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Archive for the ‘K-12 Education’ Category

It’s parent-teacher conference time! Some are positive experiences where teachers are able to make great connections with parents. And yet other meetings are foretold by apprehension and met with strife. Over the years, you will encounter the gamut of positive and negative experiences, and everything in between. However, there are strategies you can use to make the best of any situation.

It is extremely important to make a good first impression (even if you already know the parents). Make eye contact with them, and greet the parents with a firm handshake. No weak grips! If you’ve never met the parents, stand up to introduce yourself. Welcome them with a smile. Remember that you are building relationships, and setting the tone for the conference.

A good way to open the conference is to ask how the student is doing in other classes. Ask about their other grades, and start building an overall picture. You will often find the student’s strong and weak areas, and you may even find surprises. I’ve found students who were failing every class but mine. And I’ve found the opposite too. A good overall picture can really give you a new perspective on your students.

Always try to say something positive. Even in the cloudiest of situations, you should find some ray of sunshine. And if you do have bad news to share, opening with good news can help ease the transition.

Be objective with bad news. Give truthful and accurate facts, and keep from making speculations. Make sure you have your facts straight! Work with parents, and try to offer suggestions. Most parents will look to you for ideas. Plan what you’ll say ahead of time. If you’ve taken the time to get to know your students well, you’ll find the conferences easier.

Positive parents are what we all expect and hope for. They come in with an open mind, are pleasant, and are willing to both listen to your comments and help with solutions to problems that do occur. These are often very short conferences at the middle and high school levels. The parents have heard the stories all before, and with good reason; students whose parents regularly attend conferences have higher grade averages and fewer instances of behavior problems than those students whose parents rarely interact with school personnel.

The truth be known, many parents are intimidated by teachers. Many do worry that their concerns and critiques will be turned around and used against their kids. Even though teachers find this entire concept laughable and preposterous, it does, nonetheless, cross many parents’ minds.

So, what do you do with a hostile parent? Diffuse the situation by being patient and listening. Sometimes its hard to just listen while parents are going off on you. They may be right or wrong, misinformed or even plain out of line. It is only a mistake to interrupt them, especially if they are on a roll. Stop yourself, focus on what they’re saying, even take notes to show you’re listening, and let them burn themselves out. Sometimes the hostile parents are looking for an audience, and sometimes they just need to vent. By giving them the time to ‘get it all out of their system’, you allow them to calm down so you both can reasonably discuss the situation.

Be sure to stand when they leave, again this is being courteous and polite. Thank them for attending. And let them know you’ll contact them if anything changes. Parents generally want to be kept informed about their kids, both the good and bad.

Burn fat build muscle are the twin goals that keep dedicated bodybuilders focused. The major purpose of doing strenuous gym work in the first place is to improve the condition of the body, and reducing the amount of fat you are carrying, and improving your muscle bulk and tone are important parts of this. You still need to understand the theories behind this to effectively burn fat and build muscle.

Tip 1
Don’t overlook cardio. It is a vital part of the twin goal of burn fat build muscle. When you develop a regular lifting routine, you will probably end up with an increased food intake. This is helpful in maintaining a strong and muscular body, but if your goals are to achieve health and definition as well, you need to do cardio to get rid of excess carbs and fat. You can do this by simple running or skipping.

Tip 2
One often overlooked method to help you burn fat/build muscle is to occasionally lift different amounts of weight. The fundamental principle is still to lift the largest weight possible without inducing strain, but an occasional lessening of the weight can have a different kind of benefit. If you lift lighter weights weekly you will be exercising different parts of the muscle. Doing a lot of reps with less weight will burn off a lot of fat, and give your muscles a better tone and appearance.

Tip 3
One of the most effective ways to burn fat – build muscle simultaneously is to make use of circuit training. You won’t find this at every health and fitness establishment, but take advantage of it if you do have access. If you have a running track, and weight lifting equipment in the center, you can keep switching from one to the other. Start by running, and then move in to the center and lift weights, and keep repeating the routine. You will find this extremely exhausting, but it will help you burn fat/build muscle together, and if used properly, will get you into the best condition possible.

Tip 4
It is incredible how often this last tip is overlooked even by people who are deadly serious about bodybuilding. Take care over the make up of your daily food intake, and you will see a dramatic improvement in your results.  Taking in less fat will give you less to burn off, and increased protein will help muscles repair and build following work. Burn fat + Build muscle = less work, and I’m sure you would like faster progress with less strain!

Working out effectively will always produce better results than blindly lifting weights, so take on board the advice in this article and burn fat and build muscle. Check out the links below for some more great tips, and good luck!

From selecting the right instrument to learning to read music, being in band can enhance a student’s education. Even children with no musical background can join their school’s band. How is this possible? It’s because all the basic aspects of playing a musical instrument and reading musical notation are taught at school. No one can predict whether a child will have musical ability, but even those whose parents are not musical have a chance of success. The most important factors in whether a child will do well are regular practicing and desire.

Finding an instrument

Selecting the right instrument is an important part of joining a band class. Band directors will consider the student’s preferences, musical aptitude and physical characteristics before recommending the most appropriate band instruments for each student. The flute, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, french horn, trombone, baritone, tuba and percussion are good choices for beginners.

Band instruments can be purchased from local musical instrument dealers or online. Prices vary widely depending on the level of quality. Beginners should select lower priced, entry level instruments. Upgrading to better quality instruments should the students have a gift for music can always be done later. Those with a strong interest in improving their skills can take private music lessons to supplement the school instruction.

Band can be time consuming

Students who also wish to participate in sports may experience schedule conflicts if they sign up for band. Both sports and band are time consuming activities. Before a student registers for band, his or her parents need to consider the child’s other needs and activities, including studying and time for fun. Like other music courses, band is an elective. In addition to the time spent in class, students will also be expected to attend rehearsals and performances outside of school hours.

Sheet music is the road map

Learning to read music is an important part of the band experience. The songs to be played are written in musical notation on paper which is called sheet music. The way the information is put on the page determines what notes will be played, for how long and how loudly.

The composer records his intentions on the sheet music and the conductor leads the musicians in the proper interpretation of those intentions. Not every conductor sees the music the same way. Recordings of the same music by different conductors will have subtle variations in the way the music is played even though the sheet music used was the same.

While musicians may have their own ideas about how to play the music, when they are in a band, they are expected to follow the directions of the conductor. If all the musicians went their own ways, the audience would hear a mishmash of sound instead of music.