How Teachers Can Help Students During Their Pre-Board Examination Preparation?

Board examinations are one of the most important exams in a student’s life and are often regarded as the stepping stone for one’s glorious future. The results of board exams are considered a key factor in securing admission to their preference of higher secondary schools and colleges. These are the key factor that directs the supreme decision as to whether the student will be able to obtain the desired educational stream in higher classes.

These are also viewed as an important part of the professional resume of a student, reflecting their academic performance and achievements.

These are some of the reasons that closer to the board exams, the atmosphere in classrooms becomes serious with students and teachers putting in the best of their efforts.

Smart schools and teachers also opt for technology for school management software to support students during their pre-board examination.

Student and Parents communications

While the students offer the board exams, it is a well-accepted fact that the students who do well are those who have ample support from their parents at home. The online student management program helps teachers to stay in touch with their families, keeping them up-to-date on all the school happenings and the classroom results.
This component of a school management software also lets parents keep track of student’s attendance and review their children’s exam-related records, thus helping parents stay up-to-date on the students, enabling and encouraging parents to support and direct the students even at home.

Blog posts

Using the school management software blog post unit, teachers can post blogs as a student learning resource. In addition, these blog posts can also include assessment tips, learning guides, discussions on relevant topics, assignment tools, and plenty more. These blogs can be a reference guide for students as they study for their board and pre-board exams.

Online discussions

For students preparing for their pre-board and board exams, online discussions held over the school management software are an important tool that will help them to stay connected with their peers and teachers during after-school hours. Discussion module helps the students and teachers to interact with each other, resolve doubts, get their queries answered and share their views through posting comments in the discussion board.

As administrators of these boards, the teachers can moderate these discussions, participate in them and delete comments that may confuse the students.

Online Assignment Management

The school management software assignment application was designed to help teachers routinely administer homework, exams, and tasks to students. The online system makes it easy for the class teachers to administer the exams, collect the finished work, review it and provide students with valuable feedback to help them learn more and perform better in their examinations.

Custom student remarks

Once the students have participated in the online tests and exams given by the teachers to prepare them. The custom student remarks module helps the teachers to provide comments for each of the student on the basis of performance in different subjects. The teachers can either give common remarks to the entire class correcting or guiding them or the teacher has the option to give individual remarks to a student on any particular exam conducted. Besides the teachers and the students, the parents can see the remarks in their profiles for daily updates and can accordingly keep track of their child’s academic progress.

Event Calendar

Closer to the date of the exams, as the schools exchange their calendar of events with the dates of tests, vivas, practicals and other important board exam dates. Using the school management software’s event calendar feature makes it easier for students and parents to stay up-to-date on the exam schedule and any changes associated with it.

Collaboration

Another essential feature of the school management software that can help the teachers prepare the students better is the collaboration feature.

This feature allows students and teachers to interact with each other at any time through email, audio and/or video. We can create group sessions to provide students with additional online tuition, and they can record and post these sessions for future use. The group chat session also helps students clear their doubts and gain a better understanding of the topic.

Education today is extremely cut-throat, and due to a few scores, students will lose out of being admitted to their preference colleges. It is important for teachers to do everything they can to help give their students the extra edge in this hyper-competitive world, where every single mark counts.

The use of a school management software with its various tool and modules enables the teachers to reach out to their students at all times and offer them the best possible learning experience. It allows the teachers to help the students improve their learning skills and keep practicing until they are ready for their big exams. After all, practice makes perfect!

How is the school management system useful to the industry of education?

School management systems in the educational globe have become the recent cool quotient. Managing a school is complicated administration, authorities and many duties. Having school management software is essential for the smooth flow of school tasks. It is one of the modern, customized and integrated school management software. This basically makes work easier for everybody concerned with the management of the school. School management software is for classroom leadership, customized and embedded. This makes it simpler for everyone to work.

Paatham - The Learning App and School Management System

1. Keep the track of information– It is not easy for schools to maintain information pertaining to their students. But school management system makes it simpler for schools to maintain track of information such as attendance records, homework status, discipline maintenance, how well learners are doing, and what they are achieving within the boundaries of their schooling careers.

2. Access to parents– Parents are able to maintain and view the performance, progress and lack of areas of their child without physical meetings. This is what good online school management software facilitates. They always get the information they need to know, no matter how busy they are.

3. Information on teachers– The school management software is intended in such a manner that the class schedule of the teacher and the accounts that they are filing with higher effectiveness and ease can also be viewed. This database also contains data on the class schedules and timings of Teacher. Records and tracks down everything that the teachers are doing within the school.

4. Manage attendances– An important administrative task performed by a school is managing attendance. Teachers are entrusted with a tedious job of maintaining attendance records that generally cost a considerable quantity of time. No matter when it is done, precious time that could have been devoted to the class will always be eaten up. That’s where contemporary day school leadership systems can make their lives so simple.

5. Track of report cards– As of now, the report cards are maintained manually but with the school management software one can easily manage the paperless report cards & the entire process gets over and done in the most seamless way possible.

6. Tracking of fees– Activities linked to the account produced paperless and foolish evidence. Collecting fees online makes it trouble-free. Each organisation has to cope with their companies cash inflows and outflows. Academic institutions also have activities related to their own account, such as managing fee vouchers, school staff salaries, daily collection reports, etc.

7. Managing admissions– It can also be quite difficult to manage the entire process of learners being admitted to your college. There is always a possibility of losing important information. School leadership systems assist you to conduct the entire internet job and therefore save time. School management system decreases complex duties and manual labor making account management process simple and accurate.

8. Track on assignments– Facilitating students ‘ duties and assignments becomes simpler. The software stores critical data such as when the homework was assigned when to submit it, and other details such as what the task was. This is advantageous for teachers as they can readily change homework tasks whenever necessary.

9. Security and communication– School management systems have added a lot of security features to the schools like live tracking of school transportation system, live communication between students-teachers-parents-management, etc. An effective school management system enable you to keep track of the routes being taken by students to the school premises and if at any time the routes are being changed or not. You can also see if students used school transportation without using the routes that had been assigned to them. As far as student safety is concerned this is an important feature indeed.

10. Inventory Management– Easy Library Management such as e-library facilities and Improved Hostel management and Better School inventory and asset management becomes easy with software.

Why choose automated student attendance management system for your school?

Before you choose an attendance management system for your school you would first need to know what it is. These are basically systems that use biometric technology such as access cards and the like. They keep track of the attendance of your students as well as staff members. They help you maintain accurate records in a quick manner and over the years they have become integral parts of school management as such.

Facial recognition

The features of automated student attendance management system

There are several reasons why you should choose an automated student attendance management system for your school. The first important reason, in this case, is that they come loaded with features. These features make it really easy for you – the school administration – to run the affairs in this particular regard. They may be enumerated as below:

• Leave management
• Biometric or RFID integration
• Managing half or full day attendance
• Subject wise attendance
• Managing daily attendance reports
• Providing instant notifications to parents

It needs to be said in this particular context that technology is always evolving and the same thing can be said of these systems as well.

Attendance Tracking Software

Track complete Student Attendance by using this Software.
Student Attendance Management is a comprehensive attendance tracking system for educational organizations.

Why student attendance management system is useful?

There are several reasons why these automated student attendance management systems are being thought of as being so useful in the first place. Those reasons may be enumerated as below:

• Assuring the safety of students
• Increasing the productivity of teachers
• Improving communication between parents and teachers
• Developing discipline and punctuality
• Helping with course management
• Improving the results of students
• Stimulating student behavior
• Improving salary calculation
• Saving time
• Being environment-friendly

Speed and accuracy

This is one of the best reasons why you would need such a system in your school in the first place. If your school management software has a students’ attendance management module in it, it is always great. This is because then there is no need for you to maintain such data in a manual way as you were used to doing till date. In any case, such processes are cumbersome and long, which means that they are better absent than present. With such a system students can easily log on to an online system and mark their attendance.

Generating reports in an automatic manner

Quite often teachers have to access the attendance reports of their students on an urgent basis. It could be for reasons related to discipline or for meetings with the parents. When you use a student attendance management system you basically make sure that reports can be created with just a click of your button. This way, you – the school management – are also able to get access to various summaries, and trend reports that are connected to the attendance ones.

Increases punctuality

These systems are simply great when it comes to enhancing punctuality among students.
In a manual system, the entire operation happens on a daily basis and the teacher enforces the attendance on a daily basis as well. However, with the cloud-based online student attendance management systems that we are talking about over here, you can actually record the time at which each student is attending the school in an accurate manner. This, in turn, allows you to monitor which students are being tardy in this regard and then pull up students to teach them why it is important to be punctual at school.

Sending alerts to parents

When you use an online attendance management system for students it becomes easier for you to send automatic alerts to the parents if their wards are not attending the school. You can be sure that this is something that would be impossible if you were using a manual system. However, with a school management software that would store all necessary data related to your institute, this would be as easy as it gets. In fact, these systems can also store the contact details of the parents and this way it would be easier for you to send notifications to the parents as well.
The parents too would be benefited by this as they would be able to stay updated with the attendance related details of their kids. They would have a clear idea of the number of classes that their children are missing out on.

Managing the attendance of staff

With the help of the attendance management systems, you would be able to keep track of the attendance of your staff as well. This includes both your teaching and non-teaching staff. This way, you would find it easier to calculate the number of leaves that they have availed and keep track of the number of days and hours that they have worked as well.
This, in turn, would help you work with a lot of accuracy and ease than would otherwise have been possible.

Innovative Methods And Strategies To Teach Effectively

Are you a great teacher? Are you sure that you are able to teach effectively? If these doubts are in your mind here is a blog to help you teach effectively. The engagement of the students in the class determines the quality of a class. The current students are bored of the traditional education Therefore; teachers should built new strategies and use new teaching methods to drive the students interest in learning. Here are some innovating teaching method and strategies to improve your teaching.

5 methods teachers should follow to teach effectively

Be passionate and enjoy the work

It’s the major part of any work. If you don’t love teaching or your subject, it is difficult to do the work, and it will get reflected in your teaching. A passionate teacher is a successful teacher, as it’s what makes a good teacher to a great teacher.

Teamwork

Most of the teacher fails in this. As a teacher it’s not only enough to know your subject, to know about your students is also as important. Spend some quality time with your students this helps you to know more about your students and the students get to experience more of you. This improves the student-teacher relationship and makes the class work as a team. As always, the end result of collaborative work is better.

Be open-minded

Always be open-minded. Being an open-minded person, you are able to welcome new ideas and new learning styles. This improves your students engaged in your teaching. As always you think yourself as open-minded, as of human nature we resist a change. So make sure to be open minded and try out new ideas and new teaching method.

Teach like telling a story

Learning sessions become boring very fast. If you try to teach them like it was like a story, it would definitely turn interesting. As we all know that we like to listen to a story rather than listen to a seminar, it’s just like that.

Creative way of teaching

This is a way of teaching by which you can engage your students in the learning process. This includes implementing audio and video material to the teaching. Everyone is bored with the same textbook lets make a change and introduce audio-visual materials as an alternative the students would be thrilled, and they are more engaged and can understand more.

These are the basic things to make teaching effective. As the technology is grown, various new strategy can be brought in the teaching which promises as an innovative method for teaching effectively. Let’s get to know them.

5 strategies teachers can use to embrace their teaching more effective

Teaching through interactive visual content

This can make the teaching experience to a deeper level of learning and observing which improves the student’s engagement and helps to understand more.

Use virtual reality for teaching

The use of virtual reality and 3D technology the teaching can be taken to the next level. the teacher is able to portray the situation to the students by using 3D technology. For instance, rather than explaining about the interior of the earth and making the students imagine it, 3D technology helps to show the 3D representation of the interior of the earth and makes the students easy to interpret.

Use of virtual laboratory

It’s a safe way for students to practice their practical session without hurting themselves. Virtual laboratory enables the students to access the laboratory from anywhere in a safe environment without using any physical features.

Use of 3D printing

Another useful technology in studies. We all are bored with the 2D prints it’s very difficult to interpret some complex structures and figures in 2D. By the coming of 3D printouts, teachers are able to provide the students with a clear picture and visualize the structure more easily. For example, while teaching about the atom and its structures and figures, it helps students understand easily by giving them a detailed visual.

School management systems

School management system is an ERP software which helps a school administrator to manage their academic and administrative activities with ease. A school management system helps teacher to communicate with their parents and discuss about their career growth and provide a better knowledge. It reduces the effort and stress to organise and manage the details and record of every student’s academic activities. This education software helps to improve the quality of teaching. It provides teachers the ability to access to their class remotely and they can upload digital videos, study material, practice papers, quizzes and many more as reference materials to the students.

Learning Management System With Multi Language Support

Although many apps support multiple languages, far fewer support more than one language within the app itself. So if you’re looking for a way to boost your kids’ exposure to other languages, these titles should fit the bill. From open exploration for preschoolers to math practice for grade scholars, these apps allow easy toggling among languages and more linguistic flexibility.
Many educational schools or institutions have students all over the world, that’s why a Multi Language Learning Management System becomes a very useful and necessary tool to achieve their eLearning goals. A multilingual eLearning Platform offers the perfect opportunity to make the schools or institution global.
With Paatham Multi Language LMS you ensure that your students, no matter in which country they are, receive the same features, benefits and the right knowledge from the eLearning courses. It allows the system to be available in multi-languages depending on the user preferences or location.
One of the main goals to implement an eLearning platform in your school or educational institution are to offer the users facility, security, accessibility, a personalized experience and a complete solution to achieve their learning objectives.

Main benefits of a Multi Language Learning Management System

Helps the students and teachers to become increasingly diverse and multicultural
Gives the school the opportunity to grow and be global.
The localized multilingual LMS not only translate the words but also ensure that all the content delivered is adapted to the state that is being accessed in.
Makes the LMS interface more suitable to the users from different regions.

Benefits of Paatham – Learning Management System with Multilanguage Support are:

Gives the students and teacher the freedom to choose their language.
Helps to build bridge communications and eliminate cultural and language barriers.
Students or teachers from different states or regions can navigate through the same system.
Makes the courses easily accessible and easy to translate.

The Paatham platform is intensely multilingual. You can choose from one of our pre-defined language sets or define your own for ultimate customization.

Library management system

School may not look much like it did few years back. With the increasing advancement of cutting-edge technologies such as cloud, mobile, digital and analytics has transformed the way libraries offer many services. School libraries are making headway, despite the rising challenges and expectations of today’s students.

Schools Library Management Systems are web and mobile-based applications that allow higher education institutions to deliver content and resources to students, faculty and staff. The cloud-based library system provides easy ways for librarians to create and store their library collections. It enables students and staff to communicate and collaborate through multiple channels. These systems can be used in college libraries to augment classroom teaching.

5 Reasons Why You Should Use A Library Management System

A library management system is important to a library in the following ways;

1. It increases efficiency

A library management system (LMS or ILS, integrated library system) enhances the efficiency of the librarians and library users. A good library management system enables librarians to easily catalog books and keep proper records of books issued, reissued, and those not returned. On the other hand, library users can easily check the availability of any book that they need.

2. It reduces the cost of managing a library

A library management system reduces the cost of management. The system eliminates the need to employ many workers and keep different manual files thereby reducing the cost. Additionally, one librarian can accomplish what more than what other several others can achieve at a given time. One computer can also store a lot of data eliminating the need for many manual files.

3. It saves time

Time is of the essence for both librarians and patrons. The librarian can easily record and go through the history of individual library users. On the other hand, the library users can know the location and availability of a particular book faster than before. Both the librarian and the student can accomplish more with less time.

4. It increases the productivity of library workers

Automating your day to day processes will increase the productivity. An LMS ensures that the librarian spend their time doing what is important. Due to the growing ease of doing their work, librarians can engage in other important activities in the library without the library incurring any additional cost.

5. It enhances the presentation of the library

A library should be as much about the looks as it is about the books. A library with a good management system looks tidy and attractive. The librarians can arrange the available books in good order, while the students can locate them easily. It, therefore, increases the comfort and enjoyment of the librarians and the library users.

Here are the ten benefits of integrating cloud-based library management system in your institution:

1. Simple & Easy to Use

The Library Management Software is simple, user-friendly, and can be easily integrated with your existing system. The library management system provides online and offline storage, automated backups, and easy upgrades to simplify and enhance learning process.

2. Increased Library Engagement

Avoid frustration and tediousness by providing students with 24/7 access to library resources from anywhere, anytime. Library Management Software allows librarian to maintain all types of books, eBooks, journals, photos, videos, and create events.

3. Efficient Cloud Data Management

Automate, simplify and deploy library database seamlessly to make it easy for your institution to benefit from secure cloud services. Improve efficiency with the automation of various library tasks including acquisition, cataloging, serials management, circulation and reference.

4. Highly Secure, Scalable & Reliable

College libraries benefit from scalable infrastructure, role-based secure access, high performance and reliable to ensure seamless access to library database.

5. Mobile Access

The library management system provides mobile access to search the library catalog, schedules, books and resources from anywhere, at any given time via smartphones and tablets.

6. Dynamic Reports

Maximize the performance of libraries with dynamic reports, charts and graphs to review and track the progress for better decision-making.

7. Error-free

The automated library software is user-friendly, powerful and developed for easy entry of data, makes library operations free from errors.

8. Innovation

Students can search, write articles, upload photos and videos, manage email, send messages, but also help them to keep up with the librarian and other students via chat, discussion forums, and social media.

9. Fully Customizable

The library automation system is fully customizable and adaptable to the needs of educational institutions to provide fast, reliable data.

10. Cost-effective

Embracing sophisticated technologies is cost-effective and a viable choice for education institutions. Using cloud, mobile and digital libraries eliminates paper-based processes and maintenance overheads, improves productivity, reduces operation costs and saves time.

Explore The Benefit Of e-Testing – Paatham

e-Testing or e-assessments are on-line tests conducted with the aim of evaluating, measuring, and documenting the educational readiness, learning progress, talent acquisition, or academic wants of the test takers. Within the past, test were typically given in paper printouts and had to be two-handed out manually. Nowadays, you can create online test, share the link with your students, and immediately see their results.

e-Testing is a valuable tool in Higher Education for several reasons. it’s large potential benefits for school students in terms of learning and retention of study material, furthermore as increasing their engagement with their chosen topic. e-Testing offers several blessings over traditional pen and paper exams.

e-Testing
Paatham | e-Testing

“students often say they don’t get enough feedback on their performance, and that when they do receive feedback, it is often inadequate, difficult to interpret, or too late”.

e-Testing can

supply immediate and focused feedback on students’ work
allow students more than one attempt at an answer
present questions in a predetermined or random order
be used for diagnostic, formative or summative assessment
guide students to further reading or resources if they are having difficulty
increase students’ digital literacy
increase student engagement
record highly detailed student learning analytics and present them to the teacher in real time
manage teacher workload and corrections

The use of e-Testing makes it much more realistic for students to get this timely and appropriate feedback given the workload already experienced by teaching staff. The feedback given can also be further enhanced by technology as it may contain links to interactive material, additional reading, videos etc. so that students can be directed to engage in self-directed learning tailored for their particular difficulties.

The Digital Roadmap also highlights the need to maximize the potential of data analytics to inform teaching and learning in Higher Education. The use of e-Testing makes this task manageable as most systems would automatically track many learning analytics as students use the system. E-assessment can also be used to great effect to develop greater opportunities for part-time, flexible learning, including lifelong learning.

Advantages of e-Testing

The use of e-Testing saves students a lot of time and money. Often the assessments can be completed in less time, multiple candidates can complete the online assessment at the same time and there is no need for specialized (and expensive) personnel. Also, the test takers are able to take the assessment during class, or at home, using their own devices. You get to see their results and answers and get instant feedback about your chosen topic. That helps you, as teacher, to learn more about your students and adapt to their needs, strengths and weaknesses.

Disadvantages of e-Testing

Not much can be said about the disadvantages of online testiing, since the advantages outweigh them by far. But there might be some, for example, you need to be computer literate (or able to use a computer well) in order to create and take an assessment. Technology is not always reliable, there might be connection or internet problems, energy breaks and other things like that. Also, there’s a cost involved in online assessment softwares.

Conclusion

e-Testing has some pros and cons. It’s up to you to decide what is the best option in your case, that is, keep using hard copy assessments or go for the online option. Although some financial investment in online assessment software is needed, we believe the benefits outweigh the costs by far. It’s a value for money acquisition, since you, as a student, will save a lot of time and money in many other ways.

Also, online test allow the test takers to take on mobile learning, which means, they are able to take the test anywhere, anytime. And they receive their results immediately by email. You can see their results and download them into an Excel file.

How E-Learning is helpful to learners – Paatham

A learning system based on formalised teaching but with the help of electronic resources is known as E-learning. While teaching can be based in or out of the classrooms, the use of computers and the Internet forms the major component of E-learning. E-learning can also be termed as a network enabled transfer of skills and knowledge, and the delivery of education is made to a large number of recipients at the same or different times. Earlier, it was not accepted wholeheartedly as it was assumed that this system lacked the human element required in learning.

However, with the rapid progress in technology and the advancement in learning systems, it is now embraced by the masses. The introduction of computers was the basis of this revolution and with the passage of time, as we get hooked to smartphones, tablets, etc, these devices now have an importance place in the classrooms for learning. Books are gradually getting replaced by electronic educational materials like optical discs or pen drives. Knowledge can also be shared via the Internet, which is accessible 24/7, anywhere, anytime.

e-Learning

Importance Of E-Learning

No Boundaries, No Restrictions : E-learning, facilitates learning without having to organize when and where everyone who is interested in a course can be present.

More Fun : Designing a course in a way that makes it interactive and fun through the use of multimedia, enhances not only your engagement factor but also the relative lifetime of the course material in question.

Cost Effective : E-Learning is always cost friendly.

E-learning has proved to be the best means in the education sector, especially The schools which use E-learning technologies are a step ahead of those which still have the traditional approach towards learning.

e-Learning

No doubt, it is equally important to take forward the concept of non-electronic teaching with the help of books and lectures, but the importance and effectiveness of technology-based learning cannot be taken lightly or ignored completely. It is believed that the human brain can easily remember and relate to what is seen and heard via moving pictures or videos. It has also been found that visuals, apart from holding the attention of the student, are also retained by the brain for longer periods. education sectors, are now adapting to the concept of E-learning which helps in the progress of a nation. Technological advancements also helped educational establishments reduce the costs of distance learning, a saving that would also be passed on to the students – helping bring education to a wider audience.

When is eLearning Development a Smart Management Decision?

smart-goals-tools

Every year, an increasing number of organizations use eLearning to deliver more of their training. As eLearning tools evolve, they continue to offer more functionality at a lower cost, making eLearning an increasingly attractive alternative or complement to traditional training methods.

Still, eLearning is not always the best option. There are times when live instructors are needed, either in person or via web meeting. Consider these seven key questions when deciding what role eLearning should play in your next training initiative.

1. What Kind of Instructional Content Am I Looking to Implement?

While eLearning has the potential to be a particularly powerful training tool, its effectiveness depends on the job you have in mind. Before deciding on a training format, it is important that you consider what skills you are training, and how you want your employees to use those skills in their jobs. The following content types work especially well with the strengths of the online training format.
• Software Training and Web Applications
• Certification and Compliance Training
• Company Policy and Procedure Training

Others?

Basic soft skills, such as sales processes, product knowledge, and quality standards, can all be taught using eLearning. Generally, eLearning for these skills is best used as part of a comprehensive blended learning program.

Travel costs can be all but eliminated.

While classroom training programs often require a significant amount of travel – both for trainers and trainees – eLearning by its very nature is travel-free. All that’s needed is an internet connection.

Training is more consistent from location to location.

eLearning can eliminate the variance in content delivery that is common when multiple instructors are employed to deliver training over a broad geographic spectrum. Different instructors tend to highlight different points based on their own experience. Unless they are heavily scripted, this creates inconsistent training experiences among your learners. eLearning provides consistency and ensures that your learners are sharing a common training experience with a consistent message being delivered.

What is the Geographic Distribution of the students?

When you have a geographically diverse audience and are committed to instructor led training exclusively, you are stuck with two choices: bring the instructor to the learners or bring the learners to the instructor. Both choices come loaded with a whole bucket of potential scheduling issues that may result in your learners not getting the training they need, when they need it.

A widely disbursed workforce can be a major hassle for training managers, and one for which classroom training is especially poorly suited. eLearning provides a solution that can provide significant cost savings, while delivering a more uniform and predictable training result.

1. eLearning courses can be accessed any time, from any location, allowing employees to take training when and where it works best with their schedules.
2. eLearning allows the trainees to learn at their own pace, increasing understanding of the material and speeding the process.
3. What Sort of Technology Investment Will I Need To Make?
4. Can eLearning Be Used in Conjunction With the Classroom Training We Currently Use?
5. Am I Prepared to Make eLearning a Success?
6. The Bottom Line: How Can I Assess the eLearning ROI?

In a world of tightened budgets and continual cost-cutting drives, new systems need to prove their own worth. While there are some easy to measure hard-cost savings associated with eLearning (like less travel, fewer trainers, less work-interruption, etc.), the greatest benefit often comes from soft- savings. Unfortunately, measuring just exactly how much you’re saving can be tricky. Here are a few suggestions:

• Start by figuring out what your company’s definition of “success” is when it comes to training.
• Identify the soft-savings you’re trying to measure.
• Assess your eLearning system’s effectiveness through a controlled test.

There will always be a place and need for instructor led training. Nothing in the digital world can truly replace the adaptive give and take afforded by the classroom. But, there are many opportunities for smart managers to leverage eLearning in order to save time and money while still getting your learners the quality training they need.

HOW TO SCHEDULE YOUR DAILY MATH BLOCK

math block

Depending on how much time you have for guided math, find ideas on how to schedule your daily math block to include key components for success.

Ever wonder what your daily math block should look like?

A well designed math block incorporates whole group and small group instruction. It also provides time for teaching new skills, practicing for mastery and reviewing previously taught skills.

However, there are two things I want you to keep in mind. The ideal and the real. And I’m going to share both.

First, let me share what an ideal elementary math block looks like. When I say ideal, I’m talking about a math block that is 75 minutes or longer.

Warm Up Activity For Books

Purpose: (1) Review math skills or (2) Introduce a new topic

Any good lesson starts out with an engaging opening. Math is no exception.

This section of your math block should be fast paced. This is either the time for a quick review or a way to interest your kids in a brand new topic. Remember, you want to spend the bulk of your time in centers so that you can work with your teacher led small group.

Here are some examples of things you can do during your warm up:

• Number Talks
• Calendar Activities
• Problem of the Day
• Number of the Day
• Kinesthetic Math Activities
• Number Sense Routines

Whole Class Mini-Lesson

This is the part of your daily math block when you are teaching a mini-lesson. You’re teaching and modeling new concepts by using think-alouds and clear visual models.

It’s also the time to do guided practice. Set aside a short amount time for students to actually practice what you’re modeling. This can look many different ways: interactive large group activities, partner work, etc.

Be strategic. Stay focused on the topic. Otherwise you may find yourself going down a rabbit hole and then not having enough time for math centers.

Here are some examples of things you can do during your whole group mini-lesson:

• Math Read-Aloud
• Hands-On Activities with Manipulatives
• Partner Work
• Group Activities

Teacher Tip – Since this is a “mini-lesson” after you explicitly model you may not get to guided practice on the same day. That’s OK! You can do guided practice the next day. The important part is to make sure you are modeling AND then providing support.

Math Centers and Teacher Led Small Group

Purpose: (1) Differentiate instruction for all learners and (2) provide ongoing practice and review of previously taught skills

There are 2 different things going on during this portion of your math block.

Math Centers – Students practice and review math skills in small groups or pairs, without teacher support (You’ll be at working with your small group).

Examples of math centers can include:

• Math Games
• Journals
• Task Cards
• Fluency Activities
• Problem Solving Tasks
• Math Sorts

Teacher Lead Small Group – This is my favorite part of the block! While the rest of your class is working in centers, you’re targeting instruction with a small group of your students in order to meet their needs.

It’s that magic time of the math block because you get to see and correct misconceptions up close. This is where you get to move your students.

You’re finished with your last teacher led small group and the rest of your students are cleaning up their stations.

Now, what?

It’s time for your kids to show what they know. Let’s move to the last part of an ideal daily math block. Time to assess.

Student Reflection

Purpose: (1) See what your kids know and (2) Inform instruction

This is the time to do a quick check of the day’s learning. It’s not a formal test.

What about if you only have 45 minutes?

This definitely isn’t ideal. But let’s keep it real, I know that some of you only have 45 minutes. The first thing, I strongly suggest that you advocate for more time for math.

With that out the way let’s get real creative.

In this scenario, I suggest keeping both the warm up and the reflection time 5 minutes each. This will leave you with 35 minutes each day for alternating teaching a whole group lesson OR doing math centers. See example below:

Monday: Warm Up (5 min.) – Whole Group (35 min.) – Reflection (5 min.)
Tuesday: Warm Up (5 min.) – Math Centers (35 min./2 groups) – Reflection (5 min.)

Then continue the pattern for the other days of the week.