"We believe that the teacher MUST know & care about the learner. It is the teachers job to find out the learning style and interests of the students.
...they must find out what the learner CAN do."
Test Anxiety?
Many times parents will call and let me know that their child does very well on homework, but not on tests. They express a concern about test anxiety. Sometimes this is the case, but more often than not, the student is simply using passive study strategies and not active ones.
Let me explain. To complete homework, students are most often filling out a study guide or are completing many arithmetic problems using rote memory. Both of these are very passive activities that do not require a lot of time or thought. Studying for a test uses a completely different part of the brain. As a student studies, they will "input" information by reading the material and attempt to memorize it. However, a test is designed to see how well a student can "output" information by expressing what they know-usually in the form of writing. To achieve great output, a student will have to take a more active approach. Students can practice this by teaching what they have learned to someone else-a parent, sibling, or friend. I usually tell our students here at Excel Achievement Center, that if they can "teach it to a second grader", they know it. By being able to explain it to someone younger, a student is forced to put the concept into simplified terms and is thus processing the information at a higher level.
There are several ways for students to "output" information:
Write what they know in simplified terms
Teach it to a partner
Visualize themselves teaching the information to their entire class. Do they know it well enough to teach it to others?
Write out information on note cards in an abbreviated format (make sure that they understand it and it is in their own words.)
Draw a visualization of the concepts in the form of a graphic organizer
Put the information to a tune or rap
Repetition, repetition, repetition!
Excel Achievement Center offers a unique study skills course that actually helps your child find out their own learning style and apply it in a very motivational way. It is a course that will give your child information that they will be able to use for a lifetime!
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Test Anxiety?
Many times parents will call and let me know that their child does very well on homework, but not on tests. They express a concern about test anxiety.
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Many times parents will call and let me know that their child does very well on homework, but not on tests. They express a concern about test anxiety. Sometimes this is the case, but more often than not, the student is simply using passive study strategies and not active ones.
