The content of school activities is defined in a syllabus for different subjects or groups of subjects and in guidelines for educational and vocational orientation and free activities. A syllabus consist of goals and main teaching items. The goals define the focus of the subject and the central concepts within different fields of subject matter which have to be mastered by the pupils, as well as the skills they have to practice. With reference to different main items, subject matter is indicated which sheds light on the central concepts and which the pupils are to study, as well as different ways of practicing skills. Within the scope of a main teaching item, teachers and pupils in different classes and work units are at liberty to select those project areas which arouse their involvement and interest. This can imply individual tasks or different tasks for different groups.
Against the background of a historical perspective, work must be done in the present and made to focus on the future so as to leave the pupil well prepared to respond to changing circumstances and new demands.
The choice of subject content, therefore, always involves tension between the immediately perceived needs and interests of the pupils and the knowledge they will require in the long run in order to be able to cope as members of the community at large. It is the task of schools to try to bridge this gap and to harness the motive power of the pupils’ spontaneously experienced cognitive requirements as a means of venturing into areas further afield.
Speaking, reading, writing and counting are the foundations of most of the work done in schools and in adult life. The ability to form concepts, to think and to acquire knowledge, as well as a child’s trust and inward security, are to a great extent dependent on the child’s ability to communicate with other people by these various means. Basic skills have a vital bearing on other studies, or vocational activity, on recurrent education and not least on people’s ability to stand up for their rights in the community. One of the central concerns of school work must therefore be for the pupils to practice and systematically develop the basic communicative skills of speech, reading, writing and arithmetic.
Aptitudes for the comprehensive development of skills vary from one child to another. Schools can contribute towards the positive development of their pupils above all by enabling them to practice and develop their skills systematically and at their own pace.
Schools must allot sufficient time for this. It is important that the foundations of communicative skills be laid as early as possible and then consolidated throughout the pupils’ school careers.
Training must not be made to focus one-side on the teaching of English and mathematics. It must also be naturally included in other subjects and activities and not conducted in isolation during lessons, without any motivating context. Here as in other school work, the pupils should set themselves readily attainable, individual goals and evaluate their progress together with their parents and teachers.
Schools must attach great importance to a comprehensive development of the pupils’ skills. The foundation of individual development in the broad sense also includes other skills, e.g. the ability to express oneself with the aid of pictures, to organize one’s studies and to work in harness with other people in teams and groups.
Similarly, schools must emphasize everyday skills of a technical and practical nature. Everybody needs these skills in order to cope with the demands of the home, working life and leisure.
People are acquiring more and more technical aids. The introduction of everyday knowledge and skills in many different subjects provides an opportunity of inducing children to respect the conservation of resources and artifacts and the opportunities of recycling everyday objects.
Schools must inculcate an understanding, based on the children’s everyday experience, of the major problems of survival which are confronting the world. Everybody must be made to realize the importance of conserving the earth’s resources of energy, water, timber and cultivable land, as well as the crises with which the world community may be threatened as a result of overpopulation, unemployment and widening gaps between rich and poor countries. A historical perspective should be employed in acquainting pupils with the role of science in the evolution of our present-day society and standard of living, and also with the dangers involved in the utilization of technology.
Schools must provide upbringing. This means that they must actively and deliberately condition and encourage children and young person’s to embrace the fundamental values of our democracy and to express those values in practical and everyday actions.

Smiling, is there anything more pleasant to see? People smile to communicate that they are happy, that they are content or that they are not a threat to others. When you smile at someone you expect them to smile back. This one observation is what this sample science fair project will explore more thoroughly.

Hypothesis

The development of a smiling science fair project hypothesis needs to begin by making general observations of how people respond to the smiling of others. As mentioned earlier most people assume that if they smile at someone that the other person is going to smile back. This is why the selected hypothesis for this science fair project is, “smiling is contagious regardless of the person’s sincerity.”

In this hypothesis the independent variable, or the variable that will be manipulated, will be the sincerity of the person smiling, and the dependent variable, or the variable being measured, will be the percentage of people who smile back.

Experiment

The control for this experiment is pretty easy to set up. It will involve the observation of people in the test environment. The goal of this experiment is to determine a baseline set of data of how many people smile without provocation in the setting. The setting can be a school, a restaurant or a mall.

The test experiment is slightly more difficult to set up. Since gender may impact the results both male and female test subjects will need to be recruited. You will interview each test subject at the start of the experiment to determine their mood. Those that are in cheerful moods will be considered to have a sincere motivation to smile, while those in sour moods will be considered to have insincere motivations to smile.

Each test subject will be given two counters. One counter will be for tracking the number of people who smile at them when they smile, and the other will track the number of people who either ignore or do not smile back. During the first run the person will target only females. The second run of the experiment will target only males.

Data Collection

The data collected in this experiment will be segregated by gender. The number of people who do and do not smile back will be recorded in a tally sheet for each test subject.

Data Analysis

The analysis of this data will involve finding average smile back rates for all participants, and for: male to male interactions, for male to female interactions, for sincere male to male interactions, for insincere male to male interactions, for sincere female to male interactions and for insincere female to female interactions.

The student will then compare the various results to the control group. The student will be looking for differences to see if smiling is contagious, or if people have a natural tendency to smile in a public setting.

Conclusion

In order to draw conclusions from the data that is being collected, students will need to prove that there is a statistically significant difference between the control results and the test results. They will also have to rule out sex factors that may influence how likely a person is to smile back.

At last you are now in college! Only a few more years and the career you have been dreaming to achieve for years is already within your grasp.
However, the path is not easy and wreath with beds of roses. Lack of financial means to pay for your tuition, books and other necessary expenses can be an aspect to make your college student life miserable. Of course, you can get a part time job to and support yourself, but it will be precious time away from your studies.
You need accomplish also other college activities in successfully finishing your course. Notwithstanding old and new friends which will surely invite you to social events.
Well then, you need to hone up your time management skills and draw up a time management calendar. Having a Calendar of your activities will help you get through the difficulty of balancing your time between study and work, extra-curricular and social activities with friends.
More and more State Universities and Community Colleges are aware of the fact that college students have to work in order to survive and finance their college education. Because of this insight, these schools adjust their class schedules to meet every students needs.
However, administrators and advisors in the office find a hard time of scheduling and managing classes for working college students. This is because there are too many people to schedule and manage and few people to draw up the class schedules.
College working students like you who practice effective time management strategies can be a big help. You can assist university and community colleges administrators in drawing up class schedules that are effective for working students. Professionals at college need your definite schedules so that they can draw up a fair enough class schedules.
You can work out by yourself an efficient time management schedule, which takes into consideration your studies, and part time job schedules. In the end, with an effective time student calendar time management plan, you also save money.
Here is a great method of setting up your calendar of time management schedule:
1. First off, you must have a semester calendar. Universities and other colleges provide students with blank semester calendars. You can obtain one through online or create one according to your own liking.
2. In the semester calendars, enter your class schedules, project due dates, registration dates and other important dates. These important dates may come from your class syllabi and the school timetables provided in their brochures and announcements. Enter each date as you find them into your semester calendar.
Set up your own due dates for each phase of a big project, like term papers and projects. You can also add personal commitments to social and personal events
Maintaining a semester calendar as your time management method will give you a view of what commitments you need to fulfill. It will help you plan before a given schedule. This way, you will avoid last minute disasters.
3. You can also set up a weekly planner. There are available weekly planners provided by institutions you can obtain them online or get them at the registration office during enrollment. If you want to, you can also buy or create your own.
In the weekly planner, you need to enter your regular class schedule and other obligations on a weekly basis, like work, club or church meetings and assembly.
Make it a point that you insert ample time for review and reading before and following each class lecture you attend.
Take note of it in your planner. If you are wondering the enough time to put in for a review, have a general rule to plan two hours of study for each hour a lecture transpired.
Plan your regular time off from work and school. Enter bed and wake up times in your planner. Meanwhile, for projects, exams and other personal commitments, leave off blank slots
4. Tally out your weekly planner and semester calendar every Friday night or late afternoon. This will enable you to check out the things you have accomplished for that week and adjust on the activities that you still need to do for the following week.
Incorporating these other commitments can be done by placing them in the blank time schedule you have on your weekly planner. Then add new items you are committed in for the incoming week. Enter new things and schedules as new obligations, commitments and engagements come up.
You can have your weekly planner to check out before saying your affirmation to a commitment or engagement. If you find you have a previous entry on the said date and time, then it is best to turn down the invitation early on.
5. Every night create a daily “action list” for the following day. Use your weekly and semester calendar to do this. You can even put in categories to set your priorities straight.
Having a calendar for effective time management will reveal its importance when you reach your goals. The main purpose of maintaining it is that it will help remind you of the key goals you have set forth to achieve.

During my travels, I asked more than 500 students from across the country the question, “What are the three most important lessons that you’ve learned in life?” Below is a compilation of their responses (all duplicate/similar answers were either combined or eliminated):
* Put God first in all you do.
* Be yourself.
* Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
* Love yourself enough to love others.
* Measure your success by how many times you refuse to give up.
* Be thankful and grateful for what God has given you.
* Set long-term and short-term goals for your life.
* A lie never dies…so don’t give birth to one.
* If you can’t get excited about living, you might as well be dead.
* Follow your heart.
* Have faith in your life because you’re here for a purpose.
* Everything happens for a reason, and everything will eventually work out.
* Stand behind your convictions (keep your integrity).
* The best thing you can leave behind is a good impression.
* Choose your friends carefully.
* Value education, not only classroom instruction, but life lessons as well.
* Love the Lord with all your heart.
* Speak up for yourself.
* Build bridges…you never know when you have to cross one.
* Have faith when you’re in the valley of life.
* Solve your own problems through the power of God.
* Knowledge is power.
* Never pray for something you can’t handle.
* Respect your parents…your life will be a lot easier.
* Always respect yourself.
* Do for yourself.
* Think before you run (to or from it).
* Build a strong family.
* To thy ownself be true.
* Stay in prayer.
* Be an example, not an excuse.
* It’s much cheaper to borrow experience than to buy it (learn from other people’s mistakes).
I must admit, it was surprising, as well as refreshing, to see that students are actually paying attention to what we say and do. Contrary to popular opinion, our work is not in vain.
As the father, I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciated each student’s participation in this exercise. These are definitely lessons I would like to pass on to my son. I’m sure you would agree that we could all enrich our lives tremendously if we just took action on only 25% of the lessons listed on this page.
I personally believe that the hardest lesson in life is our failure to master the easy ones. When we fail to master the easy ones [lessons], they soon become hard ones. Don’t you become a victim to the easy lessons. Make sure all of your mistakes are new ones.

One night I was sitting outside looking up at the stars after a very hectic day at my studio. Many thoughts crossed my mind that night but there was one that was most prominent. And I must admit this thought was uncomfortable because it became apparent that some of the students that I was working hard on coaching and teaching had ideas of fame and fortune way before they were ready to handle it. Why was it uncomfortable you may ask, it was

uncomfortable because it was obvious I was teaching students who wanted to leap instead of walk towards their dance goals. Of course it’s only natural for students to want to speed things up but it’s also important as a teacher to help students understand that dance must be learned in its own time. I think this is where negative experiences come from; dancers performing before they are ready. With dance there are many venues and there are certain protocols with each venue that must be learned, “first.” As teachers we share our own personal experiences from our journeys in dance and we shape and mold our curriculum accordingly. This also means teaching etiquette along with instruction. This being said, what do we do when we have an occasional student who wants fame more than she wants training or etiquette?  

What became apparent in class was an individual drive by a specific few to get ahead at all costs. It’s not always easy to see this as a teacher and sometimes a dancer can hide it quite well. I can remember an instance when a student wanted me to perform with her but she wanted me to be a back up dancer for her. What I was being asked to do was watch her teach a class up on a stage and follow her instruction. I told her I supported her a hundred percent but that she should do the venue on her own. It’s tough knowing how to word your opinion and not hurt a students feelings. If I would have been her back up dancer, the teacher-student relationship would have been lost forever because than she would have seen herself in my shoes. My shoes fit only me and my size and besides that my shoes took years to wear in and get comfy.  

Years of training students has blessed me with seeing a few dancers that were exceptional in our dance. Some of them have gone on and are dancing and gracing our stages with their amazing talent even today. Than there are those students that are exceptional but who go off thinking the world owes them. The impatience of these dancers can be so costly. One student in particular had great potential but she was impatient and wanted to dance everywhere immediately. I was dancing at a restaurant at the time and would occasionally get calls for parties on the nights I was dancing. So I sent her out in my stead to a few parties and requested that she give my card out if anyone asked for one since I was the contact person. I found out that she gave out her cards and told the people to call her if they ever needed another dancer. To some of you who are not acquainted with our dance etiquette, it is protocol to give out the card of the person who sent you to a job, especially if it is your teacher. I don’t ask for a percentage, I just ask my dancers to perform professionally and do a good job. My student than became my competition after a few more gigs and I realized that not only was she taking money away from me but she was doing it right under my nose. So I did what any decent teacher would do, I tried to kick myself in the pants and move on.

Dancing at restaurants can really give a dancer a chance to work on her form and technique. Years ago I had a student night at a restaurant that allowed my girls to perform on Wednesdays. It gave them a chance to experience dance in a public setting that was safe and welcoming. I had a few students that really enjoyed dancing and danced most of the Wednesdays. After awhile I noticed that some of these students started to come to class less and less yet they still insisted on dancing at the restaurant. So I had to let them know that while I was proud of them, they had to continue with class so they could get in more training. To my surprise one student told me that she was told by a customer that she was as good as the weekend dancers and why wasn’t she dancing on the weekends? Come to find out this customer was her husband and he said this infront of their friends who all thought the same thing. Yet not one of the friends or husband had come to a show on the weekends so they could actually see the difference between professional dancing and student dancing. She insisted on auditioning for the weekend shows and wanted to be paid for her Wednesday performances. What I had worked out for the girls was dinner and they kept their tips. So I told her the decision for the weekends would be up to the owner not me but that I felt she wasn’t ready for an audition. She got angry and left my studio and didn’t return but decided to go to the restaurant owner herself to get an audition. I was informed by the owner that she came in and that he told her she was not ready for an audition because she needed more training. She told him about what a “customer” had said and unfortunately this peaked his interest. So he gave her an audition and I was asked to be there to give him my opinion of her performance. Well as you can imagine I had plenty to say but I kept my cool and I went the night she was to audition. Like I thought, she bombed and she was mortified. It was a hard lesson for her to learn and for me to witness. She left and I never saw her again and I found out through the grapevine that she stopped dancing. There is not one teacher out there that ever wishes for this type of lesson on any student. But sometimes the Universe has no choice but to show the harsh realities of what can happen when you lose your humility. And as her teacher there was nothing more to be said.

Sometimes when you work well with your students it can be easy to forget the teacher-student relationship. Let’s face it our students are some of the coolest people on the planet and shows and venues can be a lot of work. Having good help can make a huge difference in the outcome of a show. The important thing is to make sure you don’t bring in a student as an equal into a show before she has paid her dues with experience. I learned this the hard way almost two years ago with a show that a dance friend and I collaborated on. I brought in my student because she had a theatrical background. She became the third producer of the show and that is when the problems began.

Once she became a producer our relationship changed and I noticed that the respect that she once had for me was slowly slipping away. At the end of the production our relationship had taken a nose dive. Unfortunately there was no going back to what I had established with her. The one thing that I did was create my nemesis because I gave her a taste of what took me years to learn and understand. Weeks later after the show premiered she wanted to take the show on the road and I had to say no. I didn’t do this to be mean, I did this because I felt she needed to do things on her own as I did so she could appreciate what it takes to earn her place in her community. Without knowing it I gave her a false sense of authority that eventually was used on some of the other dancers to their chagrin. Lessons like this one can take months to evaluate and reflect on. Sometimes when I look back I feel like I lost something that can never be replaced but than life teaches us that we must continue on our path. Looking back keeps us from seeing what is infront of us.

What can any teacher do when she has worked with a student and has shared with her all her hard earned knowledge and the student runs with her curriculum? This includes; choreography, style, and verbiage. A wonderful mentor of mine, Romana Frasson taught me a lesson in teaching that I will never forget. She said that I had to teach from experience and the heart in order for my students to believe in me. Sometimes this can be a double edged sword. Because when we put so much of our passion into our classes, we can lose ourselves in the lesson. Once a student learns her teachers curriculum and has success with understanding the lessons and methodology, she than becomes the end result of a joint effort. We hope that students take what they learn and carry on the message and training. But sometimes what we thought we taught our students can get lost in agendas and issues. This is a phenomenon that baffles me to no end. I have dance friends who have taught students for years and all of a sudden I’ll notice that the student is gone and there is no mention of ever studying with their former teacher. It’s almost as if the years of mentoring became lost and ended up on the way side of obscurity. What these dancers don’t understand is that they take away with them the years of experience their teacher gave to them. At the same time do any of these students feel any loyalty after they leave?  Looking back at some of the students who left my studio, I haven’t heard a peep from them and I occasionally see them. Sometimes we just have to let it be and know everybody is where they need to be.  

This is one of those topics that can create a lot of emotional upheaval in many dancers. I know it does with me. And let’s face it there are two sides to every point of view. Only after I became a teacher did I finally understand what my teachers went through. It took me sitting outside that one starry night thinking about my students to finally appreciate the role my former teachers played in my dance career. Maybe once we appreciate what we have learned in our dance can we stand on our own two feet and say “Thank you” to all those teachers who helped make us what we are. Than I thought to myself is it really this easy? What is the real problem when we teach students and the relationship goes sour?  How can anybody know the true story of each dancer that walks into her studio or learns her choreography? If a student is willing to take a curriculum from a teacher and claim it as hers, than we have to look at what we are really dealing with. What creates this phenomenon starts with principals and values kept aside at a young age. If the home place is dysfunctional to start with for any student, than we end up dealing with the side effects that tickle down and materialize into various problems. The signs aren’t always easy to see until problems emerge. But if we could understand better the characteristics of a student rival than we could prepare ourselves to cope with this dilemma. If we can do this than in the end we won’t lose any aspects of ourselves. 

As you know, anyone can feel a little depressed now and then – Yoga students are no different. Here are four more methods to help Yoga students with mild forms of depression.

Get away from being self-centered: There is no reason to isolate ourselves; we are interconnected with all things, people, nature, the universe, and God. We need to be in harmony with our life and everything we come into contact with.

Accomplish what you can in a day and sleep on the rest. The universe will still keep running after our lives are up, so let the universe worry about it. Stop thinking in terms of “I” and you will have much less burdens to carry around.

Set Goals: Life would not mean much without goals, so write them down and go after them. These should be “heart felt” goals that are morally sound and yield gratification. This one solution stops many Yoga practitioners from feeling depression most of the time.

Appreciate the little things: Look at what you already have and do not worry about what you don’t have. A rich man who worries about what he does not have is living in self-created poverty. His wealth could be put to something useful, but he dwells on protecting his assets and worries about acquisitions.

What a shame this is, but it is not an isolated case. The rich struggle to find love, real friends, and rewarding relationships. So, “be careful what you wish for.”

Food: The irony is that food sustains life and can also cause death. One of my teachers pointed this fact out to me, when I was about nine years of age. My reaction was amazement, at first, but then reality settled in. Most people are in denial about food, and this is obvious by the obesity around us. Our waistline has to be monitored, constantly, throughout adulthood.

To keep it simple, Yoga students should adhere to a sattvic diet. Put limits on caffeine, alcohol, and sugars. There are times when most of us fall short, but still maintain awareness about what you eat and drink.

Of course, water should be consumed in fair quantities at all times. Eight glasses per day of quality water will aid your skin, digestion, elimination, muscles, vital organs and more. Water consumption will also give your skin a youthful appearance. Isn’t this also why we practice Yoga?

© Copyright 2006 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), 86.5% of all students graduate high school. What happens to the other 13.5%? Gone are the days when you could get by without a high school diploma. Most jobs today require at least a high school diploma for consideration.

If you don’t graduate from high school, you will experience lower income and limited opportunities. A high school diploma is important because it requires certain skills that are also basic skills for most jobs, such as regular attendance, social ability, math and reading comprehension, and more. It also is a necessary stepping stone for further education, such as a vocational school, college or university.

Many people face situations that prevent them from completing high school and getting their high school diploma. These circumstances shouldn’t stop them from reaching their goals. There are options available to them.

Online High School

Online high school can open the door to many students that previously had no educational options. It is a resource that can be used to fill many unique academic needs, as well as ordinary ones. It is simply a more convenient alternative to traditional high school.
Learning through the computer enables you to tailor your online high school education to meet your needs. You will take math, English, Spanish, and history courses. You will have regular assignments, quizzes and tests. The difference is that you are in control of your education.

Benefits

Set your own pace – you can learn at the pace you need; slower if you need more time to absorb the material or faster if you want to learn at a quicker pace.

Have a flexible schedule – you can choose when and where to take high school classes online.

Create the perfect environment – you can set the stage for your classroom. Online high school is the safe alternative.

Access your materials 24/7 – you can log on and attend class when you choose. Everything is always available.

Don’t let excuses stand in the way of your education. You have options when it comes to getting your high school diploma. Make the smart choice and continue your education. Homeschooling may be the answer to reaching your goals and getting ahead.

http://www.alliedhighschool.com

Introduction

According to Powell, “He who has no inclination to learn more will be very apt to think that he knows enough.”

Classrooms are social settings; teaching and learning occur through social interaction between teachers and students. As teaching and learning take place, they are complicated processes and are affected by peer-group relationships. The interactions and relationships between teachers and students, and among students, as they work side by side, constitute the group processes of the classroom.

Group processes are especially significant in twenty-first century schools. Group projects and cooperative teamwork are the foundations of effective teaching, creative curriculum, and positive classroom climate. Interpersonal skills, group work, and empathy are important ingredients of modern business, where employees must communicate well for their business to be productive and profitable. Group processes are also significant in modern global communities, where citizens must work together for a safe and secure world. Thus, along with teaching academic curriculum, teachers are expected to help students develop the attitudes, skills, and procedures of democratic community.

Teacher-student relationships provide an essential foundation for effective classroom management—and classroom management is a key to high student achievement. Teacher-student relationships should not be left to chance or dictated by the personalities of those involved. Instead, by using strategies supported by research, teachers can influence the dynamics of their classrooms and build strong teacher-student relationships that will support student learning.

Smith (1990) said, “Teachers who love their students are of course by that very fact teaching their students the nature of love, although the course may in fact be chemistry or computer science.” He thoroughly endorses out-of-class contacts between students and faculty, “because they reveal something to the student about reality that can, I suspect, be learned no other way. Such contracts demonstrate that ideas are ‘embodied.’ They do not exist apart from a person, remote or near at hand, who enunciates, who takes responsibility for them by declaring them, by speaking about them.” Or in the words of Woodrow Wilson, “We shall never succeed in creating this organic passion, this great use of the mind until (we) have utterly destroyed the practice of merely formal contacts between teacher and pupil.”

Literature Review

Wubbels and his colleagues (Wubbels, Brekelmans, van Tartwijk, & Admiral, 1999;

Wubbels & Levy, 1993) identify appropriate dominance as an important characteristic of effective teacher-student relationships. In contrast to the more negative connotation of the term dominance as forceful control or command over others, they define dominance as the teacher’s ability to provide clear purpose and strong guidance regarding both academics and student behavior. Studies indicate that when asked about their preferences for teacher behavior, students typically express a desire for this type of teacher-student interaction. For example, in a study that involved interviews with more than 700 students in grades 4–7, students articulated a clear preference for strong teacher guidance and control rather than more permissive types of teacher behavior (Chiu & Tulley, 1997). Teachers can exhibit appropriate dominance by establishing clear behavior expectations and learning goals and by exhibiting assertive behavior.

Class Description

The present study observed a class of thirty students of Sylhet Women’s College. The teacher was a Bangladeshi male with several years teaching experience at Bangladeshi government colleges. The goal of this class is to teach the students’ conversation, reading, listening and writing skills. Their English ability level is intermediate. During the observation period, the students appeared motivated and attentive, and they seemed to be enjoying the class. The researcher observed class being out of the notice of the students.

Identification of Problem

It is observed that the students didn’t respond willingly to the teacher’s questions and did not participate in class discussions. Students also never asked the teacher questions outside one-on-one situations. Thus the teacher received little oral feedback Most of the learners sit looking straight ahead using minimal facial expressions, gestures and verbal utterances. The teacher said, “I want the students to be more demonstrative and more overtly communicative in their feedback. I want these behaviours: I want the students to ask me questions, make comments and to respond with nods and shakes of the head, with sounds of agreement or sounds of understanding. Also, I want them to be both reactive and proactive”.

Investigation

The present researcher observed the 2nd year of Higher Secondary Class. In the first 30 minutes, the class went through an intermediate level oral dialogue. The students first listened to the dialogue read out by the teacher with their books closed, then again with the books opened. Next, they did a dictation exercise consisting of 15 short sentences based on the dialogue. The teacher then talked about the sociolinguistic and grammar points of the exercise and went on to probe for comprehension:

The teacher asked a few other questions which also drew no response or reaction from the students. The students then had to answer some questions about the conversation in their book. Most of the students seemed to have little trouble doing this, and if there were any questions, they readily asked the student sitting next to them. The second half of the class was devoted to pair work using the phrases and vocabulary from the taped dialogue in role play. The students seemed to enjoy this, and most tried to create their own dialogues. The teacher circulated the room checking on the progress of each pair. The class atmosphere was markedly different from the first half of the class, with chatter and occasional laughter filling the air. The students answered most of the teacher’s questions with alacrity, and some even asked their own questions.

Analysis of the Observation

It is found that the students of the reviewing class generally understand the teacher’s questions; it was felt that there was something else that kept the students from responding voluntarily in the class-teacher dialogues. Since most Bangladeshi students are taught to listen and not to question a teacher in class, Bangladeshi students have little or no experience in in-class interaction with the teacher, such as questioning or commenting or giving feedback. Students are usually taught to be quiet and respectfully listen to the teacher. By teaching the students that class interaction with the English teacher is not only acceptable, but normal, useful and beneficial, it was believed that the students would become more interactive with the teacher in teacher-class interaction.

Suggestions for the Teachers

1. How do you encourage students to be active and interested?

2. How do you deal with apathetic students?

3. How do you get my students to prepare for class?

4. How can you recognize different learning abilities and work with them individually?

Conclusion

There were some areas where the results of this action research were not as successful as hoped. For instance, the students needed to be prompted with eye contact and a repeated question from the teacher to answer a question, and when they did not understand something, they still did not interrupt the teacher with a question. And yet some progress was definitely made, especially when the brief span between observations is considered. The students did interact with the teacher by nodding, some did answer the instructor’s questions, and two, on their own initiation, even asked questions before the class. The unanticipated side effect of the teacher becoming more concerned with the interaction was a welcome surprise and contributed to the improvement. There seems to have been some success in instructing and reminding and then expecting the students to become more interactive with the teacher.

Reference

Aronson, Elliot, and Patnoe, S. 1997. Cooperation in the Classroom: The Jigsaw Method. New York: Longman.

Cohen, Elizabeth G. 1994. Designing Groupwork: Strategies for the Heterogeneous Classroom, 2nd edition. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.

Dewey, John. 1916. Democracy and Education. New York: Macmillan.

Good, Thomas, and Brophy, Jere E. 1997. Looking in Classrooms, 7th edition. New York: Harper and Row.

Johnson, David W., and Johnson, Roger T. 1992. Learning Together and Learning Alone, 3rd edition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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Review
“….for parents who want to show their kids how to create a dream and then go after it.” — Julie Hood, Parent”Goal Setting for Students is a roadmap to an ‘A’”. — Jennifer Jenkins, Student”I learned it is important to have pride in yourself and to try your hardest to achieve all your goals.” — Ryan Chase, Student”We have noticed a definite improvement in our child’s willingness to take responsibility for his academic success.” — Jim Stewart, Parent, Educator”Wow, I wish they’d offered me something like this when I was in school.” — Writer’s Digest”….for parents who want to show their kids how to create a dream and then go after it.” — Julie Hood, Parent

“Goal Setting for Students is a roadmap to an ‘A’”. — Jennifer Jenkins, Student

“I learned it is important to have pride in yourself and to try your hardest to achieve all your goals.” — Ryan Chase, Student

“We have noticed a definite improvement in our child’s willingness (more…)

Getting a GED (General Education Development) is no little success. Severe necessities can frequently make obtaining a GED extremely hard. And up till now a number of employers regard a GED as lesser and will not hire based on this “high school equivalency”. Also, a number of branches of the U.S. Military will not forever mechanically agree to it. Almost for each good paying job as a minimum a high school diploma is desirable. At the present is the chance for any person with no a high school certificate to go into a self-paced study course through Citizens’ High School – and do so on-line in the expediency of one’s house, even as on holiday or anywhere a Net-connected computer is obtainable. Throughout Citizens’ High School, studying for a high school certificate online has never been easier or more suitable. Learners are able to virtually keep their present schedules, counting full-time jobs and family everyday jobs, with the least quantity of break as probable. Citizens’ High school online courses work around the learner.Citzens’ High School as well has an objective place in Orange County, Florida. The school has been qualified in the course of the Accrediting Commission of the Distance and Education Training Council which is generally known as an accredited organization by the U.S. Department of Education. Accreditation guarantees an academic organization will not just set reliable goals intended for students enrolled, other than will in addition document the conclusion of these goals on a year-by-year foundation. Potential students of Citizen’s High School can be guaranteed of fiscal liability, suitable set of courses, admission values, and excellence of instructors. Official approval as well helps weed out “diploma mills” which “promise” diplomas in days or weeks based on “life knowledge”.