25 Ways to Obtain Children's Attention in a School Setting

By Leah Davies, M.Ed.

There are countless times when educators need their students' undivided attention. The following methods are best taught during the first weeks of school. These ideas can assist teachers in providing an ordered and safe learning environment for everyone.

1. Hold up your hand and say, "Give Me Five." The children put their hands in the air and shout "five!" As they count down to one, they get progressively quieter until "one" is said in a whisper. Or, after saying, "Give me five," everyone puts their hand in the air and counts loudly using their fingers from 1 to 5.

2. Teach the children that the five fingers on their right hand stand for the five things they must do when you hold up your hand. Say, "Give me five," and wait until all the children hold up their hand. Then lead them in saying the five things together.

(1) Eyes -- look
(2) Ears -- listen
(3) Mouth -- closed
(4) Hands -- still
(5) Feet -- quiet

Later when you say, "Give me five," the children are to think of these five things and hold up their hand to show they are ready to listen.

3. Clap or tap in a pattern, for example, clap slowly twice and then clap fast three times. The students are to stop what they are doing and repeat the pattern. If necessary, do it again until all children have responded and are quiet. You may want to vary the pattern.

4. Shake a shaker, touch a wind chime, ring a bell, play quiet music or use any kind of sound maker as a signal for students to be attentive.

5. Raise you hand and stand still until the students are quiet. Or, raise your right hand and put the index finger of your left hand on your lips. The children are to do the same. Another idea is to hold up three fingers which is a silent signal for "Stop, look, listen." Then wait until all the children have their three fingers up and are quiet.

6. Say, in a normal tone of voice, "Clap once if you can hear me." Those listening will quiet down and clap one time. Then say, "Clap twice if you can hear me." More children respond with two claps. Finally say, "Clap three times if you can hear me." By this time you should have the attention of your students.

7. When you say, "Voices," teach the children to respond with a quiet, "Shhh..." Use it if the children are too loud. If you want their attention, say, "Voices" again and they respond with a quieter, "Shhh..." Say it a third time very quietly, "Voices." All students should be quiet and ready to listen.

8. Tell your students that they will be playing, "The Still Waters Game" often, and that they will know the game has begun when you say, "1, 2, 3, 3, 2, 1 still waters has begun." Ask them to freeze like an ice cube and remain silent when they hear that sentence. Time the children to see how long they can remain still. The goal is to beat their best time. Hold your fist in the air and each time you see someone move or talk, put a finger up. Once you have all five fingers up, check your watch and tell the class how long they were able to remain still.
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COMPOSURE - Why You Need to Control Your Emotions and Keep Your Cool

Controlling your emotion begins with a deliberate decision to keep composure and emotional retrain at all times. You should be very mindful of your feelings in every situation whether it is exuberant or sorrowful. You should avoid the belief that people are entitled to loose control in special occasions or that people have the right to let out their emotions in specific circumstances. You should stop adhering to the belief that people are just humans because what makes people humans is their ability to tame their desires and emotions.

You should understand that emotion is actually dependent on your behavior and not the other way around. To put it simply, you feel sad because you realize that you are frowning, contrary to the popular notion that you frown because you realize that you are sad. In social psychology, it has been discovered behavior influences emotions, and not the other way around. With this key information at hand, you are empowered with the ability to influence feelings by modifying behavior.

A common cause of emotional outbursts is having problems. Oftentimes, when people are faced with difficulties, they react by panicking or by being angry. However, these are not solutions to the initial problem; they are sources of problems themselves. When you are in a state of panic or in a rage of anger, your mind is clouded with emotions that the situation is not seen clearly. This does make it harder to think of concrete solutions to the problem being dealt with. Whenever a problem comes, instead of immediately throwing tantrums or pacing restlessly, you should stop, breath, and evaluate the entirety of the circumstance. This way, the problem can be viewed in a clearer perspective, and solutions may be thought out more logically.

One very valuable tool in emotional control is the ability to pause. While there are no pause and play buttons in real life, people have the capability to stop themselves, and take a break in certain situations that usually cause emotional outbursts. Before shouting and screaming out of a disappointing occurrence, you should first take a break to think and reflect. Pausing in itself is a form of emotional control. At this point, you can think if letting go of the emotions is indeed necessary. You should also think of the consequences that the emotional explosion would entail. If the emotions involved in the situation are too strong to withhold, you can think of reasonable emotional expressions such as crying instead of screaming when you are depressed, or smiling instead of jumping around when you are elated.

The problem with most people who are unable to control their emotions is that they dwell too much on the present situation. It is undeniable that the height of emotions experienced in certain circumstances could be overwhelming. However, these are also the times when you are vulnerable to do things that you might regret later on. To avoid this, it is important to examine how things would go in the future.

Emotional control is indeed difficult to master. But with will power and determination, it can be possibly achieved. You just have to be aware that emotions do not really have the power to overcome people. On the contrary, people have the ability to watch over their emotions and control them to what they think is necessary.

Read more: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Emotional-Control---Tips-To-Keep-Composure-In-Any-Situation/71214#ixzz13usGKgbj

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Preventing Teachers Burnout

What is the term Burnout refers to..

• When a teacher cannot perform the day-to-day duties of teaching due to a sense of tiredness, frustration, exhaustion, and/or hopelessness. The teacher either leaves the situation or stays in the same position and, in general, is unsuccessful or ineffective as a teacher.
• A teacher's loss of idealism and enthusiasm for work (Matheny, Gfroerer, and Harris 2000).
• "An extreme type of role-specific alienation with a focus on feelings of meaninglessness, especially as this applies to one's ability to successfully reach students" (Wood, McCarthy 2000).
• "Syndrome resulting from teachers' inability to protect themselves against threats to their self esteem and well being" (Haberman) 

Are you Burn Out..

Do work activities you once found enjoyable now feel like drudgery? Have you become more cynical or bitter about your job, your boss or the company? Are non-work relationships (marital, family, friendships) affected by your feelings about work?
Do you find yourself:
dreading going to work in the morning? easily annoyed or irritated by your co-workers? envious of individuals who are happy in their work? caring less now than you used to about doing a "good job" at work?
Are you:
regularly experiencing fatigue and low energy levels at your job? easily bored with your job? depressed on Sunday afternoons thinking about Monday and the coming week?
If you answered yes to five or more of the above, you may be suffering from job burnout.

Causes of Teacher Burnout

Burnout is the result of a long period of stress. Stress comes from the perception of a teacher that the resources available to deal with the stress are not adequate. In other words, the stressors (demands from the job) outweigh the resources available to deal with the demands. Example: "Teachers must face a classroom full of students every day, negotiate potentially stressful interactions with parents, administrators, counselors, and other teachers, contend with relatively low pay and shrinking school budgets, and ensure students meet increasingly strict standards of accountability." (Wood, McCarthy 2000).
One interesting aspect of teacher burnout is the thought that younger teachers are experiencing burnout due to lack of mentoring. It is the hope that guidance from a more experienced teacher will aide in the way prospective and novice teachers handle the stress of the job.

Preventing Teacher Burnout

Researchers point out that it is easier to prevent teacher burnout than it is to reverse it once teacher burnout has developed. Preventative measures can be taken at the organizational level (changes in school environment) or at the individual level (strengthen teachers' resouces for resisting stress).
Interventions the school system can take to prevent teacher burnout:

• Offer professional development activities
• Stress management workshops
• Relaxation training
• Time management workshops
• Nutrition, exercise and coping skills training.
• Improve working conditions
• Classroom environment
• Salary issues
• Accommodate cultural differences
• Religious events/holidays 

 It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken
joy in creative expression and knowledge.
Albert Einstein

I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well.
Alexander of Macedon

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life,
those the art of living well.
Aristotle

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The Truth Behind Deepavali Celeberation (Festival Of Lights)

Deepawali or Diwali is certainly the biggest of all Hindu festivals. It's the festival of lights (deep = light and avali = a row i.e., a row of lights) that's marked by four days of celebration, which literally illumines the country with its brilliance and dazzles all with its joy. Each of the four days in the festival of Diwali is separated by a different tradition, but what remains true and constant is the celebration of life, its enjoyment and goodness.
 .

By the ritual worship of lord Ganesha,Lord Mahaletchumy and Lord Saraswathi one hopes to dispel all problems and obstacles, and invites Knowledge and Wealth into ones life. After the worship, the premises is adorned with oil lamps (deep) or lights for the entire night to invite the Gods , Angels and best wishes to the house.

It is said that on the day of Diwali , Lord Ram, a King exiled for fourteen years in the forest, returns to the kingdom of Ayodhya. In devoted reception and in joy, the whole city of Ayodhya was lit with lamps. 

It is not by coincidence or for the fact that lamps are lit everywhere that Diwali is known as the festival of lights. Light symbolizes true knowledge. True knowledge arises by an inner awakening – awakening of the seven sacred knowledge centers within our head and spine region, known as chakras. When the knowledge centers are awakened through the practice of a special technique, we attain such treasures that are invaluable and indispensable to us. These treasures are unique angelic qualities of the soul, which when awakened within us, equip us with arms of love and compassion, sacrifice and tolerance, patience and peace, deep concentration and strength that no riches can ever buy, nor any educational course can provide.

Since time immemorial, many Saints and Sages, Masters and Prophets have been known to practice and teach such a technique for humanity, that awakens the soul power within. This practice is known as Kriyayoga Meditation. By its sincere regular practice, the knowledge centers are awakened and the beauty of angelic powers blooms within. Slowly and steadily, the lamps within are lit that give us all we ever seek and need in life to overcome all obstacles on our path of work, and to attain all knowledge, power, wealth, peace, health and happiness that we can ever dream of in our lives. We succeed in making the impossible possible and fulfill all dreams and desires of life. The practice of Kriyayoga Meditation is the eternal and complete worship of Ganesh, Saraswati and Lakshmi and all creation.

Lord Ram, a great Prophet of India, is known to have practised the  technique of Kriyayoga Meditation. Lord Ram was known to be a Master of working the bow and arrow. The bow represents the head and spine, within which are found seven knowledge centers also known as chakras. The arrow represents a straight line, which is a symbol for infinity. Prophet Ram, therefore, had attained the infinite powers of the knowledge centers found in the head and spine. 

The fourteen years of exile of Ram represents the time period of practice of the technique of Kriyayoga Meditation. During the fourteen years, Lord Ram battled with the prevalent evil traits and tendencies, represented in the story of Ramayana by the many different demon characters. Defeating the many evil tendencies and eventually the King of Demons- Ravan, who represents the greatest and most powerful of all evil tendencies within, Ram emerged victorious and attained the highest power, the highest knowledge of immortality and angelic qualities within - Prophet-consciousness. 

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Parent's Involvement in Children's Education

ABSTRACT

The importance of parental involvement as an accelerating and motivating factor in their children’s education is a worldwide-accepted fact. This research project provides an in depth explanation along with specific reasons, the importance of parents’ involvement in their children’s education. It also discusses the parenting techniques, their types and their consequences if neglected. It also describes the ways to measure the outcome of the positive parental involvement. Furthermore, it mentions the teachers involvement and the difficulties faced by the teachers in getting parents involved in their children’s (this is further supported by the examples of two teachers who with their deliberate efforts won the parents over to devote their maximum attention towards their children), single-parent involvement, children’s own efforts to improve their academic levels and joint home-school based interventions. A detailed analysis of the different main ideas is given, based on the findings from other research surveys and projects.

INTRODUCTION:

Parental involvement can be seen to fall into three types: 1) Behavioral, 2) Intellectual and 3) Personal. The research explores the effect of multi-dimensional participation of parents and the resulting progress of children in their studies when different parental resources were dedicated to them. Actively participating parents help their children in their academic development by going to schools and participating in open houses. By keenly observing the behavior of their children they can rightly judge the kind of behavior or the allocation of resources required by their children. Such caring parents can also motivate teachers to become more attentive towards a particular student, thus maintaining the cycle of parent-teacher involvement. Encourage Building up cognitive and perception abilities in a child are a major concern in the upbringing of the child. The way the parents involve their children in cognitive learning is by exposing them to different cognitively stimulating activities and materials such as books, electronic media and current events at home. This helps the child to practice all sorts of language comprehending skills at the school. The results show a remarkably positive behavior at the school and with peers. Read More..

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A Brief History and Features of the Tamil Language

Tamil Language ( by Prof. M. Varadarajan)

Old Dravidian

In the historical past Proto-Dravidian was spoken throughout India. When the Turanians and the Aryans came to India through the Khyber and the Bolan Passes respectively, and mingled with the local population of the North, the North Indian languages of Proto-Dravidian origin changed to a great extent. As a consequence Praakrit and Paali emerged as the languages of the masses in the northern part of India. Despite the commingling of local and foreign ethnic elements, a section of Proto-Dravidians maintained their ethnic and cultural identity in some isolated areas, spoke corrupt forms of Proto-Dravidian languages and these have survived, to this day, as living examples of ancient Dravidian languages. Languages such as Kolami, Parji, Naiki, Gondi, Ku, Kuvi, Konda, Malta, Oroan, Gadba, Khurukh, and Brahui are examples of Dravidian languages prevalent in the North. Today Proto-Dravidian speakers are increasingly mingling with other linguistic groups and learning their languages. Therefore, their numerical strength is on the decline. People living in the Rajmahal mountains in Bengal and in the areas adjacent to Chota Nagpur are good examples of the intermingling. A section of people living in Baluchistan speak Brahui, which has many linguistic features similar to the Dravidian languages spoken in South India. Scholars are surprised today to note many linguistic similarities between Tamil and Brahui, especially in numerals, personal pronouns, syntax and in other linguistic features. The Indian Census report of 1911 classified Brahui as a language belonging to the Dravidian family. It was then spoken by about 170, 000 people, although this number over the years dwindled to a couple of thousands. Whatever be their numerical strength now, they are proof of the fact that the Dravidians in some age of the historical past were spread in the region between Baluchistan and Bengal and spoke the Proto-Dravidian idiom.

North Indian Languages

Since the Dravidians lived throughout the Indian subcontinent at some historical past, certain syntactical affinities are noticeable even today between the South and a large number of North Indian languages.

When Praakrit and Paali became popular in the North, the Proto-Dravidian language lost its ground there, and confined itself entirely to the South. Even in South India it did not remain as one single language for a long time. Dialectical differences arose partly due to the political division of the Tamil country into three distinct Tamil kingdoms and partly due to the natural barriers created by rivers and mountains. The absence of proper land communication among the three Tamil kingdoms also accentuated this process of dialectal differences. As a result the Dravidian language spoken by the people. who lived in the regions north and south of the Tirupati mountains, varied to such an extent as to become two independent languages, Tamil and Telugu. The language spoken in the region of Mysore came to be known as Kannada. Malayalam emerged as yet another distinct language in Kerala. All these far-reaching changes occurred at different periods of time in the history of the Dravidian languages. Among these four languages, it is only the Tamil language which has a long literary tradition. Read More...

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History Of Tamil Language

As a Dravidian language, Tamil descends from Proto-Dravidian. Linguistic reconstruction suggests that Proto-Dravidian was spoken around the third millennium BC, possibly in the region around the lower Godavari river basin in peninsular India. The material evidence suggests that the speakers of Proto-Dravidian were the culture associated with the Neolithic complexes of South India.^[26] The next phase in the reconstructed proto-history of Tamil is Proto-South Dravidian. The linguistic evidence suggests that Proto-South Dravidian was spoken around the middle of the second millennium BC, and that proto-Tamil emerged around the 3rd century BC. The earliest epigraphic attestations of Tamil are generally taken to have been written shortly thereafter.^[27]
Scholars categorise the attested history of the language into three periods, Old Tamil (300 BC – 700 CE), Middle Tamil (700–1600) and Modern Tamil (1600–present).^{[28]
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The Human Brain

The Human Brain

The human brain is an organ inside our head that let’s us think, feel, see, move, hear, taste and smell things. It controls our body, gets information from the outside world, figures it out stuff faster than the fastest com-puter, and keeps it all in memory files in our brain. Billions of nerve cells get messages from the world, decide what to do, and then tell the body how to act. Our brain is like a movie director telling the actors what to do, only the actors in our body's play are parts of the brain (called lobes) and the nerves.

If you took a brain out of someone’s head (yuck!) and weighed it on a scale, it would weigh about 3 pounds (a laptop weighs more than a brain). Of course, the weight of a brain depends on the age of the person. For example, when we are born, our brain weighs less than 1 pound. When we’re growing up, the number of cells in our brains stays about the same but they get bigger and make more connections with other cells (this is called learning).

The LOBES in each half of our brain control different things. They are part of your brain team.

PARIETAL LOBE          : speech, sensory signals.

OCCIPITAL LOBE         : vision.

FRONTAL LOBE           : personality, reasoning, speech, muscles.

TEMPORAL LOBE        : hearing, speech, under-standing stuff.

 

Facts About The Brain

* Your nerves can send signals at more than 200 miles per hour!

* Your brain is 80% water!

* Your brain stops growing when you are 15, but learning never stops!

* Your brain uses as much power as a 10-watt light bulb!

* Your brain has between 10 billion to 100 billion nerve cells.

* Each nerve cell in your brain can have up to 250,000 connections to other nerve cells!

* Scientists have learned more about the brain in the last 10 years than they did in the last 100 years thanks to technology!

* Scientists say that if you do something twice it can double your

ability to remember it!

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Character Traits Of Superior Teachers

Character Traits Of Superior Teachers

If you want to be a great teacher, these are the things you should begin to develop first.

Top  Character Traits of Great Teachers

  1. Inspired me and never let me settle for anything less than my best .

   2. Compassionate, caring, made me feel important and welcomed, made a personal connection   with me .

   3. Were demanding, pushed me hard.

   4. Had a great sense of humour.

   5. Knowledge of the subject  matter .

   6. Wasn’t afraid of what other people thought

   7. Passion for the subject matter

   8. Challenged me to think beyond just the answer in the textbook

   9. Listened to my ideas

   10. Taught me new things

   11. A terrific fund raiser

   12. Kept things interesting

   13. They were interactive

   14. Added personal elements to the classroom

  15. Organized

  16. Wasn’t fake or shallow with comments to students

  17. Discipline

  18. Confidence

  19. They were problem solvers, rather than simply problem identifiers

Wanted learn more about teaching and managing class, please click here......

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Kids Inventions

 

Finding Invention Ideas for Kids

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to inspire your kids to reach for ideas beyond their traditional realm of thinking. Invention ideas for kids will teach your child to think outside the box and look for new ways to improve the world they live in. Take a look at the world around you with your child. Talk about what might have inspired the invention of common household items, such as a knife, teapot, or microwave. Look for ideas that could inspire inventions. Each time you and/or your child struggle with some household task or activity, ask yourselves what would make that task a little easier. Brainstorm together about certain ideas, discuss why that idea would or wouldn’t work. These activities work great during kids' club meetings, too. We’ve found some great kids' invention Websites to get you started! Read more....

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SJKT KERUH - iSpeech Podcast

SJKT KERUH - iSpeech Podcast

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7 Tricks To Help Remember New Words Quickly & Easily

 

7 Tricks To Help Remember New Words Quickly & Easily

Words, words, words…so many to learn and it’s so hard to remember them all, let alone use them, right? Well, today I’ve got seven tips that should make learning & remembering new vocabulary easier, faster, more fun, and more effective. 1. Make word association webs – our brain takes what we read and makes it. Read More...

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Kids Science Experiments

 

Kids Science Experiments

Kids Science Experiments and Science Projects are full of fun, easy and exciting hands-on experiments that will help you answer a lot of questions asked by your children.  These simple, safe and easy to follow science experiments and science projects can be achieved with everyday materials and recycled items found around your house. Help make learning fun and easy by trying some of these science experiments with your kid's. Please click here to get more information. Read More..

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Math Number Tricks

Math Number Tricks

Most of us use numbers in our every day lives. Math number tricks are pretty cool and work because of the math. Kids enjoy them because they can amaze friends and family but they get to practice basic math skills while performing them! Read More....

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