I get great reviews in my professional evaluation every year-except for time management.

"I try so hard...I write lists, lists to follow lists...with due dates and times. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh! I still haven't figured how to get things done on time! I wish I had learnt those skills from my school days along with the academics."

I was commisserating with a childhood friend of mine (I'm not phenomenal in this regard either but have improved since my school days). She was talking about her professional goals and where she wants to be in five years time.

Not many of us realize the importance of time management in our academic and professional advancement, let alone our emotional wellbeing. Every classroom has students who are always late with their papers/homework assignments; students who spend too much time on one part of the project and too little on other sections. Invariably, they cause and bear a lot of stress.

Say the teacher gives the class an assignment. The time needed to complete an assignment depends on several factors:

Is the assignment simple or comprehensive? The student has to gauge the time needed based on the grading/marks and the complexity of the assignment.

Is the subject of interest to the student? If it is an interesting topic it motivates the student to start work on the assignment. At the same time the student should keep the other factors in mind-complexity, sequence of task so that he /she doesn't spend too much or too little time.

Does the student have additional learning needs (LD, ADHD)? As we saw earlier, sustained attention is important to complete tasks.

Does the student know how to do task analysis? Each assignment has to be broken down into smaller tasks to be done in a sequence. The time required for the entire project is used up in smaller protions for each small task.

Does the student begin work on the assignment on time or is he/she a 'last minute' worker?

This is a very important skill not only in the classroom but in every other aspect of the student's lives. How many times do we hear mothers complain about their children not getting ready for school on time? How about waiting until the last minute to submit application forms? I knew a classmate of mine whose biology records were never submitted on time. Just before her Viva she had about fifteen pages to finish. Her friends were vey nice. They stayed up the night in her room and chatted-while she worked ofcourse:)

Ms.S

“Hey, Ms. S, can I read this book to my friends? I read it to my mom last night.

Can I read it to the class later on when we have free time?” Jay walked into class and held the beginning reader right next to my face. On any given day, he struggles with blending letter sounds to read CVC words (c-a-t, b-a-t). That morning he was so excited. We changed our class schedule and gave him time to read his book to his classmates.

Later in the day, I could hear Jay commenting to his friends, “Hey I’m going to try to spell that word all by myself.”

Why did we change our schedule? Because the student came all motivated to class-he had persevered and accomplished something which was particularly difficult for him. The recognition from the adults and his own understanding of his accomplishment was so good for his self esteem that he was motivated to try similar tasks.

Motivation and self esteem go hand in hand. A child with good self esteem is motivated to try challenging tasks. A motivated child succeeds at new tasks and so his self esteem gets a boost.

Motivation can be because of external factors-for example, doing well in exams to get parent’s approval, working hard to get a reward, etc. This is called extrinsic motivation. Young children get motivated by extrinsic rewards.

Our goal is to develop lifelong learning habits. We can't always be with the child motivating her with rewards! How do we foster that in our students? By targeting intrinsic motivation.

When a student learns because engaging in the activity brings satisfaction, it is called intrinsic motivation. For example, when the topic is interesting to the child, the activity is enjoyable, the activity leads to understanding a difficult concept or achieving a goal are intrinsically motivating factors in learning. The self motivated learner will try to learn independently. But she knows the importance of asking for help when something is difficult to understand.

Teachers and parents have a big role to play in how children develop intrinsic motivation.

Give them control over their learning-how often do children chose their subjects because of what their parents want them to study?

Make the activities challenging to the right degree. If it is too simple, the student will be bored. On the other hand if it is too difficult failure occurs. Children need to feel successful.

Respect and recognize their efforts-the process of learning is more important than the outcome. Make an effort to draw attention to what they did right instead of what went wrong. The student will repeat the ‘right’ actions.

Let them make the connection that if they make a mistake, it can be corrected. Everybody makes mistakes. Also, a lot of times it is not the ‘bright’ kid who succeeds. It is the kid who tries and tries again-teach them perseverance through positive feedback. Don’t rush them-it takes time to learn to tie your shoelaces. It takes time and several tries to remember those multiplication tables.

Make them feel accepted for who they are. A student who doesn’t feel good about herself will not have much to feel intrinsically motivated.

Keep external rewards to a minimum. Students have to learn to learn for what the learning brings…not just for awards and competitions.

Ms. S

"Hey Nicki, it's ok if your throw isn't perfect. We are only five years old...

We'll be able to throw the ball into the basket when we are eight. I know because my brother is eight and he can shoot baskets. Come Nicki, come try."

This was one of my favorite incidents in school. Nicki was an extremely shy child who needed a lot of encouragement to try any new activity. During playtime, all the kids were playing around the basketball hoop and Nicki was standing aside and watching. As I was walking towards him, Neel, another child in my class ran up to Nicki and asked him to join in.

Neel was so confident and sure of his developing abilities. Sure enough, Neel's encouragement did more to help Nicki than anything I could have done.

A child with self confidence enjoys new learning opportunities and challenges. There is no fear of failure. If there is failure, the child does a realistic assessment of his or her abilities....and tries again:) Teachers, don't you have fun teaching this child?

The nice thing is that this confidence inspires other kids to try and do well.

Most children don't have this assurance at all time in their lives. Family, friends, school environment, physical wellbeing- all these factors play a role in sustaining a child's confidence. Fortunately a child can learn to be confident.

Think back to the times you join your friends and discuss the good old days...doesn't someone always bring up a teacher who made you believe in yourself. If you go to Orkut, alumni discussions are full of fond reminscences about teachers. And yes, the other side of the coin is discussed too but I feel helpful teachers come out winning.

How do we build students' confidence? By recognizing their efforts. Yes outcome matters but we forget learning is in the process rather than the final product-especially in the early years. A child who learns the value of effort will not give up when there are obstacles. This child will find other ways to learn the same topic.

One of my kids with very poor auditory memory had to learn the names of the states in Germany for a project. He tried memorizing, writing them down several times, etc but was struggling. This child had fantastic visual memory though. On the day of the presentation he related the information about each state for the project. I asked him how he did it and he said, "I looked at the map of Germany and made a jigsaw puzzle in my head with the shapes of the states. That helped me remember the names. I know I didn't say the names correctly but I know which is which." He had solved the problem independently without any special assistnace from anyone.

When adults acknowledge that they make mistakes children learn that it is a natural part of being human. Say out loud "Oh I made a mistake," in front of the students and see what happens. Go on, I dare you, try it.

Young children learn that you can correct yourself if you make a mistake. It makes you more human and approachable to older students. When you set an example students are more willing to try new activities and ideas without worrying about how others will evaluate them.

Ms.S

I'm glad you took care of your problem," my friend commented.

"We can tell you are happy with yourself."
Kannan and Arun had been my friends from fifth standard. They were my friends even as my illness set in and I started withdrawing from social situations. I tried to be 'invisible' from most of my classmates but not from them. Sports, classes, school events they dragged me along. I used to tag along even when they wanted to talk to the girls. At an age when everyone wants to be 'popular' and 'noticable' these guys didn't care that I was weird. I didn't think they knew that my behavior was noticeably different.

Many years later, I sought professional help. I now have a better understanding of how to cope in a crisis. When I got married Kannan commented on what a good job I had done in helping myself. I realized that I would never have managed if these two hadn't accepted me as I was-weird and all!"

A participant at one of the conferences I attended talked about how his friends had helped through his school days. (If you are a special education teacher like me, you get to hear from total strangers...people feel comfortable talking to you about their experiences).

Teachers, think of the range of social interactions in your class. On one extreme you have the shy student too embarassed to talk to the others and so won't to take the risk of drawing attention to himself. On the other hand you have the 'popular' one can't seem to live without attention.

In between fall the others-the 'popular wannabe' who is willing to do anything for the sake of recognition. A few students enjoy a smaller circle of friends. Every now and then their circle widens and others join in. There's the 'mean' kind whose interactions make others uncomfortable and unhappy.

Occasionally you come across the student who everyone likes and wants to befriend. I've had one child who fits this bill. To be honest he scared me-he was interesting, confident, intelligent, kind, motivated, enjoyed challenges and understood his limitations. And, he knew when to draw the line if his peers did something he didn't like. I realized why he scared me-he didn't need me as much as the others! I'm sure you'll meet one or two of his kind.

Peer interactions make up a big part of a student's social life. If they are pleasant and rewarding, they motivate a student. If they provoke fear and anxiety, students' learning is hindered in many ways.

I remember from my school days that the groups had a certain degree of uniformity as far as academic perfomance was concerned.

• strong students (called 'over enthu' by the others),
• middle of the rung (who got good marks without trying too hard-so why bother?) and
• mediocre (the lazy ones-irrespective of whether they had problems or not). I'm sure that hasn't changed too much.

Not surprisingly, the students in the group reinforced each other's learning behavior.

A skillful teacher knows how to change the dynamics and increase their social skills. The strong habits of one motivates the other. The over-achiever gets a different perspective on life besides the importance of academic performance. Have you tried it?

Ms.S

I got admission into M.B.B.S but couldn't afford the fees...

I am a first generation learner and have always wanted to be a doctor. I got very good marks in +2 and got admission into the Government Medical College. When we got the information package, I realized that my family couldn't afford the fees. So I gave up my dream of becoming a doctor, " said the young man.

The compere asked him, "What do you do now?"

"I work as a messenger for a company," replied the young man.

I was watching this program on Vijay T.V a few months back. It was about dreams deferred thanks to poverty. There were several young men and women talking about their situations. I can still hear these words though. You wonder why? It's what he said at the end-he was a messenger.

Adversity, bad luck, misfortune...whatever you call it, visits everyone of us. What does the news report everyday? Students disappointed with their marks, inability to enter the college or course of their choice, not being able to manage the stress of the coursework or exams, invariably choose to end it all by committng suicide!

This young man had to bear not just the everyday stress as a result of his poverty but also lose out on his career hopes. What does he do? He gets a diferent job and manages to supplement his family's income!

The story has a happy ending-the organizers of the show offered financial help to the young man. Soon he will be in college...but for me the most significant detail was in what he did after assessing his financial situation. As difficult as it must have been he found a way to keep going until another opportunity presented itself.

Adveristy, bad luck, misfortune...whatever you call it, visits everyone. To be successful adults, we need to learn to adapt to change, and difficult situations in our childhood.

Adapting to change:

Young children like to know that what they expect will happen. In school we provide this with the timetable, the same class teacher, same seats etc. Throw in some unpredictability and what happens? A new baby in the family, moving houses or to another city, making new friends-any of these can change the child's learning behaviour in school. Your successful learner is one who learns to adapt as new situations are enjoyable. As a teacher you really don't spend too much time in the classroom helping this kid adapt.

Adapting to difficult situations:

Disappointments and defeat arise early in life. It can be because of limitations in the student's performance, due to better skills on the part of others, and at times unfair reasons as well.

If unhappy with the grades (or marks), the student goes back to check his (or her) work to see what can be improved or corrected. Re-assessing and modifying one's work is well developed in a successful learner. When confronted with disappointments, the 'easy' student is pulled down for a while but soon asks the question, "OK, how do I deal with this? What are the options available to me?" Like the young man on TV sometimes it is neccessary to put up with a tough situation until new opportunities present themselves.

Both these traits are tied in with a student's idea of self worth. We'll look at that relationship when we discuss self esteem:)

Ms.S

Plannning and Organization

You are late because the ticket machine didn't work at the station?  But you knew that already-Why didn't you buy a return ticket in the morning?
My neighbour's daughter had just started on an internship a little distance from where we lived. She was late on the first day as there was a problem with the ticketing machine on the way back. It wouldn't accept a credit card and she didn't have change. The same thing happened for the next three days. I said, "You know the machine doesn't accept cards. Why didn't you a) buy a return ticket in the morning itself or b) take money with you?" She replied, "Oh, it never occurred to me. I suppose I can do both those things and I'll be home a lot sooner!"

She is a bright young woman and very talented. But the obvious eluded her in her everday skills.

Planning and organization are parts of a higher order function termed Executive Function. For the sake of convenience I am going to address just these two here. We'll talk about Executive Function and Dysfunction in its entirety a little later.

Think back to the time you give your class an assignment. What happens next? I bet some students are ready with questions for you! "Can we get information from...(resources)? (If it is a writing assignment)... how many pages? How will it be graded? When is it due? What does this include?" and lots of questions beginning with "Can I use ...?" and "Are we supposed to...?"

Am I right? Why do they ask all these questions (besides wanting to impress you)?
First, students get another chance to understand what you are looking for in their work (expectations). If they missed something during your original direction, these answers help fill in the gaps.
Second, the student is in planning mode and is thinking ahead on

• how to break the assignment into smaller steps
• what kind of materials can be used for the assignment
• what resources (books, internet, people) can be used to gather information on the topic
• how much effort to put into the work (remember the question on grading) and
• how much time is available to complete this task

Third, the student's organizational skills kick into operation at the same time. By clarifying doubts the student is finding out where one can get the neccessary materials and how to manage the same. When the student is organized-by arranging the materials in an order and storing them in an easily accessible place, it is easy to find things when he/she needs them!

The organized student always writes down the instructions, and answers to all the questions. These notes serve as a reference when the student starts the actual work.
Will the assignment be well planned and executed? Will this student turn in the assignment on time? What do you think?
Ms.S

One teacher made all the difference to me...

The last three years of school, I was overwhelmed. There was havoc around me and I had no idea where to go for help or what to say. Our maths teacher made such a big difference-he never seemed to lose control, never excercised authority. The students just knew he was the one in charge. His knowledge was no doubt vast but the most important lesson I learned was by watching how he handled us and all the crazyness around us.

No matter how obtuse my reasons, he listened! One year, I was behind in all my subjects-homework, classwork, everything. This teacher spent a whole week after work teaching me how to organize myself. He followed up every week to see if I was on track. Fifteen years after school, I still use those methods to keep my work organized!"

This young mother recognized certain behaviors in her child-she had had the same problems herself. Thanks to her positive experiences in school she is proactive and finds ways to help her child with ADHD.

The traits of successful learners look so obvious, don't they? That's the beauty of it-most of the times, teachers don't have to do anything too complicated to foster good learning habits. Let's take a closer look at each trait.

Attention: No matter how brilliant, a student needs good attention skills to reach his or her potential. Understanding the characteristics of attention helps us identify the problem when a child has difficulty attending in the classroom.





Can the student focus on one task at a time? Student has the ability to stay focused on one task without being distracted by people or events in the classroom. Student's contributions to discussions are on topic. For example, if the discussion is about a science experiment, the student's questions are related to that experiment and not about another subject, unrelated experiment or exam. Student's work is more accurate as focusing on one task helps reduce careless mistakes.

Can the student show sustained attention over a period of time? The school day is broken up into subject specific periods. Each period can have one or more activities or tasks. For example, there may be silent reading for the first fifteen minutes; written response for the next twenty mintes and then a discussion for ten minutes.

Student has the ability to concentrate on each task for the length of time without being distracted or bored. This enables him/her to complete the task before going to the next.

Can the student complete a task within a given time frame? There are different tasks to complete in each period (writing report, solving a set number of problems, analyzing an essay or conducting an experiment to name a few) . The student is able to complete al the classwork within the time allotted for that subject.

Related homework such as projects, presentations also have to be submitted in a timely manner. This involves attending to the task and planning for the task.

Can the student attend to a variety of tasks or subjects? Curriculum is set up in such a way that students learn the basics of different subjects and participate in a variety of activities. Depending on our strengths and weaknesses we like some subjects better than the others. Student is able to maintain attention even in areas which are not interesting or stimulating. (It is so easy to make such sweeping statements-I remember disliking History with a passion and being utterly bored during the study period before exams:))

Can the student pay attention to detail? A project worth 25 marks and a quiz worth 5 marks require different kind of responses.
Student has the ability to look at all the details, judge what is neccessary for the activity and ignore the rest.

Can the student follow mutliple step directions without difficulty? Student is able to follow 2 step, 3 or more step directions (based on age) in familiar everyday situations (example, 'Open book to page 32 and read the third paragraph') or in novel occurrences (example, steps in conducting a salt analysis during Chemistry Lab).

• This requires listening to the instructions,
• remembering the sequence of steps (what comes first, what's next...) and
• carrying out the instructions in the same order
  

In all my nineteen years of teaching I have yet to meet the child who shows all these attributes all of the time. In the meantime I enjoy my students as they come, see where their needs are and adapt my lessons accordingly.

Ms. S

I know he can do better than this...

...if he cared about his education," my class teacher told my parents. I felt awful looking at my parents' faces. I kept thinking of ways to make them all understand that I wasn't neglecting my studies on purpose.

I wasn't able to follow along as the teacher taught the whole group. I didn't sleep well at night-so I dozed in class. I couldn't stop myself from being impulsive-it distracted others. To cover my embarassment I clowned around. I didn't know how to work on my projects-some had very little information and others were too general. All in all I was a mess!

I wonder...would I have finished school if my teachers had known a little more about the underlying cause behind my behaviors?"

This young man had been a bright student up to his ninth std. He changed schools five times from ninth to twelfth std and didn't take his board exams. At one stage his parents took him to a psychiatrist who said, "There's nothing wrong with him-just stubbornness and rowdy behavior." There are several such young people out there.

On the one side there are very positive things happening with our education system. There are greater and diverse courses for students to explore. Twenty years ago you had to get into engineering or medicine to make it. Now, diverse fileds give students a practical education and are gaining acceptance amongst the public. There are continuous opportunities to learn and advance as well. Even if a student is not able to complete high school there are new avenues to try. We should utilize these chances and adapt our teaching methods and provide neccessary accommodations for our students.

First, what makes a successful learner? Are there other factors besides cognitive ability?

Some questions for teachers-
Can you find your students here?
How many of these are dependent on good teachers and teaching methods?
Are these skills to be taught or fostered from a young age or is it something we worry about only when they get to the 'board exam' stage?

Ms.S