of the best ways to improve the quality of educators is to offer them the resources they need to improve their own skills – specifically skills in teaching reading. Teacher professional development can improve teacher skills, which in turn improves the quality of lessons for students. Lesson quality is improved more from improved teaching than it is from other variables such as the materials used or the book / curriculum being followed. Therefore a valuable investment for any school is in teacher professional development.

Some methods and skills that teacher professional development should cover include: how to interact with students in a collaborative manner, how to bring outside experiences into the classroom to enhance learning, how to promote learning outside the classroom, how to motivate students towards educating themselves and exploring new things on their own, how to show that teachers care for their students and really do want to help them learn, how to recognize and develop a student's strengths, and more.

In teaching reading especially, it is important for a teacher to be able to recognize what a student is struggling with and how to help the student improve. Because literacy is such a valuable skill in our society, teachers absolutely must develop skills to promote reading both in the classroom as well as in a student's daily life outside of school. Learning to teach in a way that makes learning fun is crucial when it comes to teacher professional development. While being knowledgeable about a subject (chemistry for chemistry teachers, math for math teachers, etc …) is important, it is also important to take it to the next level and be able to understand different methodologies for teaching, to be aware of topics that often cause trouble for students, and then to have plans for how to deal with the problem areas and make sure that all students are learning to the best of their abilities.

In summary, teacher professional development is a valuable investment for school districts. Since the quality of teachers is the one things that has the most impact on a student's success, helping teachers become the best that they can be is the most logical way for school districts to achieve high student accomplishment. For example, a teacher's strategies for teaching reading can be improved via teacher professional development. By using these strategies in the classroom, a teacher can motivate his or her students towards success.

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Source by Vince Welsh

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Learning how to maximize your scores on matching tests is simple and will significantly increase your test scores. Matching sections remain the staple of teacher-constructed tests from elementary school through college. Here are the tips to "ace" any matching section on your next test.

1. Read all answer choices before selecting an answer. Test-takers frequently say that this strategy helps eliminate rushing though a test and answering impulsively.

2. Try to predict the correct answer before you look at the choices offered. This will provide a mind-set for evaluating the answer choices before you begin to answer. This process also helps to unlock your prior knowledge about the subject gained from test study and life experience.

3. Match the easy ones first and cross off to use the process of elimination. Getting rid of answer choices will make the selection process quicker, especially if the matching section is long.

4. The beginning of the numbered matching column tends to match the beginning of
the alphabetical matching column. Consider this fact when selecting answer choices. If there are two alphabetic answer choices under consideration, and one is in the same beginning section as the numeric answer choice, select that one.

5. The ending of the numbered matching column tends to match the ending of the alphabetical matching column. If there are two alphabetic answer choices under consideration, and one is in the same ending section as the numeric answer choice, select that one.

6. Look for grammatical clues to help match. For example, singular must match singular and plural must match plural; also verb tenses must match.

7. The answer should match the language of the test problem or question (positive to positive, negative to negative, grammar, singular or plural, vocabulary).

8. Two close-sounding or looking answers such as "quotient" and "quotation" or 22 and 222 tend to mean that one of the answers is correct.

9. On math tests, if answers cover a wide range, choose the one in the middle.

10. Finally, make sure to guess, if not sure of your answer choice.

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Source by Mark Pennington

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When we hear the word differentiation, many of us automatically think about developing instructional activities that are appropriate for a student's learning ability. However, how many people think of behavior when they hear the word differentiation?

Let's think about some reasons why differentiating instruction is a good practice. Well, it supports the student at his learning level, without the work being too easy or too difficult. It ensures a student is getting necessary building blocks needed to understand larger concepts or skills. It provides a safety net for students. It increases students' engagement. It gives the educator a clearer picture of what the student is truly able to do. It can encompass a student's specific learning style. Gosh, the list can go on and on. We differentiate instruction for students because it helps them find the most success in the classroom.

So, why do not more schools differentiate discipline? There seems to be a widespread belief out there that specific rules must be put in place, and if those rules are broken, specific consequences must be enforced for each infraction, regardless of who committed it. So, by golly, if Joey talks while the teacher is talking, he MUST get a detention! That is the consequence for breaking that specific rule !!

Come on! Seriously's? Our society does not even run that way! Sure we have laws, but does the exact same thing happen every time someone breaks them? How many of us have been let off with a warning after being pulled over for speeding, and how many of us have been slapped with an expensive ticket? How many times do we see different sentences for people who have committed the same crime in our judicial system?

Students walk into our classrooms with differing experiences and backgrounds; therefore, we can not expect them to assimilate to school expectations in the same way. For example, my stepdaughter, Aubrey has been raised in an environment that somewhat shares similar norms as school (we practice traditional manners, we speak respectfully to each other, we have basic rules we follow, we are generally not loud when we're home together, etc.). Additionally, Aubrey gets tons of love and all her basic needs are met. So, if Aubrey was caught stealing something from somebody's lunch bag, I would expect a different, perhaps harsher punishment on her than if the child (Let's call her Mary) who comes from poverty steals something from somebody's lunch because it may be the only thing she gets to eat when she goes home.

Now, am I saying that Mary should not be punished? No, I'm not saying that at all. However, how is giving Mary a standard "stealing consequence" such as detention going to teach her not to steal, or more importantly, help fix the reason she wants to steal? This is when an educator needs to have those thoughtful conversations with Mary, talking with her about stealing, helping her think about the perspective of the child she stole from and how he may feel, what a better solution to her problem could be, and what an appropriate consequence to her actions may be.

Aubrey and Mary have two different sets of social understandings and backgrounds, just as they may have two different levels of learning ability. It should not be okay to only differentiate their learning needs and not their social needs. The outcome of any discipline situation should be to help the student grow in her understanding of how to make better choices … not to see how badly can we punish her into doing better.

Please know that I am not saying their should not be common consequences for anything. For example, the students help us each year create the consequences for not turning in their nightly homework. While we have to stick to those consequences, we also need to be ready to step in to help support those students who have a harder time meeting those expectations due to situations out of their control. We do not want to lower our standards for students because they have exceptional struggles in their lives, but we do need to be ready to meet their specific needs, socially and academically, and not be set in our thinking that everyone should be able to do the same thing behaviorally and should suffer the same consequence when they do not.

The book Learning to Trust by Marilyn Watson and Laura Ecken does an excellent job sharing ways teachers can handle discipline in a more differentiated, learning approach. I can not lie … I'm a big fan of fiction and sometimes struggle reading nonfiction books, even on topics I'm passionate about; however, I loved this book! It's basically a teacher's day-to-day interactions with students in an inner city Lousiville school as she takes on this approach to discipline! I highly recommend it!

When making decisions involving your students in the classroom, remember: what's fair is not always equal, and what's equal is not always fair.

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Source by Kim Amburgey

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Many of the classroom management strategies that we discuss have a more general application. Let's take a look at some strategies for students who need to move around during class time. The first thing we need to determine is what need is the behavior attempting to satisfy. Our best guess of the top three possibilities is a good starter. Monitor the student's behavior and his response to your actions and words. That is the best way to discover which of your explanations is correct and decide how to respond.

When the student is wandering around and you speak to him, if he responds appropriately then you can be pretty sure that it is your attention that is being sought. What are some ways that you can be proactive and give this student the attention he seeks from you?

1. Have a brief (10 to 30) second chat with him as he enters class. What did you do last night? I like your shirt. Make sure you do this for every student at least once each day. (Small investment, big returns.)

2. Solicit his responses or ideas as you teach the lesson and respond to what he says to reaffirm that you are interested in and value what he has to say.

3. As soon as you have finished teaching the lesson pass by his desk and speak to him. You can reinforce the way he has gotten started so quickly. You could also ask him if he has a question about what he is to do. There might be some common link between the lesson and his interests that you could comment on.

4. At home time ask him if he has everything he needs. Do you have any questions about your homework? Good luck with the game tonight.

If the student only wanders from his desk to the desk of one of his friends then he is probably trying to satisfy his need to belong. The best classroom management strategy to satisfy this need is build group activities into your program.

1. Have your classroom set up so that students are sitting in groups of two to six people. The groups should be as heterogeneous as possible. Include boys and girls, high and low performing students, students with special needs, different ethnic backgrounds. And yes even friends.

2. In each subject have time for group activities.

3. For group activities assign each student a specific role and alternate the roles each day.

4. Be certain to include at least one activity that each student is good at so they can excel and make a positive contribution to the group.

5. Change groups frequently so that everyone gets to work with every other student as some point during the year.

If this behavior only occurs during math class then the wandering is probably an avoidance behavior.

1. Talk to the student and find out what concerns him about mathematics.

2. Conduct some informal diagnostic work to see what aspects of last years' curriculum he has not mastered.

3. Offer to give him extra help out of class time.

4. Visit him soon after teaching the lesson (not always first). Ask him to work on the first question until he gets stuck and then raise his hand.

5. Buddy him up with someone who can answer his questions right away.

6. Check back with him several times to be sure he understands what to do and how to do it.

7. Make certain that he has several correct examples that he can refer to at home when he is doing his homework.

8. If getting work done at home is a problem try to get a homework room set up in your school. There will be lots more like him who could use some quiet supervised time to complete homework.

If the wandering can be attributed to ADD or ADHD, that is a story for another day.

The classroom management strategies discussed above can be used for many students in your class. Making them part of your everyday routine will eliminate problems before they occur … the best way to manage your class.

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Source by Wayne Sheldrick