www.taolearn.com

Articles Slides for Parents Seminar

Maths & Memory - for Years 6-8 - establishing the patterning base of maths and memory

Learning About Learning for Years 7-10 - noticing and improving learning strategies and

techniques, developing personal learning style for success at school

Exam Confidence for Years 10-13 - practical study and self-motivation skills for high

achievement in all tests and exams

Learning Resilience for Years 12 & 13 & GATE

- developing flexible thinking, understanding intelligence, becoming a resilient learner

To help your children:

gain good qualifications?

get into a good university?

get a good job?

prepare for life?

develop into brilliant

learners?

To help them become:

self-motivated

self-directed

self-regulated

independent

autonomous

successful, lifelong

learners?

able to focus and concentrate

good planners, organised

self-motivated

hard working, persevering

independent researchers

creative, innovative thinkers

responsible for their own actions

self-evaluating, reflective

self-correcting

get them out of bed

make sure they eat their breakfast

check their school bag

have them taken to school and picked up after school

clean up after them at home

drop off anything they have forgotten at school for them

take them to after-school activities

provide extra tutors and extra classes for them outside of school

provide motivation, rewards and planning for them

help them with their homework

find resources for them

make sure they go to bed on time

organise their sports, social, musical and academic calendars

provide them with all the necessities of teenage life:

money cell phone TV computer access to high-speed broadband railcards and taxi fares?

in return for.?

Efficacy + Agency + Action

1) Efficacy they must first believe that success

in learning is possible for them

2) Agency they must have all the skills,

strategies and techniques of effective learning

3) Action they must be prepared to take

action, make mistakes and fail well

role models biographies, own stories

self-confidence measuring self against self

self-esteem valuing children for who they are

reaction to challenges

helping them move from

I cant I havent yet

In the USA - 400 top corporate recruiters look for:

1) Oral and written communication skills

2) Critical thinking and problem solving skills

3) Professionalism and work ethic

4) Collaboration across networks

5) Ability to work in diverse teams

6) Fluency with information technology

7) Leadership and project management skills

Knowledge of mathematics came 14th on the list just ahead of science

knowledge and foreign language comprehension

Ways of Thinking

Creativity and innovation

Critical thinking, problem solving, decision making

Learning to learn, metacognition Ways of Working

Communication

Collaboration & teamwork Tools for Working

Information literacy

ICT literacy Living in the World

Citizenship local and global

Life and career

Personal & social responsibility including cultural awareness and competence

2008 QCA - A Framework of personal, learning and thinking skills that are essential to success in learning, life and work:

Independent inquirers

Creative thinkers

Reflective learners

Team workers

Self-managers

Effective participators

Learning Skills in the UK

CCSS Common Core State Standards adopted by 47 states

Critical Thinking: Analyze, Evaluate, Problem Solve

Creative Thinking: Generate, Associate, Hypothesize

Complex Thinking: Clarify, Interpret, Determine

Comprehensive Thinking: Understand, Infer, Compare

Collaborative Thinking: Explain, Develop, Decide

Communicative Thinking: Reason, Connect, Represent

Cognitive Transfer of Thinking: Synthesize, Generalize, Apply

Learning Skills and Work Habits:

Responsibility

Organization

Independent Work

Collaboration

Initiative

Self-Regulation

Poland

Belgium

Italy

Korea

Singapore

Mexico

New Zealand

The Slovak Republic

Spain

and Turkey

have all developed (or are currently

developing) curricula of essential learning

skills for students

5 Skill Categories

Communication

Social

Self Management

Research

Thinking

10 Skill Clusters

Communication

Collaboration

Organisation

Affective Skills

Reflection

Information Literacy

Media Literacy

Critical Thinking

Creative Thinking

Transfer

Cognitive skills note-making, listening, time management,

questioning, summarising, remembering

- critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving

Affective skills self-motivation, perseverance, resilience,

emotional management, concentration

Metacognitive skills noticing learning and thinking

strategies, trying new strategies, continuously improving

learning effectiveness

The most significant difference between the high

achievers and the underachievers was that

all the high achievers had learned how to

fail well

- whereas all the underachievers were

failing badly

Failing Well

Acknowledging your failures

- taking responsibility for your

own actions

- working out what you did

wrong

- making changes, and

- having another go

Failing Badly

Blaming the school or the

system

Blaming other people

Pretending you never get or do

anything wrong

Adding drama to failures to

avoid dealing with them

Avoiding any activity that could

possibly result in failure

Americas newly identified at-risk group is pre-teens and teens from affluent, well educated families. In spite of their economic and social advantages, they experience among the highest rates of depression, substance abuse, somatic complaints and unhappiness of any group of kids in this country (Dr Suniya Luthar, Columbia University).

The two main contributing factors are achievement pressure and isolation from parents over-involved in the wrong things and under-involved in the right things (The Price of Privilege, Dr Madeline Levine)

Encourage them to take on new challenges

and to use failure as feedback

Help them to notice their own strategies for

recovery from adversity

If they have any problems understanding or

learning schoolwork, focus them on the

factors they can control effort and strategy

use

for effort

you are so hard working,

persistent, determined.

links your approval to

something the child has

control over - they can

always do more - grow,

develop and improve

assessment becomes a

measure of progress, an

opportunity to learn

for ability

you are so smart, talented,

intelligent.

links your approval to

something the child has no

control over - they cant do

more of it - grow, develop

or improve

assessment becomes a

critical judgment, an

opportunity to fail

Focus any praise for achievement on observed effort

rather than ability

Help them to focus on the processes of learning

the strategies they are using as the best source of

improvement

Help them learn to use internet resources well

Subject Site Accumulators: taolearn.com/students.php - my site with links to all the best free sites to help your study,

including:

topmarks.co.uk search engine for great school subject websites

freebooknotes.com links to many English literature resource sites

Subject sites: khanacademy.org - really clear clips explaining every part of most subjects

brightstorm.com - great videos and much more in Maths, Science and (American) English

getrevising.co.uk/resources - all subjects at all levels, great new shared resources arriving from other students daily contribute your own

studyblue.com/notes/high-schools - make and share online flashcards, quizzes and notes, study on-line and on your phone, you need to join up first but its free

johndclare.net and spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk History sites, all countries, all ages

bookrags.com, enotes.com, shmoop.com, pinkmonkey.com, gradesaver.com, novelguide.com, bookwolf.com, readinggroupguides.com, sparknotes.com English literature sites analysis of characters, themes, plots, of books, plays, Shakespeare

s-cool.co.uk and bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize - good resources for all subjects

quizlet.com and easynotecards.com/index - flash card makers for most subjects

studyblue.com notes, flashcards, games in every subject, share resources

languageperfect.com/worldchamps simply the best way to learn any language . All fun. All gaming. School has to subscribe first

swipestudy.com free flashcard memory study games for most subjects sent to your phone!

rod.beavon.clara.net/chemistry_contents good explanations of Chemistry topics

xtremepapers.com and freeexampapers.com - old exam papers in most systems

High speed internet is necessary look into

gateways, access restrictions, parental tools

Make sure they have an place to do school work

which suits them physically

Help build good habits of study - give your childs

learning the highest priority in the home for a period

of time every evening

Help them learn to use their pleasures as rewards for

getting work done - develop delayed gratification

To remember what they learn at school, each night

they need to read over what they did that day

Allow them to form study groups with friends as long

as they use time together to get work done

Organisation

The idea of success through learning is picked up

best by imitation - make the culture of your family a

learning culture

Strive to be worthy of imitation

had to work hard?

had to suffer physically, mentally, emotionally?

had to forgo pleasures in your life?

have suffered personal or business set-backs?

And how many want to give your children the

benefits of your struggles without them having

to go through the distress?

but how many of you think that the difficulties

you have faced, the problems you have overcome, the

suffering you have endured have helped you to develop

the resilience you need to create the success for your

self and your family that you enjoy today?

So why protect your children

from responsibility and the

possibility of failure?

earn what they get

organise their own lives

take responsibility for their own actions

fight their own battles

make their own decisions and take all the

consequences

succeed

fail well

The Art of Learning web-page - www.taolearn.com

- Tips for Parents through the year

- Tips for Students multi-sensory resources

- articles

- links

- videos

- books for parents and for students

- blog www.lancegking.wordpress.com

http://www.lancegking.wordpress.com/