Image Credit: calibermag.orgThe other day, one of my friends told me he’d gotten ten minutes of sleep the previous night.
Something isn’t right. It’s not that I don’t understand the necessity of homework. In fact, I think it’s crucial to reinforce what was taught in class. However, a seemingly reasonable amount of homework for a single class quickly becomes excessive when multiplied by six or seven. Then add practice, rehearsal, clubs, or even just time spent eating and driving into the mix and it’s easy to see why kids are overworked and under-rested. After a point, valuable reinforcement becomes tedious and counterproductive. From a school’s perspective, I see why homework is valuable. I also see that it teaches hard work and efficiency. And I understand that there might not be enough time in the school day to satisfactorily fulfill curricular requirements. Sure, some all-nighters could’ve been prevented with better planning on the part of the student. But why? Why give students all this stress? Why force them to work constantly from the moment they get home in order to finish at a reasonable time? Any student will tell you that the pressure is on to do more; more AP classes, more extracurriculars, more community service, more everything. Any student will tell you, in a twisted form of bragging, how late they were up last night working on homework. The more I think about it, the more I wonder why we need to work around the clock, why we don’t get to have a life outside of school. It would take some ingenuity in order to reach a balance, but the well-being and happiness of students is worth it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about learning, it’s that it can and should be enjoyable. However, one must be motivated and inspired to do it. Overloading students with work fails to accomplish this.
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After having completed four lessons with my string buddy, I feel as though I’ve grown greatly. Even in a short amount of time, I’ve become more confident and more communicative in my teaching. Part of it, I believe, is growing more comfortable around the student. Being comfortable with one’s student(s) is crucial. It’s important to feel comfortable giving both positive and negative feedback on the student’s playing. Pupils should feel good about a job well done, but they shouldn’t be able to get away with bad posture or mistakes in intonation. Communication is essential to effective teaching. It’s taken some time to learn how to translate musical concepts into layman’s terms, especially when it comes to technique. However, with the patience of my student, communication has greatly improved. Now that a large concert has passed, we’ve had some time to play around with non-school music. I’ve tried to give my pupil some choice in the matter, as well as pick pieces that will help with note reading. Note reading is an essential skill for any musician, and I’m trying to give my student a strong basis in it before she moves on. I’ve given her flashcards and had her write or say note names above new pieces. Bye! Image Credit: cathedralofhope.orgIt’s all too easy to stay within one’s comfort zone. After all, it’s there for a reason; to keep us safe. Oftentimes, discomfort is our brain warning us of a potentially unsafe situation. Fear has kept humans thriving for millennia, but there’s a difference between safety and inhibition. When fear and discomfort is limiting your life and growth as a person, it’s time to take steps forward. This year has been a year of pushing myself to try new things. It’s not easy; on some days, even talking to one person is challenging. As a whole, I'm pushing myself to take risks. This includes taking challenging classes, socializing with new people, and auditioning for select ensembles. I've received mixed results, but I've found that constantly pushing and challenging myself is rewarding in itself. Along the way, I’ve become more resilient, diligent, and efficient in my work. However, this doesn't mean I've always been successful. I've dealt with failures, some more defeating than others. I'm still figuring out how to move on and accept my mistakes. Hopefully, I'll get to a point where I can look back and feel proud about what I've accomplished, both internally and externally. How do you motivate yourself to improve? How do you handle defeat? I'd love to know. Bye! I started playing the cello in fifth grade, because my school’s Fifth Grade Strings program made starting an instrument easy and accessible. The highlight of the year was when our high school “string buddies” offered us several free private lessons. Private lessons give beginning musicians individualized attention on both technical and musical skills, as well as confidence and accountability. In short, lessons are a fantastic thing to take. However, they can be expensive, and families might not be willing or able to fund their child’s new interest. Free lessons provide young musicians with a low-commitment trial. The experience is also useful to their high school instructor, as it requires them to be patient and understanding. It also forces the teacher to explain concepts and break down technical skills into small steps. This in turn makes them think about their own technique, causing them to break their own bad habits. I’m proud to be continuing this tradition. Last year was my first time as a “String Buddy”. I found that I needed to be more proactive when scheduling lessons and more prepared with supplementary music. In the few lessons I taught, I learned to think quickly and be patient. I teach my first lesson this weekend and I hope that it’ll go even better this year! Here's a short video lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz2PL3-1wA0 Image Credit: myorch.orgQuadrant learning is the concept that there are several degrees of learning something. These can be plotted along a graph, with four quadrants; A, B, C, and D. A is acquisition, or rote memorization of facts. B is application, or using the knowledge to solve problems. C is assimilation, meaning students can create unique work and solve complex problems. The highest level, and most desirable is D, or adaptation. In quadrant D, the student can create new material and apply their knowledge to completely new situations. Quadrant D relies on high comprehension and demonstration. Studying this philosophy led to me thinking about my own classes. Am I learning in quadrant A, B, C, or D? For instance, my history class requires consuming large volumes of information only to regurgitate it the following day. Besides the frequent quizzes, there are few opportunities to apply the information. I’d say the class is primarily in quadrant A. This theory also can help educators when planning courses. How can one teach the material in a way that allows opportunity for application in a variety of contexts? Below, I've added a chart that explains the concept in an easy to understand way. What do you think of quadrant learning? How do your classes fall on the graph? Finally, here is a link with more information on quadrant learning. http://teacher.scholastic.com/products/scholastic-achievement-partners/downloads/Living_In_Quadrant_D.pdf Bye! IMage Credit: https://khspd12.wikispaces.com/ After a long day of school, the last thing that many kids want to do is sit down and study. However, it's important to develop good habits, so that homework can be finished as efficiently as possible. For me, a crucial aspect to maintaining focus is creating an environment that minimizes distraction. Music plays a large part in helping me think. Avoid anything too loud or fast, and try and find stuff without lyrics-- classical music works well. Below, I've embedded one of my favorite playlists. If classical isn't your thing, bands such as Radical Face have ambient, calming music. Another thing that is important is location. Sitting at desk or table helps me because it keeps me awake. Additionally, it trains one's body to associate sitting up with studying. Avoid studying on you bed. Not only is it easy to fall asleep while studying, but it can also make it harder to fall asleep later! Try and find a room of the house without a whole lot of activity. Be careful about working in a place with lots of stuff in it. It's all too easy to get distracted by books or other gadgets lying about. As hard as it is, please distance yourself from your phone! At the very least, put it on silent and move it away from your desk. It's easy to get sucked into a world of social media and texting. Do yourself a favor and remove the distractions before you're derailed. Hopefully, these tips will help you stay focused and get your homework done quicker. Good Luck! I can't tell you how many times I've labored away at pages of notes, only to find them disorganized and illegible. It's important that one's notes are easy to review, both for upcoming tests and for cumulative exams. I'm still working on making my notes easy to read, but I've come up with strategies that have made note taking faster and more efficient.
First off, outlining. The outline's structure will vary from book to book, but most have headings, sub-headings, main points, and supporting details. I like to use colorful highlighter for distinguish different sections. I find that this breaks up the page, making it easier to read. I also find it easier to find and review specific sections. Within each section, I summarize a paragraph or so into a main idea such as "Mexica society was rigidly hierarchical and exalted warrior class." Don't worry about complete sentences. Instead, summarize ideas in a way that makes sense to you. Finally, details should support the main idea and be more factual in nature, such as statistics, definitions, and names. Underlining names and places helps me find information on a specific person much quicker. One of the most helpful tips I've been given is "You aren't rewriting the textbook." Remember, notes distill information as much as possible. Keep this in mind while note-taking. Notes should jog your memory and provide you with essential facts. You can use them to create a study guide or questions. For example, say there are three paragraphs describing the mechanics of the Byzantine "theme" system. Try cutting it down to the basics: - theme = imperial province - run by general who recruited army from peasant class - peasants recieved land in return ---> strengthened economy It takes time to strike a balance between brevity and comprehensiveness. I'm still working on it myself! However, I hope this gave you some tips on good notes. Next time, I'll discuss creating a productive study environment. Bye! AP World is one of many classes that requires an obscene amount of reading and note-taking. It might seem like a daunting task to do thirty pages of reading in a night, but by dividing up the work and taking efficient notes, writing and studying will be much more achievable. Start off by dividing your chapter in segments between ten and fifteen pages. Try and keep them roughly the same size, and end before a large heading. Even if you're doing all your work in one night, dividing up the chapter makes the work more manageable by building in opportunities for breaks and adding variety. To keep myself on track, I like to set timers. I've embedded one below! By allotting specific amounts of time for tasks, I find I'm less likely to get off track. Even if I do get distracted, a timer reminds me of how long the specific assignment is taking. Try and work in thirty minute chunks of time, with timed two to three minute breaks. During the breaks, try and move a bit. I wouldn't recommend getting on your phone, simply because it's easy to get distracted. Here's the schedule I use for AP World notes: 20 min: read through first segment 2 min break 30-40 min: take notes 3 min break 20 min: read through second segment 2 min break 30-40 min: take notes Keep going until all sections are finished. I try and plan it out so that I only have to do one or two segments a night, but even if I have to do the entire chapter, it's so much easier to do it in parts. In the next part, I'll cover outlining and note-taking strategies. Bye! |
AuthorMegan. Student. I wrote this. Archives
April 2015
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