Graydonian Sentinel

TH E GRAYD O N IAN

SEN TIN EL Vol. #15

WELCOME BACK

As we return from our Christmas break, we are still in celebration mode. This time however, we share with some of the members of staff as they celebrate their birthdays. Welcoming in the New Year is MR. LEE EDWARDS, who celebrated his special day on 2nd January. Next was MS. SHERROL GUNNING on the 7th January, she was followed

by MRS. ANNETTE SIMMONS on January 8th and last but by no means least, we toast the youngest member in the group, MS. TAMARA THOMAS as she celebrated on January 12th.

To all of you, here’s hoping that your respective days were pleasant and I hope that your birthdays were all that

Belated birthday greetings from your Graydon Sealy family.

you wished for …

NOTICES 2nd Year students working at their Year Level Meeting.

TERM II – 6TH January – 27th March 2020 WEEK 3 MONDAY – 20th January FULL ASSEMBLY – Physical Education Department TUESDAY ERROL BARROW DAY – Public Holiday

WEDNESDAY HOUSE PRAYERS

THURSDAY Eliminations at the National Stadium

FRIDAY Full Assembly

REMINDER: 5th Year Internal Examinations begin.

Well Done Girls.!

School Based Assessments Begin The students in the Home Economics Department began their SBA practicals last week.

The Students and their teachers took over the Mannie Bowen Auditorium and created the scene for a birthday party.

The students, though nervous were very professional and they all did a stellar job.

To their teachers, Ms. Anna Alleyne, Mrs. Kimel Griffith, Ms. Yvette Griffith and Ms. Sophia Desce, a job well done.

Thanks also must be extended to ALL teachers who acted in supporting roles and performed the role of substitute teacher for their colleagues who were busy guiding and supporting their charges through their CSEC examinations.

Is Good Enough, Enough?

10 Ways Students Can Learn to Excel.

By Sara Briggs April 21st 2015 Reference: https://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/how-students-can-learn-to-excel/

Few things are more disappointing to a teacher

motivation to work on particular tasks if they do

than watching a student squander his or her

and effort. For example, students may not keep

potential. It can happen on a major scale, quite

up with the readings if that knowledge is not

abruptly, as a student struggles to balance

needed to complete exams and assignments.

not feel that there will be a payoff for their time

learning with a stressful life at home. Or it can happen on a minor scale, in a gradual way, such

Second, students may not do an assignment well

as witnessing the quality of a bright student’s

if the time and effort required is

work slip over the course of a semester.

incommensurate with the points they would earn. Third, students may lose motivation to

But what’s perhaps most frustrating–and most

work on specific elements of an assignment if

common–is when students simply don’t know

their efforts in those areas are not rewarded (for

how to excel. You know they have the

example, if an instructor urges students to write

potential–you’ve seen it–but when it comes to

original arguments, but bases grades primarily

writing essays, the work they produce tends to

on organisation and mechanics). Students may

hover right around the mediocre mark.

also lose motivation to excel if the instructor

So how do we motivate these students to reach a little farther, try a little harder, and finally learn to stand out from the crowd?

You might think it’s all about reward. Give these students more incentive and they’ll find the drive to excel. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have actually found that rewards can discourage effort in several important ways. First, students may lose

does not draw a sufficient distinction between excellent and poor performance.

Or maybe it’s all about praise. Openly admire a student’s work and she’ll rise to the occasion, right? Not if she doesn’t think she can. In a series of recent experiments, researchers at Southampton University set out to test the impact of inflated praise on students who suffer from low self-esteem. They theorised that

parents and teachers often give such praise to

(who do not feel that their extra effort is

raise students’ self-esteem, but that this

acknowledged) as well as low performers (who

approach would backfire. And it did.

have little incentive to step up their game).”

With this in mind, one important way to

In a representative study, 240 young students were asked to copy a famous Van Gogh painting, receiving inflated feedback from someone only identified as a professional painter. They were then asked to draw other

motivate students is to clearly articulate qualities of excellent performance, assess student performance according to these qualities, and provide feedback that will help students improve.

pictures of their choosing. They were told some of the pictures were easy to copy though the

Performance rubrics provide one tool for doing

students wouldn’t learn much, while others were

so. A rubric for participation might articulate the

difficult and, although they might make many

characteristics of meaningful and productive

mistakes, the students would definitely learn a

participation (e.g. thoughtful, informed

lot. The students with low self-esteem who had

contributions that build on what others have

been lavishly praised chose the easier pictures

said) so that the difference between high-quality

while those with high esteem opted for the more

and low-quality participation is clear. “By

difficult ones.

articulating these distinctions and providing feedback to help students improve, instructors

So if the obvious methods won’t work, what will? What can teachers do to spark that natural urge in students to go above and beyond? Here

can enhance motivation as well as learning.”

2. Reward the characteristics of student work you want to see.

are a few ideas: Sometimes instructors think they are motivating 1. Define and reward excellence.

If all student work, regardless of quality, receives the same reward, there’s little incentive for students to excel. Imagine, for example, if an instructor responds just as positively to poor answers as to strong answers. “Over time,” researchers at Carnegie Mellon explain, “this failure to differentiate levels of performance may demotivate high performers

one kind of performance while actually rewarding another. For instance, if instructors urge students to be risk-takers, but penalise failure excessively, students will be more motivated to play it safe than to take risks.

Similarly, if instructors claim to value teamwork and collaboration (and we know how important these skills are) but do not assess these skills (instead grading only the group’s final project, which may have involved little teamwork),

students may not be motivated to practice these

About half the students were instructed to set a

skills. With this in mind, it is important to

goal of completing six pages of math problems

consider whether your grading system directs

per session, and the other half were instructed to

student’ efforts appropriately.

set a goal of completing 42 pages of math

For instance, if you want students to take risks,

problems over seven sessions.

you may want to focus your grading less on the quality of the final product and more on the number and originality of ideas students generate. If it is important to you that students develop teamwork skills, you might want to assign a grade not only for the work students submit, but also for the group’s interactive process (e.g. the team’s ability to work collaboratively, communicate effectively, and address conflicts productively).

3. Make important and long-term information visual Visual cues serve as easy and consistent reminders for your students. When you feature important information–such as the core principles of the course–in the form of goal charts and accomplishments on the wall, you make it easy for your students to remain aware of your expectations and stay on task toward accomplishing their goals. Hang visual reminders up in places that are easy to see at any time but are not a distraction to your teaching efforts.

4. Break down big goals into small goals.

In 1981, researchers Albert Bandura and Dale Schunk tested a group of students aged 7 to 10.

What happened?

Smaller subgoals led to faster completion and more accurate answers than one large goal. This has been demonstrated so often that researchers now take it for granted. Having concrete subgoals can focus attention, maximise effort, increase persistence, and cause individuals to utilise their knowledge and skills (Locke & Latham 2002).

5. Start with passion.

Passion breeds persistence. Matthews & Kelly (2007) found that it enhanced the educational attainment of adults, improved the GPAs of Ivy League students, increased the retention of West Point cadets, and improved the performance of National Spelling Bee participants. Valerand et al (2007) also found that passion directly predicted deliberate practice. This is a hugely useful finding for educators.

6. Show students the economic and health advantages of doing well academically.

7. Cultivate self-efficacy.

“Students with a strong sense of efficacy are more likely to challenge themselves with difficult tasks and be intrinsically motivated,” says Karin Kirk, a researcher for SERC. “These students will put forth a high degree of effort in order to meet their commitments, and attribute failure to things which are in their control, rather than blaming external factors. Self-efficacious students also recover quickly from setbacks, and Educator Larry Ferlazzo hits the nail on the head with this sage recommendation. Multiple studies have shown a wide income disparity based on educational attainment.

For example, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, adults with advanced degrees earn four times the salary of those with less than a high school degree. There are similar differences between the likely length someone will be unemployed, one’s overall health, and even how long people will live – women without a high

ultimately are likely to achieve their personal goals.”

On the other hand, students with low selfefficacy believe they cannot be successful and thus are less likely to make a concerted, extended effort and may consider challenging tasks as threats that are to be avoided. “Students with poor self-efficacy have low aspirations, which may result in disappointing academic performances becoming part of a self-fulfilling feedback cycle.”

school education, for example, is more likely to suffer from depression.

Research demonstrates that just showing

8. Challenge each student with a goal to beat their own “personal record.”

students this kind of information can result in

Previous research into the motivation and

students being more motivated to learn.

efficiency of students has indicated that students who set their own working goals tend to achieve

In the chart above, the ABS (Australian Bureau

more than when working on goals set for them

of Statistics) shows the higher your education

by the teacher. Students who set their own

level, the higher you earn in Australia.

learning goals have more confidence to take on more challenging tasks, regardless of their

ability. Their motivation to improve and master

10. Create a respectful learning environment.

a task is improved and their self-esteem remains

Based on data from a survey of 121

strong, even in the case of failure.

baccalaureate and master of social work students

In addition, each of your students is at a different point in his or her academic career.

Some students may struggle with math, while others struggle with writing. For many teachers, this makes creating group challenges difficult.

Instead, allow your students to eliminate the peer pressure that may be holding them back by challenging each student individually to beat their own personal best.

at a western university, a 2013 study published in the Journal of Social Work Education explored students’ perspectives of “safe” and “unsafe” learning environments. The majority reported that being in a safe learning environment changed both what and how much they learned. Educational research supports creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and support, where students feel safe in expressing concerns or asking questions, and where

9. Let students make more choices.

When we create a curriculum, we rarely bother

tolerance and a sense of common identity and community are present.

to consult students about it. But many different

This not only helps maximise student learning

fields of research have found that people benefit

and motivates students to step outside their

from experiencing a sense of control over their

comfort zone, but also makes managing your

lives. In a classic Eight-Year Study, 30

class a whole lot easier.

academies were encouraged to develop innovative programs whose “essential value was

To see our students fulfill their academic

democracy.” Researchers found that the

potential, we must first provide the resources

graduates of those academies did better than a

and cultivate the environment they need to do

matched comparison group from their traditional

so. Focusing on individual progress, recognising

counterparts.

excellence, and creating a respectful learning environments are just the tip of the iceberg, but

In fact, the students who were most successful

they can do a lot to motivate students. Keep

tended to come from the organisations that had

these things in mind as you design ways to bring

departed most significantly from the

out the best in your students.

conventional college-prep approach. Read more about how to develop a choose-your-ownadventure model of learning.

Graydon Sealy Parent Teachers Association making a donation to the Frederick Smith Secondary School

On Monday, 13th January 2020, Dwayne Smith made a donation of a computer and a whiteboard to his alma Mater. Paying it forward to ensure that the next generation has it better.

GRAYDON SEALY SECONDARY SCHOOL 2020