21st Century Learning

In the midst of the rapidly changing educational paradigms, teachers are continuously required to actualize their teaching pedagogy in such a way that it melts in with ethos of the new era. Teaching in the 21st century has its own idiosyncrasies that are, to a far extent, different from the ones that shaped instruction in the previous centuries.We are now living in a conceptual age that demands a host of new and complex thinking and cognitive skills and as such teaching priorities have to adjust to accommodate and foster these new demands.



Our students are no longer passive containers waiting for  their teachers to fill them in with teachable content.They have become active agents who can seek and access information and knowledge through different venues.They are equipped with the power of networks and can in a matter of few clicks crowdsource a topic and come up with all kinds of ideas.


Of course, the requirements for teaching in a conceptual age way transcend traditional ways of instruction. According to ISTE visual below, these requirements perfectly fit in within a blended learning space that makes use of both face to face and online teaching. There are different models of blended learning and here are some of them taken from ISTE visual:
Online
Instruction occurs via an online platform, with periodic face-to-face meetings.
 
Face to Face
Teacher offers primarily face-to face instruction, supplemented with technology in the classroom or computer lab.
 
Rotation
Students rotate between self-paced online learning and face-to-face instruction. Schedules are fixed  but flexible.
 
Flex
Most instruction is delivered online, with teachers providing as-needed support in small group settings.
 
Online Lab
Instruction takes place in a brick and mortar lab, delivered by an online teacher and supervised onsite by paraprofessionals.
Self-blend
Students take online courses to supplement their traditional school's face-to-face course catalog.

 
 SOURCE- www.iste.org

Yobe State School Bombing: State Closes Down Schools

The Yobe Government has closed down all public and private schools in the state, following  Monday’s suicide bomb attack on Government Science Secondary School, Potiskum.
The attack had claimed 48 lives and injured 79 others.
The state Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Muhammad Lamin, said in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Damaturu on Tuesday, that the closure was with immediate effect.
 
Lamin said that government decided to close the schools to enable it adopt more security measures to guarantee the safety of students, teachers and the school environment across the state.
Meanwhile, Sen. Alkali Jajere, representing Yobe South Senatorial District in the Senate, has appealed for a change in strategy by security operatives to contain insurgency in the state.
Jajere who spoke with journalists in Damaturu, said that the renewed attacks on innocent people of the state called for a change in strategy in the fight against insurgency.

 
“The number one responsibility of government is to protect the lives and property of the citizenry; government must live up to this basic responsibility.
“We are optimistic that with the necessary support and motivation, the Nigerian security forces can defeat insurgency,” he said.
The senator urged security agents to respect the rules of engagement in their operation, and called for synergy between law enforcement agents and the public, to effectively fight insurgency. (NAN)

SOURCE- Leadership News

Application Now On For The 2015 Yale Young African Scholars Program

The Yale Young African Scholars Program (YYAS) is an initiative modeled off of the Yale Young Global Scholars Program. This program is intended solely for African students attending secondary school on the African continent.

The 2015 Yale Young African Scholars programs will be hosted by Yale University in two locations:

Kenya: August 12 – 17

Zimbabwe: August 20 – 25

 The Yale Young African Scholars Program is a high-intensity six-day program designed for African students who will graduate from secondary school in 2017 or 2018, are 18 years or younger at the time of the program, and have the talent, drive, energy, and ideas to make meaningful impacts as young leaders, even before they begin their university studies. The Yale Young African Scholars Program is an official program of Yale University. 

There is no cost to students to participate in the Yale Young African Scholars Program.  

Participants are, however, responsible for getting themselves to the venue at the outset of the program and their return home at the end of the program. Participants will also be responsible for any incidental expenses they elect to incur. Admitted students demonstrating financial need may apply for a limited number of travel assistance grants, intended to help defray the cost of international travel between African countries. Students can only apply for travel assistance after they have received an offer of admission to YYAS.

The programs will help students recognize and understand global issues, strategize responses, and innovate solutions while learning from Yale faculty and African undergraduate and graduate students who currently attend Yale. Students will participate in a lecture series and a number of elective seminars on a variety of topics. The demanding academic content is designed to improve students’ analytical thinking, intellectual flexibility, and written and oral communication skills. These skills will be further utilized in small workshops designed to prepare students for the demanding application processes of U.S. colleges and universities.

On-site accommodation is mandatory, and will be provided for all students, along with three meals a day. There is no cost for students to participate in the program.

Follow this link to apply  https://apply.globalscholars.yale.edu/apply/

 

SOURCE - EDUPLACE

Why are they not writing legibly?

I have been in the mainstream class for 2 weeks now and what I have noticed is the fact that my pupils have very illegible handwriting.
I literally have to call some pupils to help me read what they have written.

 Photo Credit:.http://blog.upub.net

I will say, like  the bible says; in the beginning it was not so. The emphasis on beautiful and legible writing has weakened. Parents, teachers and pupils alike have stopped paying attention to handwriting.

PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.GRAPHOLOGY.IT


I am so big on handwriting maybe because I write very well. I am even of the view that my success in some examinations was due to my handwriting.


As a teacher I need to be honest, I love reading and marking the books of pupils the write legibly. I am not saying the child should be a calligrapher. But people should be able to read what you write without  needing to borrow a pair of reading glasses.
 
PHOTO CREDIT: WWW.GLOGSTER.COM



I think the technologies of this age have a role to play in this problem. I know some school of thought will argue that how much  Handwriting  is done in today's corporate world? Not much, but you will sign the typed letter right? and your signature will be affected by the way you write one way or the other.








We should all make an effort to help children write legibly. I commend all schools that have a specfic school handwriting they teach pupils school wide. This is a great way to improve handwriting school wide.

 
In schools where handwriting is not practised school wide, a class teacher can make it his/ her goal to improve the handwriting of specific pupils in their class.


Please don't forget to comment and share your experiences and other best practises on handwriting.

SEN Education: Exclusion or Inclusion

Inclusion in education means that children with mild to moderate special education needs are taught alongside their peers without special education needs.

photo credit: crabtree junior school

Exclusion on the other hand is when children with special needs attend special schools. ( Exclusion is gradually fading in modern education societies). Though children with severe and multiple SEN are adviced to be in special schools where proper provision will be made for their needs.
 

 photo credit: SEN Dairy

Inclusion is well practiced in schools in Nigeria. I believein  inclusion beacause I know inclusion in our schools is the first step towards inclusion in the society. Also inclusion brings diversity into the classroom.









 photo credit: Griffe Primary School

To make SEN inclusion easy, below are seven principles of inclusion :

1. Teaching All Students
Educators should take several different approaches to teaching the same material so that information becomes more interesting and tangible to a greater number of students.

2. Exploring Multiple Identities
Students who are proud of themselves and excited by the world around them will be more compassionate and understanding people; the same is true for educators.

3. Preventing Prejudice
Educators should take a proactive approach to debunking preconceived stereotypes and preventing them from escalating into prejudices and negative biases.

4. Promoting Social Justice
Students are good judges of what is fair, especially when they are affirmatively challenged to consider issues of social justice. Educators should talk to them about issues of social justice and injustice in terms of fair versus unfair, respectful versus disrespectful.

5. Choosing Appropriate Materials
Inclusive classrooms use books and materials that reflect accurate images of diverse peoples and 

 challenge stereotypes.

 

photo credit: crabtree junior school

6. Teaching and Learning About Cultures and Religions
Educators should create curiosity and expand students’ horizons by teaching about others in a positive manner. Students should have the opportunity to learn from their peers as well as other cultures.

7. Adapting and Integrating Lessons Appropriately
Educators should be flexible when using and adapting lessons in our curricula, as well as in prescribed curricula in general. Many of the most teachable moments are unplanned and unscripted.

click on the link to read more 

Biblography:- 

https://tanenbaum.org

The woes of my Nigerian private school pupil

It looks like it is my challenges but they are not mine she bears them all. She is in Nigeria but is learning about Abraham Lincoln and the great London Fire.
She is in Nigeria and understands little of her father's tongue yet is a living,breathing and Eba eating Oxford Dictionary
 


The overpriced school fees and the class projects indirectly sent to me, it looks like my challenges but she bears them all. She knows summer, Autumn, Spring and Winter but can not understand the Dry and wet seasons. Do I blame her? She wrote about what she did during her summer vacation not "long vac" (like I fondly remember) which was spent in the city Lagos.


I once asked what curricula do you use? A British, American, Japanese,Chinese  with a Nigerian strength. That answer will always remind me never to ask such. I have since wondered if the "Nigerian strength" was a metaphor for the poor teacher who is left to make sense of this gibberish. Not at all my headache ,she bears them all.
 

Where are the fields we had to run about and play? They are now classrooms she answered with a defeated sigh. How many subjects do you study? She counted her ten fingers and ten toes. So I asked again how many? Slyly she enquired mummy can I borrow your fingers and toes too? 



Tears flowed down my face, like she read my mind.she looked at me and said mummy don't worry when I become the president teacher  I will make everyone happy.

She  may not understand the tears I shed. But I don't also think we need to wait till she becomes a president teacher (whatever that is) to make the so much needed changes to the Nigerian Education sector.