Questions Every Teacher Should Be Able To Answer

For most of us, the sense of panic when presented with a Course Outline is thankfully a distant memory. For myself, the memory is not a fond one and it sometimes is the topic of an unpleasant dream. Such was the seeming life sentence for the secondary and post-secondary years: suck it up and do what is expected - do not question.
While the curriculum for secondary and post-secondary courses is very cut-and-dry, such is not the case with elementary education. While there is a prescribed curriculum, the teacher has more flexibility in deciding what, when and how a subject/topic is covered.
It is this flexibility and the immaturity of the young students that prompts many parents to take an active and vigilant role in their child's education.
Terry Heick, in his blog entry entitled, 19 Meaningful Questions You Should Ask Your Child's Teacher, looks at how parents can take a meaningful look at what is actually happening in their child's classroom.
While these 19 questions are not carved in stone, they do provide parents with a starting point for finding out more about the teaching style of the person who is working with their child. Are there more, or other questions a parent could ask? Certainly, and Heick's list will light the fire for further investigation.
Ideally, it would be beneficial if elementary teachers would forgo any curriculum outline, and focus more on providing parents with answers to these types of questions.
P.S. Be sure to read the Comments - they provide a lot of additional insight.
To read Heick's article, click HERE.

English Practice Activities - Listen and Watch

This British Council site is excellent for English Practice Activities.
Participants can either listen and watch on their computer, or download the video and audio files to an mp3 player.

Free Language Practice Activities

All of the audio and video above come with Practice Activities that you can do on your computer while you listen and watch, or, you can print them out and complete them at some other time.

Series Topics Include:

Popping the Question
Time is Money
Family Matters
Dumped?
Big City Small World

Check out this valuable site

To experience this excellent site, click HERE.

Teaching Good Morals

Many parents are compromised when it comes to teaching good morals to their kids. Parents feel helpless because they believe our society is in moral decline, and so much of what children are seeing and experiencing is contrary to what parents believe is moral.

The internet and social media occupy so much of children's lives, and they abound with people who are willing to do 'anything' to gain attention. Television is rife with violence, self-gratification and criminal acts.

Kindness, fairness and justice are key traits parents want to instill in their children, yet when parents are faced with so many contradictions to their own moral beliefs, it is very tempting to simply abandon teaching good morals.

Despite the seeming hopelessness of parents teaching good morals, there are a few good ideas for teaching goodness to kids in this article by Stephanie Manes.

Test Your Grammar

So you think your grammar skills are “Ok”?

Try this test of mostly basic grammar skills:

Grammatically Speaking

If you are not happy with your results and you are a chronic or frequent texter, you might like to read this: OMG! LOL!

Here are several sites that will help English learners with Christmas Vocabulary

ESL Christmas Vocabulary

Learn Christmas Vocabulary with this ESL  Memory Game (Santa, tree, elf, etc.). This game is also excellent for Vocabulary Teaching and Practice. ESL Learners and Teachers can use it to review English vocabulary or simply practice these words. This memory games has audio, images and text which makes it possible to practice spelling, reading, listening and word recognition. It is great for beginner and elementary ESL Lesson Plans.Click HERE

ESL Christmas Vocabulary

This site contains a list of key Christmas Vocabulary. There is also a list of Christmas Sayings. CLick HERE

ESL Christmas Activities

This site contains a wide range of activities for all ages and all levels of English proficiency. Click HERE

Critical Search Skills Students Should Know

There is a new digital divide on the horizon. It is not based around who has devices and who does not, but instead the new digital divide will be based around students who know how to effectively find and curate information and those who do not.

The New Digital Divide

The Digital Divide

In an age of information abundance learning to effectively search is one of the most important skills most teachers are NOT teaching. They assume students know how to conduct a search, and set them free on the internet to find information. They assume that students have the skills to critically think their way through the searching and the web. Sadly, this is not the case and everyday we are losing the information literacy battle because we often forget to teach these crucial searching skills in our schools:

Critical Search Skills Students Should Know

The Filter Bubbles

Finding Primary Sources

To learn more about these research skills click HERE

Your Brain Map - 84 Strategies for Accelerated Learning

Your Brain Map - 84 Strategies for Accelerated Learning

This unique and interesting site provides an excellent 3D of Your Brain Map & 84 Strategies for Accelerated Learning.

You begin by viewing a revolving brain map with each area labelled for easy click access.

Accelerated Learning

Once you have selected a particular area of the brain you are provided with several options that explain the function of that part of the brain and tips on how to improve the functioning of that area.

To access this excellent site, click HERE

Lernit Tutoring Services
For Tutors You Can Rely On

Finding The Right Tutor

All parents want the best tutor they can find for their child. Many parents choose to save money by screening tutors themselves and hiring them directly rather than dealing with a company or agency…but this process takes time and has many pitfalls.
What kind of tutor are you  looking for?
The one who lives next door?
Or, maybe the one who is offering the cheapest rate?
Now think about it….
There are no regulations on who can tutor.
There is no monitoring of tutoring quality or effectiveness.

So how do you find the right tutor?
Lernit Tutoring Services offers excellent tutors who are well-qualified,experienced and caring.
They use individualized teaching methods to help you achieve your learning goals.
We check our tutor’s credentials, do a criminal record check, and personally interview them to select only the best tutors for our students.

So contact us today…
Because you need an experienced, reliable tutor with a unique teaching style that suits your way of learning.

Questions to Ask the Prospective Tutor

The following questions serve as a guideline of questions to ask when contacting a tutor for the first time. Remember to spend time talking with the tutor on the phone to get a sense of the kind of person they are.

• What is your education background? (Lernit tutors have the necessary credentials)
• How long have you been tutoring? (Lernit tutors have a minimum 2 year’s experience)
• When was the last time you tutored someone in this subject/at this level?
• What method of payment do you take/when is payment due?
• When are you available? (Lernit tutors try to meet your schedule)
• What is your cancellation policy? (Lernit has a comprehensive cancellation policy)
• Where do you meet with students? (Lernit tutors meet in your home or at any convenient location)
• Have you had a criminal record check? (Lernit tutors have a recent CRC)
• Do you have any references I can contact? (Lernit has verified at least 2 references)

Lernit has vetted each tutor to ensure you are getting a verified educator. We also have a Customer Service Policy that ensures your satisfaction…so contact us today to begin achieving your learning goals.

Free Halloween Educational Goodies - Trick-or-Treat Bags

Just in time for the season this site offers great Free Halloween Educational Goodies for EVERYONE.
Halloween Freebie for Kindergarten
Candy Corn Contractions for Elementary
Spanish Halloween Freebie
Halloween Subway Art - Writing Prompt for Middle School
Who Am I? A fun game for High School
To access this site click HERE

The Best Sing-a-Long ESL Videos

Here are a few of the best sing-a-long ESL videos we have found. They are perfect for motivating and energizing your ESL class, or, if you are an ESL student, they will help your pronunciation.

HAPPY Song Video

"Happy" song by Pharell Williams, lyric video version. Really fun and repetitive language. If students don't get it the first time, they will one of the many other times....

What Does the Fox Say? ESL video song

"What Does the Fox Say?" is a viral video that is just plain fun, but also useful for animal name pronunciation. Fun to dance to.

Guess the Animal Game and Video for ESL

'Guess the Animal Noise" A fun activity for all ages and the video is funny to watch. Not a sing-a-long but still encourages l