Written By :  Suzan Arslan

New challenges face students every year from increased reading to spelling lists to learning basic math facts. For any student wanting to excel in mathematics, memorizing math facts is a must. So, it’s imperative that parents help their children practice. But with many children studying many things, how is a parent supposed to keep up and make learning fun?

Schedule a specific time to study daily. Although many parents like to have their children finish all homework right after school, it seems that some kids are just too tired and desperately need a break. However, each family has its own routine and bed times, so every family has to select a time that works for everyone. It is recommended that all children work on homework at the same time, without the distraction of televisions, computers or radios. If one child does not have homework, ask them to do something productive quietly for that time.

A tried and true method for studying math facts is flash cards. But you can make flash cards fun by using stickers for right answers. You can also play memory with the cards or draw things on each one to help your child memorize them easier. Another trick may be in the way that you practice the cards. For example, put cards next to each other that are the same so that your children learn all the two’s one day or realizes that 2 x 5 is the same as 5 x 2.

Studying online can be fun and also allow you to help multiple children at once. Have your child spend ten minutes or even five minutes a day will make a big difference. Many web sites are free of charge and you may even be able to set the number of questions or upper limit number that your child is practicing.

Have a little extra time in the car and a DVD player? You might consider purchasing an interactive math facts DVD for the car. A lot of kids are watching the same movies over and over. Turn car potato time into learning time with educational DVD’s. If need be, create a system for rewards for watching and learning.

Continue Reading »Learning Basic Math Facts Can Be Fun and Easy

Many people who have been teaching TEFL for awhile get tired of writing lesson plans. The benefit of writing them once is, you will not have to do them again. Make sure you always keep a copy of the lesson plan. It will help you later if you change jobs or work the same class next term.

Writing lesson plans does not have to be difficult and can be done within a few short minutes. Most schools have classroom books that you can use as a guide. If you have a 20 chapter workbook and your school year is 10 months, you know that you can use 2 chapters per month. Simple math will save you some headaches and worry.

If this is your first lesson plan, don’t panic. I will explain how to get going and get over the hurdle. If this is your 1000th lesson plan, this will help you also.

GETTING STARTED

1. If you have workbooks open it and see what they want you to teach. If it is the first day of school, open to chapter 1 and start there. If it is the 5th month of school open to chapter 5 and start there. When writing lesson plans common sense will prevail every time.

2. OK. Now you have the correct month and chapter all set. You are sitting looking at a page and, NOW WHAT? This will depend on the age group of your students. I have found teaching older students, that it is easier to prepare. The younger students need more stimulation and will loose interest fast. Always keep in mind whom you are teaching and what you are teaching. If you are teaching conversation or grammar, science, math all of these things will play a part in your lesson plans. FOR THE SAKE OF THIS ARTICLE, WE ARE STICKING WITH TEACHING CONVERSATION TO OLDER STUDENTS.

3. OLDER STUDENTS – I class them as high school aged. You are on chapter 1 of your workbook, or whatever month it is, and the subject is greetings and goodbyes. You look through this chapter and find the key words. The key words are the main points of the subject. Here we are doing greetings and goodbyes, so your key words will be like – hello, goodbye, good morning, good afternoon etc…. Most of your students will know these things already and you lesson will last 5 minutes. This is where you need to add supplement words like – what’s up, hows it going, later etc… add your own slang words that you are familiar with.

4. Don’t spend the entire class speaking and repeating these words, it will get boring fast. Instead use about 10 minutes of the class speaking and repeating these words. Then go around the class and have students use the words with you. *TEACHER: Good morning, Paiboon. *STUDENT: Good morning, teacher. You get the idea.

5. This will take up 20-30 minutes of class. You still have 20-30 minutes left, so now what? This is where your supplement worksheet will come in handy. Find a worksheet that uses greetings and goodbyes and have the students complete that. There are plenty of free worksheets out there, you just need to search and find one.

6. After the students have completed the worksheet call on students to stand up and read. Go around the room and have each student read the conversation with a friend. This will get them speaking and you can help them with pronunciation. If you still have time left, use the workbook for any extra work and have the students read aloud.

That is basically a one class lesson plan. As you gain more experience and get to know your students you may have to add material or spend more time on pronunciation. This is something you will have to decide for yourself.

One of the biggest mistakes a new teacher will make is to “assume your students want to learn English”. Most don’t want to be there and will have no interest. Try to keep the class moving and fun. If what you are doing is not working, move on to another area. Don’t try to force the students to speak every word, just keep the flow going and the time will be up faster.

Below is a sample lesson plan. Each place you work may their own lesson plan format and what they want on it. If not, you can use the one below as a guide to help you get started. It will give you an example of how to write this lesson out on paper. You can think of your lesson plan like a road map. If you have no map, you will not know where to go and when to stop.

CLASS: M1

DURATION: 50 minutes

MATERIALS: Workbook chapter 1, worksheet

VOCABULARY: Hello, Goodbye, Good Morning, Whats up, Later etc……

OBJECTIVE: Have the students know and understand greetings and goodbyes and use them in a conversation context.

PROCEDURE: Open the class with workbook and have students repeat the greeting and goodbyes (10 minutes). Go around the class and have student pairs use the words taught (10 minutes). Have the students complete the worksheet and practice using the vocabulary with pair speaking (15 minutes or more).

ASSESSMENT: This is important as it will help you see what worked and didn’t work. The students completed the workbook with no problems, but the worksheet seemed a little difficult. Will have to make an easier worksheet next time.

That’s it, a basic lesson plan idea and a simple lesson plan write up.

By: James Baker

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Are your child’s math grades slipping? Despite trying very hard to get good math grades, is your youngster simply becoming frustrated? Have you considered online math tutoring? From the comfort of your own home, your son or daughter can get the help needed and deserved, without sacrificing after school activities and family time. Online math tutoring makes the grade, when you find the right provider.

Not all online math tutoring providers are created equal. Some sites are totally automated; other sites may have helps, but not necessarily in real time; maybe a website offers the services of a live tutor. But, does he/she have the education and skills needed to truly teacher your child and provide the motivation for math excellence?

If you really want to find online math tutoring that makes the grade, you will have to weed out thousands of sites that do not provide the skills and technology your youngster needs for a positive and proven learning experience. Here are some of the qualities you should demand in any math tutoring program:

A Graduate or Masters Degree in Mathematics Interactive Technology Individualized Lesson Plans A Trial Period More than One Tutoring Plan

You understand that your child deserves the best math education possible. Success as an adult may depend on making the math grade today. So, why should you expect less from your math tutor than the math teacher in the traditional classroom? A good math tutor should have a graduate or Masters Degree in Mathematics.

The teacher should have the skills and knowledge to help bring out your child’s best math skills, in a positive and comfortable learning environment. Your youngster should be able to trust the teacher to have his/her best interests at heart, and not simply be math tutoring online simply to make a buck via the Internet. It is okay to expect a real math teacher who genuinely cares about helping your child learn necessary math skills.

To help your child learn the necessary math skills, interactive technology is needed to help facilitate excellence in distance math education. Through ‘voice over Internet’ and web cams, your child and the teacher should be able to see, hear, and communicate with each other during every session.

Any good math teacher models the problems and monitors a student who is practicing the concepts that have been learned. You should expect nothing less from an online tutoring session. Your child deserves to have proven methods and resources available for optimal success in learning math skills.

While learning math skills, a good online math tutoring provider will implement the same textbook used in the traditional classroom setting. Preparation, reinforcement, and repetition, are often the key to helping a child learn and retain the information regarding new math skills. Oftentimes, it only takes a little one-on-one attention to make a big difference in a math grade.

In addition to individualized lessons designed specifically for your child’s needs, a good online math tutoring provider will be confident in proven math teaching techniques. So, a trial period should be offered, to ensure that distance math learning is right for your child and your circumstances.

Then, once you are sure your child will benefit from online math tutoring, it will also be easier to determine what tutoring plan is needed. Maybe your son or daughter will require daily math support after school. Conversely, he/she might only need occasional help with particularly difficult homework assignments. Thus, you should have the option to select the plan that will help your child improve his/her math grade.

Online math tutoring can make the grade. Now that you know what to look for in a math tutor, you can make an informed decision. Then, you child will soon be receiving the math support he/she deserves, and needs, to become a successful adult.

By: Shalabh Agrawal

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