The Interventionist Blog
Going to school online can be a challenge for both the student and the learning coach. It is a whole new world; a virtual world that is. The support your child gets from you is one of the most important things that will determine their success in this environment. Here are 5 ways to support your child: 1. BE PREPARED Make sure you look at your daily plan ahead of time. Know what time each session starts and ends and prepare your child ahead of time for their sessions. If it is close to lunch time, make sure you have snacks handy in case they get hungry. 2. COMMUNICATE WITH TEACHERS Having a relationship with the teacher is essential especially virtually. Talk to the teacher about any issues that arise as soon as they come up. They understand the challenges of schooling online because they are teaching online as well. 3. ENCOURAGE YOUR CHILD Let your child know how special they are to be going to school online. They are the trendsetters and are leading the way in education. If they feel good about themselves, they will have more success. As they are working, let them know how they are progressing. Be specific when you praise them so that they know exactly what they have done well. 4. GET MOVING It is important to get up and get moving. Sometimes a change of scenery and some fresh air is necessary. Take every opportunity to go outside and take a walk, go for a bike ride or any other activity that gets your body moving. It could be as simple as doing jumping jacks, running in place or even dancing. 5. BE AWARE Be aware of how your child is doing. Ask them questions. Create a space where they feel free to communicate with you. You spend more time with them than anyone else and they need to know that you are listening, that their feeling are important and that they are being heard.
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Students face a number of challenges producing correct and appropriate texts. For a start it is usually a solitary task. Often it’s given as homework and therefore feels unsupported. In class students can find support from each other doing pair or group work and also from their teacher. Writing a composition for homework, they often don’t know how to help themselves. When it comes to motivation, students often feel a great sense of failure when they have writing returned to them covered in red ink, with each mistake highlighted. It is not easy to know how to pick yourself up and start again. If our students are teenagers this is particularly difficult. They may put on a show of not caring, but teens find criticism very painful and may feel great frustration in not understanding exactly how they can redress their weaknesses in writing. Writing is a big part of every high schooler’s life. In fact, students write more than ever before–from school research papers to essays on standardized tests to texting their friends. Yet writing problems abound. According to the 2011 results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), only 24% of twelfth-graders are at or above the proficient level in writing and only 3% write at an advanced level. While these results are disappointing, the overall effect on student achievement is a larger concern: writing problems can greatly hinder college and career success. The good news is that with hard work, patience, and targeted help, high school writing problems can be overcome. As with any other skill (and art), writing takes practice. You need to write every day to build your writing fluency. Daily practice might include keeping a journal or blog. The biggest hurdle to writing is getting over the hump of not doing it. Students should write every day to build fluency. Write a lot, and get in the habit of reading every day. Good readers also make good writers! What Does Your Child’s Writing Look Like? Does your high school student make errors in grammar, spelling, and punctuation? Are you finding poorly constructed sentences and unsuitable word choices? Is there a lack of organization or supporting ideas? Here are some common errors that will help you identify the trouble spots in your high schooler’s writing: Problem: Sentence Fragments Example: Going to the football game this afternoon. Solution: I am going to the football game this afternoon. Problem: Run-on Sentences Example: I enjoy going to the movies first I have to finish my homework. Solution: I enjoy going to the movies, but first I have to finish my homework. Problem: Lack of Subject-Verb Agreement Example: She drive every day. Solution: She drives every day. Problem: Incorrect Noun Plurals Example: The berrys are ripe. Solution: The berries are ripe. Problem: Incorrect Plural and Possessive Nouns Example: The childrens’ toys were donated to a charity group. Solution: The children’s toys were donated to a charity group. Problem: Wrong End Punctuation Example: Where are you. Solution: Where are you? Problem: Not Forming Compound Sentences Example: It rained today. The weather report called for blue skies. Solution: It rained today, yet the weather report called for blue skies. Problem: Sentence Variety Example: Susan runs to school every morning. Susan talks to her friends before class. They don’t get to class on time. Their teacher gets angry. Solution: Susan runs to school every morning so she can talk to her friends before classes begin. However, when they don’t get to class on time, their teacher gets angry. Problem: Paragraph Focus Example: I love computer games, model cars, and comic books. All are fun! Solution: I enjoy many different types of leisure activities. My friends and I have a great time playing the latest computer games with the most excitement and challenge. When I want to create something on my own, I build model cars and take pride in getting every detail just right. Yet nothing beats my comic book collection if I want to kick back and relax! With all of these things to do, I’m never bored. Overcoming Writing Problems: How Parents Can Help High school writing problems can be overcome through a combination of thorough feedback, writing practice, and careful revision. Start by speaking with your child’s teachers. Share your observations and concerns. Often writing problems exist because students need more feedback or are confused about the feedback they are getting. Another issue is the busy high schooler’s schedule, which doesn’t allow enough time for practice and revision. Here are some tips that can help you get your student on track for writing success–in class and on tests:
Most people don’t realize that writing is a process —a process of hard-to-get-started introductions, messy drafts, and tedious revisions. Students need to be shown that most writing is not done in a single draft, and understand that teachers don’t expect it to be! (www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/writing-problems-high-school/). There are many ways to support the development of your child’s understanding of Mathematical concepts by engaging in activities that are fun, but also demonstrate how Math is a part of our lives. Since we are in the middle of the Fall season, I thought I would share some activities which relate to this time of year! Pumpkins are everywhere this time of year! If, like many, you have a pumpkin or two decorating your home, or if you have plans for carving jack-o-lanterns or cooking up some delicious pumpkin treats this season, you can explore some math concepts with your children at the same time! Check out the great pumpkin project! Step by step directions are given for how to involve students in estimation, measurement, data collection, prediction, and graphing activities as they try to determine how many seeds are in a pumpkin! Paired with the activity is a reading of the book by Margaret McNamara, How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? Pumpkin Measurement and Pumpkin Pi!
Estimating with pumpkin seeds: Take pumpkin seeds and place them in a small clear container or glass. Have your child estimate how many pumpkin seeds are in the container. Talk about what strategy they used to make their estimate. (Ex: Did they count what they could see? Use a method such as doubling or multiplication?) Then, have your child check his/her estimate by counting out the seeds! Follow-up estimating pumpkin seeds with some sorting and counting activities!
Explore fractions while baking some delicious pumpkin bread! Get out your measuring cups and let your child gets some hands-on experience seeing how we use fractions every day when we bake! (If you prefer a different Fall treat, any recipe will do!). You can also let your student explore fractions with measuring cups without doing any baking if preferred. This can be done with anything that students can scoop and pour with measuring cups (pumpkin seeds, dried beans, four, or water). As students fill and empty measuring cups, seeing how many of each fractional measuring cup it takes to fill or empty the larger one each time, it will help them to develop a deeper understanding of fractions as equal parts of a whole. Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread Ingredients
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2017
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