Nucleus Learning

I always thought that competition is an excellent way to motivate kids. Many times, I made contests in the class, competitions, etc. I always found it that extra bit more fun when I was a student, if I had to compete against some other students. That’s probably why I really like games. My friends always tell me that I am very competitive and some friends even tell me that I’m overly competitive. It’s true. I make a game out of everything. Even with myself. With anything I do, I try to improve myself, get faster, get more efficient… win.

Just like my life, I run my classes as a place to improve, a place to get faster, to understand best, to get more efficient – and what better way than a friendly competition?!

Continue reading “Competition – Is it a good tool to motivate kids?”

A long time ago, I heard this awesome story/analogy for time management. Here it is:

One day teacher was speaking to a group of students about time management. He pulled out an empty aquarium and set it on a table in front of him. Then he produced about a dozen large rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the container.  When it was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, “Is this container full?” Everyone in the class said, “Yes.”

Continue reading “Time Management: Putting in the Big Rocks First”

As babies, if we never learned to walk, could we still survive in this world?  I think so.  In fact, it is much easier to keep your balance on four legs rather than two.  It is hard to learn to walk, with all the falling down, the trial and error, and mostly error at the beginning, all the bumps and bruises, the tears.  Why do we even bother to teach our children to walk?  Well, walking does make life a lot easier, and maybe in the long run it’s worth it.  For instance, it is much faster to get around on two feet, rather than crawling.  When getting around in the street, all of our clothes and hands don’t get dirty, only the soles of our shoes do (again a convenience created for “walking people”).  Also, it is much easier to carry something while walking rather than crawling (multi-tasking).

Continue reading “Why bother learning more than arithmetic?”

Recently a reader posted a comment on one of my blog entries about Teacher Pay Scale Across Canada where I compared salaries of teachers across various cities.

She writes: “Sure, we are paid fairly well but our working conditions are difficult. I know for a fact from several teachers from Quebec that we, in Alberta are expected to put in all sorts of after school time. I don’t get to walk away when my school day ends. And let’s not even talk about the fact that I could by 3 houses in Quebec for the cost of my ordinary bungalow in Calgary! GRRR.”

Continue reading “Teacher salaries and house prices in Canadian cities – 2012”