Holiday Cat

Out of the favorite times of the year, Christmas is usually tops on everyone's list. Social media has a love affair with Christmas time as well, especially cute animal holiday pictures. Not to be outdone, enjoy one of the cuter ones I've come across.

Merry Christmas from Athena Learning Center of College Station!

EDUCATIONAL HOLIDAY GIFTS THAT ARE STILL COOL

Although your child might want items that are decidedly non-educational, there are still some gift ideas that can advance them academically while still being fun.

Black Friday was the unofficial start to the holiday shopping season. Although your child might want items that are decidedly non-educational, there are still some gift ideas that can advance them academically while still being fun.

Drones

Drones are going to be huge this year, even though most of them only amount to radio-controlled helicopters. What aren’t talked about are their educational benefits. Hand/eye coordination is drastically improved. They can open up discussions about aerodynamics and weather. And perhaps most importantly, they get your child playing outside. Drones can range from around $50 to thousands, with or without cameras and advanced equipment for balance and guidance.

Weather balloon

Along the same lines (but much higher in the air), weather balloons have become popular projects in science classes. People attach a camera and send the balloon on its way. It’s great for meteorology as well as geography, since the camera allows students to study the land around them. This kit is around $80, but there are others available.

Telescopes

Telescopes are making a comeback, thanks to recent media attention on the exploration of Mars and other celestial bodies, as well as the celebrity status of astrophysicists like Neil DeGrasse Tyson. A cheap one can let your child get a good view of the moon, but if you go up to around $100 they can study near-Earth bodies.

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is a single-board computer. It has all of the components of a computer, but comes completely blank. Educationally, it is meant for students to explore coding, networking, hardware, and other STEM concepts. Because the community is non-profit, the Raspberry Pi is extremely cheap ($35) and is offered by a foundation rather than a company.The foundation’s website provides online ordering as well as repositories for project ideas and technical assistance.

Snap circuits

Another popular STEM toy, snap circuits are easy to use circuit boards where children snap in various components to build basic electronic tools, like FM radios and voice recorders. With the right components, the possibilities are almost limitless.

source: http://www.athenalearningcenters.com/educational-holiday-gifts-that-are-still-cool/

Athena Learning Center of College Station
3505 Longmire Dr
College Station, TX 77845
(979) 314-9132

Science and Protons

Athena Learning Center of College Station
3505 Longmire Dr
College Station, TX 77845
979-314-9132

How to help your child reading video | Athena Learning Center of College Station (979) 314-9132

Watch video on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/spHwbuyKcU8
via Athena Learning Center of College Station

Math Homework Help Video with Athena Learning Center of College Station

Watch video on YouTube here: http://youtu.be/0HXv5sTHuYE
via Athena Learning Center of College Station

What If We Obsessed Over Teachers Like We Do With Athletes

We have an infatuation with our sports hero's in this country. All the way from the pro level down to pee wee football. This is a comical take on what it would be like if we treated teachers the same way but it highlights a glaring point on what we put a priority on in today's world. Being a teacher never looked so good. Enjoy!

https://instagram.com/athena_cs

This Teacher Taught His Class A Powerful Lesson About Privilege

Teachers teach. It's a little cliche sounding but for a student, having a skilled educator as a teacher can mean all the difference in the world. We so often hear about the "bad" teachers that the good...exceptional teachers often go unnoticed. That's why this illustration is such a powerful example of not only how to teach but more how to make an impact in your lesson that a student won't soon forget. Get them involved, motivate, innovate your lessons! It takes more than giving homework assignments and grading tests to be a "teacher". 

source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/nathanwpyle/this-teacher-taught-his-class-a-powerful-lesson-about-privil#.ivnAa4A7L

I once saw a high school teacher lead a simple, powerful exercise to teach his class about privilege and social mobility. He started by giving each student a scrap piece of paper and asked them to crumple it up.


Then he moved the recycling bin to the front of the room.


He said, “The game is simple — you all represent the country’s population. And everyone in the country has a chance to become wealthy and move into the upper class.”


“To move into the upper class, all you must do is throw your wadded-up paper into the bin while sitting in your seat.”

The students in the back of the room immediately piped up, “This is unfair!” They could see the rows of students in front of them had a much better chance.


Everyone took their shots, and — as expected — most of the students in the front made it (but not all) and only a few students in the back of the room made it.

He concluded by saying, “The closer you were to the recycling bin, the better your odds. This is what privilege looks like. Did you notice how the only ones who complained about fairness were in the back of the room?”

“By contrast, people in the front of the room were less likely to be aware of the privilege they were born into. All they can see is 10 feet between them and their goal.”


“Your job — as students who are receiving an education — is to be aware of your privilege. And use this particular privilege called “education” to do your best to achieve great things, all the while advocating for those in the rows behind you.”

What did you think? Did this teacher get it right? Leave us your comments, we love hearing from you.

#borntoteach #GoAthenahttp://bit.ly/Athena-BCS
Posted by Athena Learning Center - College Station on Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Happy Halloween

via GIPHY

Making Halloween Educational for Kids

Combine education with fun and you have a winning combination! Here's a few ideas on getting creative with Halloween. Some of these might even make your kids scary smart!

source: https://www.kaplanco.com/blog/post/2014/10/02/Making-Halloween-Educational-for-Kids.aspx




How do you plan to celebrate Halloween in your classroom? Will you have a costume parade, throw a Halloween party, decorate pumpkins, or pass out lots of candy? These and other similar activities will only add to children’s excitement about the holiday, but Halloween-related activities aren’t usually the most educational of activities you can plan for students. In fact, some people may say that these types of activities are a waste of time and resources.

While you can argue that Halloween activities promote family engagement and community in the classroom, intentional teaching (consciously planning activities that have specific purposes) can help you silence the naysayers and make Halloween more educational for kids. Here are four ways you can create satisfying (and fun!) Halloween-related learning experiences for the children in your care:



1. Share Fun Facts - Did you know pumpkins are a fruit? They’re actually berries—yes, berries (we were shocked, too). Providing fun, interesting facts about pumpkins, bats, and other Halloween-related objects and animals can help make any Halloween activity educational for kids. Helpful Tip: Turn the fun facts you come up with into a trivia game that students can play during your Halloween party or while they’re decorating pumpkins.



2. Go Beyond Arts and Crafts - Take students to a local pumpkin patch and let them pick out their own pumpkin for decorating. This is a great opportunity for children to learn about how pumpkins are grown. If you don’t have the budget to go on a field trip, read Pumpkin Pumpkin with your class or ask a local pumpkin farmer to come talk to your class about the growing process. Helpful Tip: Before children decorate their pumpkin, have them record their observations about the pumpkin’s size, color, shape, and other features. You can use their data to create fun and relatable math charts and word problems.



3. Learn About Various Halloween Celebrations - Halloween has a long history and is celebrated in a

number of countries, which gives you a variety of opportunities to teach children about history and diversity. For example, you can discuss how Halloween began in Ireland or share how people in Mexico honor their deceased loved ones on Día de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). Helpful Tip: Have children create and design a booklet about different Halloween traditions around the world. Make sure you ask them to include their own Halloween traditions.

4. Turn Your Halloween Party into a Halloween Math Party! - Have children estimate how many candy corns or roasted pumpkin seeds are in a jar. Pass out candy and ask students to count or sort their candy pieces. Older children can also use candy pieces to make fractions or practice addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Helpful Tip: Invite parents to come to your Halloween math party and/or take pictures of students solving math problems and enjoying their snacks. You can post the pictures you take on your classroom blog or send them to parents in an email or newsletter.

So what is your creative idea to keep the kiddos learning? Don't let all that candy turn their brains into mush. Leave us a comment with your best idea.

Athena Learning Center of College Station

Unaffordable Tutoring and How It Can Be Fixed

Tutoring and affordability is a subject that is very near and dear to our hearts here at Athena. We deal with it every day. We would love to see professional, quality tutoring available and affordable to every child who needs it. While our legislature has made some attempts to deal with the problem, they are often short sighted and lacking. What's worse, the children who some of these programs were designed to help the most are often ineligible due to technicalities that weren't very well thought out. This article deals with the subject very well. Look for more insights at the end.

source: http://www.teenink.com/opinion/social_issues_civics/article/793307/Unaffordable-Tutoring-and-How-It-Can-Be-Fixed/ 

Have you ever struggled in school? A common solution to that problem is to hire a tutor. However, a problem today is the lack of affordable tutoring for those in need of it. Providing more academic aid to students can help them get better grades and hopefully get into a better college.


The fee for a tutor can range from $10 for a high school student to $75 for a certified teacher per hour. This can be extremely expensive, especially if a student receives frequent tutoring. Students and parents in lower income areas may be unwilling to spend that extra money or be unable to afford it, but students who can afford it gain an advantage over others who cannot and have been shown to have significantly higher mean scores in both language arts and math standardized tests when compared to an untutored control group.


In 2012, over 50% of students in U.S. public schools were considered low income for the first time in

at least 50 years. A lack of affordable tutoring is an increasingly large issue that now affects the majority of public high school students and the gap between low-income and wealthier students is only increasing.


Students should be given as equal a chance as possible to do well in school, regardless of their economic situation and should be able to receive extra help if needed. Tutors can focus on a specific student’s needs, which is often hard to accomplish in large groups.

It was due to similar concerns that Congress passed its No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. The goal of the act is to provide federal funds to schools with poor students and “improve educational equity for students from lower income families”.


Although the act can also cover tutoring costs, less than 15% of eligible students are currently receiving it. Also, districts are only qualified if they attend Title I schools, which are school districts with at least 35% of students’ families categorized as low income. Students are qualified if they attend the district and receive a free or reduced-price lunch.


Much more can be done to raise awareness of these programs and further encourage students to seek tutoring, especially if the costs are covered under the act. Since the program already exists, people should be encouraged to us it. However, one issue with the No Child Left Behind Act is that it caused a rise in companies charging the maximum covered by the act of $2,000 per student for 50 hours for unqualified tutors. This problem can be solved by an increase in oversight and increased monitoring of the tutoring companies, which would save money being spent on overpriced, unqualified tutors.


While the No Child Left Behind Act does help many of those who need it, it only targets those in

relatively high-poverty areas. Those attending school districts that don’t meet the criteria or whose families are not considered low-income are not affected, even if they need it.


A solution to this problem is volunteer tutoring. Many high school and some college students are required to provide community service and many are members of community service organizations that are willing to help. Tutoring could also be beneficial to the elderly and retired - a study in 2009 indicates that tutoring can delay or reverse brain aging in the elderly. Another study found that tutoring led to measurable improvements in physical activity and mental health of the tutors over those who did not.


Organizations such as the Experience Corps, which tutors in 22 cities across the nation, are already working with the interested elderly. Tutors receive no income other than “an annual stipend of about $2,800 that helps cover transportation costs, school lunches and occasional treats for the kids”.

Programs like the Experience Corps should be more widely implemented and in more flexible groups so that a wider range of people can participate. Funding could come from donations and from states or the federal government. Funds are already being used for the No Child Left Behind Act and some could be used for volunteer programs, which could also reduce existing costs for other tutoring under the act.

What amazes me is that well intentioned programs like No Child Left Behind can have such overarching requirements like the child can only be in a Title 1 school. So basically, if you are a poor kid in a rich school, you are out of luck. I understand the thoughts behind it like richer schools should be able to supplement tutoring for poor students easier than poor schools, instead of having nicer football stadiums, or huge marching bands, or....I better just stop there. And don't get me started on blithely handing out ipads to every student thinking this will magically jump them into the 21st century. See an entire article we published about that here: http://athenabcs.blogspot.com/2015/10/why-ipads-and-chromebooks-wont-save.html  

So what do you think? What are some of the more pressing concerns we have when it comes to our poorer students? How can we help them best? Leave your comments below.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/athena-learning-center-of-college-station-college-station-3

Autumn Lesson Ideas

Nothing signals the onset of the fall season more than pumpkins and Halloween. Here's some great idea's to keep the kiddo's engaged and learning.

Source: http://www.athenalearningcenters.com/autumn-lesson-ideas/

Veteran teachers know that from now until after the holidays, it will be a little more challenging to keep the students engaged in what’s going on in the classroom. A good strategy is to incorporate some of the themes that are surrounding them once they leave the campus.

Here are some fun, yet challenging lesson ideas for incorporating autumn into each subject area’s curriculum.

Science: Now’s the time for photosynthesis

Fall is the biggest time of year for photosynthesis. After all, if it wasn’t for the change in the ability of plants to create energy, their leaves wouldn’t fall in the first place. When studying photosynthesis, you can make the lesson as complicated as you want depending on the grade level you’re trying to reach, including various experiments with healthy plants. Age-appropriate explanations for why leaves change color can be found at Science Made Simple.

Math: Get out the pumpkins!

Pumpkins are a natural ally to math teachers everywhere. They come in a variety of weights and sizes, or circumferences and radiuses for geography teachers. Smaller children love to carve them up and use the seeds for various arithmetical exercises, while the older kids can start working on more complicated tasks including building their own pumpkin-chucking machine for studying trajectory and laws of motion. They make the room smell nice, too.

Social Science: Track the foliage

This works particularly well as a teaming activity with a science teacher studying photosynthesis (see above). A good place to start is the national foliage map from the Weather Channel. Using various data found online, students can start piecing together what is happening with the foliage around the country. See if they can make some friends on Skype in a place where the colors are quite different from home, especially if you’re teaching in an area where the leaves don’t change. Advanced students can create their own foliage map based on temperature data and other factors.

English/Language Arts: It’s Poe time!

Frankly, the work of Edgar Allan Poe seems out of place in any other season. The imagery is a bit cold and dark, just like fall. Aside from reading his poetry or short stories, take some time to introduce the concept of gothic horror to the students and ask them to create their own stories in the same tradition. Sharing is also important. When students create any writing, it should be written to be read by more than just their teacher. Find some works from other authors with unreliable narration or suspense and run a comparison.

The Next Level

Have you had success with any other fall-themed lesson units? Educate us in the comments below.

If you thought this article brought up some valuable points, please share it among your social networks using the buttons.



And if you feel your child needs a little more help preparing for this rigorous new curriculum, please find out more about Athena’s tutoring services.

Why iPads And Chromebooks Won’t Save the Classroom

This is a really timely article for today's schools who think buying every child an iPad or laptop is going to help develop them into better learners. Too often in our society today the answer seems to be to throw more money at the problem....and boy do we! School spending is up and grades are down. The rally cry is we need more money and since the state won't give it to us it's their fault our schools are failing. What's the old saying about throwing good money after bad? Read on and let me know what you think in the comments.

THE FOUNDER OF KANO, A KID'S COMPUTER, SAYS DIY IS BETTER THAN OFF-THE-SHELF.

Alex Klein is the co-founder and CEO of Kano, which creates computer and coding kits for all ages, all over the world. His reporting and writing has appeared in Newsweek, the New Republic, New York Magazine, the Nation, the Times of London,BuzzFeed, and other publications.

Source: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3051347/why-ipads-and-chromebooks-wont-save-the-classroom

Three years ago, in a cold North London classroom, I asked some skeptical 3rd-graders three questions:

1. "Who here has seen the inside of a computer?" No hands went up.

2. "Who here can tell me how a computer works?" The room burst to life. "It thinks with electricity and sends waves to the Internet." "It uses a SIM card to make pictures." Excitement without understanding.

3. "Who here thinks they could make a computer?" Silence again.

Then came the prestige: "Well today, you’re going to build your own computer. You’ll fill its memory with new ideas. You’ll talk to the Internet with simple words. You’ll wire up a speaker. And you'll do it all without me saying a word."

We gave each student a prototype Kano computer kit to build and code: a box of open-source bits, and a simple storybook. In an hour, they’d built the hardware, hacked the desktop, and programmed Minecraft instead of just playing it. With code, they created their own games, songs, and shortcuts. They built virtual castles in one-click, instead of placing one block at a time. Making was the game.

Around the same time, a Los Angeles school district was asking its principals a different question: "If you could design the school of the future, what would it look like?"

The answer from most: Shiny screens! eLearning! Kids flinging polymonials like Angry Birds across magic tablets!

The district bought thousands of iPads from Apple for more than $100 million. The powerful, shiny, closed screens were used to deliver good content that would have cost a fraction of the price if printed black-and-white on A4 paper. What’s strange is that not a single child will ever see the inside of what their $100 million investment bought. (Now they’re trying to get a refund.)

I THINK IT’S TIME TO CHANGE HOW WE APPROACH TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM.

I think it’s time to change how we approach technology in the classroom. Computing is something you do, not just use, or buy. When we were kids, we learned biology by planting beans and hatching eggs. Today, we teach computing by handing out finished plants and full-grown chickens, then dare kids to work backwards to the ideas beneath.

After the iPads were returned, Los Angeles schools turned toChromebooks, the more affordable browser-only laptops, which run on open-source. But since these awesome web machines are designed as a direct funnel into Google, they won’t let you install native software, nor teach you much about what’s under the hood. Hacking the Chromebook is tough. Alphabet will pay you up to $2.71828 millionif you figure out how.

Why, in the age of computational creativity, when every school district,mayor, and R&B frontman wants to get your kids coding—creating with technology, not just consuming it—do we keep putting iPads and Chromebooks in students’ hands?

We still live in a world whose most popular operating system (Android) was written and shared freely by hobbyists and amateurs, in a solar system whose largest man-made satellite (the International Space Station) runs open-source code.

COMPUTING SHOULD BE ABOUT CREATION, AS WELL AS VOCATION.

Most agree that computing in class is a no-brainer. A window into the Internet is worth more than all the elementary school libraries in the world. But most kids have, or are soon to have, powerful networked devices in their pockets. So why double up when there are alternative ways to expand learning, outside of these closed devices, that can provide even more value, fuller preparation for the future? Computing should be about creation, as well as vocation, and to do so means intertwining open tools, tablets, and yes, even programming languages.

Some context on how closed, became simple, then became the default: In the '90s, we taught a generation how to use that decade’s versions of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. Programming proper became the domain of "nerds," "savants," "geniuses." Now we insist you learn Javascript, or get left behind, and we teach it with devices whose warranty breaks if you run a "Hello World" script.



Today, we can do more. When USA Network hacker dramas are incorporating Raspberry Pi plot points, you know "making" is about to go mainstream. It’s time to drive that movement from the bottom-up, with classrooms that converge with makerspaces, and teachers that accept and enjoy that their students can and will surprise them with technology—not just with how well they use the pre-packaged features, but how quickly they break and remix them.

"The unwashed masses don't know the difference between eight and sixteen bits," quipped Maurice Goldman, a 1980s Apple ad guru, "much less between a mouse and a green screen." Today, kids and creatives want to know the difference. They can be inventors, not just users.

According to Cisco, there are over 8 billion devices connected to the Internet; according to IDC, less than 50 million computer programmers worldwide. This big gap throws us employment and inequality woes. So much of the modern world is made by so few, in closed labs and accelerators.

But there’s hope. At an early age, with screens all around, a young mind is well primed to start making—not just swiping. With Kano’s online world, a "kids GitHub," beginners in over 86 countries have created and shared thousands of digital creations on top of an open-source brain. In just over 9 months, with open, hackable hardware, a sense of play, and a simple story, that’s over 7.7 million lines of code. We introduce game mechanics and open playgrounds, and speak in a human voice. Then we let kids do the rest. In Sierra Leone, Kano has been turned into a radio station by a teenage hacker; in Oklahoma, a time-lapse camera to capture blooming flowers; in Kosovo, a solar automation station; in Minnesota, a game console (see Youtube video above).

Steve Jobs once called computing a "mind bicycle". Woz would have sold you a Mac in pieces, with a screwdriver. Today, we trust kids to swipe and tap for fun, but limit their creative screen-time. We’re turning code into a purely technical, pre-vocational skill, something for the Silicon Valley gurus. We present computing as something you only buy, but never do.

An iPad app that teaches Python is good—if your only goal is prepping for a programming job. A teacher, a story, and an open toolkit—say a Raspberry Pi, an Arduino, a Microbit—is better. They can make "making" into more than "something the factory does." We should show kids how technology connects with the arts, with history; how they can wield it to make a song, a game, a robot, a time-lapse camera, or a generative artwork. Even after school tutoring places in College Station are using more robotics classes and MindCraft type learning programs

As Dr Seymour Papert put it, computers in the class should not be "machines for processing children, but something the child himself will earn to manipulate, to extend, to apply to projects—thereby gaining mastery of the world."

Maybe it’s the fear of hacker stereotypes (the brogrammer in the basement, the boy getting shocked by a drive) that ushers so many sealed screens into students’ hands. Their one-size-fits-all simplicity works well for classrooms that don’t like surprises.

There’s a place for machines that "just work." In your left hand, you can hold a pre-made world—an iDevice to connect you to anyone you’ve ever met, to consume any form of media. But in your right hand, you should have a computer you make, an invention machine that asks a little bit more of your mind and soul—so you can do more than "just work."

The new generation, immersed in screens from birth, need the opportunity and inspiration to look under the hood. Our students need learning machines they can open up, build, code, and remix. As for our generation? We can start presenting technology as a medium for imagination—not just the shiny bribe that makes old-school learning seem temporarily fresh.

http://www.greatschools.org/texas/college-station/24800-Athena-Learning-Center-Of-College-Station/

WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON THE FIRST REPORT CARD

For a child it can be a terrifying experience or one of anticipation. If they are struggling in school, bringing home a bad report card can be full of dread. On the other hand, if our child is excelling in their studies, they can have the expectations of rewards and praise or maybe a trip to the ice cream shop or catching that movie they've been wanting to see. Are we putting too much pressure on our kids? Or should we be holding them to the highest standards possible? Read on for some helpful tips. Let us know your thoughts in the comments. 

source: http://www.athenalearningcenters.com/what-to-look-for-on-the-first-report-card

Overall, the first report card of a new school year is to be taken with a fairly large grain of salt.

For many schools and districts, we’re coming up on the end of the first grading period of the school year. Many students will come home with perfectly acceptable grades. Some will have their parents confused in one way or another. Here’s what to look for in that first report card.

Conduct

For the most part, don’t worry too much about actual grades (more about that later). What you might want to pay more attention to is conduct. Obviously, if conduct is bad, then learning suffers later.

If you are at all surprised about any conduct reports, reach out to the teacher immediately. Lots of things, including mindset, can change over the course of a summer. It’s better to get a handle on those changes now.

Grades

As said before, don’t pay as much attention to grades. It’s the first grading period. Summer brain drain, new surroundings, and new relationships can all make for a steep learning curve this early in the year. There are a few exceptions:

· For high school seniors, a lackluster report card now can signal the start of the “senior slide” and can have effects on the future that the student doesn’t understand. Their college of choice will still see these grades on their transcript, even if they’ve been admitted early.

· Bad grades for subjects in which the student normally excels are worth a conversation. In math, it might just be another steep learning curve (there is a big difference between geometry and calculus, for example). Some outside help from a learning center might be warranted. If it’s another subject, there might be something wrong that only the child or the teacher can uncover. These tend to be interpersonal or organizational issues that are easily solved if caught early.

· Slipping grades in the “easy” courses, like PE or electives, are also worth a conversation. There can be a lot of reasons for these as well, but they also count just as much on a GPA and deserve some attention.

· Obviously if any grades are really bad, some action on your part is needed.



Overall, the first report card of a new school year is to be taken with a fairly large grain of salt. Yes, there are potential warning signs of upcoming troubles. But for the most part, many students struggle with getting back into the routine of school.

Worried about your child's report card? Give us a call, we'd love to help....it's what we do!

Athena Learning Center of College Station

Tutoring and Learning Center for K-12th grade kids in math, reading, writing and science

3505 Longmire Drive
College Station Texas (TX) 77845
United States

(979) 314-9132
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am - 8pm

10 Critical Issues Facing Education

Being in the education business means you need to stay on top of issues affecting your line of work. Since education affects all of us, especially our children, it's critical to stay "plugged in" to the state of education in our nation and in our state. Outlined here are 10 that we as educators and parents need to be aware of.

Source: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2014/01/10_critical_issues_facing_education.html

Top 10 Critical Education Issues

Critical issues are those issues that are important to education. They are the barriers that get in the way, or the important elements that we need to focus on in order to move forward and offer better opportunities to our students.

Common Core State Standards - 46 states may have adopted the standards but around a dozen states are backing out or considering backing out of using them. Regardless of how people feel about the Common Core they have led to many hot debates about education, and will continue to do so in 2014.

Student Learning - Student learning is everything from different pathways to graduation, encouraging student voice in student learning, and encouraging them have a place at the table for larger conversations about their education (Lisa Nielsen's Innovative Educator blog that focuses on student voice). So often we focus on teaching, but it's learning that matters most.

Technology - Even after all of these years technology is still a hot button issues. Some people love it and use it flawlessly every day, while others hate it and don't see why they need to be forced to use it at all. In addition what makes it complicated is that some schools seem to have endless resources, while other schools have to use what wealthier schools disregarded as old. Whether its MOOC's, iPads, gaming or BYOD, technology will still be a critical issue to discuss in 2014.

Social Media - Twitter has exploded over the past few years. More and more educators are joining and finding members to their Professional Learning Network (PLN). What's even better is that they are sharing resources to use in their classrooms, buildings and districts, and they are also using it to connect for professional development (i.e. Twitter chats, EdCamps, etc.). Social media will be, and should be, part of a huge discussion in 2015.

Politics - Politicians have long mentioned education in their speeches but the past two years it seemed to have happened more than ever. Many politicians seem to focus on how schools are failing, and their only solution is standardization, accountability and high stakes testing. Many governors, like Andrew Cuomo, are running for re-election this year and education will no doubt make or break their campaigns. How many politicians, like Cuomo and Christie, have spoken about teachers is deplorable and this is the year when teachers continue to take control over that conversation.

High Stakes Testing - Not sure if you have heard of this before but schools across the country have to give high stakes tests to students. Some start it in kindergarten, while others begin in 3rdgrade. In most states they are tied to teacher/administrator evaluation and that will no doubt continue to be a big debate this year. There need to be different methods used to assess student learning, and none of it should be "high stakes."

School Leadership - If you go on Twitter, you will find hundreds of school leaders who consider themselves "Lead Learners." This is very important because they see the important part they play in the lives of their students, teachers and staff. In addition, school leaders understand that they can have a positive or negative impact on their school climate, and too many still have a negative impact.

Pre-service Teaching Programs - How can we get the best teachers into our classrooms when so many politicians and policymakers cry that schools are failing? Under those circumstances, who would want to go into the profession? Additionally, pre-service programs need to improve because many of the graduates do not seem prepared for the profession. The real question for 2014 is how can K-12 schools work with these programs to build a community of learners who are prepared for the profession? A little less accountability tied to testing would go a long way to improve this issue.

School Climate - A few days ago Secretary Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder announced new guidelines to stop the school to prison pipeline and improve school climate. This critical issue is not just about bullying, but about creating an inclusive school climate where all students can achieve their maximum potential.

Poverty - We know around 22% of our students are living in poverty. We also know that many children who live in poverty come to kindergarten hearing 1/8th of the language (vocabulary) that their wealthier peers experienced. Many of the schools that try to educate these students lack the proper resources, and the communities where children in poverty live often lack the same resources that wealthier towns have. Poverty is an issue that is one of the most critical issues of our time, in and out of schools.

In the End

We have many critical issues facing education this year, and the larger question should be...How are we going to work together to solve them? I stopped with ten but probably could have gone on with a few more. What would you add to the list?

Follow us on Athena Twitter

Athena Learning Center of College Station

Tutoring and Learning Center for K-12th grade kids in math, reading, writing and science

3505 Longmire Drive
College Station Texas (TX) 77845
United States

(979) 314-9132
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am - 8pm

Senior Year Planning for the College-Bound Student

In reality, planning for college should start in earnest during the early junior year of high school, if not sooner. But, if you're like the rest of us and procrastination is second nature, it's not too late.....don't panic. This is a good rundown on what you should be doing and when.

source: http://www.athenalearningcenters.com/senior-year-planning-for-the-college-bound-student/

The first half of senior year is the last chance to put up a good score on one (or both) of the standardized tests.

Although some of the college admission process has already taken place, including a student’s first try at the SAT/ACT, senior year is really where the rubber meets the road. Going into this pivotal year with the right plan can make the difference in college placement or even whether a student moves on to post-secondary education at all.

Here are the things to focus on as the school year begins.

Extracurriculars

Although it’s too late to make a real impression with extracurriculars, even attempting a late effort is better than nothing. Students can join some groups that diverge from what they’ve taken part in before to show some versatility. At minimum, a student should be willing to stand up for leadership positions in their existing groups during senior year.

Planning the list

Now is the time to narrow down the list of potential colleges, organize the materials needed for those schools, and, if possible, sign up for tours. Focusing on a few schools now makes the process easier. Students can then start working on their essays and finding the right people for recommendation letters. If there is a clear first choice, early decisions periods start in September-October.

Essays

Once the choices have been narrowed down, so have the essay prompts. Starting drafts now offers many advantages:

• More free time during the summer to focus
• More time to revise
• More people can be brought in to help review

Testing

The first half of senior year is the last chance to put up a good score on one (or both) of the standardized tests. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that a sub-standard performance has doomed your child to a lesser school. If you think they are capable of better, they should give it another try. Registration for those early testing dates begins in the summer. They should also make sure that any testing results are going to be sent to that newly-culled college list.

Financial aid

The financial aid process also starts earlier than many families think, especially if that support is coming from any government agency. Those sources and their processes need to be organized and started as soon as possible.
Senior year moves fast, so it’s prudent to use this last part of summer to make sure this final bit of college preparation time is used efficiently.

Is your child ready for that big step in their lives? One of the most critical things a university looks at is their SAT scores. Give Athena a call for a schedule of our free practice SAT and ACT exams or ask us about the schedule for our SAT exam prep classes. We are here to help!

Develop Lifelong Learners in One Step

There are a lot of cliche sayings and politically correct messages floating about the hallways in today's education world. But what do they really mean and is there any action behind them? What's the state of education in America today and where are we headed?

Well, the good news is there IS a movement going on. Quite a few higher academic types are looking at past history and the present situation of the failure of public education and deciding that we can't keep on doing what we're doing. We are letting the next generation down if we sit on our hind ends and not seriously look at the problem from a higher level. This is a good article about one such movement in what makes kids passionate about learning, enjoy!

source: http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/leadership_360/2015/08/develop_lifelong_learners_in_one_step.html?cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS3

Among the most common phrases being used in classrooms, hallways, and mission statements these days often focuses on this one:

Preparing Students To Be Lifelong Learners

How are schools preparing children to become lifelong learners? In the early years, teachers try to model a love of reading and writing. They try to bring that joy into the classroom with activities that will engage and motivate young learners. In the higher grades, motivation and engagement remain on teachers' minds and in their lesson plan efforts. Discussions between teachers and leaders include the subjects of motivation and engagement.

Often the attention is on the student. What do they need to become more engaged and motivated? What is preventing them from being more engaged and motivated? It is always a good thing to pay attention to what each individual child needs, their life situation and their learning and social emotional needs. Yet do we socialize students from the very beginning to be confident lifelong learners? We might not.

What Messages Are We Really Sending?

Report cards begin arriving usually before the first snow falls in the very first year of school. In many schools today, at least in the early years, report cards provide a narrative description of the students' learning behaviors, accomplishments, progress and concerns. But as the years go on, more evidence backing those comments are needed and expected. What has traditionally provided that evidence are grades. According to Cathy Vatterott in her book Rethinking Grading, there are three central beliefs about grading that have dominated the philosophy behind grading. They are:

· Good teachers give bad grades,

· Not everyone deserves an A and

· Grades motivate learners (p. 15-16).

The tide is shifting and fewer and fewer educators believe these ideals. Grades are often not an authentic reflection of learning. The way we currently use grades contributes to other problems in education. If changing grading practices could precipitate broader changes in teaching and learning, it's possible that our mediocre academic standing in the world could be greatly improved. Now is the time for change (p.18).

Likely more educators support the idea that changing the way we grade could change the achievement of our students. It is time to move from using grades to sort and rank, to something more expansive, noting progress along the way to a continuously moving horizon, and not to an annual destination. One certain factor will be grabbing the attention of the learners and recognizing them as effective learners from their very first day...and carrying it on throughout their school career.

This is neither something that requires a series of professional development sessions, nor even the reading of a book. It doesn't take much time. Each individual teacher can do it differently. It only requires a conversation between the leadership and the faculty...and that the leader continue to remind the faculty at meetings with feedback and discussion, through walk through conversations, and sometimes even with notes and memos as reminders. Consider this one step.

One of the stated concerns of 5 year olds as they enter the school building for the first time is that they are there because they know little and that they will be learning "Kindergarten." The adults, too, communicate this way of thinking as students grow through the grades. After completing Kindergarten, students are promoted to the first grade, after completing algebra, students are moved on to geometry, after completing 9th grade English they are moved on to 10th grade English and so on. In each move from one grade or subject to another, there is an implicit (and sometimes explicit) message that a student is beginning again. In the paradigm in which the teacher remains the "sage on the stage," it is a natural feeling for the learner to feel like the empty vessel waiting for the knowledge to be released to them in segments by the teacher. The design makes it so. But as the design for teaching and learning continues to shift in this century, by encouraging teachers to become "guides on the side," an opportunity for engagement and motivation arises.

At the beginning of the school year, and as each new skill or piece of information is learned, make it clear to the learner that what they already know makes them ready to add this to their developing knowledge, abilities, and independence as learners.

· For students who have developed metacognitive abilities, adding questions like, "What might you already know that will help you learn this new...?" way of writing, vocabulary word, way of thinking about numbers....

· For others not yet adept at their metacognitive skills, showing them what you know they already know in an illustration, either for the class or individually, will not only help them see they are prepared and have knowledge on which to build, but will also model the essential reflective skill of metacognition.

Change the Culture by Beginning With The Teacher

Modeling this for teachers is the first step in guaranteeing the practice becomes part of the sustained practice of the building and/or district. So much has changed for teachers...reading across the curriculum, data driven instruction, the type of communication that is held with parents, curriculum standards, even their evaluation system. Part of the frustration that has been experienced is the feeling of loss of known practice and a lack of understanding or familiarity with the new ones. Most new practices are not totally new. Finding first what we know and are certain of in new practices always provides a sound foundation for learning what is new. So for the leaders, modeling the practice that we want for the students is key.

None of this is extra work. In fact, we are certain that if it is practiced by leaders and teachers, engagement and motivation will rise in both arenas. Carol Dweck's work on Mindset, is central to this idea.

The way we think about things, either from a growth mindset or a fixed mindset, affects student motivation and achievement. What we are adding here is to think about the value of inviting the learner into our own growth mindset about their ability by:

· showing them the way as we reflect on what they know and are able to do...whether adult or student

· understanding that our confidence is based upon our belief in them, based upon what we know about them, and our ability to offer the path to fill the gaps, introduce new thinking, and lead them forward as learners

Having students becoming lifelong learners rests in our hands. It is not a demand or a wish. If we, as systems, continue to demonstrate to learners that they are learning because of what they already know AND what is familiar and what is new AND that we know and believe that they can and will master the learning because of what we are confident they already know and are able to do...motivation and engagement will follow. What follows is the confidence that each learner knows how to learn...and that can become a life-long confidence.

So did you enjoy the article? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. If you are in search of tutoring in College Station or Bryan, give us a call. We'd love to help!

Athena Learning Center is Proud to Announce A New Program to Help ADHD Children - KUAM.com-KUAM News: On Air. Online. On Demand.

Athena Learning Center is Proud to Announce A New Program to Help ADHD Children - KUAM.com-KUAM News: On Air. Online. On Demand.

Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow

One of the favorite classes I took in school was called Heat Transfer and Fluid Flow. Sounds boring, I know but it really helps to explain the world around us when we understand things like "why is the suns rays hot?" "how do ceiling fans help me feel cooler and lower my electric bill?"

It really comes down to understanding the first law of thermodynamics in that energy cannot be created nor destroyed but only transformed from one form to another.

Also, understanding that heat is always moving to a colder area, and at different rates. For example, heat will transfer into your house faster if the walls are metal than if they are wood. It also depends on the thickness of the walls. Here is a great video showing how what we perceive in regards to how hot something feels is often not reality.



Here at Athena, we believe education should be fun! And science is awesome, stop in and visit us at 3505 Longmire Drive
College Station, TX  77845
or call us at (979) 314-9132

HELP WITH HOMEWORK THE RIGHT WAY

Homework is a constant battleground between child and parent. of course every child is different but so is every parent and how they deal with their child getting homework accomplished. Stepping back and looking at the big picture is the first step in identifying better ways in interacting with our kids to grow them in this necessary area. We don't want to be labeled helicopter parents but we can't just take a hands off approach either. Here are some great tips from Athena Learning Center.

Read original article here: http://www.athenalearningcenters.com/help-with-homework-the-right-way/

Your involvement in homework shouldn’t be any more than setting them up with the right tools and letting them struggle on their own.

Perhaps the biggest educational struggle for a parent is helping your child with their homework in the

right way. You don’t want to help too much; they won’t learn anything. You don’t want to ignore it; that sets a bad example. Here’s how to walk the line.

Show Interest

The biggest thing a parent can do to affect their child’s educational success is to just participate. This includes homework. Simply asking about it and what their assignments are about is more than half the battle.

Set Them Up for Success

It’s a very rare child that knows how to organize themselves. Kids need help in learning how to keep

things organized and set up the right work environment.

First, eliminate distractions. If you let your child complete their homework in their room with the door closed, there is probably a lot more going on than just homework. Work goes much more efficiently in a common area.

Second, make homework part of a routine. It helps them remember their assignments and helps you keep track of what’s going on.

Facilitate the Process, Instead of Completing It

Your job is to “lead the horse to water”. Your involvement in homework shouldn’t be any more than setting them up with the right tools and letting them struggle on their own.

Before they start, ask if they understand what they are supposed to do. If they don’t, help them find

other materials that can help them, such as online tutorials. Consume them together as a demonstration of team building.

If they get frustrated in the middle of an assignment, offer a break and a talk—but never any advice about the specific work.

At the end, feel free to check their work over and even alert them to problems or tasks that might be wrong, but stop short of suggesting ways to make the answer better that go beyond any background information they would have received in class, in their textbook, or online.

Work Together with the Teacher

The homework process becomes much more effective if the parent and teacher work together as a team. After all, homework is just supposed to be practice. If the parent better understands what is involved in that practice, the child will be much more likely to complete it successfully.



Regular communication and the ability to ask the teacher for clarification can be valuable tools to help the parent and teacher work together effectively.

Visit us on Yelp

Tutoring and Learning Center for K-12th grade kids in math, reading, writing and science

3505 Longmire Drive
College Station Texas (TX) 77845
United States

(979) 314-9132
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am - 8pm