Grading systems in schools - a catalyst movement towards encouraging crammers instead of intelligent children

Teaching has become a kind of competition for children wherein everyone is trying to outrun the other. But they do not understand that this learning will not help them in practical world. What we need is a sound educational mechanism with innovative techniques instead of grading systems to make students independent and self-reliant.

Through this write-up; I don’t want to create any controversy or any heated discussion about the present education system. But normally all my blogs have concentrated on providing something different so that tutors as well as children can have interesting ways of thinking. This blog is going to reflect different ways through which grading systems have affected the children as a whole. Now traditional tutors will argue at this point and say that without grading systems it is impossible to evaluate the progress of a child. Now maybe they have a valid point. In fact today in the morning, I replied to a facebook post about an image that I had kept on Facebook. Now it was a very simple quote but yielded lot of attention from various sections of public at large. Let me share the experience with you and believe me this is all connected to the subject that I am discussing right now. 

The quote read as: “The flaw in the education system, as far as I see it, is that you live your life - the teacher and student – in quest of A’s. Yet later in life, the A is irrelevant.” Now this quote is from Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist. So this is not my quote but since I posted it on Facebook there were lot of reactions on it. I will not take the names of the users because of the privacy issue but it was quite interesting and debatable topic. There were certain people who were of the opinion that technology has developed so much that internet has become a new medium for education and there is no way to substitute that with the grading system. Now this is the view of one of the users. While others were of the opinion that if we drop this yardstick of evaluating children and substitute them with social media tools it would become very difficult to make students study through conventional methods like books. While others quoted that if you only make children learn and re-learn to gain knowledge there would be no yardstick to judge their skills.

I defer from this opinion. I have already enumerated in that particular discussion that if a child does not find a thing interesting he/she would not be involved in the studies thoroughly. The current teaching mechanism has its own flaws which need to be overcome only through making education fun-loving for children. If you give provide guidance and introduce creative ways of teaching students in a way that they love it they would no longer need an evaluation method or a grading system. It will all be just a mandatory provision just for the sake of it. This very idea makes me very interested in developing such a concept in the current education system. I have already written quite a few blogs on innovative teaching methods for math and English. Let me give you the links for the same. Copy and paste these links to a separate browser to have a quick overlook on what I presume about the way education should be for children:

http://practutor.blogspot.in/2012/08/developing-interactive-based-learning.html

http://practutor.blogspot.in/2012/08/the-tough-question-of-instilling.html

http://practutor.blogspot.in/2012/08/determining-breakthrough-teaching.html

http://practutor.blogspot.in/2012/08/envisioning-creative-end-of-chapter.html

http://practutor.blogspot.in/2012/08/challenging-task-of-making-math-fun.html

So once you have been through these blogs you will appreciate my idea of creating a knowledge based education system which should let children decide their own evaluation. The idea would be to give creative end of the chapter activities for children especially for online tutors. Now the only reason for giving preference to online tutors is that they normally do not get the chance to have much interaction with children and need to provide something creative in order for the parents and children to enroll for their course. There is lot of competition in this field and there is no respite. Hence; I am highlighting these points from the perspective of online tutors.

Now, we don’t want our future generation to be people who get straight A’s in their schools and colleges but are duds as far as practical exposure is concerned. The idea is to integrate practical components early on in the studies in such a way that theory and practical approaches both get equal importance. The primary objective should be to provide knowledge to the children in the best possible creative manner. Now by being creative I mean being different. Use different teaching techniques for different children as no two children have the same grasping power. This has already been discussed in my previous blogs. But it is very important to enumerate this point for this subject. If you look at the end of the chapter activities blog you will find that I have never focused on the grading system because only grades do not reflect the intellectuality of the child. A child can have an exam-fever because of which he/she may not be able to provide adequate answers; but if you ask them to provide the answers without mentioning the word test or exam they do excellent in it. Hence; knowledge is bliss; and it should not be confused with evaluating methods. These methods were created to instill competition amongst children. But do we still need the same ideology after hundreds of years.

 Traditional teachers would now argue that without evaluation methods it will become very difficult to gauge the progress of the child. But who says that we do not need evaluation methods? The only thing is that the word exam/test should change to activities. Now we should have different creative activities which encourage the child to showcase their hidden talents. Knowledge can only be delivered if the child is ready to accept it.

You might have heard the phrase:

“You can take the horse to the pond but cannot make him drink it.”

In the same ways if you do not understand what a child wants you cannot provide knowledge to him/her. It is a difficult proposition even for God to make them understand anything if they are not in the mood to study. Hence, there is a need to change the evaluation techniques and make it easier and comfortable for children. It should be more like an activity than an evaluation exercise. Hence, I said in the beginning that grading system has actually impacted the children in a very negative way. Now they are carrying loads of books in schools, are involved in lots of activities and are way too tired to solve your quizzes and boring tests. Hence; I call all the tutors and teachers to contribute further; and share your knowledge about innovative teaching techniques by contributing something innovative and different from what has been taught since traditions. We are looking at the 21^st Century education hence we should be different. Our thoughts should be innovative and path-breaking so that we can pave way for a bright future for the approaching generations.

I know you would say that we are back to square one from where we started in this blog. But do you really think that changes can be made in the current education paradigm in a single day or a single thought? It is a gradual process.

I would like to end this blog by mentioning a quote written by Eleanor Roosevelt,

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Hence; I want as many teachers and tutors to participate in discussions related to this topic and comment on this blog as much as possible. Remember we are doing this for the future generations to follow. Post your invaluable comments and suggestions about the blog by following us at: http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://hardik.practutor.com

PracTutor
12806 Townepark Way

Louisville, KY 40243-2311

United States

http://www.practutor.com

Evolutionary convergence of online tutoring business with social media

I have written about different aspects of online tutoring business in my blogs. In this blog; I have tried to integrate various aspects of social media which change the equation of online tutoring business completely.

I never touched the subject of social media emergence in my blogs. The reason is quite simple. I wanted my blogs to be specifically for online tutoring dealing with various problems faced by online tutors in designing and depicting the course curriculum to the children. Now, I know that parents are the key decision makers for enrollment of children in particular online course. But you cannot deny the fact that if a child likes something in a glance it is very difficult for the parents to ignore that and push the child for another alternative. Hence; the situation is quite tricky because now you have two different sets of target audience to please. This can be very taxing because the needs of both the concerned parties are completely different. To avoid this and make things clearer the social medium is used as a means to achieve the desired goals; and draw the target audience in a subtle way.

Now since we are talking about social media let me tell you some staggering facts that deal with social media. According to an article titled “Social Media; I’ve heard the term, but what does it mean to me, or my business?” according to the 2012 stats:

• 66 percent of online adults are connected to one or more social media platforms 
• 50 percent of social media users say they check in to their favorite networks first thing in the morning 
• 45% of social media users are at least ‘somewhat’ comfortable providing credit card details through social media channels 
• By 2015; brands will be generating 50% of their web sales through social media and mobile platforms with a projection of $30 Billion

You can read the entire article by copying and pasting the url mentioned below to a separate browser:

http://www.compucast.com/social-media-marketing.html

The fact is that you cannot ignore the impact of social media on online tutoring. In reality; there are so many things that can be achieved in online tutoring by integrating social media that it is very difficult to ignore it in the scheme of things:

• A key feature for marketing: In this age of digital commercialization, do you think online tutoring can survive without viral marketing? If you are probably saying that I know that it is not possible to imagine online tutoring without viral marketing. That would be an utter nonsense. Because with the advent of social media things have changed quite drastically. Normally we would not have seen the comments posted by eminent personalities; but now with the help of social media platform the world has become a smaller place. You can view comments and post statuses on Facebook in an instant thereby promoting you as a brand. So what are the odds of marketing an online tutoring business through this new social buzz? You can bet the results. It can be tremendous.In addition to this, you can even spread awareness by participating through different social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace etc. The beauty of each of these networks is that their outlook is completely different with different sets of target audiences using these networks. So for example; you can spread awareness of your blogs on online tutoring through Facebook by posting the subject of the blog and providing a brief outline of the subject along with the link. The readers can then read the blog and post their comments on it. Thereby; increasing the visibility of your brand. You can also post interesting anecdotes, quotes, ask questions and give suggestions on different topics related to your domain. Hence; there is a tremendous marketing potential through Facebook. Similarly for Twitter, there is a separate target audience that uses hash tags (#) with limited characters to depict the idea. Hence, the concept is based on the principle of depicting more through less content. Highlight the subject of your blog in a creative manner, and the response rate grow enormously. You can also comment on different topics relevant to your interests. For LinkedIn; you can build professional contacts by adding them to your profile and highlighting your academic qualification and professional experience in a creative manner. You can even promote your blogs, post comments, ask questions and get feedback from fellow members.

• Use it as a medium to hold conference between fellow tutors: We all know that the entire globe is a very small place especially if you decide to share your experiences and knowledge with tutors from different nationalities. This can be a very enriching experience since, there is no dearth of knowledge amongst tutors and the more you share, the more you learn from them. In addition to this; when you hold such conferences there is going to be a discussion and debate which can enlighten you to different online teaching practices which are normally quite difficult to find. It is also quite necessary to learn about different tutoring styles taught in different countries. This can open up new avenues of growth for online tutoring domain and can enhance the knowledge of the participants.

• Creative ways to share notes with students: With the help of various social networking sites; it is possible to upload notes which can be quite useful for students at large. Not only does it free them from waiting for clarification; but it also encourages them to ask relevant questions or provide comments through various social networking sites like, Google docs instantly. This is a boon for students, as they can now get the required notes instantly and clarify their doubts quickly. Being online is not option. But it is the selection of freedom from constrained education. Hence, it is perfect match for online tutoring.

• An inventive method to keep a check on student behavior: There are times when students take out their frustration on different social networking sites about their online tutors or about the course design. It is a perfect opportunity for online tutors to research on student’s behavior about a particular course curriculum or particular method of teaching. It can not only enlighten the tutors about the need of the hour but also about the different needs of the students of today’s generation. Hence, social media is an excellent tool to research on students’ behavior.

Thomas Edison once quoted, 

“Opportunity is missed by most people; because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

Hence, I would conclude this blog by reiterating the point that the social media networks have given a tremendous opportunity to online tutors to showcase their talent; that should not be wasted.

To learn more about PracTutor follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://hardik.practutor.com

PracTutor
12806 Townepark Way

Louisville, KY 40243-2311

United States

http://www.practutor.com

Inculcating positive personality development traits in children since early childhood - The ultimate objective of a tutor

Children are very delicate as they can be molded very easily in early childhood. There is also a threat that they can become rebellious and take on negative personality habits which can prove to be quite fatal for their future. In this blog, I have concentrated on some basic points which help in inculcating positive personality development habits in children since early children from the perspective of a tutor.

I have always stressed about innovative teaching techniques in my blogs. But in this write-up, I will look at different aspects which lead to personality development in young children. Remember in my first blog I mentioned that my primary focus would be on children between the age group of 3 to 15 years. Hence, I will continue with the same target audience but with a different frame of mind. I will try to find out different aspects which sum up to define behavior of children in particular order. In this blog, I will start off with the definition of personality and then the different facets which help in developing personality in children.

So how would you define personality? Now you will say that it is the sum of culture, behavior, ideas, thoughts and emotions which makes up a human personality. But my question is do these young children have any idea of culture? Let me take you take you to the journey of my early childhood and show you how culture can never be a part of personality of a young child. Since childhood my parents always used to encourage me to play, interact with people, enjoy games and make friends but I was not able to make friends. In fact I was not even good at interacting with people. Children of my same age group used to come at my house and play with my toys. Some of them used to take the toys with them but I never used to tell anything to my parents. Now I hope you can understand while my parents always gave me the freedom to interact with people and move out it became even more difficult for me to do that because I was of a reserved nature. Hence, culture does not play a part in the personality. It is the way we behave according to our pre-conceived notions that build up our personality. Now when I look back at those days, I really cannot understand why I used to fear from interacting with people. Even mingling with unknown people was a big thing for me. But now things have changed.

So does that mean that my personality changed over night? Or when I was in my early childhood I constrained myself with the fear of hurting others due to my sensitive nature? Whatever it was; it did not last for a long time. Soon after I graduated and moved out I found out that life is all about expressing yourself; and trying to find a place for you in this big bad world! Hence, from there; the journey for my self-discovery started. Okay now let me cut the topic, and concentrate on the subject at hand. So, what I am trying to explain is that every child is unique as enumerated millions of times in my previous blogs. Try to show them the way through gentle means. Always be patient with them and encourage them to speak their heart out. In addition to these; I have mentioned some useful guidelines which can inculcate positive personality traits in children since early childhood. Let us look at them in detail:

• It is often said that “Curiosity is the virtue of the child” and this saying is absolutely true. Children have this uncanny knack of asking questions; which sometimes seem to be irrelevant. But according to them these questions are very important. Hence, answer the questions with as much patience as possible. Never lose your temper; or use bad language in front of children. Remember children learn from their parents and tutors. Create a healthy atmosphere while teaching children. Encourage them to come up with innovative ideas.

• Remember “Knowledge is bliss”. Always watch informative serials on television with your child. Ask them to read interesting articles from newspaper which can build up their knowledge. This can make them learn about practical things creatively.

• Recommend the use of dictionaries and encyclopedia to children. This will help them to gain useful insights about new words and various things happening around the globe.

• Do not instill fear in the minds of children. Remember fear leads to lie and you do not want the child to lie to you. Encourage open and honest communication for better results.

• Instill trust and faith in the children. Never forgot to show your love to them and always try to inculcate positive things to thing. Remember a positive mind helps in developing a positive personality.

• Since early childhood explain the importance of time management to the child so that they can use the time frame in productive use as much as possible.

In the end it is all about giving lots of love and affection to the child so that they see the world as a warm and beautiful place to live in. This is the secret of building a positive personality in children since early childhood. If you wish to comment or post your feedback to us; feel free to follow us at: 

http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://hardik.practutor.com

PracTutor
12806 Townepark Way

Louisville, KY 40243-2311

United States

http://www.practutor.com

  

The tough question of instilling creativity in children through inspirational tutoring

Tutoring is a very difficult profession because not only do you have to take care of understanding the needs of the children but also impart knowledge to them in a very creative manner. In this blog; I have tried to enumerate the points which can help instill creativity in children through tutoring.

I know looking at the subject of this blog, you might be wondering what exactly do I mean by innovation; and how can it be taught through tutoring? I will definitely try my level best to explain this predicament in this blog. But first let me start with some of my personal observations. I know many of you might have seen “Disney channel” which showcases various shows which depict creativity amongst kids. One of the shows which caught my attention was “Hanna Montana”. In this show, we see a minor girl which by the way has grown up to become an adult by now but the point is that she is creative and talented. Alongwith that she also manages to complete her class work and home work like a normal child and also changes her personality to become a pop star known as “Hannah Montana”. Now, looking at this show, I was very astonished to find that children do have hidden talents in them but it needs to be developed further to grow into something bigger and better. Although this can be argued with the fact that it is parent’s genes which affect a child’s natural talent. In the “Hannah Montana” show; her father is a singer and so obviously she had the talent to become a pop star. But the same cannot be said about his brother who unlike the father and daughter is completely different and does not enjoy singing. So now the question arises how do we determine whether a child will develop a particular trait from their parents in long term? The other question being can innovation be developed in students since early childhood? The answers are quite difficult to find.

Let me take another example. Sachin Tendulkar is unarguably one of the best batsmen in the world. So can we then safely assume that his son Arjun will follow the footsteps of his father and become a cricketer? It is very difficult to answer this question. But we are already seeing him practicing in the nets batting like his dad nevertheless; he still has a long way to go. We have also seen the son of Bishan Singh Bedi, Angad Bedi starring in movies. Bishan Singh Bedi was a great Indian cricketer; but his son has not followed the footsteps of the father; and is trying to make his own mark in the Bollywood industry. So can we safely say that if any of the parents of the child are creative; then the child has an in-built creativity of its own which needs to be enhanced? The answer to this question is quite subjective.

The other question is how to gauge the creativity in the children? Like I have already said my times in my previous blogs; every child is unique with different qualities which need to be nourished. Many times a we find that a child is not good at studies; but is good at our extra-curricular activities. That does not mean that he is a dud; but it reflects that he is different with his own identity. This is a lesser known fact that some children find their uniqueness in early childhood; while others learn it later after facing lots of difficulties. But the major task of the tutor is to encourage children; and try to find out their creative side. Then try to amalgamate it with the studies; so that education can be fun for them.

Now, let us look at the following points to get a fair idea about how to encourage and instill creativity in children while teaching them:

·     If you find that a child is good at creating drawings. Instead of making him understand everything theoretically; ask him to draw images of things that he understands. After every step guide him; so that he knows where he needs to improve. This kind of creative learning can instill lot of confidence in the child. It also helps them to retain the information for a longer period of time.

·  Similarly, if the child has a knack of writing stories on its own. Encourage them to write creatively after explaining them the chapters. This will make them write things on their own about the lessons taught; which will register in their brain for a longer time than making them cram everything in one goes.

·    The third criterion is when you find that the child has lot of interest in seeing cartoons and animations. In this case; although the process is lengthy, if you can display the lessons in the form of a picture gallery or animated series to the child, they can understand the lesson in a much better way; and also remember it for a very long time.

Although the methods suggested in this blog look quite simple to use, many online tutors have still not found the winning combination of holding on to the interests of the children. If you have any suggestions that can be used to enhance creativity of children through tutoring; please send us your comments and feedback by following us at: http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://hardik.practutor.com

PracTutor
12806 Townepark Way

Louisville, KY 40243-2311

United States

http://www.practutor.com

Determining a breakthrough teaching mechanism for English online tutors

You might have observed that in all my blogs I have always given priority to innovation in education methods. The simple reason for that is we are moving into a revolutionary phase where things will become outdated quite quickly. Hence, there is always a need for something new and exciting to make students interested in the subjects. More so; in case of theory subjects like English where students do not find it interesting to read the whole bunch of chapters to get the story. The tedious job of an online tutor is not only to depict the information in the English chapters through interesting means but also deliver knowledge to the students in such a manner that they want to study the chapters again and again. Now this is a challenge especially for young children in Std. I to VIII. As the age of a child increases the curiosity factor decreases. Hence, this is the period when children want to learn something different. So the tried and tested methods of teaching will never work for these children.

I know if you are a tutor yourself, you are wondering and saying to yourself I have been a teacher all my life and now you come up with your own thesis claiming the online teaching mechanism has flaws? You are right my friend. Although you have been teaching since a long time things change and people change. The same teaching mechanism cannot be used for the current generation as they are quite smart and know everything about the new technology. They like to experiment a bit since early childhood and learn through their own experiences. From what I have learned so far I can say very bluntly that we have never learned the art of understanding the minds of a child. The only thing we are interested is in making our future generation a bunch of crammers who go to college get their degrees but at the end of the day when you ask them basic questions that are relevant in the practical world they are clueless. We do not want our future generation to be book-wormers we want them to learn through practical experiences. More so by making them experience the same things that they learn in theory.

One way of doing that is through animation-based e-learning. Now I know this idea looks ridiculous but believe me if you are a child aged 8 years of age you will love to see the Tom and Jerry series on cartoon network or Duck tales series which used to telecast earlier. Now the only reason I am giving these examples is because every story in English language in primary education has a moral behind it. If we try to depict it in an interesting manner in similar lines to these cartoon series it will make students see the animations again and again. This way; online tutors do not have to spend much time on making students understand the topics. Moreover, students can revise the chapters by going through the animated series of chapters again and again thereby reducing the burden on parents. Students will study without any force and will literary ask for more and more chapters in the digitalized/animated format. The quizzes can then be taken after a specific interval to gauge the success of this concept. I feel that this can work and will prove to be a major hit in future. Children as it is are not happy with books.

Practically speaking, I see so many toddlers carrying loads of books in their schoolbags. It is so ridiculous but their own weight is far less than the weights of the books. Isn’t it our duty to see that the children are not overburdened with studies? This is the age which we as mature adults remember now and share our experiences with our peers and friends saying those were the happy days without any pressure. Now, if your own child is burdened with the kind of education which is being provided will you be happy with it? Moreover, I have also seen parents sending their children to private tutors which increase the burden on children tremendously. Because now they have do over-time by completing the class work, homework and the tuition work. Is n’t it a sin to burden a child with so much of pressure? Can’t we creatively think about an education system which is free from books and provides practical exposure to children so that they can become future managers, leaders and so on?

Story-boards are also interesting concepts wherein you make children learn about the subjects through stories in the form of sequential animated images. But if we make it even better by providing them with animated cartoon characters to depict the chapters it will be a great hit amongst children. Even the parents would love it. Online tutoring will improve because now you will have to increase the creativity quotient and think out-of-the-box to resolve the concerns of the children differently than the traditional ways of communication. But that is something which I will be discussing in my next blog. For now I will sign off with a statement which has made me think about this concept quite seriously:

“OUR FUTURE GENERATION IS SERIOUSLY FACING THE FLAK RIGHT NOW IN TERMS OF LACK OF INNOVATIVE EDUCATION TECHNIQUES. HENCE, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO THINK OUT-OF-THE-BOX TECHNIQUES TO INCREASE THE BENCHMARK OF ONLINE EDUCATION AROUND THE GLOBE.”

To learn more about PracTutor follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://hardik.practutor.com

PracTutor
12806 Townepark Way

Louisville, KY 40243-2311

United States

http://www.practutor.com

Four Illuminating Guidelines For Successful Online Teachers

Online learning has become a trend in recent times. With that the importance of online teaching has increased. In this article; we look at various guidelines which will be helpful for successful online teaching.

Online education has become a holy grail for many K-12 educators. With the advancement in technology, e-learning has become 21st century learning tool which not only provides enchanted learning but it also transforms education to another level. Hence; online teaching has become one of the most important jobs in recent times. There are special sets of skill and attitude required for online teachers. Let us look at some of the key criteria required to become a successful online teacher:

• Personalized contact: Classroom teaching and online teaching are totally different from each other. In classroom teaching there is a huge opportunity for the students to have one-on-one interaction with their teachers. But in case of online teaching, the only way to make your message personalized is through email. Online teachers need to have a far greater confidence and emotional security in terms of their professional competency. Online teachers need to work hard to personalize their message as far as possible so that students do not think of it as a robotic interaction.
• Know thy students: It is always advisable for the online teachers to know the strengths and weaknesses of each of their students individually by communicating effectively with the students. This will help them to have clear and to the point communication with the students. They can even track the performance of the student at an individual level.
• Lose complete control: Classroom teaching enables teachers to gain complete control over the students and get the task done beautifully. However; in case of online teaching, there is no control over the teaching pattern. The students have the choice of selecting independently when to study and take quizzes. Even in traditional classroom teaching there are chances of cheating more so in case of online teaching. But if the online teachers are able to convey their message to the students about the satisfaction and benefits derived from the courses then there is a tremendous potential for them. But if coercive techniques are used to extract information from the students then it becomes very difficult for the online teachers to get the desired results.
• 24 x 7 support: Online teaching is more of a lifestyle than a job. It is very difficult for online teachers to set reasonable boundaries on their workday. If a student runs into trouble the basic instinct is to help them as soon as possible. Majority of times online support is asked by the student from 10 pm to midnight.

Online teaching is a specialized job. It not only caters to providing innovative education solutions to the students instantly; but it also takes the sphere of 21st century learning to another level.

To learn more about PracTutor follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://www.practutor.com

PracTutor
12806 Townepark Way
Louisville, KY 40243-2311
United States
http://www.practutor.com
http://hardik.practutor.com

SIX PIONEERING WAYS TO PREPARE FOR THE BIG TEST

Students are usually stressed out before the big test. In this article; we look at the different ways through which students can prepare for the test.

We are fast approaching the 21st Century Learning mechanism. Students are always concerned about cracking the next big test round the corner with flying colors. But most of them are not able to absorb the pressure of the big day and are under tremendous stress to do well. With the transforming educational scenario; it becomes very important for the students to get enchanted learning with proper preparation for the big test. Let us look at some of the pioneering ways through which students can prepare for the big test:

BEFORE THE TEST

• Revise the notes loudly: Every student has a different approach to revising the notes - some learn by reading, some by reading and others by writing. If you are reading the notes loudly, subconsciously you are doing all the three things simultaneously. It is also possible to retain vast amount of knowledge by reading notes loudly to yourself or friend.
• Only include important notes for revision: It is very important for the students to note that every single piece of information is not important. Hence, care should be taken to cross irrelevant notes before studying for the test. It is also of great significance to learn the notes that are not going to be important for the test. Separate them out so that it becomes convenient to study only that part of information which is important for the test.
• Importance of sleep: Sleep is of utmost importance for the students especially before the test. Make sure that you get at least six hours of sleep before a test. Even if that means that students have to sacrifice a bit of their studying for it.

DURING THE TEST

• Answer everything the first time: Always answer every single question without leaving any blank spaces even if you have no idea of the question. Circle that question so that you can come back and add more points to the answer. Most of the times intelligent guesswork pays-off which yields great results for the students.
• Revise the answers once you finish the test: Once you have finished the test revise the answers thoroughly. Just checking the answers will not help take the exam again this will enable you to understand whether you have misinterpreted any question or put a wrong answer to the question. Try to answer the questions once again and then compare the newly answered questions with the earlier answers this will give you a fair idea of whether the answer provided is correct or not.
• Over thinking is a crime: Many times due to anxiety and over thinking students change their right answers with wrong ones which lead to error of judgment. Always note that your first instinct is smarter than the second one. Go with the flow and the answers will come automatically.

To learn more about PracTutor follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://www.practutor.com
PracTutor
12806 Townepark Way
Louisville, KY 40243-2311
United States
http://www.practutor.com

4 Tips That Will Help You Concentrate in Books

In this age of 21st century learning, there is tremendous competition amongst students to get high scores and percentages. There is lot of pressure on students from the parents which leads to additional stress. On top of it students also face the concentration problem while trying to study. Let us look at some tips which will help students to concentrate in books:

• Keep away from distractions: Studying without being distracted is a very challenging task. Especially when you have so many things to enjoy in your free time like: playing games, watching television and browsing internet. While studying stay away from these distractions. Try to study outdoors if you cannot help switching on TV. Alternatively if you have the habit of bumping into strangers stay indoors.
• Study with short breaks of exercise: Studying with breaks is an excellent practice for concentrating better and studying hard. Along with this if you can do 5 pushups it will do a world of good for your concentration. Also try to do some stretching. This will relieve the stress level.
• Set goals and give rewards for the tasks completed: Always try to set some incentive for reading a particular chapter, section or paragraph. This will help you achieve your goals related to studies quickly. But don’t be over-generous on yourself and spend an hour on Facebook. In case you need shorter breaks; stretch yourself or eat some snacks.
• Don’t pressurize yourself to complete things quickly: When you need to complete lots of task on a particular subject don’t over-stretch yourself. Set shorter targets and complete them in specified time limit. This will help get the desired result.

 To learn more about PracTutor follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://www.practutor.com
PracTutor
12806 Townepark Way
Louisville, KY 40243-2311
United States
http://www.practutor.com
http://hardik.practutor.com

4 Classic Way to Study Without Being Distracted

In this highly competitive education system, students are always striving for their best whether in tests or quizzes. In this article; we look at some ways through which they can study without being distracted.

In this age of 21st Century Learning; students often find it difficult to concentrate on studies due to various external factors. But when it comes to tests students have to start preparing for it as soon as possible. They have to avoid being distracted and concentrate on their studies. Let us look at various ways through which students can study without being distracted:

• Study outdoors:  Take the necessary study material and go outside. Do not take the computer with you. I find it extremely convenient to read, write and study outside without any difference of TV, music or internet.
• Make use of paper:  Paper is far less distracting than computers. If you wish to study typed it is advisable to print them and then study avoiding the computer. This will help you to study without any deviation that comes from pop-ups in the computer.
• Keep a check-list ready and write things down:  When you get distracted the best thing to do is to write things down so that it gets registered in your brain. This will help in getting a focused approach on the priority tasks so that it is not left out to be completed.
• Take some free time out:  Sometimes it is better to take out some leisure time. It helps in getting things sorted out and increases the concentration when you go back to study. You can concentrate a bit harder once you have had some fun time.

Enchanted learning has become of prime importance in recent times. We are already seeing students striving to get their best while attempting a quiz or test. Hence; it becomes very important for teachers and parents to see that students are not distracted from the studies.

To learn more about PracTutor follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/PracTutor, http://www.practutor.com

PracTutor
12806 Townepark Way
Louisville, KY 40243-2311
United States
http://www.practutor.com
http://hardik.practutor.com

FIVE THOUGHT-PROVOKING IDEAS FOR TRANSFORMING K-12 EDUCATION TO ANOTHER LEVEL

Education has become a mere formality nowadays without any impetus on providing learning to students. We are seeing lots of e-learning courses being developed, but the sole purpose of education is lost. There is a need for an educational structure that can not only provide better learning opportunities to students, but also stimulate them to gain knowledge from the subjects. In order to fulfill this prophecy, there is a need for an educational mechanism that can transform the thinking of the students to another level.

Some of the ideas for radically transforming K-12 education include:

• The transforming role of teachers: Teachers are more than just tutors in the lives of the students. They function more like mentors who are liable for making or breaking the career of the student. Hence; there is a need for an e-learning course which can not only provide interactive support to the children through one-on-one counseling, but also look after the academic progress of the student. Teachers should deliver the content in such a manner that students enjoy the learning process and get the intellectual knowledge thoroughly. 
• The evolving role of tests: In the traditional learning methods, teachers used to take tests of the students. But with the inception of e-learning courses things have changed dramatically. Now, no longer does a teacher take test of the student to evaluate their progress. It is done through online practice. Hence; there is a need for a practice management tool to be integrated in the e-learning courses such that students can practice basic problems to understand the topic. Interactive exercises should also be amalgamated in the e-learning courses so that they can make the learning process interactive and fun-loving.  
• Need for customized learning path for each student: It is very important to create customized learning patterns for students based on their intellectual capacity and understanding. The courses designed should follow the common core curriculum and state boards.
• Guidance from experts from relevant field: In order to be a success, it is very important for an e-learning course to integrate expertise knowledge from relevant domain so that whenever, students get stuck they can get spontaneous response from the expert of that particular field. It should also be noted that there should only be one tutor per student so that the student can enjoy undivided attention from the expert.
• Integration of images along with videos in the content: E-learning courses have to be designed in such a manner that students get interactive content including lots of images and videos; so that they can learn in a fun-filled environment. This kind of teaching pattern is especially important for primary level students as it makes the learning process interesting and interactive.