Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts

Educational Games for Students

Sometimes, you just need to play a game with your students to keep them interested in what you are doing in class, or to give them a little break.

Educational games have always been important additions to the classroom. From games that aid in spelling and vocabulary, such as Hangman and Scrabble to games that help students learn how to think critically, like Brain Teasers to some games that help improve memory like those in which you flip cards over and try to remember where the matching card was placed, games have been an integral part of every child's educational experience. As a teacher, it is important to play games with your students to spark their interest for learning and allow your students to have a little fun in the midst of classroom work. Some might say this is not a beneficial practice to engage in with your students, but if the games you play are educational and fun, everyone benefits. These games can also be used as rewards and positive reinforcement for good behavior and good work in class.

Apples to Apples

Apples to Apples is an awesome card game produced by Mattel. This game is deceptively simple and really fun to play with groups of people, whether in class or at a party. With this game, there are two sets of cards: red apple cards and green apple cards. The red apple cards have nouns (person, place, thing, or idea) on them. These nouns are often famous people (like "Mel Gibson"), concepts (like "Feminism"), or extraordinary events (like "My High School Prom"). The green apple cards have adjectives (words that describe a noun) on them. The goal of the game is to match your red apple cards with the green apple card that is drawn. In each round, each player gets five red apple cards and a judge is appointed. That judge draws a green apple card and announces the word. Each player (the judge does not play) puts a red apple card down-face down so the judge cannot see - that pairs well with the word on the green apple card. The judge then decides who put the best word in, and that person gets the green apple card. Whoever has the most green apple cards at the end, wins. This game can get students thinking about word choice in literature and in their own writing, as well as what makes certain pairings sad or funny. Students will also learn new words by being exposed to things they are not necessarily familiar with.

Hink Pink

Hink Pink is a great brainteaser game made by Discovery Bay Games. In this game, there are cards that have riddles on them, and students need to think about the answer to the riddles in order to receive points. The answers to the riddles are always two words, and they always rhyme. They also always fall into one of three categories: Hink Pinks are two one-syllable words that rhyme, Hinky Pinkys are two two-syllable words that rhyme, and Hinkity Pinkitys are two three-syllable words that rhyme. If the teacher is calling out the riddles, he or she will tell the students if it is a Hink Pink, Hinky Pinky, or Hinkity Pinkity, then read the riddle. For example, the teacher might say: "Hink Pink: A chocolate connoisseur." Then, the students would answer "Fudge Judge." There are many worksheets and educational activities online that a quick internet search will give you. However, if you buy the game, there is also a timer that can be used with smaller groups. Using the cards alone, though, is a great way to get students involved when you have a few extra minutes at the end of class.

Source: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/educational-games-for-students.html

Posted in: Education

How to Find a Good University

We all wish to get into college and pursue the subjects of our liking. But how to find a good university for yourself, when there are so many options to choose from? This article has all the answers you seek...

In order to find a good university for yourself, you need to be absolutely clear about the degree you wish to take up. Once you have made up your mind, you can proceed with the process of applying to the universities that you are interested in. You will need to search online for the most suitable options, depending on the program the college is providing as well as the facilities offered by them. Most colleges offer all the necessary information through their individual websites. Through these websites you will find out if your score and your achievements are sufficient, to be a suitable applicant. Most websites also provide information about their tuition fees and other added expenses. Here are some tips on how to find a good university for yourself.

How to Pick a Good University

Keep a Tab on Your Score
A low SAT score is bound to create impediments when it comes down to the number of colleges you'll be eligible for. Therefore, make it a point to try to keep your scores above average. Many well reputed colleges do not accept scores below B+. In order to get into a good college, you will need to keep your score card up throughout your academic year prior to the inception of college.

Select Apt Courses
Make it a point to find out about the various colleges that offer the degree course you are looking for. The program you choose will probably help you in pursuing jobs at a later stage. For instance if you wish to study anthropology, then you must apply to a university college that offers specialized courses in this field. This will enable you to dedicate all your attention towards one area of education and will thus sharpen your knowledge.

Consider the Admission Requisites
Go through the admission brochures of each college and check if you fall within their ambit of necessary requisites. The reason being, some colleges require a specific percentage or score so as to be eligible to apply, while others look for well-developed personalities, students who have fared well in all categories of academic life, including education, sports as well as extracurricular activities. Therefore apply to a college which you think is suitable for you.

Pros vs Cons
Try to chalk down the basic requirements that you wish to derive from the college of your choice. Find out if the quality of education imparted is up to your expected mark. Find out if the overall expenditure of the entire academic session is within your planned budget or not. If it's expensive, find out if the college offers a scholarship, tuition installment plans and other financial aid. If so, you're expenses will reduce drastically. Though if you do qualify for a reputed college, then taking up the offer would be a wiser decision. The reason being that, with a good degree at hand, your job prospects grow substantially, therefore allowing you to be financially more stable over the years as and when you begin to gain professional work experience. See if the colleges you short listed fulfill certain needs, such as hostel accommodation, library and messing privileges. Pursuing sports activities, part-time jobs, external research as well as internships. The college which satisfies your needs and expectations the most, must be made the first preference of enrollment.

Mission Statement
You will be required to write an essay or a mission statement, which has to be addressed to the college you are interested in joining. This letter should ideally contain a few things about yourself and it should clearly state out the reason as why you are keen about joining their college. Your admission application can be sent either through email, personal application or through postal mail of the hard copy. The application must be attached with the copies of all your past academic records. These records must authenticate the schools you attended.

You may even be required to send samples of your work, though this rule applies only to subjects wherein a certain level of personal skills can be exhibited. For instance, fields such as science, literature, performing arts, political studies, and anthropology. Send in the copies of research papers if you have any, and if you feel it necessary so as to increase your chances of admission approval. You need not get into one of the top 10 universities in the world in order to gain quality education. Nor is it a prerequisite for success in your later years.

Always keep backups of colleges that you are sure you will get through. These colleges will be categorized as safety colleges. Though, do remember that your safety net must include only those colleges which you wouldn't mind joining, in case you do not get selected by the others. Many unforeseen circumstances can arise, which can make you deviate from a prior decision of joining a particular university. Therefore keeping a likely backup would be a very prudent choice. Hopefully this article on finding a good university has been informative.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-find-a-good-university.html

Posted in: Education

How to Choose a College

A college is a place where every student aspires to be after completing their high school. Since there are thousands of colleges and universities in the country, it becomes difficult to decide which college is best for you. The article enlightens you on how to choose a college, or the different points to be considered before choosing a college...

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College paves the path of your career and shapes your personality. It propels your career in the right direction and provides you with golden job opportunities. It helps in developing analytical and reasoning abilities in you and enhances your communication skills. It is a place that encourages you to pursue your career in the field that interests you the most, and develop your hidden talents by participating in different extra curricular activities. Therefore, before choosing a college you should have a self assessment in which you should ask yourself 'Which field do I excel in and enjoy the most?'. This will give an idea of the type of career path you should choose and will also help you in choosing the right college. It is always better to evaluate your skills and interests before choosing a college as these precious years of your college life can either help you move forward or restrain you from fulfilling your potential.

Tips For Choosing a College
It's not easy to pick which college is best for you as there are so many colleges that you can surely get confused. But always remember don't simply go after the brand name colleges as there are many colleges that may be less known but are worthy of your attention. Therefore, here are some tips on how to choose a college which is most beneficial for you.

Type of College: Apart from public and private types of institute, in which the public colleges are funded by the government and private colleges by individuals and organizations, colleges can be categorized into research and teaching colleges. As their names imply, research oriented colleges focus more on the research side of the education and the teaching institute emphasize on the teaching side of the education. Out of these two, which one you choose depends on your career plans after you complete your college education. Another point that has to be considered and depends on the student's preference is whether he wants to have a two year degree course by joining a community college or a full four year bachelor's degree by joining a university.

Campus Environment/Infrastructure: This is one of the most important factors to be considered before choosing a college. College infrastructure doesn't mean how good the college building looks, it means whether it is equipped with proper classrooms, administrative buildings, workshops, computer labs, laboratories, seminar halls, student clubs, gym, etc.

Faculty: Just having a good infrastructure is not sufficient, therefore before enrolling try having an idea of the college faculty and their teaching experiences from the students already studying in that college.

Size of Student Body: Colleges may range in size from small (less than 2,500 students) to very large (more than 12,000 students). You should be very careful as number of undergraduates may not exhibit the class size or the number of departments or faculties in the college. Due to which you may either feel overwhelmed by the number of students or more challenged to excel in such an environment.

College Fee: Another important point to be considered before applying for a college is its fees. But you shouldn't rule out colleges just because of their cost, as there are many colleges that offer scholarships, financial aid, and tuition installment plans or grants for college students.

Choosing a college just because your friends are going there or it ranks on a list should not be the criteria of selection. You should evaluate each and every point on the basis of your personal preferences like whether you will be able to adjust with the college's social and academic environments. College life is a big turning point in every student's life and so lots of patience and thoughtfulness is required while choosing a college. I am sure by now you must be having a fair idea of how to choose a college and what points are to be considered before enrolling in a college.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-choose-a-college.html

Posted in: Education

How to Get Scholarships in High School

The rising cost of education has left many students from low income families clamoring for high school scholarships to continue their education. These scholarships are mostly offered by business organizations and the eligibility criteria varies from one scholarship program to another.

Parents and students alike know the importance of completing high school education, however, the prevailing economic conditions have made it difficult for many to complete their education due to lack of funds. If you are looking for financial aid to complete your education, then one of the options that you have is, applying for scholarships. The best thing about a scholarship program is that you do not have to repay the financial aid you receive.

If you are wondering how to get scholarships in high school, well you will have to apply for several scholarship programs offered by different organizations. It is advisable to apply for more than one scholarship as this will increase your chances of getting one. Business houses, non profit organizations and local church charities are some of the options that you have for applying for scholarships. People who are Internet savvy have an advantage as most scholarship applications are available online.

High School Scholarship Requirements

Understanding how scholarship programs work and their eligibility criteria is crucial to getting the reward. There are two main types of scholarship programs, Need-Based scholarships and Merit based scholarships. Need-Based scholarships favor students from low income families and merit based scholarships are for students who have a good academic record. So, make sure that you apply for a scholarship that suits you the best.

For Need-Based scholarship programs, you will have to produce income proof and bank statements of your parents. You should be a US citizen or an eligible non citizen to qualify for most of the scholarship programs for high school students. For Merit based scholarships, you will be required to submit your academic records to qualify for the program. Most programs will also need you to submit recommendation letters from academicians.

Application forms, deadline details, and the amount of reward will vary from one scholarship program to another. The reward amount may range anywhere between $500 to $20,000, so make sure you do proper research before applying. Students involved in community development projects and activities stand a better chance of qualifying for the reward. Many scholarship programs also award students who display leadership qualities, so make sure you highlight this trait.

Useful Tips and Scholarship Programs

Students looking for financial aid for supporting their high school education should practice writing essays as most programs require applicants to write an essay. Try and maintain a good grade point average (GPA) in your school work as it is one of the distinguishing characteristics of an application. Make sure you fill the complete application form and don't leave out any information, however irrelevant it may sound to you. Proof read you application before you submit it, you will be surprised to know that a large percentage of applications are rejected for silly mistakes.

Keep all the documentation ready before you start applying, financial statements, academic records, photo ID, recommendation letters, personal achievement certificates, etc. One of the resources for information on scholarships is the school counselor, so talk to them and find out which scholarship program qualifies you the best. Dedicate some time for research on the Internet and look into the eligibility criteria of the scholarships. Here are a few scholarship programs that you could try.

Signet Classics Scholarship
Bank of America Scholarships
American Planning Association High School Essay Contest
National Youth Education Summit
Coca-Cola Scholars Program
Toyota Community Scholars Award
AFSA High School Essay Contest
Walt Disney Company Foundation Scholarship
The Fountainhead Essay Contest
National Vocabulary Competition

When it comes to applying for scholarships, time is of essence as every scholarship has an application date and deadline for submissions. Apply for as many scholarships as you can, if you get the reward, it will be well worth the effort.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-to-get-scholarships-in-high-school.html

Posted in: Education

Scaffolding In Education

Scaffolding in education is a concept to help a child learn and master new information and skills. This helps in complete intellectual development of children. This article will tell you how the integration of this technique is useful in education.

Scaffolding is a concept based on the theory proposed by Lev Vygotsky, known as, 'Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)'. It is one of the most popular teaching methods in education. In this mode of instruction a teacher helps the student initially, to learn a new concept and offers maximum assistance. Gradually, the teacher sets up newer tasks for the students to perform and apply their knowledge independently. The zone of proximal development literally means the distance between what children can do on their own and what they can do when assisted by an adult. Scaffolding in education is a strategy in which a knowledgeable person equips the student and provides him with all the information and support to acquire or learn a particular thing.

What is Scaffolding in Education?
Teachers use this strategy regularly in classrooms. A teacher demonstrates a particular skill to students and then provides them with assistance, while students attempt to master the skill. It literally is transferring the responsibility from the teacher to the student in order to teach the student to work independently. The assistance is not taken away immediately, rather it is a gradual transformation. One of the examples of scaffolding in education would be when a teacher teaches students how to solve a sum in maths using given properties. The teacher then asks students to solve the sum on their own and come up with the answer and corrects them if they have made mistakes. Teaching itself is a skill, therefore before using this strategy, a tutor has to be skilled with his teaching skills. This strategy helps students learn from their mistakes and clears all doubts about certain concepts while mastering a skill.

Characteristics of the Vygotsky Scaffolding
Jamie McKenzie, the editor of an online education journal has pointed out the eight characteristics of the scaffolding strategy that a teacher must follow in order to teach a student. They are as follows.

A step by step instruction procedure helps in reducing confusion over concepts of acquiring skills.
Explain the importance of learning or mastering a particular skill.
The students must be able to analyze the instructions and come up with their ways to tackle the matter.
Offering assessment of the work students have done helps them learn and understand what is expected of them.
A teacher must point out other resources where students can refer for help to learn more about the skill or information being taught to them
The activity must be well planned and keep students interested and should not be posed as a fear in any which way, due to which they will lose interest in understanding the concept of the task.
Efficient delivery of the scaffolding instruction will save time and is a quick and interesting way of educating students.
The basic aim of this strategy is to provide knowledge to students and help them overcome their fear of performing and making decisions.

Scaffolding in Education: Examples
Scaffolding in education involves the concept of interventionist study. The earliest application of the study was done with toddlers of ages 3,4 and 5. They were given the task of making a pyramid with a set of blocks. The tutor was asked to help the child only as much it would for him to understand what was to be done. This study was done by Wood, Ross, and Bruner in 1986. From this study they came up with 6 forms of support that a child could be provided with.
Another example was of reciprocal teaching, a study carried out by Palinscar and Brown in 1985. Here students were provided with reading strategies by a tutor. These strategies were;

Self-Directed Summarizing
Questioning
Clarifying
Predicting

The tutor helped the students with each of these strategies till they could understand the importance of each and its application.

Advantages of Scaffolding in Education
The main advantage of this strategy is that it helps the learners associate acquired knowledge with new concepts. It also helps in building a sort of self confidence in students. Scaffolding also helps reduce fear and anxiety about a certain concept which if not taken away leads to frustration. Another advantage of scaffolding is that it is tailored according to the individual requirement of the learner., which leads us to the disadvantage of scaffolding.

Disadvantages of Scaffolding in Education
As mentioned in the advantages of scaffolding, that it is tailored for individual learners, application of this strategy in a classroom gets quite tedious. The strength of a class is often large and applying the strategy to each student may become quite time consuming.

Software Applications for Scaffolding
To overcome the disadvantage of individual attention, there are various software applications available for scaffolding which a teacher can offer students as a learning resource. This proves the importance of technology in education. There are certain software tools such as Thinker Tools, Knowledge Integration Environment and Progress Portfolio which help learners master the skills he wishes to acquire.

Thus, scaffolding in education has its own benefits, when applied strategically. Application of this instruction in classroom is not impossible, certain modifications in scaffolding would help. It is definitely advantageous for learners.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/scaffolding-in-education.html

Posted in: Education