четверг, 17 декабря 2009 г.
Soon I will publish a new post here
Yes, there are will be some text about research paper or dissertation writing help available at professays.com. :P
пятница, 11 декабря 2009 г.
Want to Make Language Learning Easier? Rhymes to the Rescue!
by Kathy Steinemann
Learning a foreign language can be enjoyable - but exasperating. Anything you can do to accelerate learning or make language acquisition more enjoyable is a valuable weapon in your learning arsenal. Kathy Steinemann shares a helpful and unique approach to this challenge.
Take a look at the following two sections of text:
*Version 1
The sky is blue today. I'm sitting on the beach. A bully kicks sand in my face. Too bad for him! Here come my bodyguards!
*Version 2
One, two, a sky so blue. Three, four, a sandy shore. Five, six, a bully kicks. Seven, eight, he's sealed his fate. Nine, ten, here come my gunmen!
Now go back and re-read the verses.
Did you notice that you have already started to anticipate what comes next in the second version?
Conclusion: It is easier to memorize rhyming poetry than to memorize prose.
So what implication does this have for learning a foreign language?
If you memorize well-written *modern* foreign language poetry, you can accelerate your learning curve. (Notice the keyword 'modern'.)
Poetry written in the 18th Century may have deep cultural and educational significance. However, words penned to page over 300 years ago will utilize obsolete vocabulary, spelling, and grammar formations.
As an example: consider the popular King James Version of the Bible. If you started using 'thee' and 'thou' in your daily speech, people would understand you - but they would treat you like an alien in a time warp.
You can search the internet for poetry written by contemporary authors. Try searches like:
parallel translation poetry
parallel translation poems
parallel translation poems German English
parallel translation poems French English
parallel translation poetry Italian English
parallel translation poetry Spanish English
Substitute search terms as necessary with the name of the specific language you are studying. Review the webpages you find with a tutor, professor, or knowledgeable person to determine grammar and vocabulary suitability.
Attempt to have the poetry dictated and recorded by a native language speaker. Softly recite the poetry while you listen to the recordings. This will improve your verbalization skills. With luck, you may find online audio for some of the poetry.
Are you a budding poet? Try creating foreign language poems yourself.
No poetic talent? Attempt the following simple approach. If you are learning German, for example, you might produce a 'poem' like this:
the dog - der Hund
the mouth - der Mund
the air - die Luft
the scent - der Duft
to buzz - summen
to growl - brummen
little - klein
clean - rein
to brood - grübeln
to iron - bügeln
You don't have to worry about grammar - just definitions, pronunciations, gender, and spelling. Alcor (alcor.com.au) has several rhyming dictionaries that can assist you with this process.
If you have an audio dictionary on your computer, listen carefully to the pronunciation of each word. There are also excellent online dictionaries with audio.
Now produce your own poetry recording using audio capture software.
- First, dictate each English word or phrase and save as an individual file.
- Next, save foreign language audio clips from your dictionary or from the internet.
- Now load your audio capture software and play the files in the correct order. Try to create short productions of a minute or two in duration.
- Edit if necessary to eliminate excessive pauses or add definite articles.
- Finally, convert to MP3 or WMA. Now you can use your iPod or portable media player for something besides music.
The 21st Century is a wonderful time to be learning a foreign language!
Learning a foreign language can be enjoyable - but exasperating. Anything you can do to accelerate learning or make language acquisition more enjoyable is a valuable weapon in your learning arsenal. Kathy Steinemann shares a helpful and unique approach to this challenge.
Take a look at the following two sections of text:
*Version 1
The sky is blue today. I'm sitting on the beach. A bully kicks sand in my face. Too bad for him! Here come my bodyguards!
*Version 2
One, two, a sky so blue. Three, four, a sandy shore. Five, six, a bully kicks. Seven, eight, he's sealed his fate. Nine, ten, here come my gunmen!
Now go back and re-read the verses.
Did you notice that you have already started to anticipate what comes next in the second version?
Conclusion: It is easier to memorize rhyming poetry than to memorize prose.
So what implication does this have for learning a foreign language?
If you memorize well-written *modern* foreign language poetry, you can accelerate your learning curve. (Notice the keyword 'modern'.)
Poetry written in the 18th Century may have deep cultural and educational significance. However, words penned to page over 300 years ago will utilize obsolete vocabulary, spelling, and grammar formations.
As an example: consider the popular King James Version of the Bible. If you started using 'thee' and 'thou' in your daily speech, people would understand you - but they would treat you like an alien in a time warp.
You can search the internet for poetry written by contemporary authors. Try searches like:
parallel translation poetry
parallel translation poems
parallel translation poems German English
parallel translation poems French English
parallel translation poetry Italian English
parallel translation poetry Spanish English
Substitute search terms as necessary with the name of the specific language you are studying. Review the webpages you find with a tutor, professor, or knowledgeable person to determine grammar and vocabulary suitability.
Attempt to have the poetry dictated and recorded by a native language speaker. Softly recite the poetry while you listen to the recordings. This will improve your verbalization skills. With luck, you may find online audio for some of the poetry.
Are you a budding poet? Try creating foreign language poems yourself.
No poetic talent? Attempt the following simple approach. If you are learning German, for example, you might produce a 'poem' like this:
the dog - der Hund
the mouth - der Mund
the air - die Luft
the scent - der Duft
to buzz - summen
to growl - brummen
little - klein
clean - rein
to brood - grübeln
to iron - bügeln
You don't have to worry about grammar - just definitions, pronunciations, gender, and spelling. Alcor (alcor.com.au) has several rhyming dictionaries that can assist you with this process.
If you have an audio dictionary on your computer, listen carefully to the pronunciation of each word. There are also excellent online dictionaries with audio.
Now produce your own poetry recording using audio capture software.
- First, dictate each English word or phrase and save as an individual file.
- Next, save foreign language audio clips from your dictionary or from the internet.
- Now load your audio capture software and play the files in the correct order. Try to create short productions of a minute or two in duration.
- Edit if necessary to eliminate excessive pauses or add definite articles.
- Finally, convert to MP3 or WMA. Now you can use your iPod or portable media player for something besides music.
The 21st Century is a wonderful time to be learning a foreign language!
Unsupportive Leaders and Failing Teachers
Five crucial conversations drive educational excellence while preventing teacher burnout. The first two of those conversations are unsupportive leaders and failing teachers.
About the Author
David Maxfield is coauthor of the New York Times bestseller, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant, and leading researcher at VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance.
Five crucial conversations drive educational excellence while preventing teacher burnout. The first two of those conversations are:
UNSUPPORTIVE SCHOOL LEADERS
Most school principals and assistant principals are incredibly supportive. They work hard to remove obstacles, cut through red tape, and get teachers the resources they need. However, when one or more of those school leaders are not supportive, they create high levels of stress and prevent teachers from being as successful as they could be. Below is an example from our interviews:
“One of my assistant principals is very unsupportive. For example, when I send a student to his office due to behavior in class, he sends him back without telling me what action he’s taken. The student often escalates again and spends more time in the hallway by this assistant principal’s office. When I’ve discussed this with the assistant principal, he says, ‘You can assume I did my job.’”
Nearly two thirds of the teachers we surveyed reported having one or more school leaders who are unsupportive. That lack of support creates stress, makes teacher’s jobs more difficult, and threatens the morale of the entire staff.
But the problem isn’t just that teachers encounter unsupportive school leaders. The problem is made worse by how teachers handle that politically sensitive situation. According to the survey results:
* 50 percent of teachers say they discuss unsupportive leaders with friends and family.
* More than 66 percent share their concerns with fellow teachers.
* Only one in five share their full concerns with the unsupportive leader.
Those rare teachers who turn toward the fire and have the crucial conversation with their leader are twice as likely to get the support they need. And not surprisingly, they also end up significantly more satisfied with the work environment in their schools.
TEACHERS WHO ARE FAILING IN THEIR CLASSROOMS
Read More
Be sure to read all four parts of “Speak Up or Burn Out: Five Crucial Conversations that Drive Educational Excellence,” David Maxfield’s series on avoiding teacher burnout.
* Part 1: Running Toward the Fire
* Part 2: Unsupportive Leaders and Failing Teachers
* Part 3: Uncooperative Colleagues, Unsupportive Parents, and Students With Discipline Problems
* Part 4: A Few Tips to Get the Conversations Started
Teachers often are the first to know when one of their peers is failing in the classroom. They see or hear visible signs of conflict; they hear complaints from students and/or parents; and they often witness for themselves the poor teaching or classroom management behaviors. Below is an example from our interviews.
“For a year, I worked with a teacher who had retired from another state and had taken a position here to pad her retirement. She had no classroom management skills, rapport with the students, or direction with curriculum. It was a pretty bleak picture considering this was the career she had just retired from. I think she wanted the cake without having to do any of the cooking!”
More than three quarters of the teachers we surveyed reported having one or more peers who are failing in the classroom. Those teachers see the impacts of those failures, which include poor student learning, more work for other teachers, and increased stress for all.
But the vast majority of teachers run from this fire, not toward it. Only 13 percent have the crucial conversation and share their full concerns with the failing teacher.
We wondered whether some of the teachers who are not having that crucial conversation might be discussing the problem with a school leader instead. Maybe they’re counting on the school leader to correct the situation. We found that 35 percent of teachers refer the problem to a school leader and ask them to intervene. But only half of those school leaders follow up with the failing teacher.
The teachers who step up to the crucial conversation and resolve the problem with their failing peers are significantly more satisfied with their school, more committed to staying at the school, more engaged as teachers, and less cynical about the education process.
Learn more information on chicago style essay format and custom essay writing paper from ProfEssays.com. Professional custom essay writing company.
About the Author
David Maxfield is coauthor of the New York Times bestseller, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything. He is also a sought-after speaker and consultant, and leading researcher at VitalSmarts, an innovator in corporate training and organizational performance.
Five crucial conversations drive educational excellence while preventing teacher burnout. The first two of those conversations are:
UNSUPPORTIVE SCHOOL LEADERS
Most school principals and assistant principals are incredibly supportive. They work hard to remove obstacles, cut through red tape, and get teachers the resources they need. However, when one or more of those school leaders are not supportive, they create high levels of stress and prevent teachers from being as successful as they could be. Below is an example from our interviews:
“One of my assistant principals is very unsupportive. For example, when I send a student to his office due to behavior in class, he sends him back without telling me what action he’s taken. The student often escalates again and spends more time in the hallway by this assistant principal’s office. When I’ve discussed this with the assistant principal, he says, ‘You can assume I did my job.’”
Nearly two thirds of the teachers we surveyed reported having one or more school leaders who are unsupportive. That lack of support creates stress, makes teacher’s jobs more difficult, and threatens the morale of the entire staff.
But the problem isn’t just that teachers encounter unsupportive school leaders. The problem is made worse by how teachers handle that politically sensitive situation. According to the survey results:
* 50 percent of teachers say they discuss unsupportive leaders with friends and family.
* More than 66 percent share their concerns with fellow teachers.
* Only one in five share their full concerns with the unsupportive leader.
Those rare teachers who turn toward the fire and have the crucial conversation with their leader are twice as likely to get the support they need. And not surprisingly, they also end up significantly more satisfied with the work environment in their schools.
TEACHERS WHO ARE FAILING IN THEIR CLASSROOMS
Read More
Be sure to read all four parts of “Speak Up or Burn Out: Five Crucial Conversations that Drive Educational Excellence,” David Maxfield’s series on avoiding teacher burnout.
* Part 1: Running Toward the Fire
* Part 2: Unsupportive Leaders and Failing Teachers
* Part 3: Uncooperative Colleagues, Unsupportive Parents, and Students With Discipline Problems
* Part 4: A Few Tips to Get the Conversations Started
Teachers often are the first to know when one of their peers is failing in the classroom. They see or hear visible signs of conflict; they hear complaints from students and/or parents; and they often witness for themselves the poor teaching or classroom management behaviors. Below is an example from our interviews.
“For a year, I worked with a teacher who had retired from another state and had taken a position here to pad her retirement. She had no classroom management skills, rapport with the students, or direction with curriculum. It was a pretty bleak picture considering this was the career she had just retired from. I think she wanted the cake without having to do any of the cooking!”
More than three quarters of the teachers we surveyed reported having one or more peers who are failing in the classroom. Those teachers see the impacts of those failures, which include poor student learning, more work for other teachers, and increased stress for all.
But the vast majority of teachers run from this fire, not toward it. Only 13 percent have the crucial conversation and share their full concerns with the failing teacher.
We wondered whether some of the teachers who are not having that crucial conversation might be discussing the problem with a school leader instead. Maybe they’re counting on the school leader to correct the situation. We found that 35 percent of teachers refer the problem to a school leader and ask them to intervene. But only half of those school leaders follow up with the failing teacher.
The teachers who step up to the crucial conversation and resolve the problem with their failing peers are significantly more satisfied with their school, more committed to staying at the school, more engaged as teachers, and less cynical about the education process.
Learn more information on chicago style essay format and custom essay writing paper from ProfEssays.com. Professional custom essay writing company.
3 Steps Parents Can Take To Support Elementary Language Education In Their Communities
Many parents and teachers are concerned about cutbacks in funding for foreign language programs at the elementary school level. Is there anything a parent can do to support early childhood language education in their communities?
Yes! I recently attended a presentation given by Janis Jensen, the NJ Coordinator of World Languages and the President of the National Network for Early Language Learning. During her talk, she made these suggestions for parents and teachers who are being faced with potential cutbacks in their school's foreign language programs.
1. Be an advocate. Many of the teachers at the presentation agreed that active and vocal parents can play a very influential role (sometimes more than teachers) in convincing school boards to support funding for early language learning. Consider organizing concerned parents, and presenting a compelling case to the school board for maintaining adequate funding for early language learning. Sending articles to the local newspaper about the benefits of early language learning also can help generate support for funding language programs.
2. Stay informed. To make a case to administrators, you must clearly state the benefits of early foreign language education. Research has shown cognitive, academic, and social benefits to early language learning. Furthermore, the nation as a whole benefits from developing kids who have a global understanding and can communicate with people from other countries and cultures.
You can learn more by visiting the website of the National Network for Early Language Learning (http://www.NNELL.org).
If you are concerned that language programs in your school are being cut or are substandard, find out if your school is meeting state standards. You can find out more about your state's world languages standards by going to the Department of Education website for your state.
3. Consider alternatives. You may want your school to offer a great Spanish program, but keep in mind that the specific language offered is less important than the opportunity for the child to learn ANY foreign language.
Learn more information on chicago style essay format and custom essay writing paper from ProfEssays.com. Professional custom essay writing company.
Yes! I recently attended a presentation given by Janis Jensen, the NJ Coordinator of World Languages and the President of the National Network for Early Language Learning. During her talk, she made these suggestions for parents and teachers who are being faced with potential cutbacks in their school's foreign language programs.
1. Be an advocate. Many of the teachers at the presentation agreed that active and vocal parents can play a very influential role (sometimes more than teachers) in convincing school boards to support funding for early language learning. Consider organizing concerned parents, and presenting a compelling case to the school board for maintaining adequate funding for early language learning. Sending articles to the local newspaper about the benefits of early language learning also can help generate support for funding language programs.
2. Stay informed. To make a case to administrators, you must clearly state the benefits of early foreign language education. Research has shown cognitive, academic, and social benefits to early language learning. Furthermore, the nation as a whole benefits from developing kids who have a global understanding and can communicate with people from other countries and cultures.
You can learn more by visiting the website of the National Network for Early Language Learning (http://www.NNELL.org).
If you are concerned that language programs in your school are being cut or are substandard, find out if your school is meeting state standards. You can find out more about your state's world languages standards by going to the Department of Education website for your state.
3. Consider alternatives. You may want your school to offer a great Spanish program, but keep in mind that the specific language offered is less important than the opportunity for the child to learn ANY foreign language.
Learn more information on chicago style essay format and custom essay writing paper from ProfEssays.com. Professional custom essay writing company.
среда, 9 декабря 2009 г.
Characteristics of High School Learners
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:
1. Need to understand the purpose and relevance of instructional activities
2. Are both internally and externally motivated
3. Have self-imposed cognitive barriers due to years of academic failure and lack self-confidence
4. May have “shut down” in certain cognitive areas and will need to learn how to learn and overcome these barriers to learning
5. Want to establish immediate and long-term personal goals
6. 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:
1. Interested in co-educational activities
2. Desire adult leadership roles and autonomy in planning
3. Want adults to assume a chiefly support role in their education
4. Developing a community consciousness
5. Need opportunities for self-expression
High School Instructional Strategies
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 e.g., audio books or peer/parent readers, or behavioral problems, or the “Whatever… I don’t 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.” a.k.a. “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 aren’t in this class forever. As soon as you master your missing skills, you are out.”
Learn more information on romeo and juliet essay and custom essay writing paper from ProfEssays.com. Professional custom essay writing company.
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:
1. Need to understand the purpose and relevance of instructional activities
2. Are both internally and externally motivated
3. Have self-imposed cognitive barriers due to years of academic failure and lack self-confidence
4. May have “shut down” in certain cognitive areas and will need to learn how to learn and overcome these barriers to learning
5. Want to establish immediate and long-term personal goals
6. 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:
1. Interested in co-educational activities
2. Desire adult leadership roles and autonomy in planning
3. Want adults to assume a chiefly support role in their education
4. Developing a community consciousness
5. Need opportunities for self-expression
High School Instructional Strategies
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 e.g., audio books or peer/parent readers, or behavioral problems, or the “Whatever… I don’t 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.” a.k.a. “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 aren’t in this class forever. As soon as you master your missing skills, you are out.”
Learn more information on romeo and juliet essay and custom essay writing paper from ProfEssays.com. Professional custom essay writing company.
School Adopts Yoga For Wellness, Behavior Management
At first thought, teaching yoga to a high-risk school population might seem as incongruous as recruiting the chess team for Sumo wrestling.
Pre-K students practice
their yoga poses.
And while neither may sound like a good match, the principal of Jefferson Elementary School in Berwyn, Illinois, is crediting a school-wide yoga program for improving school climate, test scores, and student behavior.
“I’m not the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ anymore,” joked Jefferson principal Violet Tantillo, who described her student body as high-poverty and high-achieving. Since the yoga program began three years ago, discipline referrals have dropped dramatically, giving Tantillo more time to work with students and teachers for reasons other than meting out punishment.
“TAKE A YOGA BREATH”
Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years, and combines different poses, breathing techniques, and sometimes meditation to improve flexibility and reduce stress. Before yoga took hold at Jefferson, Tantillo, who is the sole administrator at the pre-K-to-grade 5 school, had long lines of students outside her office door almost every day after lunch. Many students were referred because of squabbles of the “he pushed me, she looked at me” variety. (The school does not have formal recess; some teachers find time to go outside for about eight minutes of play.) Either Tantillo or the classroom teachers had to sort out the daily disputes. “I was tired of just being a punisher,” Tantillo said. “While the teachers were handling the problems, they were losing instructional time,” she told Education World.
“When they are older, when a car cuts them off while they are driving, maybe instead of screaming out the window they will remember to breathe.”
The program at Jefferson began as voluntary for teachers, with professional development for staff members who wanted to participate. Students started doing yoga for 8 to 10 minutes a day after lunch. After one year, according to Tantillo, the number of discipline referrals, which are notes she sends home to parents, dropped from 254 to 200 and test scores increased as well. “I said it was not optional any more,” she said. Now even the pre-K students practice yoga and it is part of the school’s wellness program.
Typically, students return from lunch or recess and teachers dim the lights and the class spends 8 to 10 minutes practicing yoga. Teachers are encouraged to teach students one yoga pose per week. Since the school-wide yoga program started, discipline referrals have continued to drop -- Tantillo wrote only 132 this past school year -- and the climate of the school is much calmer. She often joins classes for their afternoon yoga. “We don’t have chronic kids [those who are discipline problems] any more,” she said. “It has made a huge difference in the culture of the school.”
Students who see a classmate struggling for control sometimes say, “Take a yoga breath,” or “Do a tree,” referring to a yoga position. “We now have a very peaceful, calming environment,” noted Tantillo, “all from eight to ten minutes a day.”
For the first time on a parent survey after the 2008-2009 school year, about 20 parents listed yoga as a strength of the school, she added.
Click here to see a video of students practicing yoga at Jefferson Elementary School.
YOGA, TEACHING IN THE FAMILY
Yoga came to Jefferson via another educator -- Carla Tantillo, Violet Tantillo’s daughter. A former high school teacher, Carla Tantillo introduced yoga to inner-city students when she was the curriculum director for a contract high school in Chicago. Carla Tantillo was earning her certification as a yoga instructor and decided to teach yoga to the students and some of the teachers. While initially some students were skeptical, the program became popular. “Yoga is not competitive and it’s not judged,” she said in explaining some of its appeal.
After Carla Tantillo left the contract school and was eating lunch with her mother one day, Violet Tantillo showed her an article about a school using yoga and suggested her daughter consider teaching yoga in schools. Carla wrote the curriculum during a summer and was able to sign up eight schools by 2006-2007. “Initially, I was doing it for free,” she said. “Then some principals said they would pay for it with grants because it was helping teachers and students.”
Carla Tantillo went on to start Mindful Practices, and she and her staff work with teachers and students -- including those at her mother’s school -- to use yoga for behavior management and relaxation. The company has worked with more than 60 schools and many teachers have benefited from learning yoga. “Teachers realize how their own stresses affect their performance,” said Carla Tantillo. “Teachers are more sensitive and compassionate with their students because they are more sensitive and compassionate with themselves.”
TEACHING INTRINSIC REWARDS
“Teachers realize how their own stresses affect their performance. Teachers are more sensitive and compassionate with their students because they are more sensitive and compassionate with themselves.”
Carla Tantillo also discourages teachers in the schools in which she works from using candy or small toys to reward students for good behavior, saying using yoga to control behavior has more long-term applications. In some schools, teachers “reward” students by letting them pick the day’s yoga pose. “They can use yoga to reflect on their behavior,” she said.
Her mother agrees. “I don’t do prizes,” Violet Tantillo said. “I don’t have a point system for rewards. I don’t have time for it. I much prefer yoga to handing out rewards. This way the strategy is embedded in their being. If a teacher says to them, ‘calm down and take a breath,’ they know what to do. When they are older, when a car cuts them off while they are driving, maybe instead of screaming out the window they will remember to breathe.”
While parents of some students at schools that teach yoga have objected to it, saying it is a religious-based practice, Violet Tantillo said only one parent asked that her child not participate. That student quietly reads while other students do yoga. When that issue has come up in other schools, Carla Tantillo said, she finds it is best to learn exactly what parents’ concerns are. In one school, changing the name from yoga to a Hornet Minute, naming it after the school mascot, made parents more comfortable.
MORE YOGA, PLEASE!
Yoga has proven so popular at Jefferson that the school started an afterschool program -- hip-hop yoga -- that combines hip-hop dance moves with yoga positions set to music. Students from Jefferson saw some high-school students performing hip-hop yoga, and a fifth grade boy asked a high school student why he did it. He replied that it kept him off the streets and away from gangs.
Yoga proved so popular at Jefferson
that an afterschool program was added.
So when Jefferson students begged for their own program, Violet Tantillo agreed to start one for fourth and fifth graders -- but stipulated that to participate in hip-hop yoga, students had to sign up for the afterschool A+ Math and Accelerated Reader programs. So many students registered for hip-hop yoga that the school had to add sections of Accelerated Reader and A+ Math. The students are doing so well in the program that some have been invited to perform at events such as the Taste of Chicago. Some students’ family members traveled from Honduras to see the performance.
Students also are active as yoga ambassadors. Some kids are teaching yoga to their parents and third graders taught yoga poses to members of the board of education. Yoga instructors also teach parents yoga positions at school wellness nights.
Violet Tantillo said she would not hesitate to recommend a yoga program to other schools, because of the minimal investment and what she hopes will be stress management strategies children can use for the rest of their lives. “We don’t have to buy prizes or banners,” she said. “And as an adult, if someone cuts you off on the road and you want to get angry, no one is going to be there to give you a prize if you don’t.”
Learn more information on romeo and juliet essay and custom essay writing paper from ProfEssays.com. Professional custom essay writing company.
Pre-K students practice
their yoga poses.
And while neither may sound like a good match, the principal of Jefferson Elementary School in Berwyn, Illinois, is crediting a school-wide yoga program for improving school climate, test scores, and student behavior.
“I’m not the ‘Wicked Witch of the West’ anymore,” joked Jefferson principal Violet Tantillo, who described her student body as high-poverty and high-achieving. Since the yoga program began three years ago, discipline referrals have dropped dramatically, giving Tantillo more time to work with students and teachers for reasons other than meting out punishment.
“TAKE A YOGA BREATH”
Yoga has been practiced for thousands of years, and combines different poses, breathing techniques, and sometimes meditation to improve flexibility and reduce stress. Before yoga took hold at Jefferson, Tantillo, who is the sole administrator at the pre-K-to-grade 5 school, had long lines of students outside her office door almost every day after lunch. Many students were referred because of squabbles of the “he pushed me, she looked at me” variety. (The school does not have formal recess; some teachers find time to go outside for about eight minutes of play.) Either Tantillo or the classroom teachers had to sort out the daily disputes. “I was tired of just being a punisher,” Tantillo said. “While the teachers were handling the problems, they were losing instructional time,” she told Education World.
“When they are older, when a car cuts them off while they are driving, maybe instead of screaming out the window they will remember to breathe.”
The program at Jefferson began as voluntary for teachers, with professional development for staff members who wanted to participate. Students started doing yoga for 8 to 10 minutes a day after lunch. After one year, according to Tantillo, the number of discipline referrals, which are notes she sends home to parents, dropped from 254 to 200 and test scores increased as well. “I said it was not optional any more,” she said. Now even the pre-K students practice yoga and it is part of the school’s wellness program.
Typically, students return from lunch or recess and teachers dim the lights and the class spends 8 to 10 minutes practicing yoga. Teachers are encouraged to teach students one yoga pose per week. Since the school-wide yoga program started, discipline referrals have continued to drop -- Tantillo wrote only 132 this past school year -- and the climate of the school is much calmer. She often joins classes for their afternoon yoga. “We don’t have chronic kids [those who are discipline problems] any more,” she said. “It has made a huge difference in the culture of the school.”
Students who see a classmate struggling for control sometimes say, “Take a yoga breath,” or “Do a tree,” referring to a yoga position. “We now have a very peaceful, calming environment,” noted Tantillo, “all from eight to ten minutes a day.”
For the first time on a parent survey after the 2008-2009 school year, about 20 parents listed yoga as a strength of the school, she added.
Click here to see a video of students practicing yoga at Jefferson Elementary School.
YOGA, TEACHING IN THE FAMILY
Yoga came to Jefferson via another educator -- Carla Tantillo, Violet Tantillo’s daughter. A former high school teacher, Carla Tantillo introduced yoga to inner-city students when she was the curriculum director for a contract high school in Chicago. Carla Tantillo was earning her certification as a yoga instructor and decided to teach yoga to the students and some of the teachers. While initially some students were skeptical, the program became popular. “Yoga is not competitive and it’s not judged,” she said in explaining some of its appeal.
After Carla Tantillo left the contract school and was eating lunch with her mother one day, Violet Tantillo showed her an article about a school using yoga and suggested her daughter consider teaching yoga in schools. Carla wrote the curriculum during a summer and was able to sign up eight schools by 2006-2007. “Initially, I was doing it for free,” she said. “Then some principals said they would pay for it with grants because it was helping teachers and students.”
Carla Tantillo went on to start Mindful Practices, and she and her staff work with teachers and students -- including those at her mother’s school -- to use yoga for behavior management and relaxation. The company has worked with more than 60 schools and many teachers have benefited from learning yoga. “Teachers realize how their own stresses affect their performance,” said Carla Tantillo. “Teachers are more sensitive and compassionate with their students because they are more sensitive and compassionate with themselves.”
TEACHING INTRINSIC REWARDS
“Teachers realize how their own stresses affect their performance. Teachers are more sensitive and compassionate with their students because they are more sensitive and compassionate with themselves.”
Carla Tantillo also discourages teachers in the schools in which she works from using candy or small toys to reward students for good behavior, saying using yoga to control behavior has more long-term applications. In some schools, teachers “reward” students by letting them pick the day’s yoga pose. “They can use yoga to reflect on their behavior,” she said.
Her mother agrees. “I don’t do prizes,” Violet Tantillo said. “I don’t have a point system for rewards. I don’t have time for it. I much prefer yoga to handing out rewards. This way the strategy is embedded in their being. If a teacher says to them, ‘calm down and take a breath,’ they know what to do. When they are older, when a car cuts them off while they are driving, maybe instead of screaming out the window they will remember to breathe.”
While parents of some students at schools that teach yoga have objected to it, saying it is a religious-based practice, Violet Tantillo said only one parent asked that her child not participate. That student quietly reads while other students do yoga. When that issue has come up in other schools, Carla Tantillo said, she finds it is best to learn exactly what parents’ concerns are. In one school, changing the name from yoga to a Hornet Minute, naming it after the school mascot, made parents more comfortable.
MORE YOGA, PLEASE!
Yoga has proven so popular at Jefferson that the school started an afterschool program -- hip-hop yoga -- that combines hip-hop dance moves with yoga positions set to music. Students from Jefferson saw some high-school students performing hip-hop yoga, and a fifth grade boy asked a high school student why he did it. He replied that it kept him off the streets and away from gangs.
Yoga proved so popular at Jefferson
that an afterschool program was added.
So when Jefferson students begged for their own program, Violet Tantillo agreed to start one for fourth and fifth graders -- but stipulated that to participate in hip-hop yoga, students had to sign up for the afterschool A+ Math and Accelerated Reader programs. So many students registered for hip-hop yoga that the school had to add sections of Accelerated Reader and A+ Math. The students are doing so well in the program that some have been invited to perform at events such as the Taste of Chicago. Some students’ family members traveled from Honduras to see the performance.
Students also are active as yoga ambassadors. Some kids are teaching yoga to their parents and third graders taught yoga poses to members of the board of education. Yoga instructors also teach parents yoga positions at school wellness nights.
Violet Tantillo said she would not hesitate to recommend a yoga program to other schools, because of the minimal investment and what she hopes will be stress management strategies children can use for the rest of their lives. “We don’t have to buy prizes or banners,” she said. “And as an adult, if someone cuts you off on the road and you want to get angry, no one is going to be there to give you a prize if you don’t.”
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Five Steps to Differentiating Spelling Instruction
Good teachers differentiate spelling instruction. They get outside of their spelling workbooks and challenge their students with un-mastered spelling patterns and words. But, how to differentiate spelling in a diverse classroom is the trick. Here is a classroom-tested plan that works with all grade levels.
1. Prepare
Select twenty grade-level spelling pattern words from either a spelling workbook, an encoding assessment that targets specific sound-spelling patterns, a spelling rules-based assessment, a list of commonly confused words, a list of non-phonetic outlaw words, or a list of high-frequency words. A visit to your educational bookstore or a quick web search should provide you with these resources for differentiating spelling.
2. Pre-test
Dictate the 15—20 words (depending upon grade level) in the traditional word-sentence-word format to all of your students. Have students self-correct from teacher dictation of letters in syllable chunks, marking dots below the correct letters, and marking an “X” through the numbers of any spelling errors. Even second graders can do this instructional activity!
3. Personalize
Students complete their own Personal Spelling List of 15—20 words (depending upon grade level) in this priority order:
Pretest Errors: Have the students copy up to ten of their pretest spelling errors onto their Personal Spelling List.
Posttest Errors: Have students add on up to five spelling errors from last week’s spelling posttest.
Writing Errors: Have students add on up to five teacher-corrected spelling errors found in student writing. Oops…this commits you to mark strategic spelling errors in your students’ writing—an essential component of improving student spelling.
Supplemental Spelling Lists for Differentiating Spelling:
Outlaw Words
High Frequency Spelling Words
Most Often Misspelled Words
Commonly Confused Words (Homonyms)
But, how do the students select the right words from the supplemental lists?
Parents can be integral partners in helping their children select appropriate words for the Personal Spelling List. After completing the weekly Personal Spelling List, the student must secure a parent signature on the list to verify that each of the selected words is an unknown spelling for the student. This is to prevent students from writing down words already part of the student’s conventional spelling word bank.
Early in the school year it is a good idea to send home a parent letter explaining the role of the parent in differentiating spelling instruction. Parents can pretest their son or daughter on the words from the appendices a little at a time to determine which words are un-mastered and need to be included as part of the weekly Personal Spelling List. For those parents who will not complete the pre-assessments, the teacher can have a parent, instructional aide, or another student complete the pretests.
4. Practice
Students practice their weekly spelling words on the Personal Spelling List by writing context clue sentences or short stories, using each of the spelling words. Spelling sorts by identifiable patterns provide wonderful practice. Suggest vowel sound, number of syllables, alphabetical order, parts of speech, words with prefixes, words with suffixes, words with base words as sorting criteria.
5. Post-test
Students take out a piece of binder paper and find a partner to exchange dictation of the Personal Spelling List words. Have one student complete the entire dictation of the list prior to having the other student dictate. But, you may be thinking…what if they cheat? For the few who cheat…It would be a shame to stop differentiating spelling instruction for the many to cater to a few. Truly, they are only cheating themselves. After completing the spelling posttest, students turn in their post-tests for the teacher to grade.
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1. Prepare
Select twenty grade-level spelling pattern words from either a spelling workbook, an encoding assessment that targets specific sound-spelling patterns, a spelling rules-based assessment, a list of commonly confused words, a list of non-phonetic outlaw words, or a list of high-frequency words. A visit to your educational bookstore or a quick web search should provide you with these resources for differentiating spelling.
2. Pre-test
Dictate the 15—20 words (depending upon grade level) in the traditional word-sentence-word format to all of your students. Have students self-correct from teacher dictation of letters in syllable chunks, marking dots below the correct letters, and marking an “X” through the numbers of any spelling errors. Even second graders can do this instructional activity!
3. Personalize
Students complete their own Personal Spelling List of 15—20 words (depending upon grade level) in this priority order:
Pretest Errors: Have the students copy up to ten of their pretest spelling errors onto their Personal Spelling List.
Posttest Errors: Have students add on up to five spelling errors from last week’s spelling posttest.
Writing Errors: Have students add on up to five teacher-corrected spelling errors found in student writing. Oops…this commits you to mark strategic spelling errors in your students’ writing—an essential component of improving student spelling.
Supplemental Spelling Lists for Differentiating Spelling:
Outlaw Words
High Frequency Spelling Words
Most Often Misspelled Words
Commonly Confused Words (Homonyms)
But, how do the students select the right words from the supplemental lists?
Parents can be integral partners in helping their children select appropriate words for the Personal Spelling List. After completing the weekly Personal Spelling List, the student must secure a parent signature on the list to verify that each of the selected words is an unknown spelling for the student. This is to prevent students from writing down words already part of the student’s conventional spelling word bank.
Early in the school year it is a good idea to send home a parent letter explaining the role of the parent in differentiating spelling instruction. Parents can pretest their son or daughter on the words from the appendices a little at a time to determine which words are un-mastered and need to be included as part of the weekly Personal Spelling List. For those parents who will not complete the pre-assessments, the teacher can have a parent, instructional aide, or another student complete the pretests.
4. Practice
Students practice their weekly spelling words on the Personal Spelling List by writing context clue sentences or short stories, using each of the spelling words. Spelling sorts by identifiable patterns provide wonderful practice. Suggest vowel sound, number of syllables, alphabetical order, parts of speech, words with prefixes, words with suffixes, words with base words as sorting criteria.
5. Post-test
Students take out a piece of binder paper and find a partner to exchange dictation of the Personal Spelling List words. Have one student complete the entire dictation of the list prior to having the other student dictate. But, you may be thinking…what if they cheat? For the few who cheat…It would be a shame to stop differentiating spelling instruction for the many to cater to a few. Truly, they are only cheating themselves. After completing the spelling posttest, students turn in their post-tests for the teacher to grade.
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