How Social Media makes Social Learning more Effective in Douglas County

Social learning has around since the 1970’s when Albert Bandura suggested that learning is a social activity. Social learning theory postulates that learning occurs when students observe behaviors and mimic them. This includes the observation of rewards and punishments for behaviors. When harnessing this theory to effect change in the classroom, teachers can use social media to create a wider conversation and include other influential players. If used correctly, social media can be a real asset when teaching through social learning.

As parents you have already experienced social learning as your young students mimic your behavior and learn from your actions. Now with social media, you can augment the social learning opportunities at home and in the classroom by introducing your students to a wider audience of influencers.

What this means is that our educators and tutors are still mentors and models, but they are required to relinquish some of their authority to the community of learners as students learn from each other. With social media, this community is not restricted to the students in the classroom, but can also include students from around the world and all the resources that the Internet makes available. Now we have an entire network of teachers, tutors and learners all contributing to our body of knowledge and sharing their experiences.

While social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest can provide a wealth of learning opportunities, they can also serve as distractions that eat up an enormous amount of time without contributing anything to your student’s body of knowledge. This means that social media can be a blessing or a curse and needs to be managed effective to achieve the desired results. Teachers and tutors need to outline lesson plans, goals and guidelines to direct social media actions and continually enforce these guidelines to add a structure to social media interactions. Social media is a wonderful tool to use in social learning, but it must be structured in order to be effective.

Students learn more when there is a human connection to their content. This means that they are more likely to remember an exciting video on a lab experiment than if they read the experiment in a text book. Social media makes this possible as students can watch videos of scientific experiments on YouTube and discuss them with other students in forum portals.

Social media also caters for all learning styles thanks to its multi-media capabilities. Students can talk to other learners, tutors and teachers, read blogs, watch videos and study graphics. No matter what kind of style your student responds to, they are bound to find the information they are looking for in a format they like. Social media also caters to students with different learning speeds. The faster they learn, the more there is for them to discover. Students who work quickly have an endless wealth of resources to explore on the internet.

Social media gives active learners the opportunity to explore and discover. They can work as fast or as slowly as they like and interact with their community and with the information in a format that suits them best.

Are Sports Good for Your Student?

Sports can be a contentious issue, especially with students who don’t wish to participate. If you are wondering whether to persist, the answer is definitely yes. Sports help to hone motor skills, they instill confidence and help students develop physically. Exercise helps to develop healthy lifestyles and keeps childhood obesity at bay. Sports also teach a number of healthy social skills like teamwork, practice and discipline.

Benefits of sports
Childhood obesity is growing as our society becomes increasingly sedentary. Video games, computers and TV keep us stationary and prevent healthy activities which help to keep weight down. Sporting activities help to get students outside and moving. Find a sport that suits your student. There is so much to choose from and if the school sports don’t interest them, opt for out of school choices like archery or diving.

Does your Student want to quit?
US research found 70% of students who play sports quit by the time they are 13 because it is no longer fun. There are various reasons for this including too much pressure from parents or coaches, poor relationship with teammates, academic pressure and body image issues. You can encourage your student to stay by finding solutions to their problems. Perhaps you need to back off a little, or find a team outside of school if the coach or other players aren’t getting along with your student. Students play sport to have fun and spend time with their friends so winning shouldn’t be the focus.

Be a good example
The best way to get your students involved in sports is to be involved yourself. Being a good example will help to encourage your students to be active. You should also be a good example when it comes to the social skills that sports teach. This means that you should always be fair, be a good sport and treat authority figures like teachers, umpires and coaches with respect. Instill good sportsmanship in your students and teach them to be a team player.
Bob Cook from Forbes Magazine says the key to enjoying your student’s sporting activities is to not care about the outcome of the game: “I didn’t care whether what was happening on the field would affect my daughter’s future prospects as a softball player. None of it mattered — and, as a result, I am enjoying the sports parent experience so much more.” Cook says the key to sporting success as a family is to be supportive and enthusiastic, but not to stress yourself or your kids out.

Discipline
If your students want to succeed in life, they will have to be disciplined. Discipline will help them to stay dedicated to their goals and give them the strength to work hard. Discipline will help them to overcome adversity and get them through tough times. This means that you have to be a good example when it comes to discipline and encourage them to go to sports practice regularly.

Enroll your students in a sporting activity today and they will reap many benefits both physical and emotional. Allow them to develop at their own pace and don’t put too much pressure on them. Find a sporting activity that they enjoy and excel at to help build confidence and be a great example.

7 ACT Test Strategies that Work

The ACT is a daunting test and the outcome has serious consequences for every student. While there is no substitute for working hard, you can optimize your chances of succeeding in the ACT test by learning strategies for answering questions effectively. Learning to navigate the landscape of an ACT will ensure that you get the best possible results.

Practice makes perfect

Practice tests are available online for you to try. Practice subject tests prior to writing your ACT test in order to familiarize yourself with the way questions are asked. You should also study the instructions for each subject test prior to writing. Since time is such an important factor in your ACT test, knowing the instructions beforehand means you won’t waste time reading them more than once during the exam.

Prioritize your questions

Read through the questions before you start writing. Order them from easiest to hardest and start with the easy ones. Getting the easy points done is a great way to ensure the best score. Doing the easy questions first will also help to build your confidence and get you in the right headspace to take on the more difficult questions.

Shake it off and move on

If you get to a question you just can’t find an answer to, move on. Don’t waste any time getting bogged down on difficult questions. You can come back to it if you need to at a later stage. As you are working through questions, make notes in the margins. You don’t need to hand in a pristine paper, use every inch of paper to make notes and jot down thoughts. That way, when you come back to the difficult questions, you can see what you were working on before.

Don’t know the answer? Guess!

Never leave an answer blank. The ACT test doesn’t penalize you for incorrect answers, so taking a guess may just render the right answer.

Bubbling with care

Take great care when bubbling. It’s easy to accidentally colour in the wrong bubble even when you have the right answer. While you may be working through the answer quickly, double check that you have filled in the right bubble. It’s best to get a couple of answers ready and then fill the bubbles in at the same time to make it faster. Ensure absolute accuracy by saying the question number and the answer in your head as you fill out the bubble grid: “24, F and 25, C.”

Take it easy

This may sound like the worst idea ever when time is such a crucial factor in a successful ACT test, but taking the time to read questions carefully will prevent misinterpretation. Some answers will try to trick you and if you rush through, you will fall victim to these partially right answers.

Stay positive

Adopting a defeatist attitude will result in a poor test score. Tell yourself you can do it, take a deep breath and start with the easy questions so that you can build on your confidence before tackling the more difficult ones.

How to Choose the Right Tutor for your Student

Struggling academically or doing a little extra tutoring to bring up a grade point average is a natural part of growing up. Most students need a little extra help from time to time and getting a professional in-home tutor is the best choice for improving grades. One-on-one tutoring will mean that your student gets the all the help they need. There are so many benefits to tutoring, but you must find the right tutor to suit your student in order to for them to get the best out of the situation.

Benefits of tutors

• Tutors are able to identify the gaps in your student’s knowledge and fill in the building blocks for them.
• Tutors focus on teaching the skills your students need to excel, rather than just disseminating information.
• Each student has a learning style. Tutors are able to identify the learning styles of each student and then present information in ways that your student understands.
• The one-on-one tutoring gives your student the opportunity to answer without fear of embarrassment which helps them to build confidence and improves performance.
• Tutors teach students study methods that work for them. They can help students to study for exams and tests, help with homework, help them to effectively manage their time and compile study schedules that leave enough time to study for each subject.
• In-home tutors come to you and fit in with your schedule, so you aren’t inconvenienced.
• Confidence gained through tutoring will help reduce the anxiety your student feels in academic situations.

Choosing the right tutor
Start by talking with your student and their teacher. This will help you to ascertain exactly what difficulties your student is having. Knowing exactly what the problem is will help you to find a tutor that is the right fit.
The success of a tutoring program depends on your student, so get their opinions and input so that they are part of the process.
Once you have established your student’s needs, contact your local Tutor Doctor for a list of tutors in your area. Ensure that the tutors have the right qualifications to teach your student. Ask about their experience levels and what experience they have with the grade your student is in and the kinds of problems they are having.
Work with your student, teachers and tutor to set very clear goals. Ensure that the academic goals are realistic and achievable.
If the tutor isn’t a good fit for your student, feel free to ask for a different tutor. Getting the right tutor will exponentially improve your student’s performance.
In-home tutors are able to give your student their undivided attention, but there are alternatives like extra classes which are given at the tutoring center, online courses or phone tutoring which reduce the costs of tutoring for families.

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Environmentally Friendly: Making your School Greener and Leaner

Greening your school carries a wealth of benefits; not only do you educate your students about the environment, why we should preserve it and how to do so, but creating a green school makes for a healthier school environment and saves on costs. Spending less on utility bills and materials will mean more money for cash-strapped schools.

Dealing with waste

Recycling can help to reduce the amount of waste that your school sends to the landfill. When you recycle large volumes of paper, glass and cans, you can get paid for your recycling efforts. Adding another source of income to your coffers while reducing your waste is an excellent way to go green.

Compost your vegetable waste and create a valuable resource for your own gardens. You can also provide parents with compost or donate compost to your local community garden.

Conserve

Make your school as paper-free as possible and print on both sides when you need to make hard copies. Switching to electronics like tablets will carry high initial costs, but you will have an excellent return on investment as you will not have to buy books or print out notes.

Turn out lights when you are not using a room. Use motion-sensitive lights at night rather than leaving lights on for security reasons and try to reduce energy and water consumption wherever possible.

Community Garden

This is a great way to get a source of locally grown, carbon footprint-free food. If you avoid pesticides and use the compost you create from your vegetable waste, you can grow organic fruits and vegetables too. Community gardening can really teach students about healthy eating, nutrition and the biology of flora. They will be more enthusiastic about eating salads and vegetables if they have grown the produce themselves.

Cleaning products

Use vinegar and water to clean windows and other surfaces. Vinegar is a great antibacterial and can be used to create great cleaning products (see more here) that are healthier too. When you use chemical cleaning products, they leave a residue which then releases harmful toxic fumes and makes your school’s indoor air unhealthy for students.

Rainwater collection

Use rain barrels on downspouts to collect valuable rain water which can then be used for cleaning and in your gardens. Reservoirs on rooftops can be utilized for flushing toilets too.

Get moving

Ask students to opt for greener ways to get to school like walking or riding bikes. This will also help you to get your students moving. In inclement weather or for students who live far away, the bus, train or carpooling will help to reduce the carbon footprint of their commute.

Green your scene

Plant trees to mitigate carbon footprints, put plants inside classrooms to improve the air quality and create large outdoor gardens. When making a garden, use indigenous varieties of plants that are accustomed to the local conditions and require little additional care or watering. Avoid lawns by using lawn alternatives. These lawn alternatives will reduce the carbon footprint of moving and reduce the need for watering while providing lush, green ground covering. 

Help your Student to Fit In at School

Of course you want your student to be an individual who is not a slave to peer pressure, but a sense of belonging is essential to the health and wellbeing of every student. If your student feels like they don’t fit in, there are ways in which you can encourage greater social interaction so that they feel part of a group and enjoy a happy social life. Students who do have a healthy social circle will do better academically.

A sense of self-worth

Foster a sense of self-identity in your student by providing positive reinforcement. Focus on their strengths and encourage them to find an identity through what they wear and what they think. Teach them that being generous and kind to everyone, regardless of the clique or group they come from, is the best way to make friends.

Active listening

As students mature, they may be going through difficult social situations or bullying without telling you because they fear your involvement. Often students don’t want advice or are afraid that you will take action that will embarrass them. Instead, practice active listening — listen to your students without offering advice or criticizing. Instead, try phrases like: “It sounds like you had a really bad day…”, “I’m so sorry that that happened to you…” or “I hear what you are saying…” Active listening is a great way to get your student to communicate; you can monitor the situation to see if they are experiencing any bullying or if they are managing on their own. Establishing communications can be really tricky with older students, so persevere. If your students ask for advice, be constructive rather than critical. Active listening is really challenging for parents as they want to make things better. Instead you have to separate your needs from what your student needs. Establishing a connection is more important so that your student will turn to you when they are in real trouble or in need of help. Resist the urge to solve problems or dispense advice in favor of creating connections.

Check in with teachers

If you notice a change in your student’s behavior or circle of friends, check in with their teachers to see if they are doing ok. Teachers and councilors can help you get an insight into events at school and how best to deal with them. Periods of not fitting in socially are completely normal. Perhaps your student has changed grades or schools or maybe they have had a falling out with their clique. Learning to deal with these changes and learning to fit in are all part of growing up. It’s difficult for parents because they often have insights they want to share or solutions to their student’s problems and they have a natural desire to want to help their children. It’s important to maintain a connection with your students, so often you will have to listen to them and resist the urge to get involved. That way, when they really need help, they know they can come to you and are more likely to do so.