on Time and Learning |
Teaching and Learning |
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Lee Marek 899 N. Mill Street Naperville, Illinois 60563 Dept. phone 630-420-6513 Fax 630-420-3246 |
| University of Illinois - Chicago | Lee Marek GK-12/ Chem Demos University of Illinois Chicago Dept of Chemistry (MC111) Science and Engineering South 845 W. Taylor Street, Room 4500 Office 4546 Chicago, IL 60607-7061 Phone: (312) 996-4510 |
Dear Parents:
I have your son/daughter in my chemistry class. Enclosed are three things you may find of interest.
One is a guide for understanding chemistry that both you and your son/daughter will find useful. This is a modified version of what John Davison used at Oak Park/River Forest High School. Enclosure two is part of a report you may have heard of from the National Commission on Excellence in Education - A Nation at Risk. The purpose of the commission was to help define the problems afflicting American education and to provide solutions. This one page is for parents and students. Enclosure three contains some reprints from the 1986 U.S. Department of Education report, commissioned by the President, What Works, research about teaching and learning. Lastly part of the ideas here come from the Prisoners of Time - a report of the National Education Commission on Time and Learning, 1994.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at lmarek@aol.com.
Sincerely,
Lee Marek
Lee R. Marek
Chemistry Instructor
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2. Encourage the student to go through the steps on the other enclosed sheet in this packet.
3. Understand that the problem solving approach used in chemistry is new and difficult for some students. It is not unusual that some students will need up to nine or ten weeks of persistent effort to initiate understanding. Encourage them to persist and not to give up.
4. Students who have done well in most of their other classes sometimes have an overly optimistic view of their memory and thus are reluctant to take class notes and certainly wouldn't dream of recopying class notes. You might encourage them along these lines.
5. Recognize that some students need the shock of doing poorly on a test to stimulate them to initiate a new strategy for studying. The disbelief that a new approach is needed sometimes continues until the reality of a poor six week's grade looms large upon the horizon. One shocking six week's grade should be enough however, so don't be reluctant to let them know what their expectations should be.
6. Do not feel any compulsion to assist the student with their homework. They have plenty of resources in their text, their class notes, their fellow students, and their teacher. If your patience will allow, it may be helpful if you encourage the student to think a problem out loud to you. Some strategic questions like "What really is the question being asked?" and "What do you know that relates the question being asked to the quantity given?" should assist the student to think things out for him/herself.
7. Above all, positive support and encouragement of the student along with stated faith in their ability to understand will provide the greatest long range benefit.
8. Turn off the TV and makesure teenagers are not working so long earning pocket money that they have no time for school. Academic progress, as our international friends and competitors understand, depends on hard work and perseverance. It should be your teenager's job to learn, to become the "worker" in their own education. They must understand that learning is never a passive activity (like TV);it is always active.
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2. Do assigned homework each night. Don't save it to do at the lastminute.
3. Consult other students in the class-they may have insights that mayhelp
4. Discuss your insights with others. You will find it will help your understanding.
5. Don't miss class. You will discover that a significant amount of material is covered each day and you will quickly fall behind if you miss class.
6. Re-read the text several times when you run across a difficult concept.
7. Review previously studied material periodically especially if you had difficulty understanding the concepts.
8. Don't give up. For many people, learning is a difficult chore. Persistence will usually pay off in greater understanding.
9. Consult with your teacher as soon as misunderstandings arise. Give the teacher and yourself enough time before any test to clear up any concept you don't understand. You may also get help in the Resource Center or from the students from the National Honor Society.
10. Spend a lot of time on definitions. Mathematical analysis of problems becomes much easier if you have a clear understanding of the terms used.
11. Take good class notes. Your memory may not be as good as you suppose. Class notes help immeasurably when you are trying to understand your homework.
12. Have confidence in yourself. If you believe you can grasp the difficult concepts and keep trying, you will find that you actually will start to understand them.
13. One of the purposes of performing laboratory experiments is to give you a concrete example ofa theoretical concept. Thus, it is to your advantage to do your experimentand write-up promptly.
14. As strange as it may seem, it is still true that if you are having difficulty with math problems youshould do more problems than assigned. Eventually you will understand them.
National Education Commission on Time and Learning
"If we want to educate a person in virtue we must polish him at a tender age. And if someone is to advance toward wisdom he must be opened up for it in the first years of his life when his industriousness is still burning, his mind is malleable, and his memory still strong."
Comenius, 1592-1670
The Great Didactic
The following is from Prisoners of Time a report of the National Education Commission on Time and Learning, 1994
"Last we say to the students: We know that in the midst of today's pressures, your classes, school, and homework often appear to be distractions from the business of growing up. We were once in your shoes. We, however, were lucky. When we left school, we expected to face a promising future, and for the most part our expectations were met.
"You, too, can make good if you are prepared to work at it. You may think your academic success depends on whether or not you are 'smart.' But academic progress, as our international friends understand, depends on hard work and perseverance. It is your job to learn, to become the 'worker' in your own education. You must understand that learning is never a passive activity; it is always active. Your success in school depends primarily on your own diligence. The returns on your efforts will be many, including the satisfaction of knowing that adults who complained about your generation were wrong--and you proved them wrong."
| Research Finding: | Parents are their children's first and most influential teachers. What parents do to help their children learn is more important to academic success than how well-off the family is. |
| Comment: | Parents can do many things at home to help their children succeed in school. Unfortunately, recent evidence indicates that many parents are doing much less than they might. For example, American mothers on average spend less than half an hour a day talking, explaining, or reading with their children. Fathers spendless than 15 minutes.
They can create a "curriculum of the home" that teaches their children what matters. They do this through their daily conversations, household routines, attention to school matters, and affectionate concern for their children's progress. Conversation is important. Children learn to read, reason, and understand things better when their parents: |
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read,talk, listen to them, tell them stories, play games, share hobbies, and discuss news, TV programs, and special events. In order to enrich the "curriculum of the home," some parents: provide books, supplies, and a special place for studying, observe routine for meals, bedtime, and homework, and monitor the amount of time spent watching TV and doing after-school jobs. Parents stay aware of their children's lives at school when they: discuss school events help children meet deadlines, and talk with their children about school problems and successes. |
| Research on both gifted and disadvantaged children shows that home efforts can greatly improve student achievement. For example, when parents of disadvantaged children take the steps listed above, their children can do as well at school as the children of more affluent families. |
Graue, M.E. Weinstein,T., and Walberg, H.J. (1983). "School-based Home Instruction and Learning: A Quantitative Synthesis." Journal of Educational Research, Vol.76, pp. 351-360.
Gray, S.T. (1984)."How to Create a Successful School/Community Partnership." Phi DeltaKappan, Vol. 65, No. 6, pp. 405-409.
Walberg, H.J. (1984)."Families as Partners in Educational Productivity." Phi Delta Kappan,Vol. 65, No. 6, pp. 397-400.
Walberg, H.J. (1984)."Improving the Productivity of America's Schools." Educational Leadership,Vol. 41, No. 8, pp. 19-27
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It is the America of all of us that is at risk, it is to each of us that this imperative is addressed.
The task of assuring the success of our recommendations does not fall to the schools and colleges alone. Obviously, faculty members and administrators, along with policy makers and the mass media, will play a crucial role in the reform of the educational system. But even more important is the role of parents and students, and to them we speak directly.
To Parents
You know that you can not confidently launch your children into today's world unless they are of strong character and well-educated in the use of language, science, and mathematics. They must possess a deep respect for intelligence, achievement, learning, and the skills needed to use them; for setting goals; and for disciplined work. That respect must be accompanied by intolerance for the shoddy and second-rate masquerading as "good enough."
You have the right to demand for your children the best our schools and colleges can provide. Your vigilance and your refusal to be satisfied with less than the best are the imperative first step. But your right to a proper education for your children carries a double responsibility. As surely as you are your child's first and mostinfluential teacher, your child's ideas about education and its significance begin with you. You must be a living example of what you expect your children to honor and to emulate. Moreover, you bear a responsibility to participate actively in your child's education. You should encourage more diligent study and discourage satisfaction with mediocrity and the attitude that says "let it slide"; monitor your child's study; encourage good study habits; encourage your child to take more demanding rather than less demanding courses; nurture your child's curiosity, creativity, and confidence; and be an active participant in the work of the schools. Above all, exhibit a commitment to continued learning in your own life. Finally,help your children understand that excellence in education can not be achieved without intellectual and moral integrity coupled with hard work and commitment. Children will look to their parents and teachers as models of such virtues.
You forfeit your chance for life at its fullest when you withhold your best effort in learning. When you give only the minimum to learning, you receive only the minimum in return. Even with your parents' best example and your teachers' best efforts, in the end it is your work that determines how much and how well you learn. When you work to your full capacity, you can hope to attain the knowledge and skills that will enable you to create your future and control your destiny. If you do not, you will have your future thrust upon you by others. Take hold of your life, apply your gifts and talents, work with dedication and self-discipline. Have high expectations for yourself and convert every challenge into an opportunity.
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