Category: Education

In educational institutes, a parents-teachers meeting (PTM) is essential to inform the parents about their child’s growth in school. Often, the arrangement does not take place with effective measures leaving miscommunication, partial communication, or no communication.

As well, in the current scenario, both parents are mostly working; hence, they do not make it up for the PTM sometimes.

If you are looking for tips and tricks for improving the parent-teacher school meeting, you have landed at the right spot. Here, we are listing the top tips that will enhance the overall PTM experience.

#1. Use school management system

While you want to strengthen parent-teacher communication in the meetings, you should use a school management system. The system offers a quick and easy communication facility where teachers can send direct notifications or updates to the parents. Apart from this, they can make students’ results and progress reports available online, so parents can view the details without visiting the school.

In fact, the use of such software is being increased day by day. The educational system insists on delivering a high-quality experience to the students and parents, which can be fulfilled by online learning effectively and efficiently.

#2. Offer personalized meeting experience

Each student is unique, so the teacher needs to inform all parents of different details. In this instance, it would be a great idea to deliver a personalized experience for all guardians. This will enable in maintaining the privacy of students’ improvement and allow parents to converse openly. Besides, personalized meeting conversations will enhance the school’s reputation and image among all the parents.

#3. Design shorter, frequent communication

Do not opt for one long communication or wait until the end of the term to reach out with an extended recap to communicate with parents. This will not only create complications in the communication but also create flaws in informing the details.

Just as schools have shifted to more frequent evaluations of students, school communications should also be short and frequent to keep parents in the loop on a continuous basis. A school management app is the best way for this type of communication, where parents and teachers can stay connected frequently.

#4. Allow flexible meeting schedule

This is one of the highly demanded options by the parents. As both parents are working (in most instances), they might not be able to make up at the designated time for the PTM. If your institute’s goal is to strengthen parent-teacher communication, flexibility in the meeting schedule should be there.

Furthermore, in today’s digital world, parent teacher communication can also take place online via school management software. The accessibility of communication with teachers from anywhere, working parents admire this type of facility from a school.

#5. Keep students’ report ready beforehand

 If a teacher has prepared the students’ reports beforehand, it will be a lot easier to communicate the details effectively. With the complete record and progress report on hand, teachers only need to focus on emphasizing having an effective conversation. Moreover, they can present students’ work quickly so that parents can get an overview of their child’s progress at the school.

#6. Provide actionable information

Providing information to keep parents up-to-date is recommended, but schools also need to make sure they share information that parents can act on. This can include opportunities for parents to encourage or prepare their child for classroom assignments or learn about forthcoming extracurricular activities and special events.

Apart from the above mentioned tips, here are some other consideration that helps in improving parent teacher communication;

• Encourage teachers to be proactive about communication with parents. If parents are not participating actively, send them reminders and ask them to join a meeting.
• Build a report with the parents and inform them about their child’s overall behavior or progress at school. If required, teachers should connect with specialists for the betterment of students.
• Arrange for the translator if there is a requirement for making the communication a flawless process.
• Assess family dynamics for students who have parents no longer living together and ensure proper communication for both households.
• Make sure a teacher is using appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication.
• Do not forget to mention the positives about each student to their parents.
• Take advantage of technology where possible and needed.

Effective communication between parents and teachers is crucial for the betterment of students. As teacher and parent relationships play a vital role in the development of a student, both of them need to communicate frequently and on a continuous basis. Once parents are aware of their child’s progress at school, they can take certain measures to notice visible improvements in the student’s progress.

In a nutshell, when you are trying to make parent-teacher communication an effective process, there are certain elements that play their role. For instance, if you opt for a tech-savvy approach, it will be a lot easier to share information with parents. Also, it will advance the manual tasks and create a positive impression. If a teacher keeps the above mentioned points in mind while conversing with parents, the PTM can be as effective as expected.

About the author:
Shobhit Srivastava is an avid writer. He holds spectacular skills in school automation, loyalty programs, marketing, and customer retention. Connect with him on Twitter!

It is normal to feel nervous before you go for an exam. Exams are important and they weigh heavily on your final grades. Success in life is often directly related to how you learn to handle pressure in a healthy way. It can help you stay focused, improve productivity and enable you to do your best at whatever you set your mind to.

Experiencing anxiety or stress before an exam is completely normal.  However, if it is excessive it can interfere with the performance of any student no matter how much they have studied and prepared. It has also been referred to as test anxiety. So what should you do if you feel nervous before taking exams? Here are some tips to feeling more confident before a test.

1. Take a break from the books

There is such a thing as over-studying. If you spend too much time studying without a break, it will exhaust your mind and bring about fatigue. Fatigue can lead to a loss of concentration and it affects your memory as well. If your memory gets affected it will lead to frustration as you begin to think you haven’t learned anything at all. When you begin to notice this, realize that stress and anxiety has settled in, causing you to become even more nervous about failing your exam. It’s a sign that it’s time to walk away from the books for a while.

 2. Breathing

Stress can result in nervousness and anxiety and it will affect your breathing pattern as well. Test nerves can also lead to this. Concentrate on slow breathing to help manage your nerves and calm your body.  It can also prevent panic attacks for those who struggle with them. Wait for a moment and take a deep breath. Shut your eyes and take ten deep breaths.  For this situation, having a fidget ring could prove the most useful. Due to the tactile experience of manipulating the ring in one’s hands during stressful times, this type of physical stimulation can help calm the body and mind during anxious moments such as when taking exams. Using fidget rings before exams may prove an ideal way for individuals to take back control in these high-stakes situations.  Simple exercises like these only take a minute but can make a world of difference in calming your mind.

 3. Get light exercise

There is a strong link between a sense of well being and regular exercise. Exercise leads to reduced anxiety and also helps with handling stress. Even while studying, going for a walk or a bike ride can work wonders for your brain and body. Exercise is also responsible for releasing those feel-good endorphins. It takes your mind off nervousness you may feel about upcoming exams. Clinical studies have indicated that regular exercise results in several emotional and psychological advantages that can aid you in gaining more confidence overall. Additional ideas for exercise are jogging, swimming and dancing.

4. Add fuel to the brain

Many times students get caught up in preparation for exams and as a result, they forget about taking care of their bodies. All physiques need food for optimum operation. Even your brain needs energy to work at full capacity.  Nervousness and anxiety can often stem from a lack of proper diet.  Drinking sufficient amounts of water is also important to avoid nervousness and anxiety, along with consuming a well-balanced diet of food that is rich in antioxidants. A light snack and drinking a glass of water while studying can help ease tension.

5. Prepare yourself well

To assist you with your regular studying can also search for online practice tests or study guides to help prepare yourself on the day of an exam.  Online resources can also help you organize your course work and study notes.  It doesn’t matter what level you are at or how old you are, even medical students can get nervous about taking their USMLE step 1 and they need to prepare well before entering the test. Although it might sound obvious, if you are confident about your preparation, you will feel better when walking into any test.  This results in less anxiety which in turn can help you maintain focus.

 6. Sleep

When there is a lot of information floating around in your head it becomes tough to make sense out of it.  Sometimes while studying you may just need to take a break and simply close your eyes. A power nap or even a longer sleep refreshes the brain.  This is why it’s always better for you to spread your studying out over more than one day and not cram it all in at the last minute. Developing good sleep habits on a daily basis is important so that you’re not playing catch up, especially before an exam.  Similar to energy from food your body and brain needs recharging.  A sufficient amount of sleep every night is important. Lack of sleep can lead to much negativity such as lower affability, memory issues, depression, and anxiety.

7. Music

Research has shown that listening to music can reduce anxiety and blood pressure and even improve sleep quality, mental alertness and memory.  Other studies have also shown that it is not just one particular type of music, but music that the listener enjoys.  Therefore, it’s the enjoyment of the music that counts to open up your brain and reduce your stress level.  It probably not a good idea to listen to music constantly while studying, but it can be a healthy way to do it in moderation and definitely a good thing to do give your mind a break.  I can also calm your nerves just before taking a test.

Resources for Teachers and Parents

• Read how teachers can recognize the signs of stress in students.
• Learn the 4 reasons why students struggle with math.

From being a choice to becoming the only option for education throughout the world, eLearning has helped millions of students and tutors connect in virtual classrooms.  As schools and colleges return to normalcy again, the use of online teaching and learning remains to be significant.

Students, teachers, and educational establishments, who have learned the importance of online learning alternatives, may want to explore new ways to enhance traditional teaching methods.  In addition, regular home schoolers, teachers or tutors online may want to grow their skill in this area.

Are you one of the progressive minds?

Online teaching is not reserved for schools and colleges alone. Millions of skilled people have already been teaching on the platforms like Udemy, Coursera, Khan Academy, etc. It’s time for those who feel overwhelmed by online teaching to put themselves at ease and discover new methodologies.

I am certain that most teachers who taught online in the pandemic never wanted it. It can be unsettling not being able to connect with students in person. However, many progressive minds also got a taste of eLearning and it wouldn’t be surprising if they start considering online tutoring as an addition to their skills:

Virtual classrooms, recorded lectures, digital learning materials, and online quizzes, etc. can make great additions to regular teaching routines, while they could also be used in blended-learning methodologies in the regular classroom sessions, too.

If you are a teacher who feels overwhelmed by the pressure to engage students online, or if you are looking to learn how to teach online on your school’s platform or some eLearning marketplace for added income, this post will offer you some useful insights on how to get started.

We will look into tips from professional eLearning experts, different online tutoring software that you can use, and how you can start your journey as an online tutor with limited experience.

What should you know about online tutoring as a beginner?

For those who are used to usual teaching environments, online tutoring could be a strange experience. Even a tech-savvy person could take a significant amount of time to teach themselves the best way to be a virtual instructor. However, with some simple strategies and groundwork, it’s possible to not just survive but also thrive as an online tutor.

Keep in your mind that:

• You are not alone– there are thousands of educators like you who are trying their best to streamline ways to engage students online. As schools and colleges shifted to the online mediums, thousands of teachers got the taste of online tutoring for the first time.
• You are still the subject expert: Be it your school classroom or a virtual classroom, you are still the subject matter expert, mentor, and regulator of your class. Summon your confidence knowing that you have the skills and experience to do the job, irrespective of the platform.
• Don’t rush into applying everything: It can be overwhelming to try everything that other experienced online tutors or teachers are doing. Start with the simple stuff. For example, you don’t have to start doing instructional designing and create automated workflows in the beginning. Start with simple live streaming of recorded lectures, which you can also script and edit in advance.

How to create digital study materials?

The types of digital/online learning resources that you might need depend on whether you want to teach in 1-to-1 or group environments. However, some learning materials are relevant in all types of settings:

• Live streaming: You can live stream your audio/video lectures.
• Recorded videos: You can record, edit, and prepare video instructions.
• Visuals: You can include drawings, maps, gifs, charts, photos, and screenshots.
• Written materials: You can use written materials like Docs, PDFs, PPTs, Spreadsheets, etc.

How to put your study materials online and share them with students?

You can either use improvised ways or dedicated eLearning solutions to take your study materials online:

1.  Improvised tools:

• Cloud Tools: Create text documents directly on Google cloud tools (docs, sheets, forms, assignments etc.). You can share these e documents directly with the students using their Gmail ID.
• Videos: Upload and share recorded lectures on video sharing platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, Daily Motion tec.
• Real-time: Use free video conferencing and collaboration tools like Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, Google Classroom.
• On-premise tools: Create your documents on Microsoft office, WPS office, or LibreOffice, etc., and upload on a cloud file sharing platform like Google Drive, One Drive, or Dropbox, etc. You can also convert your documents into PDF by simply saving them with the extension. PDF or using a PDF converter tool. You can share such documents with the students by simply using their email IDs.

2. E-Learning tools

All of the above-given tools are either free to use or offer free trials. An improvised combination of these tools can be used for creating study materials and sharing them with the students. However, if you want to make it professional, you can rely on dedicated online tutoring software solutions that offer consolidated ways to create and share online courses seamlessly.

You can use such tools to:

• Create courses and instructional designs.
• Share courses and perform access control.
• Track and manage learning progress.
• Sell courses for revenue.

Please note that these tools are paid. So I don’t want to name any specific brand. Your school or college might already be using such a tool or LMS (learning management system).

In case you are looking for such a tool for selling online courses, search for online tutoring software on the internet, and take your pick as per your unique requirements. For example, if you don’t want to take live lectures, you can skip a live tutoring software and go for a self-paced course management tool.

How to stay connected with the students?

If you are using an online tutoring platform/software, you can use on-site communication tools like live chat, discussion boards, direct messages, etc. to connect with the students. However, if you are improvising your way, there are still many ways to stay connected with your students:

• Email
• Internet messengers- Skype, WhatsApp, Signal, etc.
• Third-party collaboration tools: Slack, Trello Board.
• Third-party Forums and discussion boards: Facebook groups, Sub-Reddit.

How to track the learning progress of students?

Since you might not be able to have face-to-face sessions, you wouldn’t be able to know if your students are tagging along. It’s important to understand your students’ requirements and accommodate your strategies, which you can do by tracking the learning progress of your students via digital mediums. You ask your students for feedback, quizzes, and polls using an LMS software, or standalone tools like Google forms, Survey Monkey.

What other tools can be useful?

Besides the tools given above, you can also use the following tools for an assortment of resolves:

• Canva: For creating documents, slides, and infographics.
• GIMP: Free image editing software.
• OpenShot: Free video editing software.
• Audacity: Free audio manipulation tool.
• Awesome: Screenshot and screen recorder tool.
• Team Viewer: Desktop sharing software.
• See more top screen recorders to record lectures.

Get going with new ways.

Teaching is a noble profession. Only those in education can understand the efforts a teacher or tutor makes to deliver the best of his or her efforts. Change is always tough, but an entirely new way of teaching can be overwhelming. If you too have been struggling, or see someone struggling, I hope these little tips and tricks help.

Review online teaching opportunities.

Most children can pick up things quickly – but some children aren’t so good at it. Rightly so, children are not born learners. It is essential to inculcate the habit of learning – so they are good in academics.  Individual personality plays a good part in learning – and disposition when it comes to education and schooling.

More importantly – when your child receives the right motivation – your child can adopt good learning habits.

While for most children – the classroom is the source of learning, interaction, and instruction – academic growth should not be limited to the classroom. You need to motivate your child to learn and discover new things.

How to help chidren learn more effectively

1. Help kids with their learning goals

Kids today are fed with too much information via different mediums, which affects their learning capabilities. When they need an answer – they have available resources and easy access.

You need to help your kids understand the basics of learning – where they formulate questions and understand the concepts. Show your children information resources and books. And tell them to frame questions looking at them.

At the end of the exercise, your child will figure out the concept – and it will help them understand better. Basically, you need to make things easier for them.

2. Play games to encourage learning

If you want to make your child a quick learner – it is essential to encourage them to discover and explore new things. You can introduce them to fun math games, card games and board games – so they become sharp learners.

Yes, board games play a big role in learning – as it intrigues children and they use their imagination power and problem-solving capability. Besides, these games help to strategize challenging situations, which makes things easier for them. With every logical step –  they learn something new that makes them smarter. Mind board games are best for your little ones.

3. Develop reading habits

Reading is the key to learning new things and grasping new concepts. Children who develop a love for interpretation also develop a love for learning. And children who struggle to read – also struggle to learn.

Reading is the first step towards learning – where your child gets comfortable with books. Besides, regular reading helps your child develop better vocabulary and formal communication skills.

It helps your kids explore language art – and gives them an enhanced ability to understand different subjects. As a part of the exercise, you can tell your child to read for twenty minutes daily – and make sure your child reads aloud.

4. Understand your child’s attention span

Kids don’t have the longest attention span – so you will need to understand their attention span. At times, your kid may appear to focus but maybe zoning out. However, forcing them to stay focused when they lack motivation is forcing them to learn. This is not beneficial in promoting student growth.

Take some time out – and help get their focus back. It is a good idea to create a learning schedule – where your kids will learn for fifteen minutes and rest for 10 minutes. They won’t lose their focus – and will be able to concentrate better on their study routine.

5. Focus on your kids’ interests and introduce learning styles

You need to focus on your kids’ interests and likes. Learning becomes fun – when your child enjoys the process. If you wish to help your child become a good learner – you will have to explore topics and dig out interests.

Like, if your kids are fascinated by discoveries in space, get your kid books and resources that cover the topic.

To help your kids learn better, you can introduce new learning styles. If your kids like playing games – make learning interactive and fun. Use video to engage learning and explore learning apps designed to help teachers and parents access the latest tools..

6. Help your kid stay organized

Do you know if your child is disorganized – it will affect his learning process? Your child needs to remain organized – so that he can concentrate better. Though disorganization is common in school children, don’t let it be a habit.

Tell your child to organize books according to subjects. Besides, naughty children spend more time being frustrated instead of focusing on learning. However, you need to be patient to help your child organize and do things rightly. If you lose patience, you will end up shouting, which will mess up the situation.

Celebrate Learning

Apart from all the techniques mentioned above, it’s essential to celebrate your child’s wins. When your child gets a trophy or certificate, encourage your children by giving them something they like.

It will further motivate your child to do better and learn new concepts. It develops positive feedback – and they begin to enjoy the process of learning, which helps them do better in exams.

Make learning fun and interactive for your children, but do not pressurize them with new concepts. Let them enjoy the process.