Bila Ku Renung - As I Ponder

Found an article in the net from the website teachthought.com written by Terry Heick, Founder and director of Teach Thought. I am sharing the summary of his ideas of what are the characteristics of a good school. There are others whom have written on this topic. Let's look at this first. Of course Mr Terry's ideas are based on the culture, environment and the education system of his country but we can look at it and adopt and adapt what is suitable to our culture and education system. Let's look at some of the recommendations made by him. A good school improves the community it is in. A good adapts quickly to social changes. A good school has students who get along with and support one another towards a common goal which is known by them. A good school produce students that read and write because they want to. A good school admits its failures and limitations while working together with a 'global community' to grow. A good school has diverse and compelling measures ...

 "Teachers who take time daily to reflect on what worked in class and what didn't can better assess areas for improvement and begin to make necessary adjustment" Megan Collins,  has taught creative writing at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and Central Connecticut State University. In an article written by her "The Benefits of Developing a Reflective Routine" she gave ideas in developing reflective practice in teaching. Kristina Rizga * said that the best teachers establish connections with students, by making daily commitment in bringing in well considered, purposeful practices and working child by child. Finding the right mix of practices to be executed on knowing the need of each child is very essential.  In the process of finding out the effort taken by veteran teachers in bringing out the best in their students, she found that issues such as race and culture are involved. Some of the most constructive ideas that has helped teachers inspire even the...

 Students attending STEM lessons often have problem and weakness in solving problems relating to science, technology, engineering and math. They need to learn how to think about solving problems in a general perspective. Students are usually not familiar with implicit skills and ways of thinking in solving these problems. This is one thing that most teachers are not aware of. Lets look at a few ways in teaching problem solving skills to students. 1. Model hidden thinking in problem solving. Guide students about every aspect of what they are doing providing reasons for every steps. Include moments of vulnerability and accept the fact that they don't know what to do. Discuss the students' options and decision process. Use methods to check their work in order to correct their errors. This internal dialogue is essential in problem solving.  2. Facilitate student talk during problem solving. Never solve the problems for the students even if they ask you in any situation either in c...

Engaging students who are unreachable, resisting learning activities and disrupting others is a very difficult task. According to Larry Ferlazzo from Luther Burbank High School, Sacramento, California, one of the best approaches to engaging challenging students is to develope their "intrinsic motivation". Students are motivated to follow their own interest and goals, not to do what teachers want them to do. Teachers have to know the students interest and goals and to develope trusting relationship that help students connect their learning to their goals. How can teachers do this?  There are eight great ways teachers can reach their students. THINK Authoritative beats Authoritarian - being authoritarian means controlling and demanding obedience without giving any explanation why it is important to obey. Whereas being authoritative means demonstrating control rationally through listening and explaining. A study conducted by University of New Hampshire in 2012 shows that childre...

 Teaching online has become a new norm in todays education due to the pandemic wide spread. Teaching online is a lot more tedious since it requires more planning in making sure that students have access materials and the best technology tools available. Let's look at the various task that teachers should look into in preparing an online lesson. Organizing Tasks. Create a list of task that will guide you through the whole week to come. Long Time Goals - is for things that are not immediately done but are optional. Do Now - are things that you need to do in the next 24 hours. Creating - Designing assignments, creating new Units or writing emails. Doing - is filled with items such as making copies, grading or entering grades in record books. Plan for Breaks Set your time for a break. Use your break to allow you to be productive and reset Sometimes chatting and talking is what you need. Say No and Trust Say NO when it is required especially in dealing with things that are not your obli...

 The role of teachers in a child's education has changed from the old ways of "show and tell". Lecturing to students sitting  in rows at desk listening to the teacher is no longer appropriate. Education environment is not only in the classrooms but extends in homes, society and environment. Information is no longer available in books but it is available in large amount in the internet. Students can no longer be treated as consumers of facts and figures. They are creative learners. Teaching is one of the most challenging job and vital in social , culture and economic health of a nation. Dramatic transformation in education are being planted. Prompted by massive revolutions in knowledge, information technology, and public demand for better learning.  Teachers have to do some rethinking of their role in their relationship with students, colleagues, and the community; the tools and techniques they use in teaching; their rights and responsibilities; the form and content o...

 Do we teachers know our weakness in our teaching? I am sure most of us do not think that we have weaknesses in our teaching. Have we ever done any self check lately? What about self evaluations. Here I would like to share a few tips that I manage to get from an article published in the net "How to Find Your Weakness as a Teacher" by Suzanne Capek Tingley, Veteran Educator, M.A. Degree. Here are 4 tips given. Utilise another set of eyes : - All the time we are only focusing at the students we are teaching. There was never an instant when there are other eyes looking at us besides our students. When you have someone knowledgeable sitting at the back of our classroom while we are teaching, would be a very good way of having another eyes looking and evaluating us. In one instant a teacher invited a veteran and respected teacher to sit behind the class and observe him teaching. At the end of the lesson this was what the veteran commented "You presented a very good lesson to...