Teacher Lesson Plans

It's Friday fun day! Just a little something to get you in the mood for the weekend. Any teachers out there feel this way? Probably a majority of them at one time or another, am I right? Hang in there teachers! It's almost summer!!!

#Fridayfunday
#weareteachers

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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

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!

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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

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.

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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

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

Dear Student: I Don't Expect You to Be Perfect

Have you ever wanted to write a letter to your child’s teacher and tell them how to help your child better or to just tell them off? Or maybe you have. Here is a great letter from an experienced, passionate educator to his students. This is an insightful look into a teachers response and thoughts how best to help his students help him. Very enlightening!


Source: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/reaching-all-students/2015/09/dear_student.html


Every fall, I am struck by a profound sense of responsibility as parents drop their children off in my

classroom. Humbled by the mixture of faith and fear inherent in that moment, I meet moms and dads who hope that I will hold their children close, appreciate their unique traits, and help them inhabit their potential. Parents of unconventional learners have come to me with stories that have left them and their child in a state of academic PTSD. These parents count on me to invest in their children enough so that I can celebrate their abilities, understand their struggles, and, in some cases, help heal their childrens' school-based wounds.


However, even with the best intentions, I will occasionally move too fast, expect too much, miss a cue, drop a ball. I might even do all of those things with the same child (I really hope not). This is a hard truth to accept, particularly because I pride myself on being an educator who advocates for students with different learning profiles.


Over the past month, a trend has developed in social media. I refer to it as the "Dear Teacher Movement." Children with learning challenges, particularly dyslexia, have taken to the internet to

share letters they have written to their new teachers, communicating their hopes and dreams for the upcoming school year. In these poignant and frequently unsettling appeals, students wish to remind teachers they are trying (even when it may not look like that); that they are smart and capable (even if they struggle with certain skills); and that they have high aspirations for their own learning (which they hope their teachers will share). Implied in these letters are previous teacher failures that prompted students to share in this way.


Teaching is complex. We try hard to get it right, but sometimes we fail. Even with more than twenty-five years of teaching experience, I still have blindspots. I hope that my students know that I am not judging their potential by their spelling or speed, or confusing their school struggles with lack of effort. However, learning disabilities like dyslexia can make assessing a student's ability and effort more difficult. Often, I need my students' feedback to help me determine how to best meet their learning needs. This fall, inspired by the Dear Teacher letters, I decided to write a different kind of letter to my students at the launch of the school year.


Dear Student,
I am honored and thrilled to be your 5th grade teacher this year. I take my job very seriously, but despite my great effort and my good intentions, I sometimes fumble. Here are a few things that you should know.

1. I was not a perfect student and I don't expect you to be.

2. We all learn differently. This year I hope you will help me understand how you learn best.

3. Spelling well and reading fast make learning easier, but they have nothing to do with intelligence. I will help you become better spellers and readers, but intelligence is much more complex. Some of the best thinkers struggled with school skills. Please don't get discouraged if some skills are hard for you. It does not mean that you are stupid (at all). This year we will try to identify some strategies to make school work less frustrating.

4. Tell me if you are struggling. Effort can often be invisible. I wish I had a crystal ball, but I don't. Let me know if I assign something that feels overwhelming. That way, we can create effective supports or craft a workaround plan together.

5. Sometimes I go too fast. I get too excited or ambitious or impatient. When I do, remind me to slow down. Everyone in the class will appreciate it, including me.

6. I look forward to finding out what gets you up in the morning (besides your alarm). What are your dreams inside and outside of school? Let's try to connect them. That is where you will find the joy in learning.

Finally, sometimes school may not be easy, but it should never be miserable. Please don't suffer in silence.

Sincerely,

Kyle Redford


After reading this, how would you write to your child's teacher now? Any differences? Here at Athena, we know that children have different learning skills and vastly different learning styles. We do in depth analysis' to see exactly where they are at so we can help them the best. We come alongside your child's teachers to supplement and help them with what they are already learning. Our tutors ARE teachers and have experience in the struggles that all teachers (and students) face. Give us a call today and see how we can best help your child.

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

Parental Involvement Important for School Success

Continuing on with our subject of parents getting involved with their child's school, this is a timely article by our friends at Mom's Everyday. Being engaged with our children and their school life can have a huge impact in their learning, growing and just every aspect of their lives. It really is that important! Get involved.

source: http://www.momseveryday.com/national/justformoms/headlines/?article=322860101





We spend a lot of time getting our kids prepared for a successful experience in school. We send them to preschool, help with homework and sign them up for enriching experiences.

But there's one thing that not all parents do that can be just as important: getting involved in your child's school.

Research shows that communicating with teachers, being involved in the school work, volunteering and just being present at the school as much as you can is important to your child's success.


Parental involvement is also associated with fewer problem behaviors and better social skills

compared to children whose parents are not involved.

Here's some advice on how to get involved:

First, initiate contact with your child's teacher early in the year. If you pick your child up from school, make it a point to touch base with the teacher occasionally. But don't try to have a meeting in the parking lot.

Ask if there are opportunities to volunteer in the classroom or at school events, and attend those school events whenever possible.

Maintain a consistent homework routine. Check in with your child daily regarding school work and be available to help with homework.

It can be difficult to make homework a priority with busy schedules and sports, but it shouldn't be the last thing you try to cram in at the end of the day.

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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

3 Disturbing Trends Made Prevalent by Technology

The web is loaded with landmines for our children and it’s up to us as parents to, not only steer our kids around them, but to make them aware of the dangers out there. Here’s 3 to watch out for.

Source:http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/education_futures/2015/09/3_disturbing_trends_made_prevalent_by_technology.html

The Information Era has dramatically changed the way we educate our children. We live in a world of rapid change and the resemblance to yesterday is fleeting. Above all, communication has changed, and an enormous variety of information is now accessible to almost everyone at the click of a mouse or swipe of a finger.

From the accessibility of online learning to students who otherwise would struggle in traditional settings to assistive technology for students with autism, there are lots of great technologies that teachers need to keep track of to be effective.

However, it is not just important to know which technologies will assist in the education of students, but to watch out for certain disturbing trends that have arisen as a result of the availability of these new technologies. Here are just three of those trends:

1. Texting and awful grammar in K-12 schools. 

 Internet and cell phone cultures have brought a whole new meaning to American slang. Not only are kids these days speaking informally, but now those relaxed rules of grammar are sneaking into written words too.

The biggest problem with these digital avenues of composition, according to surveyed teachers, is the blurring of lines between formal and informal writing. Abbreviations are common, particularly on platforms like Twitter that have a 140-character limit. Most smartphones now have no limits on texting characters, but students that owned phones with the 160-character limits of just a few years ago have already formed short, abbreviated habits. In the digital realm, short and sweet is the key - even if grammar, punctuation and writing formalities fall by the wayside. The same is not true of educational writing pursuits though, as K-12 writing instructors must prepare students for the demands of strong, professional writing in college and the workplace.

A report released by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills found that over 26 percent of college graduates have deficient writing skills. These findings were not based on graduation assessment exams, but compiled by interviewing actual employers. These employers said that many college-educated employees could not even accomplish the basic writing tasks of the job proficiently. How are these students earning college degrees if their writing is not up to par though? With the average U.S. student accruing $35,200 in college debt, it would seem learning the basics of writing, at least above a "deficient" level, would be a given takeaway.

2. Sexting and sexual harassment.

 Today, sexual harassment between students is even more widespread because of the viral nature of

the internet and sexting. A photo that a young man sends his latest crush can quickly become fodder for a school-wide joke when it appears on a social media account or is texted to a large group of other students. It is also much harder for students to get away from harassment because their school lives follow them more closely than ever outside classroom hours, due to technology. It is also difficult to know where a school's jurisdiction ends when it comes to harassment between students that takes place outside of school hours.

The problem of sexual harassment in schools is persistent.  Schools can act more responsibly on the issue by formulating proper and specific sexual harassment policies and providing special training programs for teachers, students and other administrative staff.  Seeking the support of parents is also beneficial. The challenges around implementing sexual harassment policies are made even more difficult because students shy away from reporting incidents, for fear of suffering additional consequences or being ridiculed.  The solution is to create a safe environment in the school so that such instances of harassments simply do not take place and the students feel secure, although this is often easier said than done.

3. Cyber bullying.

 VoicED.org.uk, a poll of 2000 11-16 year olds found that almost three in five (57%) have done something 'risky' or anti-social while online. In addition, almost two in three (62%) said that they felt under pressure from peers to act in this way on the internet.

According to an article published on

The activities described included saying negative things about other people, viewing unsuitable websites and, perhaps most worryingly, sharing unsuitable videos or pictures of themselves. Moreover, a fifth of those surveyed admitted to having pressured someone else to act in a negative way online (this rose to 32% in London).

Of the 2000 respondents, almost half (47%) said that they had viewed something on the internet that they did not think their parents would want them to view, whilst around one in seven (14%) said they had sent images of either themselves, or of someone else, that they did not think their parents would want them to send.

A tenth had signed up to online sites or services which were not meant to be viewed by their age group.

In terms of cyber-bullying, almost three quarters (72%) of respondents aged 14-16 had witnessed

some form of online bullying, or had been subjected to it. While this is a bleak statistic, there are positive signs. Three quarters had blocked another user of an app or on a website, two thirds (68%) had supported someone else who had suffered cyber-bullying and 74% had 'stood up for themselves.'

Classrooms are becoming more high-tech, and a lot of innovation has come from that. However, it is important to keep in mind how these new technologies influence disruptive behaviors.

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

Starting The School Year With a Party

How we, as teachers present the educational experience to our students is so vitally important. It can greatly affect how they view learning as a whole. We can create a vibrant, engaging, fun learning environment with a little effort and a lot of creativity. Read on to learn a couple neat ideas brought to you by our friends at Edutopia.


Source: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/starting-school-year-party-ben-johnson


My daughter Sadie-Belle just had her birthday, and as tradition demands in our family, we must decorate her door with crepe paper, balloons, and candy before she wakes up that day. The difficulty this year was that we were visiting her sister in Missouri, and the birthday girl was sleeping on an air mattress in the front room.


One of my other creative daughters found a way around this. She found a foam presentation board, drew a door on it, and wrote, "Happy Birthday Sadie!" We put all the candy on this and laid it beside her air mattress. We then decorated the archway into the kitchen with strands of crepe paper and balloons to satisfy the tradition.


The power of this tradition is that every time anyone, especially the birthday child, goes through the decorated door into the room, they have to remember that this is a special day.

Putting a Fun Spin on Pre-Testing

Imagine something similar at school. Start the school year with a party -- a celebration of learning, as teacher and education writer Harry Wong suggests. As every elementary teacher can tell you, enticing student participation often depends on what kind of spin you put on the learning activity.


Envision students that are enthusiastically engaged in discovering how much they know as they take a


diagnostic of some sort -- on paper or via computers or tablets. Rather than a "testing day," students realize that it's a special occasion because the room is decorated with crepe paper and balloons, and they are given party hats. Some unimaginative folk might call this assessment a simple pre-test, but in fact it's a great opportunity to bolster and build a child's academic future.

Why Diagnostic Testing Matters

Blended learning tools can make this an easy and enjoyable experience for the student and the teacher, rather than a nonessential chore that is often skipped in the course of learning. If the students have tablets, the teacher can possibly send each student a knowledge and skills test that will preview what the students will be learning this semester. Most textbook companies include diagnostic testing with their textbooks and curriculum resources. Teachers can also utilize the commercial diagnostic tools to which many school districts already subscribe.


Having a pre-test party is only part of the celebration. The most important element of the fiesta is providing individual feedback by taking the time to show each student what he or she has already learned and mastered, and then giving the student a preview of the learning during the coming semester or course.


It's so incredibly important to establish a baseline for each student at the beginning of the year. How can we expect to be successful in inspiring learning if we don't know what our students already know and where the gaps in their learning might be? How do we know if they have learned anything from all our effort in creating engaging learning environments and activities unless we determine what they know to begin with?


A teacher must find the answers to these questions, and this has to happen the first days of school. And as Harry Wong convincingly suggests, it should be a celebration.

Pep Talk Follow Up

It seems obvious, but when a teacher takes the time to give a pep talk, explains why the students should try



their best, and shows confidence in their ability to overcome difficulty, students are more apt to be resilient and persistent when learning gets more difficult. The conversation that follows the pre-test is a perfect time to give those one-on-one pep talks. As education expert Carol Dweck reminds us, learning is hard work, and even gifted students need encouragement.


Not only can we prep students for success with pep talks, but with the information gathered from each student, we can design custom learning plans to help them accelerate their own learning -- and fill in gaps where incomplete learning has occurred.


In what ways do you assess, encourage, and prepare students at the start of the year for their upcoming learning? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.

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

Precious Video of Girl's First Day of School Goes Viral

Watching our little one climb on board that bus for the first day of school can be stressful and worrying. We try to calm their fears and put on our happy face while on the inside we are just as anxious as they are. These parents, the Dad works for the school district, decided to strap a GoPro to their little girl and give us an inside glimpse into how the first day looks to a kindergartner. An experience parents rarely get to see. The results will warm your heart. No wonder the video is going viral!


 

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

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

U.S. Schools Still Start Too Early, CDC Reports

Unless you were born with that “early morning riser” gene, most parents, and kids, would prefer to hit the snooze and get an extra hour or so sleep in the morning. I usually moan and groan when the alarm goes off but after a hot cup of joe and getting the blood flowing in my toes again, I’m normally bright-eyed and bushy tailed, ready to tackle whatever life throws my way. What about you? Do you agree with the findings in this article? Let us know in the comments section. We’d love to hear your take or how you react to the blaring of the alarm clock.

Source: http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2015/08/us-schools-start-too-early-cdc-reports.html

As any teenager will mumble from beneath the covers on Monday mornings, it's too early.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees.

In a new report, the CDC says that middle and high schools in the country start too early. Five out of every six U.S. middle and high schools start before 8:30 a.m., possibly leading to insufficient time slept and academic struggles, and increases in health risks and safety concerns.

"Getting enough sleep is important for students' health, safety, and academic performance," said Anne Wheaton, PhD., lead author and epidemiologist of the CDC's Population Health division, in a press release. "Early school start times, however, are preventing many adolescents from getting the sleep they need."

This isn't new territory. Previous research found teenagers need about 8.5 to 9.5 hours of sleep a night. According to the 2013Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance report, two out of three high schoolstudents who have long commutes.)

students don't get that recommended amount, a statistic that's been steady since 2007. As puberty sets in, adolescents experience a later release of melatonin and an altered sleep drive that indicates "the average teenager in today's society has difficulty falling asleep before 11:00 p.m. and is best suited to wake at 8:00 a.m. or later." But with such early start times, schools are making those precious eight to nine hours all the more elusive. (Especially problematic for

Only two states—Alaska and North Dakota—start after the recommended 8:30 a.m. start time, LiveScience found. Iowa, Minnesota, and Florida all have the next latest starting times sometime after 8:15 a.m. Louisiana has the earliest average start time (7:40 a.m.) followed by Delaware, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Mississippi. Approximately 43 percent of the more than 18,000 public high schools in the U.S. start before 8 a.m., according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Schools in suburban areas tend to start the earliest, at 7:51 a.m. on average, the 2012 Schools and Staffing Survey found, while schools within cities start an average of 14 minutes later. Some schools have even seen start times moved earlier in recent years.

Too little sleep has been proven in studies to lead to an increased prevalence of anxiety and mood disorders, use of stimulants (coffee, for example), drowsy driving-related crashes, and subsequent risk of cardiovascular diseases and metabolic dysfunction. By starting later, studies have shown students' academic achievement improving, less absences, and better end-of-year test scores.

But changing the beginning of the school day can affect other aspects of life. School athletics, student jobs, and family schedules all top the list of barriers that would need to be adjusted for later school times, according to a 2011 Brookings Institution report. But the same report suggests that the positive effects of later start times on students' health could lead to improved achievement, and thus, future economic gains.

Related article:

So what do you think? Are kids getting enough sleep these days? Are parents? How do you react to the dream shattering tones of an early morning alarm clock? Let us know! Keep up with us on Facebook

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

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

The School Supplies That Won’t Be On the List

It’s that time again. You can’t help but notice, what with all the TV commercials, radio ads, store fronts shouting in your face….it's back to school time! Walmart has rearranged their entire store just to cater to this big yearly event. If you have kids it is important to plan ahead and having a school supply list is a must. These are easy to find but here are a few things you won’t find on those lists but can definitely help out during your child’s school year. 

Source: Athena Learning Center blog 

Terracycle takes those millions of juice pouches and upcycles them into backpacks, pencil boxes, folders, and other school organizational items. Stuff like this is all over Etsy. Get creative!

School supplies have been on display in local stores for weeks now. It gets earlier every year. Pretty soon, the schools will start posting their supply lists with all the items that make sense. But that list isn’t complete. Here are some things you might want to pick up that your child will be glad to have when the time comes.

Laminating sheets

For the older kids, laminate things that they need to keep in good condition. Schedules and important phone numbers fall into this category. It can also give certain projects a more professional look. For the younger kids, laminate their best art work throughout the year.

Fancy sketchbook

You don’t have to be an artist to find sketching and doodling relaxing. Investing in a good one gives

the book a better chance at survival. Who knows? You might spark a serious artist.

Fancy journal

Self-reflection is a big 21st century skill. There are plenty of online journaling options, but nothing beats having the ability to sit down with a pen and jot down your thoughts. Again, investing in a good one is an investment in survival.

Lap desk

Where is all this drawing and writing supposed to happen? Teachers are starting to use a more free-form design in their classrooms. It spurs collaboration and creativity. A lap desk gives your child the opportunity to work anywhere, including the floor.

App store gift card

School means using a lot of devices and a lot of different apps. Most tools a school uses are either free or through their subscription, but that’s not always the case. Other times, your child will want to use something specialized for a project. Buying a gift card now and setting it aside for these purchases is a great way to budget.

Multi-port charger cable

By now, your child is carrying around chargers and cables for their primary device. But what if they want to charge the school’s digital camera or a strange laptop? This adapter cable goes from USB to either Lightning (newer iDevices), 30-pin (older iDevices), as well as mini and micro USB (most Android phones and other small electronics).

Cool organizational stuff

Boring folders are 1,000 for 99 cents. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make your child stand out. For

example, Terracycle takes those millions of juice pouches and upcycles them into backpacks, pencil boxes, folders, and other school organizational items. Stuff like this is all over Etsy. Get creative!

I hope you found a couple ideas you can use or at least started those creative juices to “think outside the list”. Having the necessary supplies is important for your child’s education but if they are having a hard time with concepts or struggling in an area or two, that’s where we come in. If they need a refresher course, homework help or a deeper interactive study lesson to bring them up to where they need to be, we can help.

Our tutors are all certified, licensed teachers or former teachers who are experienced with training young minds and know what to look for to help them the best way possible. Want to know where your child stands and what possible weaknesses they might have? Schedule a free assessment with us. In just a short evaluation, you can see where little Johnny might need help in one area or where they are really strong in another. Give us a call at (979) 314-9132, we’d love to talk with you! We’re located at 3505 Longmire Drive College Station, TX 77845. Or visit our website. Be sure to visit our previous post about what to do the first day of school.