Advantages of the back catalogue
So this weeks theme is evaluations! I can sit in front of students from now until next June to tell them they are improving and they will never believe me... So they need to see it form themselves. The easiest way to do this apart from the evaluations we do at the end of the term where they ask themselves what has changed... what is easier.. what can they now do and so on - is to simply get them to bring in their work from this time last year! They will instantly see how much better they can now write - how much longer their answers are - Simply how much more they know!
Yes it is that easy to boast confidence - we always forget to go back and look where we have come from...it's like going back and reading your old diaries to let you see the journey you have been on....This also ties in nicely with an earlier article I wrote on looking for your mistakes. We only get to know our mistakes when someone shows them to us. By knowing our common mistakes we can learn from them and most importantly for dyslexic spectrum students we can learn to look out for those ones! I know always look for "fro" in my emails - the spell checker never finds it for me - but I do 
Dr. Naoisé O'Reilly
Innovative lesson for an Abacus
This blog piece is written by Rachel Sneyd. Rachel is currently completing an undergraduate degree in History and Politics at Trinity College Dublin. She is a keen writer and has just submitted her first teen-fiction novel for publication.
I set the team a task of thinking of an innovative lesson or use of a new toy, abacus - especially not for maths!
Rachel was thinking about using it for younger kids as a way of measuring progress/encouraging them to push themselves. If a student is having particular trouble writing, you could use it to build up the number of sentences/words they'll write and if they're having trouble reading you could use it to get them to read more paragraphs/pages/poems and so on!
So all the beads would be on the left hand side on the first day. You'd get them to read or write as much as they're willing to. Then you would move one bead from the top row to the right hand side for every sentence written/poem read etc.
The next day you would reset the abacus to show how they got on the week before and then challenge them to do better, so maybe this time you will move three beads over instead of two. As the weeks go on they will be able to clearly see that they are improving and hopefully they will be motivated to beat their own scores!
Brilliant - Just the sort of idea I was looking for!
Benefits of Poetry For Kids
This blog piece is written by Rachel Sneyd. Rachel is currently completing an undergraduate degree in History and Politics at Trinity College Dublin. She is a keen writer and has just submitted her first teen-fiction novel for publication.
For many young students the idea of reading an entire book is terrifying. Even the idea of starting a book can be scary. Poetry can be a great tool to get these students started.
They can see the entire poem on the page and know that they can handle it. Good children's poetry is engaging, fun and accessible and so they can genuinely enjoy reading it. They can read the entire poem and get the satisfaction and confidence that comes with finishing something.
Shel Silverstein's work is a fantastic example. His poems are hilarious and bizarre and he can tell a story in just a few short lines. The poems have titles like "Sister for Sale" and "Prayer of the Selfish Child" and come with wonderful illustrations. He uses simple language and has a wicked sense of humour that gets students laughing out loud and begging to read "one more."
Why The Homework Club is not a “grind” school
So one of the common misconceptions about The Homework Club is that it is just another "grind" school. When I look up the term "grind" in the dictionary it is a word used to describe plodding monotonous routine drudgery associated with swats and nerds. It can also be seen as something that literally grinds and swashes you down.
I have to ask why you would use such a term to describe situation that is suppose to offer help and support to students? Last term I asked the students here to give me key words to describe their experiences at The Homework Club. The words I got back were: helpful, supportive, fun, relaxed, enjoyable, super, colourful, creative and feel more confident.
I was delighted to hear theses words as they are the ones I would aspire to have associated with the project. I think the only thing that "grinds" in The Homework Club are my teeth every time I hear the phrase!
Naoisé
Leaving Cert Results Day 2011
This August marks the third set of Leaving Certificate students to attend The Homework Club and we are starting to see a pattern developing in the approach needed to not only survive the trials of the exams but succeed in your dreams.
The Homework Club takes a more holistic approach to study. “We try to develop the skills for life, explain’s Naoisé” Before starting with each student together we assess their strengths, aptitudes and potential to guide the students towards an achievable goal, one they desire and enjoy. “We feel everyone is not only good at something but can use this to do anything, says Naoisé”
We don’t believe in cram learning and unnecessary stress, explains Naoisé. The best analogy I can give you is making an omelette. If you wanted to make an omelette you wouldn’t worry about what goes in to it, you just simply open the fridge and see what’s to hand. We never worry about learning off cookbooks. For everyday meals we simply know from experience what works and may just check a few details like the temperature and cooking time. Study is exactly the same regardless of the subject. If you understand it and can relate to the material in a way there is no need to learn off endless information. You simply need to develop your own skills to remember the important details like the cooking time! The rest will come naturally.
Similarly in this current climate it’s possible that you will get slightly challenging exam papers in June. This has happened for a number of years now and seems to coincide with the increased pressure in the education system. We try to develop coping strategies in our students so they can survive in these situations. To go back to our omelette analogy, you should find yourself in a position in the exams to simply open the fridge in your mind and pull out whatever ingredients you need. Being able to stay calm and focused, work your way out of the situation and relate what you do know to the questions you are being asked. These are not only skills for the Leaving Certificate but for life after. We have seen almost all of our students thrive in the last three years with this very simple outlook.
