The Roots of Education are Bitter, but the Fruit is Sweet...

 The webinar that I have attended is under the title of: "Executive Function for Today's Student and Tomorrow's Leader".  It is an incredibly important issue. What is executive function and how can it help students and schools?        Executive function is a term used to describe skills that regulate our behaviour and our thinking.        If nurtured in young people, executive function looks like the ability to act in a goal-directed manner. It will be manifested in making fast choices in getting out the right tools to play a certain game, in stopping an action when they are asked to for example: to stop clapping, stop talking, etc. Those young people are exercising their executive functions when they respond by stopping. In addition, this function is manifested by the ability to remember to do something at a certain time and place, the ability to choose the best strategy for solving a problem or for executing a task. ...

BACKWARD DESIGN Backward design , also called  backward planning  or  backward mapping , is a process that educators use to design l earning experiences  and instructional techniques to achieve specific learning goals.  Backward design begins with the objectives of a unit or course—what students are expected to learn and be able to do—and then proceeds “backward” to create lessons that achieve those desired goals.  Backward design helps teachers create courses and units that are focused on the goal (learning) rather than the process (teaching).  While approaches may vary widely from school to school or teacher to teacher, a basic backward-design process might take the following form: A teacher begins by reviewing the learning standards that students are expected to meet by the end of a course or grade level. In some cases, teachers will work together to create backward-designed units and courses.  The teacher creates an index o...

Students and Fear of Failure From an article written by Vicki Zakrzewski When it comes to deal with fear of failure, students generally fall into four categories: 1. Success-Oriented Students:  These are the kids who love learning for the sake of learning and see failure as a way to improve their ability rather than a slight on their value as a human being. Research has also found that these students tend to have parents who praise success and rarely, if ever, reprimand failure. 2. Overstrivers:  These students avoid failure by succeeding—motivated by the fear that even one failure will confirm their greatest fear: "that they’re not perfect". Because the fear of failure is so overpowering and because they doubt their abilities, Overstrivers will, on occasion, tell everyone that they have very little time to prepare for an upcoming test—and then spend the entire night studying. When they pass the test, this “shows” everyone that they are brilliant because their “a...

5 roles that a teacher must fill Here are five roles that a teacher often has to fill in order to be the best educator they can be. 1. Resource One of the top roles a teacher must fill is that of a resource specialists. There will be many people who will come to the teacher seeking information. Even if the person is only seeking a source of information, the teacher is the one who must know how to find what the student is looking for. Once the teacher has given the information to the student or coworker, he or she will often have to instruct the student on how to use the information. 2. Support Students are the ones who need support when learning a new skill or piece of information. A teacher must act as the support person when the student needs this help. Support can come in many forms such as a coach, leader and even a counselor. In professional circles, a teacher may even have to support other teachers leading a particular subject matter. 3. Mentor One of the bigge...

Every teacher seeks to be an  effective  teacher. Every teacher wants to have a positive, remarkable, and lasting influence on students' lives. What makes for an effective teacher? Organization and Clarity explains clearly is well prepared  makes difficult topics easy to understand uses examples, details, analogies, metaphors, and variety in modes of explanation to make material not only understandable but memorable makes the objectives of the course and each class clear  establishes a context for material Dynamism and Enthusiasm is an energetic, dynamic person seems to enjoy teaching conveys a love of the field has an aura of self-confidence Instructor-Group Interaction can stimulate, direct, and pace interaction with the class  encourages independent thought and accepts criticism uses wit and humor effectively is a good public speaker  knows whether or not the class is following the materia...