Young Volunteers

It can be quite a challenge to get teenagers to focus on anything other than the latest fashion and the latest technological gadgets, but instilling a sense of volunteerism and community service can go a long way toward making young people responsible and well rounded. This sense of responsibility and community service will be important, of course, as those teenagers grow and enter the world of college and career. It is never too early to instill a sense of community responsibility and involvement, and teens of all ages can benefit from those experiences. I believe participating in volunteer service is a beneficial for teens to be involved in because it’s constructive and by doing things that interest them, teens often gain new skills and find new career opportunities that they hadn't thought of before. In addition, the experiences gained in volunteer settings can provide teens with skills in leadership and decision-making, and also look attractive on college and scholarship applications. By Volunteering, Teens are exposed to people and circumstances they have not encountered in their life. Volunteers learn about respect and kindness; I can relate to this based on my own experience through working with the elderly, serving the homeless at a shelter, and mentoring disabled children. The advantages of such community service and community involvement are many, from a greater feeling of self satisfaction and self esteem to a better perception from college admission officers and hiring managers down the road. Besides finding new career opportunities, volunteering also provides teens with other skills necessary in the job market, skills that help with their education will also help in the business world. Volunteering also shows employers and colleges that they believe in making the world a better place and are willing to sacrifice their time and energy to do it. Finally, volunteering provides teens a chance to increase their knowledge in certain areas, and having that knowledge and impact will be extremely beneficial in the future. The impact the activities have may take years to show up, but even so, the impact is there. Volunteering is a win-win situation to both the volunteer and the community.

How to Guess Strategically on SAT Math

How to Guess Strategically on SAT Math SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips The SAT gives negative penalties for guessing, so you shouldn’t even bother to guess on the SAT math section...right? Well yes and no. Guessing requires strategy for a test like the SAT, but it is possible (and indeed we recommend that you do so!) when you can do it smartly. In this guide, we’ll go through when and how to guess strategically on the SAT math section and show you examples of it in action. Refresher on SAT Math Scoring and Organization The SAT is a standardized test, which means that each SAT must look and feel like every other SAT as much as possible. The individual questions may vary, but the patterns in how the test-makers design both the questions and the answer choices will be as similar as can be. With time and practice, you can learn to not only recognize these patterns when you see them, but also use the clues in both the question and the answer choices to help you find your right answer (or at least narrow down your options!). To refresh your understanding of how the SAT math test is structured, let’s look at how it is scored. For each multiple choice question, you will get: +1 point for every correct answer, 0 points for every blank answer, and -0.25 points for every incorrect answer. For each math grid-in question, you will get: +1 point for every correct answer and 0 points for every blank OR incorrect answer. There is no negative penalty for an incorrect grid-in answer. There will be a total of 54 math questions on the test, 44 multiple choice and 10 grid-in. [Note: if you receive an extra math section on the day of the test, it will be because this is your â€Å"experimental† section. If this happens, you will have a total of 74 math questions64 multiple choice and 10 grid-in. There will never be any additional grid-in questions in the experimental section.] Developing a Target Score Because the SAT delivers a penalty for incorrect answers, your strategy for how to approach the SAT math section will depend on your target score and will change as your score goals change. First, take a practice test,and try to slow down a little more than might feel natural as you work through your test. In addition, come up with different ways to mark your questionsone mark for questions you don't know how to do, and another mark for questions you're only somewhat confident about. You may even want to create a third marker for questions that you know how to do, but will take a long time or will require multiple steps, so must be done carefully to avoid error. This way, you can save them for last (though this is optional). For now, use your best judgment on whether to skip or guess the questions you've marked, but do make sure that you can identify which problems were which later. These marks will help you when you go to analyze your answers (and your guessing strategy) in the next section. Once you're done with your practice test, check out our guide to developing your ideal target score, based on your current scores and the schools you want to get into. Don't worry if you're a little off your target right now. A little strategy and practice will soon get you much closer to where you want to be (if not right on the bull's eye!). Guessing Based on Target Score After you find your target curved score, see how that translates to your raw score. How many questions must you answer correctly to get that target score? Keep that number in your head and then plan to answer a few more questions than that target. Why? You are leaving yourself room to get a few questions wrong. For example, if your target SAT math score is 600, you’ll need a raw score of about 37. But to get a raw 37, you must answer 37 questions correctly and absolutely no questions wrong. Since this is difficult for most students, you should aim to answer somewhere in the range of 44 questions. This would allow you to miss up to 6 questions and still get a raw score of 37. How? If you answered 38 questions correctly and missed 6, you would have a score of: 38+6(−0.25) 38−1.5 36.5 The SAT rounds up any score ending in 0.5 or 0.75, so your raw score would be rounded to 37. Success! Once you’ve scored your test, look back on the questions you marked. How accurate is your guessing right now? Did you mostly get questions right or wrong that you marked as "didn't know" or "kind of knew," or did you leave most of these blank? Is there a pattern in your missed guesses? But what happens if you're currently well under your target raw score? If this is the case, then you're going to want to establish a two-tonged study approach of brushing up on the individual math topics you're struggling in right now and learning how to guess more effectively. So now that you’ve seen how you’re guessing strategies have worked so far (even if that means you haven't been guessing at all), let’s talk best guessing strategies for SAT math. The more you practice, the more refined and honed your study skills and guessing abilities will become. SAT Math Guessing Strategies The SAT math section is designed to test how well you can recognize and figure out how to apply familiar mathematical concepts to new situations. But though the scenarios may be unusual, each and every math topicon the test is one that you are likely familiar with and have studied for a number of years. This is all to say that you likely have a better understanding of the questions than you may think, even if you don’t know how to actually solve the problem. Often (though not always), a little strategy will allow you to eliminate at least one or two answer choices and make an educated guess. Note: this may seem apparent, but only use your guessing strategies when you don't know how to solve a problem or are not confident about your answer. Guessing often takes a little more time than a straight-solve, so if you know the answer, great! Move on to the next problem. Only stop and take the time to guess if you're stuck. We’ve laid out three of the most important rules of thumb that go into making an educated guess on an SAT math problem. Most of the time you will use a combination of these three techniques on any given problem, so they are less individual strategy than they are a combination of thought processes that you should go through every time you make a guess. So let’s look at all three techniques needed to best make guesses (and when to do so!) on the SAT math section. Guessing Strategy 1: Process of Elimination Being able to eliminate questions SAT is arguably a more important skill than even being able to solve questions (or at least equally as important). Most of the SAT math questions are multiple choice, which means that the correct answer is always there amongst the answer choices. This may seem obvious, but it means that you have two options to get the right answeryou can solve the problem for the correct answer, oryou can simply eliminate four wrong answers. Whatever remains must be correct. Either option you choose will each get you to the right answer in the end. For example, is it impossible that the answer to a certain problem be negative? Do you know the parabola must open upwards, even if you don't know how it's positioned horizontally? Even knowing just a tiny bit about the problem or its possible answer will often be enough to eliminate a few answer choices. But what if don't know enough about the problem toknow that four answers are wrong? Is eliminating just one or two answer choices enough? When, exactly, should you make a guess? Eliminating 0 Answer Choices So you’ve come to a question and you can’t eliminate any answer choices at allshould you guess? Definitely not! The test is designed to make random guessing (quite literally) pointless. With the -0.25 point penalty and 5 answer choices for each question, random guessing will balance out to 0 points earned over time. Why? A one-in-five chance of a right answer will get you one right answer and four wrong answers for every five questions. This gives you: 1+4(−0.25) 1−1 0 points for every five questions. Better to leave it blank and move on. Eliminating 1 Answer Choice All right, let’s say you can eliminate one answer choice, but no othersshould you guess now? Unfortunately, the answer is: it depends. If you can eliminate one answer choice, then you will have a one-in-four chance of getting the right answer. Over the course of several questions, you will earn: 1+3(−0.25) 1−0.75 0.25 points for every four questions you can answer this way. As you can see, technically, if you can eliminate one answer, then it is to your benefit to guess. But this only works over the long-term and, even then, only if you make your final selection at random. Since human beings are not random, our advice is only to guess when you can eliminate two or more answer choices. Eliminating 2 Answer Choices (Now We’re Getting Somewhere!) You’ve eliminated two answer choices that you know have to be wrong and are now down to three possibilities. This is the time to start guessing. Though eliminating one answer and making a guess might be worth it in the long-term (as in, you must do so over the course of several questions), you should really only make a guess when you can eliminate two or more answer choices. This will give you a one-in-three chance of guessing the right answer, which will earn you: 1+2(−0.25) 1−0.5 0.5 points for every three questions you can answer this way. [Note: getting 0.5 points has an extra bonus in that raw scores on the SAT are rounded up at the 0.5 mark. So if you have a raw score of 41.5, you will actually end up with a final raw score of 42!] Eliminating 3 Answer Choices If you can eliminate three answer choices, you’re in a great place! This will give you a one-in-two shot of choosing the correct answer, which, over time will get you: 1+1(−0.25) 1−0.25 0.75 points for every two questions you can answer this way. Go you! Eliminating 4 Answer Choices If you can confidently eliminate four answer options, then celebrate! No need for guessing hereyou’ve found the correct answer. But how exactly do you go about eliminating answer choices? Let’s take a look. Guessing Strategy 2: Approximating If you have even a general idea of what the right answer might be (even a ballpark figure will do), you will often be able to eliminate one or two of the most blatant outliers. Though the answer choices are most often generated based on common student errors or closely related values, there will still generally be answer choices that are way far afield. Let’s take a look at this in action. Don’t worry about actually solving the problem, just give yourself enough of a ballpark to see if you can eliminate one or two answer choices. Garcia won by a ratio of 5:3, which means that Pà ©rez must have lost, but not by a landslide. First, let’s divide the total number of votes in half. 120,0002 60,000 Pà ©rez received fewer than half the total votes, but again, not by too terribly much. At a rough estimate, let's say that Pà ©rez probably received about 40,000 votes. Again, less than 60,000 (half), but not nearly so small as 15,000. Just with this ballpark figure, we can eliminate answer choices A, D, and E. We are left with answer choices B and C. Even if you didn’t understand how to work with ratios, you would still be in a good place to guess at this point. You now have a 50-50 chance of getting the right answer between the two options just from approximating what the correct answer might be. [Note: the correct answer is C, 45,000.] You can also approximate answers on geometric figures on the test. Unless noted otherwise, all figures will be to scale, and you can make a ballpark guess as to their size and angles. Because there is no note to indicate otherwise, we know the figure must be to scale. Just by glancing at the triangle ABO, we can see that angle ABO must be larger than 15 ° and less than 90 °. We can definitively eliminate two answer choices, which leaves us with threeB, C, and D. This is enough to make a guess. But we can even go further. Considering all the angles in the triangle look about the same, we can make an educated guess between our three options. Angle ABO looks about equal to angles BAO and BOA, and we know that there are 180 ° in a triangle. Knowing this, we can make a guess that the answer is D, 60 °, without making any bit of effort to actually solve the problem. [Note: the correct answer is indeed D, 60 °.] The more you can whittle away obviously wrong answers, the better the odds will be of you grabbing thatright answer choice. Guessing Strategy 3: Avoiding Temptation The test is designed around the statistically average student, and many of the answer choices are generated based on common student errors. People have a tendency to fall into predictable thinking patterns, and the SAT is, in part, designed to lure you to fall for traps that the average student falls for again and again. Often, what makes an answer difficult is the wording and the bait answer choices, rather than the difficulty of the mathematical material being tested.So if you look at a question in the medium or difficult range that looks easy oreven worseobvious, it may just be too good to be true. If an answer choice seems immediately appealing, especially on a difficult question, it’s likely a trap. Think about how many other students would have felt the same way on trial tests. Don’t be that person and try not to let yourself fall for the booby traps. This question is near the end of a math section, which means that the test-makers consider it â€Å"medium-difficult.† Knowing this, the answer is probably NOT going to be simple or obvious. If you don’t have a clue as to how to solve the problem, you can still narrow down your answer choices. Consider that we are working with the difference of 4 people vs. 3 people, which means that it is highly unlikely that the correct answer will be x4 or x3. Those answers look too obvious and tempting to be trusted. We can probably also discard answer choice E, 7x. Not always but most of the time, if an answer doesn’t look anything like the other answer choices, there’s a very good chance it is incorrect, and you can discard it. The rest of our answers are in fractions and E is the only answer that is purely a multiple. Let us, therefore, get rid of it. By discarding both the tempting answer choices and the outlier, we are left with two options, answer choices A and D. This gives us a 50-50 chance of getting the right answer and is a good time to guess. [Note: the correct answer is A, x12.] Let's take a look at another example. This is the last question in a math section, which means it is the hardest question (or one of the hardest questions) on the test. With that in mind, the correct answer will NOT be the most obvious. There are two X-marked offices and four offices total. The X’s, therefore, make up half of the total number of offices, which is something we can see right at a glance. This means that the answer is NOT going to be E, 12that is way too obvious to be correct. Considering there are four offices total, it is also safe to guess that the answer is not D, 14 either, as that is still too obvious an answer for question 20 of 20. To solve any problem that is last on a math section, we will need to go through at least two or three math steps. We therefore know the problem will be more complex than simply using the number of offices as the denominator. Even without knowing anything about probabilities, we have narrowed down our options to A, B, or C. It is now a safe time to guess, so we can go ahead and pick an answer. [Note: the correct answer is C, 16] You did it! Now go forth and conquer. The Take-Aways Though it is very useful to know how to actually solve your SAT math problems, we’ve seen that it is not always necessary. Though you shouldn’t guess on every SAT math question, it can help your scores to do so on occasion. Just remember to always employ your guessing strategies when you are forced to make a guess, and take a deep breath. Sometimes you will be able to eliminate enough answer choices to make a final guess and sometimes you'll have to leave the question blank, and that's okay. You probably know more about the math topic in question than you think, and you probably know enough to at least eliminate an answer choice or two, even if you’re feeling overwhelmed. Don’t force yourself to answer questions you don’t feel comfortable answering, but don’t doubt your skills to eliminate possible answer choices either. Pretty soon you’ll be beating the odds and boosting your scores more than ever before. What’s Next? Still not satisfied with your SAT math scores? Improve your individual SAT math topic skills by working through ourindividual math topic guides. In each guide, we willwalk you through the definitions of each topic, the formulas you'll need, and how you'll see the questions on the SAT math section, as well as give you real SAT math problems (and answer explanations) for you to practice your skills on. Been procrastinating on your SAT prep? If you've found yourself in a procrastination rut, check out our guide on how to stop procrastinating so you can get back on that study wagon. Aiming for a perfect score? If you're looking to score a perfect 800 on your SAT math section, then look no further than our guide to getting an 800 on the SAT math, written by a perfect-scorer. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points? Check out our best-in-class online SAT prep program. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your SAT score by 160 points or more. Our program is entirely online, and it customizes what you study to your strengths and weaknesses. If you liked this Math strategy guide, you'll love our program.Along with more detailed lessons, you'll get thousands ofpractice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Check out our 5-day free trial:

The Internets Involvement in Society essays

The Internets Involvement in Society essays The Internet is a new revolution to all of mankind. People are using computers for tasks unimaginable ten years ago. This paper will share with you ideas on computer use and the Internet in the twenty- first century. The Internet, introduced to consumers in 1996, has grown immensely over the past four years. Other technologies took up to thirty-eight years to reach fifty million people. The Internet only took four years to reach well over fifty million users. The Internet's extreme rate of growth will continue while we have no idea where it will take us. The Internet is becoming the most important tool to humans today. There are many different uses for every kind of person. For instance, online banking saves time and money over traditional banking. Small businesses have been rewriting the rules to commerce with the use of the Internet. Kendra Bonnett states: Just three years ago a study for Internet commerce estimated that thirty-seven million people in North America (age sixteen and older) had access to the Internet. Among this group, twenty-four million reported that they have used the Internet during the last three months, and only seven percent have purchased products or services over the Internet. (An IBM guide to doing e-business, 2000, p. 9) The number of people involved with the Internet is what makes it such a success. The Internet will continue to grow while people find more uses for it every day. It is able to find information on any topic imagined at your greatest convenience. As the Internet keeps growing, problems continue growing as well. With the help of the Internet, people are distributing copyrighted data for a profit. This is data that should be sold in the retail market. Examples would be musical files, games, and applications. Stefan Ventroni (2000), an attorney for Hit Box Music, believes that the rights of creative artists are being trampled on because of the Internet (p.1). Each albu...

Gender Relations in Corporate China and Islamic State Essay

Gender Relations in Corporate China and Islamic State - Essay Example Hence, women are convinced to abandon their children, families, and friends for the course of the IS. The Islamic State attracts women into its ranks by claiming that it has opened up democratic space and created a nationalistic and ethnically and racially diverse and orderly society at peace with itself. Through these campaigns and the lure of a society built on Islamic norms, the Islamic State has attracted women and elevated their perceived roles (Hammer, 130). These appeals have made the IS women feel that their historical disempowerment problems will be solved by the Islamic State. What is not apparent as at now is whether all these promises by the Islamic State are just utopia to allure women into its ranks. Gender Relations in Corporate China Since historical times, men have always been the head of the family and by extension, society in China. For instance, every family lineage in China would be linked only through male figures. Ironically, in the old days, Chinese women were only kept in records whenever they made some trouble. Confucianism teachings also greatly affected the role of Chinese women. Luckily, the role and relations with women have slightly changed in the current corporate China. Incorporate China, women continue to encounter changes and are increasingly climbing the social, political, and professional ladders to heights never seen in the traditional setting (Hu, 131). However, women are still not equally represented at the top of Chinese corporate world as Chinese men.

Launching new product Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Launching new product - Essay Example Items like Sandwiches are very much into the ordering list of the customers. These sandwiches, burgers were found to be major source of excess calories and fat which elevates the normal physic to obese. Recently these alarming issues has spurred up many fast food retail chain to gear up for new food products which are low calories and low fat content. Keeping in view the changes in the food choice it is essential for any food outlet to introduce a new and innovated product to retain and enhance the performance of the food chain. Panera has conceptualized a new sandwich with new features to entice the health conscious customers. The Panera management basically concentrated on reducing the fat and calories contents of the Sandwiches. The sandwiches needs to served with thin slices of meat loafs with more vegetables with fibre contents and less fat. The vegetables will certainly increase the weight of the sandwich and regulate the fat and calorie content thus making it more health conscious food. The sandwiches components can be encouraged for big catering places like schools and college. As providing healthy food can be an added feature for any institution we need to oblige the managements to include our product. When we are catering our products to youth we need to concentrate more on garnish to make it look as a trendy dish. Garnishing with vegetables like carrots, leafy vegetables makes it more colorful and provides health food.

What the main factors of party choice were in the visegrad countries Assignment

What the main factors of party choice were in the visegrad countries - Assignment Example Voters then cast their votes not on the base of political parties but rather on the performance of their leaders that could be categorized as clientelistic and leader centered political culture compared to a majoritarian or consensus-oriented political system. It can be contrasted to Czech Republic where it manifests an extreme party-centric behavior of its voters. This can be attributed to their highly organized political parties as it manifests strongest ideological voting than the Nordic countries or the Netherlands. Unlike in Hungary where voters casts their ballots based on the performance of their leaders, Czech Republic on the other hand vote base on party ideology regardless of its leaders. This can also be partially attributed to the retention of orthodox communist party in the electoral arena making the electorate ideologically conscious. Poland on the other hand is neither of the two and this can be attributed to its highly fragmented political parties and institutional design whereby its institutions are closest to the consensus democracy type. The combination of diaspora among its political centers and consensus base political system among its political parties made it the only European country that is similar to that of the hybrid type constituted by Mexico and United States compared to Scandinavian-Israeli-Czech end-point differentiation. This results to a voting pattern that shows variance from the other countries in Visegrad such as Czech Republic and Hungary (Slovakia is not extensively covered in the study). Slovakia may not have been extensively covered in the study but its political system shares the same attribute with Poland which is also highly fragmented where its numbers are â€Å"excessive†. Thus, one can surmise that Slovakia will tend to be more consensus type in its voting pattern inferring to the factor that

Principles of Assessment Essay Example for Free

Principles of Assessment Essay Educational assessment is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class, workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the educational system as a whole. According to the Academic Exchange Quarterly: Studies of a theoretical or empirical nature (including case studies, portfolio studies, exploratory, or experimental work) addressing the assessment of learner aptitude and preparation, motivation and learning styles, learning outcomes in achievement and satisfaction in different educational contexts are all welcome, as are studies addressing issues of measurable standards and benchmarks. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Educational_assessment Some of the key concepts of assessment are as follows: * Accountability * Achievement * Assessment Strategies. * Initial, Formative or Summative types Accountability means that I am answerable to my learners and my organisation to ensure that I am performing my role as an assessor correctly. I always let my learners know when they are going to be assessed and how they will meet the criteria. Achievement- I will look at what the learner has achieved while they have been doing the course and compare this with the standards to ensure they have been fully met. Assessment Strategy- I follow my organisations assessment strategy for the subject I am assessing to ensure I am carrying out my role correctly. The assessment strategy I follow for NVQ2 in Cleaning is: * UPK questions * Observations * Progress Review * Supplementary questions * Exit Interview. The qualifications and experience I require are A1 V1 and experience in the cleaning industry. Formal Assessment * Ongoing during a course * It enables progress to be regularly monitored and reviewed * The student can see what they need to develop further before a final assessment * A student can identify gaps in their learning * It shows a student how much they have learnt so far which encourages and motivates them Methods of Formal Assessment. * Tracking Sheet * Observations * Tutorials * Midway Review * Oral Questions Summative Assessment * Usually taken at the end of the course * Usually leads to a pass/fail situation * Tests whether performance criteria have been met Methods of Summative Assessment * Exit Interview * Portfolio Completion * Demonstration * Summative Testing * Evaluation Form â€Å"Summative assessment takes place at the end of a course or topic and is used mainly for certification purposes. It is used to see if a student has learned the material and is capable of going on to further study. † Formative assessment is most suitable where the results are to be used internally for example: Teachers to ensure learning has taken place and for improving methods of instruction and for students to have an idea of their success etc whilst summative assessment can be set by the teacher or by an awarding body/examination body. When making a summative decision I confirm to my learners that they have met the criteria. They may receive a certificate as with NVQ2 or progress further with their training. Summative assessment takes place at the end of a course or topic and is used mainly for certification purposes. Formative assessment, on the other hand, takes place during the course and is useful in telling the student how the learning is proceeding. Reece Walker 2007p323. STRENGTHS WEAKNESSESS Formative Assessment Formative Assessment Role Play Make learners uncomfortable Physical demonstration of ability Embarrassed Not Realistic Summative Assessment Summative Assessment Demonstration Make learners feel uncomfortable Authentic Realistic Valid The assessment practice starts with initial assessment before the course starts. It may happen at pre- entry, entry or induction stage. The initial assessment will inform you about the learner’s prior knowledge, skills, qualifications, learning styles and any support learner may need. When you have found out the current level of ability you can then set goals, plan future learning and assessment. There are different types of initial assessment: Enrolment Form- shows what qualifications the learner has if they have special needs. Interview when you interview the learner you will be able to ask many questions. Skills Scan the skills scan will tell you if the learner is in employment what there job requires and if they will need additional training. Diagnostic Tests will inform you if the learner has difficulty in reading or writing. You may be able to tell if a person has dyslexia as they will have blurred vision, suffer from headaches when reading and they find it easier to read large print. To help them with reading you can print on to coloured paper or have a coloured overlay. 10% of the British population are dyslexic, 4% severely. Dyslexia is identified as a disability as defined in the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. Some of the famous people who suffer from dyslexia are: Albert Einstein Tom Cruise Henry Winkler. Vince Vaughn (British dyslexia Association www. bdadyslexia. org. uk, (11/07/11 I have taught learners who have learning difficulties including deaf people, people who have difficulty in reading and writing and understanding. ILP It states on the ILP what qualifications a learner has, the results of diagnostic tests and if they require additional support, what units they are doing, midway review and exit interview. Learning styles is recognising individuality in your class it is the way in which learners begin to concentrate on and process and retain new and difficult information. There are different types of learning styles: David Kolb’s Converger, Diverger, Assimilator, Accommodator Honey and Mumford’s Having an Experience, Reviewing Experience, Concluding from Experience Planning next steps Fleming Vak/Varks Visual, Auditory, read/write, Kinaesthetic. Wikipedia the free encyclopaedia En. wikipedia. org/wiki/learning styles 11/07/011 Learning style is the way that you absorb information 1 We decode 2 How you store information 3 Recall information Learning style is how we receive and recall information. We can absorb information through our senses, hearing, seeing and doing. In my role I use all of the styles of Fleming. In further education if there is no initial assessment this will disadvantage the learners as they may be placed on the wrong program or course, which will lead to lack of interest and little motivation if any, they may not get additional support and the teacher will have no baseline to assess their progress. Peer and Self Assessment Self or Peer Assessment is a process whereby students or their peers grade assignments or tests based on a teacher’s benchmarks. [1] The practise is employed to save teachers time and improve students understanding of course materials as well as improve their metacognitive skills. Rubrics are often used in conjunction with Self- and Peer-Assessment. [2] http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Self-_and_Peer-Assessment 12/07/11 Peer assessment is when the learners or colleagues assess another learners or colleagues progress. It is used to develop learner’s ability to work as a group and to be critical of others work as well as receiving review and comment. Self assessment is when you assess your own progress. Both methods encourage the learners to make decisions on what they have learnt so far and to reflect on future development. The learners need to know the criteria fully. Advantages Disadvantages Peer Assessment Peer Assessment Can reduce the amount of teacher assessment. All peers need to be involved So planning needs to take place As who gives feedback and to Whom. Learners may accept comments from peers Appropriate conditions and More willingly than from the assessor environment are needed Promotes learner and peer involvement some peers may be anxious, Nervous or have lack of confidence To give feedback. Self Assessment Self Assessment Encourages learners to check Difficult to be objective when Their own progress making a decision Encourages reflection Learners need to fully understand Promotes learner involvement the assessment criteria. And personal responsibilities some learners may lack Confidence in their ability to make Decisions about their own progress What research tells us? * Giving feedback on learning errors and getting the learner to correct them and identify strategies to improve future work is directly linked to significant improvement in achievement rates. (Professor John Hattie, 2002) Assessment should involve both teacher and learners in checking and reflection. Feedback is very important not only to learners but to the teachers from the feedback teachers can decide whether they have to change anything. Feedback and Questioning Feedback is information we give our learners to let them know what they have achieved to date and how they can develop further all learners need to know how they are progressing and what they have achieved. Feedback can be both formative and summative. Formative is ongoing and includes praise and encouragement. Summative is at the end has the learner achieved to specific criteria. Feedback should be a two-way process allowing discussion and questions. Most people need encouragement to tell them how well they have done or how well they are doing when you give feedback you should give praise first then how they can improve then end on a positive note to give them motivation. This is known as the praise sandwich. http://www. google. co. uk/search? q=feedback+sandwichhl=enprmd=ivnsbsource=lnmstbm=ischei=vXQcTsrxHNKwhQepndXdBwsa=Xoi=m 12/07/11 The advantages of giving feedback are: Confirms achievement, success or otherwise Creates opportunities for explaining and discussion Highlights progress rather than failure. Helps improve confidence and motivation Identifies further learning opportunities or any action required. Feedback should be given as soon as possible after the assessment while the information is still fresh. Questioning can be used formally and informally as part of the feedback to ensure the learner understands what has been said. My response should question appropriate questioning skills so the feedback is effective to the learner. Questioning skills include: * Using open questions (usually beginning with who, what, when, where, why and how). * Using closed questions (only requiring a yes or no answer). * Clarifying (for example can you go over that again? ). * Probing (for example why was that? ) * Prompting (for example what about†¦? ) Feedback should were possible be positive negative feedback presents learners with difficult and unachievable targets or naming and making learners embarrassed in the classroom. You should never criticise always praise and if the teacher makes a mistake he/she should be honest and apologise. Record Keeping Accurate records that are taken through out a course enable the teacher and learner to continually assess the effectiveness of the teacher/learner relationship. Records indicate whether pupils are learning what they are being taught and their progression with the course, records can tell you which learners may need a little more help, and whether a teacher needs to refine any aspects of their teaching. Maintaining attendance records can give an idea of where learners may fall behind through their learning. Being able to identify learners attendance can indicate problems which may benefit from referral to other professional bodies, or a learner may be unhappy with the teaching style or the course they have chosen. As well as a register a tracking sheet of all learners names, forming columns starting with a date, the assessment and a column for a pass or refer, in cleaning you are competent or not yet competent. These tracking sheets are recorded and form part of the learner’s portfolio along with any practical tasks and also a guide for the learners to follow through their course. When learners begin their course its good for them to have their own individual learning plan as a teacher its good to have our own individual teaching plan. A session plan should relate to the scheme of work, it helps to record your aims and objectives, assessment activities and self evaluation. It can also help to assess your learners. As a teacher my responsibility is to teach and guide and assess my learners. Records can be used as a guide for learners focusing on their learning strengths and weaknesses, where they do well or could do better. There are organisational records and external records. Organisational records: * Enrolment form * ILP * Learners record of achievement * Peer group feedback * Tutor feedback * Incident report * Observation records. * Contact Logs The types of records I use are: * Enrolment form * ILP * Learners record of achievement * Observation records * Contact Logs â€Å"You need to keep records of how your learners are progressing. If you mark a test or observe a task, how can you prove your learner has achieved something if they lose their work†? (Gravells 2008p88) JOIN NOW FOR FREE RATIONALE METHODOLOGY Wishing to gain a broad balance to my teaching experience, I started working as an assessor at Swan Training Group. The following assignment will cover the following areas: Negotiating with learners Inclusive learning. Integrating Functional skills Communication I have researched all of the above and this written assignment will be a short overview of the main areas using examples from both research and personal experience. Negotiating with learners is a form of communication where cooperation is established so that the learner and tutor agree on the learner’s goals; negotiation is the process of two individuals or groups reaching a joint agreement. When you have got all the information via initial assessment at the start of the course it is important to agree on goals and actions based on the information. The learner should be encouraged through negotiation to take control and responsibility for their own learning by contributing in discussions and decisions about their learning and how this will develop. Also in initial assessment you can include tests for literacy and numeracy to see what level learner is at and if they will require additional help. In my specialist area I integrate functional skills as the learners need to use literacy and numeracy to read labels and dilute chemicals, complete upk questions, order supplies, complete holiday sheets. Inclusive learning is described as recognising, accommodating and meeting the learner’s needs of all of the students and supporting them in the learning environment. All learners are allowed to take part in their chosen subject and should be placed in the best possible environment regardless of their gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation and age. Communication is very important and we not only communicate by speaking we communicate through our eyes, gestures and body language. There are also many barriers to communication such as: Family Commitments Lack of Resources Lack of Support. Peer Pressure Emotional Disability and many more. To overcome these barriers you must be honest with the learners if you do not know something you should tell them you will find out, be positive and enthusiastic, communicate effectively and give constructive and positive feedback. I am learner centred as I pay attention to what the learner is learning, how they are learning, whether the student is retaining and applying the learning. I like to teach this way so all of the learners can participate and differences between learners are accommodated so that all in the group have the best possible chance of learning.