Twenty Ways You Can Help Your Children Succeed At School

As a parent, you are your child's first and most important teacher. When parents and families are involved in their children's schools, the children do better and have better feelings about going to school. In fact, many studies show that what the family does is more important to a child's school success than how much money the family makes or how much education the parents have. There are many ways that parents can support their children's learning at home and throughout the school year. Here are some ideas to get you started!

Develop a partnership with your child's teachers and school staff

1. Meet your child's teacher. As soon as the school year starts, try to find a way to meet your child's teacher. Let the teacher know you want to help your child learn. Make it clear that you want the teacher to contact you if any problems develop with your child. Talk with your child's teacher offers some great tips for developing a partnership with your child's teacher.
If you feel uncomfortable speaking English, don't let a language barrier stop you. What you have to say is more important than the language you say it in! Ask the school to find someone who can interpret for you. There may be a teacher or parent liaison who can help. Or you can bring a bilingual friend or relative with you.

2. Get to know who's who at your child's school. There are many people at your child's school who are there to help your child learn, grow socially and emotionally, and navigate the school environment. Who's Who at Your Child's School describes the responsibilities of teachers, administrators, and district staff. Each school is different but this article will offer a general introduction to personnel of your child's school.

3. Attend parent-teacher conferences and keep in touch with your child's teacher. Schools usually have one or two parent-teacher conferences each year. You can bring a friend to interpret for you or ask the school to provide an interpreter. You can also ask to meet with your child's teacher any time during the year. If you have a concern and can't meet face-to-face, send the teacher a short note or set up a time to talk on the phone. For more ideas about how to prepare for parent-teacher conferences, see Tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences at Your Child's School.

Support your child academically

4. Find out how your child is doing. Ask the teacher how well your child is doing in class compared to other students. If your child is not keeping up, especially when it comes to reading, ask what you or the school can do to help. It's important to act early before your child gets too far behind. Also be sure to review your child's report card each time it comes out. For more information, see How To Know When Your Child Needs Extra Help
.
5. Apply for special services if you think your child may need it. If your child is having problems with learning, ask the school to evaluate your child in his or her strongest language. The teacher might be able to provide accommodations for your child in class. If the school finds out your child has a learning disability, he can receive extra help at no cost. For more information, see Where To Go For Help.

6. Make sure that your child gets homework done. Let your child know that you think education is important and that homework needs to be done each day. You can help your child with homework by setting aside a special place to study, establishing a regular time for homework, and removing distractions such as the television and social phone calls during homework time. Helping Your Child With Homework offers some great ideas for ensuring that your child gets homework done.

If you are reluctant to help your child with homework because you feel that you don't know the subject well enough or because you don't speak or read English, you can help by showing that you are interested, helping your child get organized, providing the necessary materials, asking your child about daily assignments, monitoring work to make sure that it is completed, and praising all of your child's efforts. Remember that doing your child's homework for him won't help him in the long run.

7. Find homework help for your child if needed. If it is difficult for you to help your child with homework or school projects, see if you can find someone else who can help. Contact the school, tutoring groups, after school programs, churches, and libraries. Or see if an older student, neighbor, or friend can help.

8. Help your child prepare for tests. Tests play an important role in determining a students grade. Your child may also take one or more standardized tests during the school year, and your child's teacher may spend class time on test preparation throughout the year. As a parent, there are a number of ways that you can support your child before and after taking a standardized test, as well as a number of ways you can support your child's learning habits on a daily basis that will help her be more prepared when it's time to be tested. Learn more standardized tests and general test-taking in How to Help Your Child Prepare for Standardized Tests.

Get involved with your child's school

9. Learn what the school offers. Read the information the school sends home, and ask to receive information in your native language if necessary. Talk to other parents to find out what programs the school offers. Maybe there's a music program, after-school activity, sports team, or tutoring program your child would enjoy. Remember to keep track of events throughout the school year.

10. Volunteer at your child's school and/or join your school's parent-teacher group. Teachers appreciate it when parents help out at the school! There are many ways you can contribute. You can volunteer in your child's class or in the school library. You can make food for a school event. If you work during the day, you can attend "parents' night" activities or your child's performances. At most schools, a group of parents meets regularly to talk about the school. This group is usually called the PTA or PTO. The meetings give you a good chance to talk with other parents and to work together to improve the school. How to Get Involved in Your Child's School Activities offers some more ideas that you can get involved, especially for busy parents.

Get informed and be an advocate for your child

11. Ask questions. If something concerns you about your child's learning or behavior, ask the teacher or principal about it and seek their advice. Your questions may be like these — What specific problem is my child having with reading? What can I do to help my child with this problem? How can I stop that bully from picking on my son? How can I get my child to do homework? Which reading group is my child in?

12. Learn about your rights. It's important to know what your rights are as the parent regarding special services, English instruction, immigration status, and more. Learn more in Your Rights as the Parent of a Public School Student.

13. Let the school know your concerns. Is your child doing well in school? Is he or she having trouble learning, behaving, or studying? Is there a problem with another student, teacher, or administrator? If you have a concern, How to Let the School Know About Your Concerns describes some steps to take.

Support your child's learning at home

14. Demonstrate a positive attitude about education to your children. What we say and do in our daily lives can help them to develop positive attitudes toward school and learning and to build confidence in themselves as learners. Showing our children that we both value education and use it in our daily lives provides them with powerful models and contributes greatly to their success in school.
In addition, by showing interest in their children's education, parents and families can spark enthusiasm in them and lead them to a very important understanding-that learning can be enjoyable as well as rewarding and is well worth the effort required.

15. Monitor your child's television, video game, and Internet use. American children on average spend far more time watching TV, playing video games and using the Internet than they do completing homework or other school-related activities. How to Monitor TV Viewing and Video Game Playing and Help Your Child Learn to Use the Internet Properly and Effectively offer some ideas for helping your child use the media effectively.

16. Encourage your child to read. Helping your child become a reader is the single most important thing that you can do to help the child to succeed in school-and in life. The importance of reading simply can't be overstated. Reading helps children in all school subjects. More important, it is the key to lifelong learning. Learn more in Fun Reading Tips and Activities and Fun and Effective Ways to Read with Children.

17. Talk with your child. Talking and listening play major roles in children's school success. It's through hearing parents and family members talk and through responding to that talk that young children begin to pick up the language skills they will need if they are to do well. For example, children who don't hear a lot of talk and who aren't encouraged to talk themselves often have problems learning to read, which can lead to other school problems. In addition, children who haven't learned to listen carefully often have trouble following directions and paying attention in class. It's also important for you to show your child that you're interested in what he has to say. Talking With Your Child offers some great ideas for using conversation to stimulate language development.

18. Encourage your child to use the library. Libraries are places of learning and discovery for everyone. Helping your child find out about libraries will set him on the road to being an independent learner. Remember that libraries also offer a quiet place for students to complete homework, and are often open in the evening. Learn more about resources for students in Library Services for School-Aged Children.

19. Encourage your child to be responsible and work independently. Taking responsibility and working independently are important qualities for school success. You can help your child to develop these qualities by establish reasonable rules that you enforce consistently, making it clear to your child that he has to take responsibility for what he does, both at home and at school, showing your child how to break a job down into small steps, and monitor what your child does after school, in the evenings and on weekends. If you can't be there when your child gets home, give her the responsibility of checking in with you by phone to discuss her plans. Learn more in Encourage Responsibility, Independence, and Active Learning.

20. Encourage active learning. Children need active learning as well as quiet learning such as reading and doing homework. Active learning involves asking and answering questions, solving problems and exploring interests. Active learning also can take place when your child plays sports, spends time with friends, acts in a school play, plays a musical instrument or visits museums and bookstores. To promote active learning, listen to your child's ideas and respond to them. Let him jump in with questions and opinions when you read books together. When you encourage this type of give-and-take at home, your child's participation and interest in school is likely to increase.

Online exam Prepare www.swottr.com and www.prepcentral.in

Seven Tips to Help Parents Educate Kids at Home.Educating Kids at home

Homeschooling is not for every family. But every parent is a home educator. As a long-time homeschooler, now with a teen, I’ve learned a lot about learning, my child and myself. Here are some tips to help any family teach kids while at home.
1.Minimize Memorization:
It’s more important to know how to find an answer than to know one. With facts and trivia at our fingertips, kids should learn how to search on the Internet, use an index and pick up a phone and ask.

2.Encourage Mistakes:
Although I suggest my son always double-check his class work, I still must mark my student’s mistakes. Isn’t that how we learn? Encourage your child to try new things and do his best, not “perfect.”

3.Let ’em Talk:
An important life skill is the ability to engage people of all ages in conversation. Let your child give the waitress his order, ask the librarian for help, and develop a firm, traditional handshake.

4.Help with Homework:
Checking homework isn’t enough. Occasionally, sit with your student to watch how he organizes essays, calculates math, or reads literature. Discuss what he’s learning and how he gets his answers.

5.Learn Local:
Recession aside, visiting local venues gives kids a greater sense of their place in the world. History happens everywhere. Share your childhood favorite or explore somewhere new together.

6.Think Long-term:
One failed test or bad grade is probably not gonna make or break your child’s academic career. Share your failures. Keep perspective. It’s better to encourage lifelong learning than force a semester’s GPA.

7.Watch ’em Play:
Not just at organized sporting events, but also when your kid is just hanging out with friends. Does he laugh and smile? Does he appear comfortable in his own skin? You may see yourself in him, but let your child be himself.

Online education www.prepcentral.in or www.swottr.com

Speech on Education

We have provided below variety of speech on education for the students of different classes. All the education speech are written uniquely using very simple and easy words according to the student’s requirement such as for 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes and 6 minutes.

Education Speech 1

Good morning to the Excellencies, distinguished guests, my respected teachers, and my dear friends. The topic of my speech is education. Through my speech, I would let you know all about the value of education and its contribution in our lives. Education is the tool which helps us in removing our all doubts and fears about all the challenges and happiness in our life. It is the tool keeps us happy and peaceful as well as makes us better socialize human beings. Our teachers are like God for us who helps us all in getting good quality education from the institutions. They try their best to make us learn everything and shape us for the future challenges. Our teacher comes in our lives, removes all the darkness, removes all the fears, removes all the doubts, and helps us to find a beautiful career in this big world.

Education is not about to gain only knowledge, however it means, learning the ways to be happy, learning the way to keep others happy, learning the way to live in society, learning the way to tackle challenges, learning the way to help others, learning the way to care older, and learning the way how to behave others. My dear friends, education is like a healthy food which nourishes us both internally and externally. It makes us strong internally and gives lots of confidence by making our personality and giving us knowledge. Good education is only way to remove bad habits, poverty, inequality, gender discrimination and so many social issues.

Education Speech 2

Good morning to my respected teachers and my dear friends. My dear friends, education is the tool which removes all the differences among us and makes us capable to go ahead together. It makes our challenging paths of the life very easy to lead. Getting quality education is like yoga and meditation as it requires concentration, patience and dedication. Without education, there is no difference between human beings and animals. Education is a powerful tool capable to solve all the social, personal and family problems. It is like a medicine which has capability to treat almost all the diseases. Getting education is not only means to get good job, it means to make a good personality, to be healthy and fit, to maintain hygiene, to be happy all time, to behave well to others, to tackle all challenges of life and so many.

Education is most important to all of us to lead a happy life. Earlier the education system in India was so poor and undisciplined. The kids of rich people were allowed to study however kids of poor people were not allowed to study in the same school or college. Poor people were forced to do labour in the fields only, which was the main reason of discrimination among people in society, inequality, gender inequality, and lots of social issues because of the lack of good education. Low level of education for poor people made them vulnerable to the economic and political exploitation in their own country. There has been made adequate provisions for the poor people in the Indian constitution in order to remove inequality and ensure the empowerment and participation of people of all levels equally.

 

The right for proper education is the birth right of everyone, restricting one from getting proper education is the crime. Education helps us to understand between good or bad, right or wrong and help us in taking decision in the favour of right ones. It helps us in everything of wide range of problems. We can solve the mysteries of this universe. Education is like magic which helps us to learn all the magic to stay happily on this planet. It keeps us free of all doubts, superstitions as well as removes away all the social evils affecting the society. Better educated people can safeguard their family and nation in more secure and easy way.

Education Speech 3

Good morning to my respected teachers and my dear friends. Today, at this great occasion, I would like to speech about the education and its values in our lives. Education means a lot to us, without education we are nothing. We get motivated towards the education from our childhood by our parents and from teachers when we start going to school. If one is getting proper education from childhood, doing a best investment of his/her life. Education is not only means to read, write or learn, it is the way to live positively and live life happily. It benefits everyone related to the person such as personal, family, neighbours, society, community and country. It is the best tool to remove poverty and inequality from the society. It provides everyone critical skills and technical knowledge to serve better in their own life, family society and country.

Education provides better opportunity in future for viable economic growth. It helps us to keep ourselves and people related to us happy and healthy. Proper education prevents us from the many diseases as well as helps fight the spread of communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS, infections, etc. It helps to make future bright in all aspects. It gives proper understanding to us to tackle to many problems all through the life. Through the proper education, one knows the value of people and value of unity which ultimately reduces the conflicts among people in family, society and country. Good education is the best tool for any nation to go ahead, grow and develop among other strong nations. Well educated people of any country are the most precious assets of that country. Education is the way to reduce mother and child mortality rate by improving their health.

Education brings transparency, stability, good governance as well as helps to fight against graft and corruption. Still, in many backwards regions the meaning of education is nothing. They are so poor that they spend their whole day in earning only two times food. They understand that earning money from childhood is good instead of wasting money in education. Education is really an amazing tool which raises income, improves health, promotes gender equality, mitigates climate change, reduces poverty and so many. It helps in making a peaceful environment at home or in office. Education provides intellectual freedom and keeps us happy physically, mentally, socially and intellectually. It promotes the habit of ideas and experiences sharing among people as well as motivates them for morals, ethics and community responsibilities.

Education provides us wide range of knowledge such as art, history, sports, maths, literature and fields. Education is the basic building blocks of success, bright career and better quality of life.

Education Speech 4

Good morning to my respected teachers and my colleagues. As we have gathered here to celebrate this auspicious occasion, I would like to speech on education. It’s very hard to imagine a world without schools and colleges. I think it is impossible for everyone. Every one of us gets problem in waking up in the early morning or studying all through the night during monthly tests and examinations. However, we all know well about the value and importance of the education in our life. It is not true that if one does not get proper education, he becomes fail in life. However, education provides better chance in life to always go ahead and easy ways to get success in life. Education is very important to all of us as it provides confidence and dare to lot of problems.

Educated people are better able to fulfil their dreams in comparison to the uneducated people. Education is very important for a person to overcome all the ancient superstitions which negatively affects our lives even after being baseless and useless. Illiterate and uneducated people become more prone to the superstitious beliefs very easily as they have no clue about truth. Education improves our awareness about the reality of superstitions and replaces all the negative beliefs with proper reasons and logics. In the ever changing world of high technologies, it needs to be careful and updated all time which is not possible without education. Without education it is not possible for everyone to accept and adapt all the changes of modern world.

A well educated person becomes more aware of the latest technologies and keeps himself more updated to the all changes going throughout the world. In this advance world of internet, everyone go to internet and search required information to get online and quick knowledge. The education system in the modern world has become so easy and comfortable than the ancient time just because of the internet. Everyone knows how to surf internet however uneducated one may not know all the benefits of the internet however educated one understand internet as a gift of technology and use in their personal and professional life to make better and happy career.

Education involves better in the life to make it happy and healthy. Illiterate people do lots of ignorance towards their health, family, society and country. Such ignorance may prove very dangerous in their life and personal and national growth and development. Educated people know better how to keep themselves happy and healthy as well as prevent from a number of diseases. Educated person knows well about the symptoms of any disease and never avoid seeking medical aids unless symptoms gone completely however uneducated person do opposite because of lack of knowledge and poverty. It makes us confident, more sociable and more responsible towards our life.

by indiacelebrating

Online exam prepare www.prepcentral.in or www.swottr.com

Prayers for Teachers, Students, Schools, and Classrooms

Teacher Prayers and Other School Prayers
apple on a biblePrayer is especially important for those that educate others (the stress alone is worth praying for!). These teacher prayers come from a variety of Catholic and other Christian sources. They are for teachers, and for things and people that teachers might pray for (such as students). Besides providing prayers for teachers, we offer prayers for other school employees as well. They work for daycare workers, parents, babysitters, principals, and act as insurance that you and those you care for are being prayed for. Many schools, elementary, junior high, and high school, use these prayers during their morning announcements and in classrooms.


Prayer For Patience and Gentleness
Bestow on me, O Lord,
a genial spirit and unwearied forbearance;
a mild, loving, patient, heart;
kindly looks, pleasant cordial speech, and manners
in the exchanges of daily life;
that I may give offence to none,
but as much as in lies,
live in charity with all men.
Johann Arndt, (1555-1621)

Prayer For Patience and Gentleness
Bestow on me, O Lord,
a genial spirit and unwearied forbearance;
a mild, loving, patient, heart;
kindly looks, pleasant cordial speech, and manners
in the exchanges of daily life;
that I may give offence to none,
but as much as in lies,
live in charity with all men.
Johann Arndt, (1555-1621)


Prayer For Wisdom and Understanding
Teach me, O my Lord Jesus,
instruct me that I may learn from Thee
what I ought to teach concerning thee.
Anglican Archbishop William Laud (1573-1645)


Prayer to Follow God Completely
O My God
give me your grace
so that the things of this earth
and things more naturally pleasing to me,
may not be as close as you are to me.
Keep my eyes, my ears, my heart
from clinging to the things of this world.
Break my bonds, raise my heart.
Keep my whole being fixed on you.
Let me never lose sight of you;
and while I gaze on you,
let my love of you grow more and more every day.
John Henry Newman (1801-1890)


A Prayer of St. Augustine
O, God,
Grant us in all our duties your help;
in all our perplexities, your guidance;
in all our dangers, your protection;
and in all our sorrows, your peace.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord,
our body, and our blood,
our life and our nourishment. Amen.
St. Augustine (354-430)


A Prayer For God's Inspiration
Father,
May everything we do
begin with your inspiration
and continue with your saving help.
Let our work always find its origin in you
and through you reach completion.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen
The Liturgy of the Hours, Week I


Prayer for the Light of God
O Lord, thou greatest and most true Light,
whence the light of the day doth spring!
O Light,
which dost lighten every man that cometh into the world!
O thou Wisdom of the eternal Father,
Enlighten my mind,
that I may see only those things that please thee,
and may be blinded to all other things.
Grant that I may walk in thy ways,
and that nothing else may be light and pleasant.
John Bradford (1510-1555)

School Project Ideas

School Project Ideas
Are you a teacher, parent, or student looking for a creative project idea? You should find this list of 62 project ideas to be a great resource for designing activities and projects.
When students create projects, they are the active agent in the learning process; the classroom is centered on the student rather than the teacher and the role of the instructor evolves to that of the facilitator. This list should give you great ideas to create projects for any topic of study. Leave a comment below to share how you’ve applied these ideas in your home or classroom.
Project Ideas

Advertisements:
 create an advertising campaign to sell a product. The product can be real or imaginary. Try using this to teach persuasion, as an assignment for speech class, or to reinforce skills learned in a consumer class.

Album Covers: 
create artwork for an album. The album may be connected to a skill (such a multiplication) and should demonstrate or explain how that skill is used. Or the album cover may be connected to a novel and the art work might present a relevant theme in the story. Another use would be to have students create natural disaster album covers in a science class where the cover would depict and explain the event.

Autobiographies:
write the story of your life. This assignment may help you teach autobiography or reinforce a broad range of writing skills.

Awards:
create awards to present to historical figures, scientists, mathematicians, authors, or characters from a novel.

Banners:
create an informational banner. Students could create time lines of the American civil war or the Spanish alphabet.

Bar Graphs:
create illustrated bar graphs. These may be used to explore data sets, use statistics to support a point, or illustrate a growth or change in a market.

Biographies:
write the life story of someone else. It could be a friend, family member, historical figure, or a fictional character.

Blogs:
create blogs for literary characters or historical figures. Create an actual blog for free at blogger.com or just have students write and organize articles on white printer paper if the internet is not available.

Blueprints:
create blueprints or floor plans of a scene described in a novel, an historic setting, or an earthquake proof bridge or structure.

Boardgames:
create boardgames where students review course concepts. Game play should be based around answering review questions correctly.

Book Clubs:
Students read either novels or selections from the text book and discuss the readings in small groups. Students might be required to take notes about the discussion or provide an audio recording of the discussion as the artifact to be evaluated. Students might also create discussion questions beforehand and have these approved by the instructor. This activity may be applied to reading selections in any subject.

Booklets:
create an informational booklet. In the past I’ve had students create booklets showing comma rules, narrator’s perspective, genre, figurative language, and more. Booklets can be applied to almost any unit of study and all they require to make are some blank white printer paper folded in half, one of my favorites.

Bookmarks:
create illustrated bookmarks with relevant information. A bookmark might summarize previous chapters or contain the definitions of challenging vocabulary words.

Brochures:
brochures can be made as either tri-fold or bi-folds. Students can create informational brochure’s about geographic locations, a story’s setting, or a natural event such as how a tidal wave is formed or how the food chain works.

Calendars:
create a calendar charting the dates of key events. This can be applied to an historical event (like a famous battle), a scientific event (such a the path of Hurricane Katrina), or the sequence of events in story.
 
Casting Calls:
select people (fictional, famous, or otherwise) to play the role in a movie version of story or historic event. Explain which character traits were considered in each selection.

Cheers:
create a cheer explaining a scientific or mathematical process. Alternately, a cheer could summarize the events of a novel or an historic episode.

Classified Ads:
create classified type ads as seen in newspapers. It could be a wanted ad or a M4F type ad depending on the age of your students. Update the concept and have students create Craigslist ads or Ebay listings. Example applications include covering vocabulary words, introducing multiple characters in a drama, examining figures in an historical event, or studying endangered and extinct plants and animals.

Coat of Arms:
create a family coat of arms for a character from a novel or a person from history. A good activity for teaching symbolism.

Collages:
create a collage or collection of images related to a topic. Images can be hand drawn, printed, or clipped from a magazine or newspaper. These work best with large thematic ideas that give students the ability to maneuver, like a collage representing slavery, the 1920s, or an entire story.

Comic Strips or Books:
create an illustrated comic strip or book representing events from history or a work of fiction.

Crossword Puzzles:
create a crossword puzzle to review definitions of challenging vocabulary words. Great for science, social studies, reading, and even math terms.

Diary Entries:
create a diary entries for a person from history or a fictional character who experienced an historic event. Can also be applied to characters in a story or survivors of a disaster.

Dramas:
create a play. Students might adapt an existing story or create original works and plays can be centered around any event in history.

Editorials:
provide an opinion about a hot topic in history or science. Should the space program be reduced? Is US military intervention in current conflicts appropriate? Is global warming a concern?

Fables:
create fables that teach a lesson. Students may create illustrated story boards of their original fables or even dramatic adaptations which they then perform. A good character building activity.

Flags:
create a flag representing either an actual county (like Libya) or fictitious place (like Narnia). This project should be accompanied by a brief report explaining what ideas the colors and images on the flags represent.

Flash Cards:
create cards helpful for study and review. Flash cards can be created for any subject and topic.

Flowcharts:
students create flowcharts analyzing and representing a mathematical process, a natural event, or an event in history or literature.

Glossaries: If students need to understand a large array of vocabulary words, consider having them construct glossaries to help them study and review.

Hieroglyphics:
create pictures that represent vocabulary words. Alternately, students could retell the events of a story or historical episode in simple pictures.

ID Badges:
create identification cards for characters from a work of literature or for people involved in an historical event. Include relevant details on the badges.

Illustrated Quotes:
Have students choose a meaningful quote from a text that they are reading. They should explain why the quote interests them and then write the quote on a blank sheet of paper and draw related images.

Instructions:
write instructions on how to perform an operation or experiment, diagram a sentence, or start a World War.

Inventions:
create and illustrate your new invention that address a problem in nature or society. Address environmental or sociological issues.

Limericks:
write limericks about events from history or scientific discoveries such as, “There once was a man named Sir Newton…”

Magazines:
create magazines covering large units of study such as the Industrial Revolution or Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, that way many articles can be written. Images may also be drawn or printed and added to the publication.

Maps:
create maps based on actual geographic or national boundaries and landmarks or maps illustrating the setting of a story and the journey of a character.

Merit Badges:
create vocabulary merit badges where the term is defined in three or fewer words and a small image is drawn to represent the definition.

Movie Adaptations:
plan a movie version of a novel, scientific discovery, or historical event. Pick who will play what role, plan scenes, write dialog, even create a soundtrack.

Murals:
create a mural or a large drawing of many images related to a larger idea. A mural about the Harlem Renaissance might contain images of Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, and W.E.B. DuBois.

Myths:
write creation myths to account for scientific or historic events or for a creative writing assignment.

Newscasts:
deliver important information from literature, history, science, or math in the form of a newscast. Newscast can be prerecorded or presented live.

Pen-pals:
write letters to and from important people from history or the characters in a story.

Poems and Raps:
write a poem or rap reviewing any topic.

Postcards:
similar to the pen-pals assignment above, but postcards have illustrations representing thematic concepts.

Posters:
create posters to review skills. As a bonus, many of these posters can often be displayed during state tests, so if your students create high quality posters, the posters may be a useful resource during the test.

Questionnaires:
create a questionnaire and survey students to gather an understanding about thematic issues from a text or social problems for a speech or presentation.

Radio Broadcasts:
create a script for a radio program covering any appropriate field of study.
Reader’s Theater: silently act out the events of a story or text alone or with a group of people while someone reads the text aloud. Students should be given time to prepare their acting.

Recipes:
students can create recipes about how atoms combine to form molecules (H2O), or how to create events like the French Revolution or World War I (add one Arch Duke).

Scrapbooks:
create a scrapbook of your favorite poems or important events from a decade.

Skits:
create a short skit to bring an historical event to life.

Slide Shows:
if you have access to enough computers and a projector, I suggest having students create PowerPoint presentations. With just a little instruction, students should be able to create pretty flashy presentations, and you can combine this project with a research paper as a culminating activity.

Soundtracks:
create a soundtrack for a movie version of a novel or historical or natural event. Use actual songs or just describe the mood of each song if you do not know song titles. Explain why you feel that each song matches the event. A good activity to review mood.

Stamps:
students create commemorative stamps honoring people, depicting elements from the periodic table, or challenging vocabulary terms.

Storyboards:
create story boards summarize a short story or to plan a narrative, movie, or presentation.

Tests:
write a test to help you review unit goals and objectives. Questions can be multiple choice, matching, and true or false. Answer keys should be provided.

Vocabulary Quilts:
create quilts with badges representing the meanings of vocabulary terms. Badges should have an image and a few words.

Websites:
design websites that historical figures, scientists, mathematicians, authors, or characters from novels would have had. Also, student can create websites for historical movements, scientific theories, or literary concepts.

Worksheets:
create review worksheets. Worksheets can be applied to any subject and topic of study.

Yearbooks:
create yearbooks reviewing the characters and events from several stories that the class read or containing information about many important figures from history.

School uniform improves pupils' behaviour both in and out of school

Having a uniform helps to reduce bullying in school, makes children better behaved outside the school gates and even aids concentration in class, researchers said.
Pupils at schools without uniform codes were liable to be bullied for the way they dressed, the study found.

Teenagers who took part in the Oxford Brookes University survey said dress codes acted as a social leveller and reduced the risk of children being picked on for wearing "weird" clothes.
Youngsters also admitted they were less likely to misbehave outside the premises because their uniform instantly identified their school.
Pupils were more conscious of their behaviour in public and aware that "old ladies will ring up and report it if you've dropped an apple core in the street".
Others noticed that security guards were more likely to follow children around shops if they were wearing their uniforms.
Professor Margaret Harris, who led the study, said uniforms "often directly contributed to a feeling of school pride, which they did not want to compromise by misbehaving outside the school gate".
She added: "The easy identification also acted as an important preventative factor." Overall, pupils favoured uniforms because they instilled a sense of pride in the school and prevented them having to choose fashionable outfits each morning.
Professor Harris, head of the psychology department at Oxford Brookes, added: "Students tended to be most in favour of smart and distinctive school uniforms."
Pupils at one school without a compulsory dress code hankered after a "proper uniform - with matching socks and blazers".
But one pupil from a school perceived as "posh" voiced concerns that they became more attractive targets for muggers because "people expect you to have a fancier phone or more money".

Ministers have been keen to encourage uniforms but as many as one in five schools does not have them.
The Government has also said schools should scrap exclusive deals with uniform suppliers and ensure clothing is widely available on the High Street or at supermarkets.
This will enable parents to take advantage of massive savings on uniforms offered by supermarkets and over the Internet, but there have been warnings that it could spell the end of distinctive uniforms steeped in tradition, for example sweaters with crests.
The Oxford Brookes study, which involved interviews with 13 to 17-year-olds at a range of schools in Oxford, found they welcomed uniforms because they stop "some pupils wearing Ralph Lauren school jumpers".

One participant said: "There cannot be any, 'Let's group up and laugh at the weird person'."
In schools without uniforms, "students tended to adopt one of a series of dress codes labelled chavs, skaters and preps - and were seen as part of that group". Chavs are known for wearing fake designer sportswear and ostentatious jewellery, while skaters refers to skateboarders. Preps dress more smartly, for example in polo shirts, and boys may have floppy hair.
Girls particularly appreciated uniforms because they prevented male classmates and teachers considering their dress inappropriate and removed a potential source of harassment.
Uniforms were also claimed to improve behaviour in lessons themselves. Pupils reported being more focused on their work because a significant distraction - whether their clothes were "cool" enough - had been removed.

by LAURA CLARK   Online Exam Prepare Log On To www.Prepcentral.in or www.swottr.com

School discipline

School discipline is the system of rules, punishments, and behavioral strategies appropriate to the regulation of children or adolescents and the maintenance of order in schools. Its aim is to control the students' actions and behavior.

An obedient student is in compliance with the school rules and codes of conduct. These rules may, for example, define the expected standards of clothing, timekeeping, social conduct, and work ethic. The term discipline is also applied to the punishment that is the consequence of breaking the rules. The aim of discipline is to set limits restricting certain behaviors or attitudes that are seen as harmful or going against school policies, educational norms, school traditions, et cetera.

Theory

School discipline practices are generally informed by theory from psychologists and educators. There are a number of theories to form a comprehensive discipline strategy for an entire school or a particular class.

• Positive approach is grounded in teachers' respect for students. Instills in students a sense of responsibility by using youth/adult partnerships to develop and share clear rules, provide daily opportunities for success, and administer in-school suspension for noncompliant students. Based on Glasser's Reality Therapy. Research (e.g., Allen) is generally supportive of the PAD program.

• Teacher effectiveness training differentiates between teacher-owned and student-owned problems, and proposes different strategies for dealing with each. Students are taught problem-solving and negotiation techniques. Researchers (e.g., Emmer and Aussiker) find that teachers like the programme and that their behaviour is influenced by it, but effects on student behaviour are unclear.
• Adlerian approaches is an umbrella term for a variety of methods which emphasize understanding the individual's reasons for maladaptive behavior and helping misbehaving students to alter their behavior, while at the same time finding ways to get their needs met. Named for psychiatrist Alfred Adler. These approaches have shown some positive effects on self-concept, attitudes, and locus of control, but effects on behavior are inconclusive (Emmer and Aussiker). 
• Not only were the statistics on suspensions and vandalism significant, but also the recorded interview of teachers demonstrates the improvement in student attitude and behaviour, school atmosphere, academic performance, and beyond that, personal and professional growth.
• Appropriate school learning theory and educational philosophy is a strategy for preventing violence and promoting order and discipline in schools, put forward by educational philosopher Daniel Greenberg^[3] and practised by the Sudbury Valley School

Corporal punishment

Main article: School corporal punishment

Throughout the history of education the most common means of maintaining discipline in schools was corporal punishment. While a child was in school, a teacher was expected to act as a substitute parent, with many forms of parental discipline or rewards open to them. This often meant that students were commonly chastised with the birch, cane, paddle, strap or yardstick if they did something wrong.
Corporal punishment in schools has now disappeared from most Western countries, including all European countries. Thirty-one U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia have banned it, most recently New Mexico in 2011. The other nineteen states (mostly in the South) continue to allow corporal punishment in schools. Paddling is still used to a significant (though declining) degree in some public schools in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Private schools in these and most other states may also use it, though many choose not to do so.
Official corporal punishment, often by caning, remains commonplace in schools in some Asian, African and Caribbean countries.
Most mainstream schools in most other countries retain punishment for misbehavior, but it usually takes non-corporal forms such as detention and suspension.
In China, school corporal punishment was completely banned under the Article 29 of the Compulsory Education Act of the People's Republic of China,but beating by schoolteachers is still common.

Detention

Detention is one of the most common punishments in schools in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Canada, Australia, South Africa and some other countries. It requires the pupil to report to a designated area of the school during a specified time on a school day (typically either recess or after school) and remain there for a specified period of time, but also may require a pupil to report to that part of school at a certain time on a non-school day, e.g. "Saturday detention" at some US, UK, and Irish schools (especially for serious offenses not quite serious enough for suspension).
Typically, in schools in the US, UK, and Singapore, if one misses a detention, then another is added or the student gets a more serious punishment. In UK schools, for offenses too serious for a normal detention but not serious enough for a detention requiring the pupil to return to school at a certain time on a non-school day, a detention can require a pupil to return to school 1–2 hours after school ends on a school day, e.g. "Friday Night Detention". 
In Germany detention is less common. In some states like Baden-Württemberg there is detention to rework missed school hours, but in others like Rheinland-Pfalz it is prohibited by law. In schools where some classes are held on Saturdays, pupils may get detention on a Saturday even if it is a non-school day for them.
In China, long time detention is less common than those in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore, Canada, Australia, South Afica and some other countries. However, short time detention by schoolteachers is still common, but no more than 3 to 4 hours time usually.

Suspension

Suspension or temporary exclusion is mandatory leave assigned to a student as a form of punishment that can last anywhere from one day to a few weeks, during which time the student is not allowed to attend regular lessons. In some US, UK, Australian and Canadian schools, there are two types of suspension: In-School (ISS or Internal Exclusion) and Out-of-School (OSS). In-school requires the student to report to school as usual but attend a designated suspension classroom or room all day. 
 Out-of-school suspension bans the student from being on school grounds during school hours while school is in session. 
 Schools are often required to notify the student's parents/guardians of the reason for and duration of the out-of-school suspension, and usually also for in-school suspensions. 
 Suspended students are often required to continue to learn and complete assignments from the days in which they miss instruction. 
 In some British schools, there is a reverse as well as normal suspension. A pupil suspended is sent home for a period of time set. A pupil reverse suspended is required to be at school during the holidays. Sometimes pupils have to complete work while reverse suspended.

Expulsion

Main article: Expulsion (education)

Expulsion, exclusion, withdrawing, or permanent exclusion terminates the student's education. This is the ultimate last resort, when all other methods of discipline have failed. However, in extreme situations, it may also be used for a single offense. Some education authorities have a nominated school in which all excluded students are collected; this typically has a much higher staffing level than mainstream schools. In some US public schools, expulsions and exclusions are so serious that they require an appearance before the Board of Education or the court system. In the UK, head teachers may make the decision to exclude, but the student's parents have the right of appeal to the local education authority. It was completely banned for compulsory schools in China. This has proved controversial in cases where the head teacher's decision has been overturned (and his or her authority thereby undermined), and there are proposals to abolish the right of appeal.
Expulsion from a private school is a more straightforward matter, since the school can merely terminate its contract with the parents if the pupil does not have siblings in the same school.

By wikipedia  online exam prepare log on to www.prepcentral.in or www.swottr.com