Redshirting Kindergarten

By jfunk on February 6, 2014 | Leave a comment

I was recently asked to talk to a local television station about kindergarten redshirting.  Redshirting is keeping a young five year-old in preschool and allowing him to begin kindergarten a year later.  I admit that I hadn’t thought about the topic for a few years.  In the last while there have been quite a number of research projects on the subject.  With all of this research, there still isn’t a definitive answer, just more conflicting points of view.  Malcolm Gladwell created a storm of comments in response to his book, “Outliers,” by suggesting that we group kindergarten children together according to the month in which they were born.  His research indicated that the more accomplished leaders in school were usually the oldest in the group.   However, there are other research papers that indicate older children really don’t have any academic advantages after third or fourth grade.  When making a redshirting decision, a parent must realize that self-esteem and self worth are just as critical as academic achievement. 

I have personal experience with this.  My oldest son was the youngest in the group and I redshirted his younger brother.  Although academically both sons were successful, there were other issues that came to light during their school experiences.  I think my oldest son would have been more comfortable in some situations had he had more maturity.  I also think being older could have helped him be a stronger leader and more comfortable in his own skin.  He is an amazing adult these days with a great job.  However,  I sometimes wished I could have helped with some of the hurdles he had to get over during school.  In contrast, his younger brother did have the advantage of age and maturity.  He was always a leader and was successful in his athletic pursuits.  The day he graduated from high school he said the best thing I had ever done for him was to let him be the oldest in the class.

The bottom line for me is that redshirting must be an individual consideration when looking at each child.  There is no blanket rule that is appropriate for all young five year-olds.  There are times I think that redshirting would be the appropriate approach.  There are other times when the child should begin kindergarten, even if he is the youngest.  I do know that the attitude of the family is critical.  When redshirting a child, he should never feel ‘less than’ or unsuccessful.  When my son was turning 5, I said, “Next year you get to go to kindergarten.”  There were never any suggestions that it could be otherwise.  Later, when he was in 5th grade, he said to me, “Do you know I am old enough to be in sixth grade?”  I told him, “Yes, but I wanted you to be the oldest and smartest and look, it’s working.” His response was, “Cool.”

sources: http://eceducationblog.wordpress.com/

10 Tips for Setting Up a Classroom

By jfunk on July 31, 2014 | Leave a comment

Here it is August and many teachers begin to consider what things they need to do prior to the beginning of school. Since most school systems begin during the month of August, teachers will reach the point of rushing to get ready for that first day. After teaching for 25+ years and supervising pre-service teachers for the last 7 years, there are a few things I think should be considered when setting up a classroom for the school year. Although this list could be endless, I have narrowed it down to 10 things I think are essential.

1. Begin as soon as possible to set up personal relationships with your students. Ideas could include meeting prior to school with parents/children, sending a postcard to the child, having a back to school night before the first day, etc.

2. Arrange the classroom so it is comfortable and convenient for the CHILDREN. Negative behaviors can often be avoided when the setting is comfortable and convenient.

3. Post all teaching materials at eye level or below. Researchers often point out that materials on the wall become supportive to learning when they are posted at the children’s eye level or below. Materials posted higher become mainly decorations.
4. Provide a personal place for each child to store materials. I provided a tote tray for each child’s personal materials. I honored it as their personal place as I requested that they honor my personal spaces, like my materials closet. This makes the child feel important and gives them a feeling of trust.

5. Keep classroom rules short and simple. Rules can be extended or have ‘sub-rules’ at times, but the basic rules should be short, easy to understand, and only a few in number. Place the rules where they can be discussed easily when necessary.

6. Avoid extra clutter in the classroom. Although clutter doesn’t negatively affect everyone, extra-active children are often stimulated by a chaotic environment. Children thrive in a neat and organized classroom. Have the children help maintain the order.

7. Set up the classroom so that children can be as independent as possible. Try to have paper, crayons, books and other classroom supplies in easy-to-reach places so that children can independently get materials.

8. Post an encouraging quote to help stay on track. Post a saying, such as, “Remember the developmental level of your children,” in a place where you see it often. A little reminder can help bring your purpose back in focus when daily stress gets to you.

9. Set up a classroom that encourages collaboration. Providing opportunities for children to share responsibilities creates a feeling of community. I always had community crayons, pencils, and partner activities to create the scenario of collaboration. This helps children want to support each other.

10. Have fun! Begin the year with a positive attitude that you WANT to be there! Children can read you quickly and know if you are happy to be their teacher. Children respond when they feel nurtured by a friend.

What do you find essential when you set up your classroom for the school year? Share in the comments!

sources: http://eceducationblog.wordpress.com/

 Do it yourself:  GPA and CGPA calculation make easy

Hello guys, as examination is at the corner, do you know your stand as a student?  if yes that is cool , otherwise this write up  is for  you so that you can relief yourself of  sleepless night and  stop putting blame on your course adviser and  CITS.  Another area we will touch light is carry over cases whether they  affect your CGPA or not. Here is a step by step approach in calculating GPA and CGPA. You know what, let first consider the key terms that will ensure your understanding.

GRADE POINTS	HONOUR DEGREES
A       (70-100%) – 5	First Class:                         4.50 and above
B        (60-69%) – 4	Second Class Upper:       3.50-4.49
C        (50-59%) – 3	Second Class Lower:        2.50-3.49
D        (45-49%) – 2	Third Class:                        1.50-2.49
E        (40-44%) – 1
F         (0-39%) – 0

Often time, reference will be made to the information in table. 

Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is an assessment tool used to evaluate your academic performance. In other word, it is a grade that determine your stand in academic that is what you worth in term of academic performance. It vary from the highest which is 5.0 to the lowest 1.50. However, information from grapevine says,   that current minimum cumulative grade point average for university of Lagos(UNILAG) is 1.90.  in addition,  we will like to draw your attention to compulsory courses that require no credit but pass and  they have  no influence on CGPA neither on GPA whether pass or not but  they can prevent you from graduating from the institution. Example of such courses in university Lagos are GST 102, 202, 214, 103, etc.    ok!

Pick up your pen and follow the steps below

1.                  Draw out four columns

2.                  write, the courses you registered in your first semester  in the first column. E.g. EDF 222, EDA 305

3.                  in the second column , opposite these courses write their units like 3units , 2units , 4units etc

4.                 Input  the  grades in the third column,

5.                 In the fourth column,  multiple the units by grade e.g  3x5 (i.e grade a as listed in the table above)

6.                 Sum up the units and grade columns

Your work should look like this

COURSES	TOTAL UNIT	GRADE	TOTAL GRADE POINT
EDF 322	2	5.0(A)	10
EDA 305	3	3.0(C)	9
FED 301	4	3.0(C)	12
ECE 331	2	5.0(A)	10
*CRS 311	3	0.0(C)	0
Total	14		41

7.                 Divide total grade point by total unit to get GPA for the first semester   41/14 = 2.9GPA

8.                 Follow  step 1 to step 7 to calculate the second semester  GPA

9.                 To calculate your CGPA for the first and second semesters 

Semester 2 work looks like this

COURSES	TOTAL UNIT	GRADE	TOTAL GRADE POINT
EDF 334	2	5.0(A)	10
SSE 303	4	4.0(B)	16
ASE 336	4	4.0(B)	16
ECE 324	3	5.0(A)	15
Total	13		57

Second semester GPA is 4.4

Please, don’t make mistake of dividing GPAs by two (2) as erroneously done by many students.  E.g. 2.9 + 3.0 / 2 = 2. 95

10.            At this point,  You will add total grade point of the two semesters then divide them by the total unit of the two semester’s unit’s e.g.

(First Semester Total Grade Point + Second Semester Grade Point) / (First Semester Total Unit + Second Semester) = CGPA                   

 [(41 + 57) / (14+13)] =  74/27 = 2.7 CGPA

In a situation where there is carry over course which is CRS 311. The cumulative grade point average will be calculated thus: 

11.             Calculate GPA for the third semester by following step 1 to step 7.

Remember, you have added the carry over course (CRS 311) to rewrite.

COURSES	TOTAL UNIT	GRADE	TOTAL GRADE POINT
EDA  411	3	3.0(C)	9
SSE 403	4	5.0(A)	20
FED 401	4	4.0(B)	16
ECE 440	4	5.0(A)	20
* CRS 311	3	5.0(A)	15
	18		80

Third semester GPA  is  80/18 = 4.4

12.            To calculate cumulative grade point average for the third semester  follow step 10

13.             Now, to calculate CGPA with the carry over course (CRS 311). – you need to replace the old grade with the new grade before the calculation and also remove the unit and grade in the semester GPA  where the course was carry over.

(First Semester Total Grade Point excluding carry over course} + Second Semester Grade Point  + third semester total grade ) / (First Semester Total Unit excluding carry over + Second Semester) = CGPA 

[ (41-0) + (57) + (80) ]  / [(14-3) + (13) + (18) ] = 178/42 = 4.2

Note: you will follow the same process to calculate other semesters cumulative grade point average. Don’t divide directly please.

Hope you are able to follow through successfully,  if otherwise go back to step 1  then continue to the last steps. Remember is not the number of time you go through the steps that matter but your ability to understand and apply it to calculate your own CGPA or other people CGPA.

It is in our great pleasure to appreciate your time to go through this write up for your own or other people benefit. You are the best!

For related articles    log on to www.scoolj-drillteam.com  please note that this website is under maintenance now in order to  service you better . But you can visit our blog as  alternative on www.scoolj-drillteam.blogspot.com     

references
obafemi awolow university , course syetem unit  available : http://www.oauife.edu.ng/administration/student-affairs/students-handbook/course-unit-system/
public fact (6th august 2013) how to calculate GPA and CGPA available :  http://publicfact.blogspot.com/2013/08/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html