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Teachers
Children Appreciate Parents' Interest in their Homework
by James Windell
I was talking recently with a classroom of language arts students at a local middle school.
The topic was a column of mine about parents monitoring homework and checking school assignments.
I anticipated that middle-school students would be opposed to parental supervision when it came to homework. Twelve-and 13-year-old sixth graders, I anticipated, would feel they needed more independence and less "mothering" by their parents.
But I was wrong.
Instead, I heard from these sixth-graders that they appreciated it when their parents were there checking up on them. These kids were in complete agreement that they needed parents who asked to see their work.
"My mother won't let me watch television or play games until my homework is finished." one boy said.
A girl said it was important that her mother was strict about her getting her schoolwork done first before anything else.
"I think it means she really cares about me and how I'm going at school," she remarked.
Other students echoed these tow middle-schoolers. Each confirmed it is helpful knowing parents would monitor their school assignments and make sure they ere done.
A boy said he had lower grad3es until his parents began closely monitoring his homework. Since then, he told the class, his grades have shot up.
A couple of students acknowledged they were responsible about getting their homework done on their own without much parental supervision, but most said supervision was necessary and helpful.
I was surprised and pleased by the maturity and insight these young people displayed. They recognized that without parental assistance they might waste time or spend more after school hours playing with less time devoted to studying.
Rather than being angry with their parents, they showed appreciation and respect.
I was thinking as I listened to these kids that parents needed to hear this, too. Particularly those parents who don't supervise and checkup enough.
Taking a laissez-faire approach these days doesn't work every well for many children. The reason has to do with the changes in family life in the last few decades. Parents aren't spending enough time at home, don't actually live at home with their children or, because of long work hours, spend too little time interacting with their children.
As a result, many children don't have the caring concern, the high expectations and the time-consuming supervision they need. This certainly applies to schoolwork as well as to various other aspects of chidren's lives
Children need supervision and monitoring. This is especially true when it comes to learning. Recent studies confirm what many parents - and apparently a a good many sixth-graders - intuitively know: Involved parents make a difference.
As I left that middle school, I wished more parents had the opportunity to hear students talk about the appreciation they felt for their parents'' efforts to monitor their schoolwork.
Maybe, I thought, if they heard kids say this, then more parents would actually be consistent at checking up on their kid's schoolwork.
Children do Better in School when Parents Expect Success
by James Windell
Melissa shoved a piece pf paper in front of her mother during breakfast.
"Can you sign this?" Melissa asked. "I have to take it back today."
"What is it?" her mother asked.
"It's just a progress report for science," Melissa said nonchalantly.
"Well, let me read it first," her mother replied.
As she looked over her daughter's progress report, the mother started to frown.
"Melissa," her mother said when she was finished looking over the report, "this says that your grade has fallen to a C. You used to have an A in science."
"I know," Melissa said.
"So what happened?"
"Nothing, I just had some homework that was late," Melissa said.
"It says here that here have been six late or missing homework assignments," her mother said. "Why were those late or not turned in?"
Melissa was shifting uncomfortably in her chair. "It slipped my mind," she said softly.
"No it didn't," her mother said. "You don't have memory problems. You're 12 years old and I thought I could trust you to do your homework and get it in on time. Now something has changed. What is it?"
"I just don't know," Melissa insisted.
"When I ask if you have your homework done," her mother said, "you always say yes. So, have you been lying tome?"
"Well, not really," Melissa said weakly. "I mean, I try to get my homework done. I guess I just don't have enough time."
"That's easy enough to fix," her mother said. "There'll be no television or video games until all of your homework is done and you've shown it to me or your father.
"Furthermore, we haven't been checking your assignment book. Now you're going to have to show that to us every night."
By this point, Melissa had tears in her eyes and she was just staring at her cereal bow.
"I'm sorry,' she mumbled.
"No, don't be sorry," her mother said sternly. "This isn't about being sorry. This is about not living up to your responsibilities. We've given you lots of independence to do your homework. You've done well up to now. But a C in science isn't a Melissa grade. This is not something your dad and I expect from you. We want you to be responsible, get your work done o time, and get it turned in on the day it is due. Is this understood?"
"Yes," Melissa said.
"OK, starting tonight, you'll bring home your assignment book," said her mother. "You'' show it to your dad or myself, and we'll check your assignments before you watch TV or platy. Is that clear?"
"Yes," Melissa said.
They both got up, cleared the dishes from breakfast and finished getting ready ot leave for the day.
At he door, Melissa and her mom embraced and her mother whispered, "I love you."
Melissa is a lucky child. She has a mother who deeply cares how she performs in school.
Furthermore, she states her expectations in clear ways. And she will not accept excuses when expectations are not met.
Research show that children are likely to do better in school when their parents are highly involved in making sure schoolwork is completed.
In Melissa's case, there is a high probability she will do well in school, because school success is a top priority.
There are Many Reasons Teens are Underachievers
by James Windell
If you have a teenager who's unmotivated to succeed in school, what do you do?
This is a question that perplexes many parents. When a teenager's schoolwork declines during high school, parents often tyry to take a get-tough approach - often with mixed results.
The lack of motivation is usually evident through inconsistent schoolwork; disorganization and poor study habits; a lack of concentration; and too much time spent talking with friends in class or day-dreaming.
such teens, when confronted about their lack of attention to schoolwork or their low grades, frequently complain that school is boring, that classes hold little interest for them or that they don't care about low grades.
There are several reasons this can happen. For one, tens who are underachievers many have unrealistic goals and unrealistic methods of achieving those goals. For instance, they may say they want a good job that pays a lot of money, but they have unrealistic plans for getting such a job.
Other teenagers may lack persistence and quit at the first signs of challenge. With the greater difficulty of the work in high school, they may feel overwhelmed and approach the problem by giving up.
Other adolescents who are underachievers may be socially isolated or choose friends who also are bored and underachieving. Still others are in the throes of becoming independent and seek freedom by rejecting everything their parents stand for , including a good education and hard work.
Despite their outward appearance of toughness or indifference, many underachieving teens are frightened by their own incompetence. Because they can't achieve what they want, they reject conventional ways of achieving. As a result, when parents try rewards and motivational tactics, they find they don't work.
What should a parent do?
Sometimes the best strategy is to do nothing. Some research show that by the time some underachievers reach their late 20s, they have straightened themselves out and become successful in careers.
However, this is only likely to be true if as a parent you are well educated and if your teenager has high expectations for him - or herself as a student.
For most parents, a better strategy is to adopt an attitude of support and caring. Let tens know you understand school is difficult and find out if they feel like you're on their case too much about school. You shouldn't necessarily expect open and honest answers the first time you try this, but you should start the dialogue.
Furthermore, schedule a school conference to find out how your child's teachers and counselor see the problem. don't go with the attitude of blaming anyone. Instead, go to he conference with the idea that there is a problem and everyone needs to work together to solve it.
Finally, consider counseling if your adolescent is seriously underachieving, if there is too much hostility in the family, or if it seems impossible to discuss the problem without arguing. A child psychologist or family therapist can help everyone begin to express their feelings and to start to work out a cooperative plan of action.
Fidgety children can be Taught how to Listen Well
by James Windell
When young children are sent out of the classroom because they can't pay attention, an opportunity is missed.
I know very well what frequently happens in schools. When children can't sit still and are unable to listen appropriately, they are placed in timeout, made to sit alone in the hallway or sent to the principal's office.
Sometimes there are conferences with parents and many times young children are described as hyperactive or said to have an attention deficit.
However, sending a child out of the room or yelling at the child ("Why can't you sit still?" or "You need to pay attention!"), produces no new learning.
Instead, kids are excluded from the learning environment and feel disgraced and humiliated.
But, teaching a child to pay attention is a rather simple process. Whether you are a teacher, frustrated with inattentive children, or a parent with a child who is said to lack attention skills, you can teach listening quickly and efficiently.
The first step is to tell the child you are going to teach him how to listen and pay attention. You can start by asking, "Do you know what good listeners do?"
Most children are likely to give a negative response to this question. Then, you can respond with, "Good listeners sit quietly in their seat (or on the floor or carpet) and put their hands in their lap. Good listeners also look at the person talking or reading. And good listeners try to understand what is being said so they can ask questions."
When these instructions are given, you then ask the youngster to tell you what good listeners do. Ask them to repeat the steps. If they get them all right, give them lots of praise and positive feedback. If they miss any steps, correct them and have them repeat them again.
Before a lesson or a time when listening is critical, review the steps with the child. then say, "I expect you to show me and the other children what good listeners do."
When the lesson or situation is concluded, give the child feedback. For instance, you could say, "You were a good listener today! You did everything that good listeners do. You sat quietly in your seat with your hands together on the desk. You looked at me while I talked and when I was finished you asked me an important question. Do you know what you are?"
When the child asks "What?," you can say with excitement, "You are a good listener!"
This lesson cannot be taught by yelling or excluding the child.
These days it is important to teachers to understand that often children have not been taught how to listen. One reason is that too many parents are busy and less involved in teaching children all the skills they need for success in school.
When a child demonstrates that he does not know how to listen, the easiest and surest assumption is that this youngster was never taught how to listen. The reasonable adult's response to such an assumption is to teach what has not been learned.
Children Develop Language Skills at Different Ages
by James Windell
Kristin is 3 years of age and she mispronounces words with the letters S, R and L. The consonant sounds at the ends of her words are often dropped. For instance, she'll say, "Mommy, I wanna wowipop" when she wants a lollipop.
Kevin, age 4, talks fast and others can't understand him. His parents say he can't pronounce words with the "ch" sound, such as church. When he tries to say church, it comes out as "surse."
Amber, a 3 1/2-year-old, says, "I want dat one," when asking for a toy. When she hands the scissors to her mother, she says, "Here's da sitters, Mama."
Do these children have speech [problems? Do you wonder if your child has a speech or language problem?
Many parents, and a good many elementary-school teacher sand psychologists, are often unclear as to when certain sounds are normally produced by children. That's one of the things that's usually not taught in a comprehensive way in child psychology or child development classes.
It may help you begin to recognize how your child is doing of some basic concepts of speech and language development are reviewed.
It's fairly common knowledge that most children's first words are "Mama" or "Dada." Those are easily articulated words. Similarly, children often say words like "water," "cookie" and "doggie" early in their second year. The most frequent worlds among a child's top 10 worlds generally name animals, foods and toys. At he center of most young children's usual words are a small core of high-usage words. These often include "eat," "car," "up" or "juice."
The second half of the second year, from about 18 months to 24 months, is a time of tremendous vocabulary expansion. By 18 months, many children will know 50 worlds. The number of words in the next six months may, however, double or triple.
During the same period of time, children begin to combine words so that there are more two and three word utterances. For example, children quickly learn to say "More juice," "Me go," or "By, Daddy."
However, when it comes to making sounds, and making hem correctly, it takes several year for most children to articulate all of the usual sounds that make up the English language.
Vowels are usually mastered by 90 percent of children by age 3. And some of the other sounds that most children are producing by age three include p, m, h, and w. By age 4, the majority of kids can articulate the sounds of n, b, k, d and g.
Children in kindergarten, about age five, are able to pronounce the sounds of t, y, f, ch, v and th. The more difficult sounds come after that and 90 percent of American children can say the sounds of sh, j and zh by age 7, and by age 8 most can say r and l.
If your child is having trouble with some th sounds, along with -ing, s and z, don't worry. Research shows it takes until age 9 for most children to master those sounds.
It should be kept in mind that children develop at different rates. These guidelines describe when nine out of 10 children are able to articulate these sounds. But that still leaves 10 percent of children who have not quite mastered them yet.
Second Language Learners (SSL)
by Jane Windell, M.A.
In many school districts throughout the United States, students receiving ESL (English as a Second Language) services speak a variety of languages including Spanish, Romanian, and Serbian. These students who speak other languages may speak almost "zero-English" or they may use English at a near "native "level.
If you think a student might benefit from ESL Services or if you have a new student from another school district who previously received ESL services, it may be inmpor4tant to refer the student for ESL or for services from your school's speech therapist. Some SSL (Second Language Learners) may qualify for speech services for articulation. Often SSL may have pronunciation differences based on their native language. Wait until a student has been speaking English at school for three years before making a referral for language services from the speech teacher.
Question 1: How do I assess a student's English?
Answer:
1. Rely on authentic, performance-based assessment
2. Develop multiple-source, big package assessment
3. View assessment as an on-going process
4. Understand the terrors and limitations of formal language testing
5. Use observations, chats, and anecdotal language.
Tip: Give the student several weeks to adjust to being in your classroom before you give any kind of formal test. Your student will be apprehensive and uncomfortable. She will make lots of errors with pronunciation, syntax and prepositions. She will struggle to find the right words as she tries to get her point across. Remember, that she will usually understand more than what she expresses, just as young children understand more than they are able to say when they are learning to talk. She may realize that she's not getting anything right....not the speaking part, not the listening part, not the reading part, and especially not the writing part. She might freeze and be completely unable to so share the little bit that she know of English.
Four Box-Assessment:
Document the bare essentials. Focus on what your students can do in English, not on what they can't do. Make notes and record samples of language on a single sheet of paper divided into four boxes, each box labeled with one of the broad language skills areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Have a scale line across the bottom of each box where you can circle a number between 1-10 to quantify your estimate of your student's comprehension and production. Set up situations where you can observe the student following classroom directions, interacting with students, and having spontaneous conversations during less structured times of the day.
Question 2: How do I find useful information on a student's cultural background?
Answer: Use multiple sources
1. Learn a student's outside story...family structure, language, communication patterns, social behavior, values, spirituality and world view. Purse the outside story for three reasons: respect, curiosity and instruction. You want your student to feel like a valued new addition to the classroom. As you give your student time to share his own understanding of his culture and background and language, you validate that he is an important and worthwhile member of your classroom. Identify potential cultural conflict points. What are the cultures beliefs and customs?
2. Know basic, first-second language differences and similarities.
Tip 1: Even though our fictional student Ling, mentioned earlier was from Asia, you would need much more specific information about her background. Is she from China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia?
Tip 2: Give your students the opportunity to ask the new SLL question. What does she like to eat? What does she like to play? Where did she used to live? Have her tell about family, pets. Don't wait 4 months to get around to asking you student where she comes from.
Tip 3: Check the registration form or the birth certificate in the child's CA-60 for place of birth or native language.
Tip 4: Find a peer buddy extraordinaire who can work collaboratively with your SLL student to help her learn the daily routine and rules of your classroom.
Tip 5: Have your students create a resource area in your room highlighting your SLL student's country of origin. Peruse old National Geographic magazines for p8ctures and articles. Find books at the school or public library.
Tip 6: Encourage students to research their own family heritage, to find out more about their immigrant or in-country migration story...Instant Social Studies project. See where the fact hunt takes the,. Create individual story boards with pictures, sentences, paragraphs to describe a certain period of time or a life-span.
Tip 7: Tag only a few trouble spots for editing written work. If the errors do not impact your ability to understand the content of the student's communication, don't focus on them as a teaching point at first. Avoid pointing out everything that doesn't follow Standard American English. *Remember, that it has taken English speaking third graders in your class years to learn how to write a cohesive sentence let alone a paragraph.
Question 3: How do I make my English more understandable?
Answer: Instructional Grab Bag
1. use objects, videos (scene-setters, "This is the way you're going to read the book"), pictures (predict storyline elements), and movement. For example, if you are going to have a "read aloud" that involves a dogsled race, get the students motivated by going outside and acting out a race.
2. Offer periodic summaries and paraphrases of what you've mentioned in class or a story you've read.
3. Develop key vocabulary and "power" words
4. Build and utilize student background knowledge (spin-off stories...students share personal experiences that relate to a story).
5. Include first language support whenever possible. Let students label pictures of a story using their native language.
6. You may have to modify how you teach in order to meet the needs of your SSL. These supports to aid comprehension will help our native English speakers as well.
7. Recruit university volunteer4s who need classroom hours to put on their resumes. Have them help you create visuals.
8. Exchange content units with colleagues
Question 4: How do I get my reluctant speakers to speak English?
Answer:
1. Increase time and opportunities for meaningful talk
2. Reduce teacher talk
3. Incorporate students personal interests
4. Provide emotional safe ground for language risk taking...have a "dress-up closet" with props to act out stories that have been read in class or have students make puppet characters and put on a show to younger classes, appliance boxes make great stages.
5. Encourage English speaking while honoring a student's first language.
6. Friendships outside of school can foster language acquisition....YMCA programs, soccer teams, service organizations. Send fliers home about what's available in your community.
Question 5: How do I make a difficult textbook more readable?
Answer:
1. Teach a variety of reading comprehension strategies.
2. Use text tours, graphic organizers, and main ideas signposts
3. Do "think-out-loud" modeling. "Listen to me think out loud". Take a "tour" of a reading selection.
4. Offer multiple "paths" into the text. Look at pictures, chapter titles, words that are in bold, first/last sentences in a paragraph.
5. Make txt meaningful with personal stories.
. Ha-ha factor...add humor and laughter to your classroom. Use jokes, riddles and the comics to help students learn English.
Question 6: How do I help students improve their English writing?
Answer:
1. Have students write for real world purposes...letters to gov't leaders, letters to the editor, letters to younger children in the school, letters to the principal, letters to the superintendent, letters to senior citizens at nursing homes, letters to servicemen stationed overseas.
2. Base writing content on student interests.
3. Understand the terror and limitations of "compliance" writing..
4. Emphasize process over product, wholes over pieces.
5. Use a variety of writing support (group composing, graphic organizers, drawing-based text, skeletons...outlines/samples of fill in the blank-type letters)
Question 7: How do I teach grade-level content to English beginners?
Answer:
1. Design programs around rich, engaging content.
2. Use real artifacts to boost content and language learning.
3. Emphasize collaborative over individual work.
Question 8: How do I help students build learning strategies?
Answer:
1. Integrate and teach learning strategies across the curriculum
2. Emphasize reading comprehension strategies.
3. Make learning strategies immediately applicable.
Question 9: How do I support a student's first language when I don't speak the language?
Answer:
1. Establish a classroom community that values and celebrates all languages. Allow your student to be the language teacher for the day. Feature foods, activities, clothing that represents the language/culture.
2. Encourage parents to develop and maintain primary language at home.
3. Offer primary language support through bilingual parent and community volunteers, peers, cross-age tutors, and extended day programs.
4. Learn and use some second language yourself with students.
5. Understand the difference between supporting and developing the primary language.
Question 10: How do I minimize communication conflicts in a multilingual classroom?
Answer:
1. Establish a classroom community that values and celebrates diversity
2. Seek out and exploit student common ground
3. Provide frequent opportunities for meaningful collaborative work on-line art show, school website.
4. Emphasize "doing' over "telling" solutions.
5. See conflicts as inevitable but solvable given critical reflection and persistence.
References/Resources
Cary, S. 2000. Second Language Learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Gelfer, M. 1996. Communication Disorders. New York: McGraw-Hill.
McWhorter, J. 2000. Spreading the Word. Language & Dialect in America. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
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ARTICLES ON THIS PAGE
Children Appreciate Parents' Interest in their Homework
Children do Better in School when Parents Expect Success
There are Many Reasons Teens are Underachievers
Fidgety children can be Taught how to Listen Well
Children Develop Language Skills at Different Ages
Second Language Learners (SSL) |
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