Left And Right Brain Balancing Improve Child Intelligence...

Face it, the older the age when our memories tend to increasingly lose sharpness. We begin to forget things, like names of people, forget to put something or we have to do the job. But old does not mean your brain is also becoming increasingly blunt. For brain and memory can always be honed even stay sharp, here are some tips:

Step I: LEFT BRAIN TRAIN

Your left brain is working to regulate the ability in reasoning, language, writing, logic and arithmetic. Left-brain memory are short term (short term memory). If there is damage to the left brain, there will be disruption in terms of functions of speech, language and mathematics. To maintain the capacity of your left brain, try to learn a new language or do puzzles games.

Step 2: RIGHT BRAIN TRAIN

Right brain function is to handle the process of human creative thinking. Usual right brain identified about creativity, imagination, shape or space, emotion, music and color. Their memories are long right brain (long term memory). The way it works is not well structured and tend not to think about things that are too detailed. If there is damage to the right brain in diseases such as stroke or brain tumor, then the disturbed brain function is the ability of visual and emotional. To maintain the sharpness of your right brain practice playing a musical instrument, sing or make crafts.

Step 3: WHOLE BRAIN TRAIN

Learning meditation
By doing your meditation can reduce stress, overcome anxiety is excessive, and activate the control centers of the brain for happiness and satisfaction.

Train Memory capacity
You remember as a kid, a lot of things you should know by heart. The sharpness of your memory will increase if you always train memory skills.

Participate in social activities
Having a solid schedule of social activities which are believed to make the brain work more actively and to reduce deterioration of the brain.

In addition to genetic factors, ability and intelligence of a child can be trained and taught in a way to do the activation in the right brain. Generally, the participants who could be taught by several instructors aged between four to 12 years. Next try doing some activities with your eyes closed.

The kids and even then engaged in various activities ranging from reading and guess the number. There also are reading the holy verses of Al-Quran with eyes closed. Not only that, they ride bikes in a zigzag with eyes closed. All were obtained through focused training.

In addition to training the right brain to the brain's ability, motivation is beneficial for children to generate self-potential and positive character in the child. Currently, a number of activities are offered which aim to improve the ability of children with a variety of methods. In addition to that offered a variety of ways, most important, of course, attention and guidance of the parents of the children themselves.

Communities often assess IQ (intelligence quotient) is equated with intelligence or skill. In fact, IQ only measures a fraction of the skill.

"It was a bright child is a child who can react in a logical and useful to what is experienced in the neighborhood," said Eileen Rachman, a psychologist who is also Director of EXPERD, a human resources consultant at the seminar 10 Ways to Sharpen IQ and EQ (emotional quotient) Child , in Jakarta. At the same seminar also launched a book entitled Optimizing Intelligence Child.

Eileen explained that IQ is a number that is used to describe the thinking person's capacity as compared with the average of others. In general, the average IQ was 100.

"IQ is only used among others, imagined space, see the environment around coherently and find the relationship between one form and other forms. But IQ does not measure creativity, social skills, and wisdom, "he said.

Meanwhile, the intelligence of children seen from the understanding and awareness of what they experienced. Later on in his mind, the experience was transformed into words or numbers. Therefore, Eileen emphasizes the importance of understanding. "Because understanding is a combination of efforts to increase the input through the senses and the knowledge they have," explained Eileen.

How to optimize your child's intelligence? Eileen suggested that parents enhance learning, reading, and repeat. For example, to introduce how to read, the mother helps the child by making a line under words that are important, ask your child to read aloud and explain the meaning of reading.

In addition, parents are also introducing the strategy, making rational decisions, sparked the idea as smoothly as possible, midmapping, increase vocabulary, thinking as he imagined, humor, critical thinking, and play. The goal to balance the left and right brain work, because the structure of the left and right brain hemispheres have different tasks.

Why need to balance the left and right brain work? Eileen said that the child can read fluently with full comprehension, creative writing, spelling, remembering, listening, thinking while at the same or become the champion in a particular sport. All it takes left and right brain coordination with both well trained.

But to balance the left and right brain work can also be through customs. Eileen explained, for example by enjoying the music and the arts, enjoying color, space and shape, value creativity and appreciate the sentiment.

Meanwhile, Dr. Andre Meaza said that during early childhood is the golden period to perform an active process through the process of sensory stimulation for the purpose of forming wiring system. "Stages of early life stages of the child are important because children are able to receive skills and teaching as a basis of knowledge and thought processes."

Andrew also explained, half the child's intellectual development took place prior to entering the age of 4 years. Precisely 17 years of age cognitive development is a cumulative development of the child is born.

According to Andre, 0-4 year olds have the cognitive development of 50%, 30% 4-8 years and 9-17 years at 20%. "It's brain development before age 1 year early, but the maturation of the brain take place after the child is born," he said.

He warned that the influence of early environment on brain development will impact long. Therefore, children who have good environmental stimulation, brain function will develop better.

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About Action Research

In the literature, discussion of action research tends to fall into two distinctive camps. The British tradition - especially that linked to education - tends to view action research as research oriented toward the enhancement of direct practice. For example, Carr and Kemmis provide a classic definition:

Action research is simply a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices, and the situations in which the practices are carried out (Carr and Kemmis 1986: 162).

Many people are drawn to this understanding of action research because it is firmly located in the realm of the practitioner - it is tied to self-reflection. As a way of working it is very close to the notion of reflective practice coined by Donald Schön (1983).

The second tradition, perhaps more widely approached within the social welfare field - and most certainly the broader understanding in the USA is of action research as 'the systematic collection of information that is designed to bring about social change' (Bogdan and Biklen 1992: 223). Bogdan and Biklen continue by saying that its practitioners marshal evidence or data to expose unjust practices or environmental dangers and recommend actions for change. In many respects, for them, it is linked into traditions of citizen’s action and community organizing. The practitioner is actively involved in the cause for which the research is conducted. For others, it is such commitment is a necessary part of being a practitioner or member of a community of practice. Thus, various projects designed to enhance practice within youth work, for example, such as the detached work reported on by Goetschius and Tash (1967) could be talked of as action research.

Origins
Kurt Lewin is generally credited as the person who coined the term 'action research':

The research needed for social practice can best be characterized as research for social management or social engineering. It is a type of action-research, a comparative research on the conditions and effects of various forms of social action, and research leading to social action. Research that produces nothing but books will not suffice (Lewin 1946, reproduced in Lewin 1948: 202-3)

His approach involves a spiral of steps, ‘each of which is composed of a circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of the action’ (ibid.: 206). The basic cycle involves the following:

This is how Lewin describes the initial cycle:

The first step then is to examine the idea carefully in the light of the means available. Frequently more fact-finding about the situation is required. If this first period of planning is successful, two items emerge: namely, “an overall plan” of how to reach the objective and secondly, a decision in regard to the first step of action. Usually this planning has also somewhat modified the original idea. (ibid.: 205)

The next step is ‘composed of a circle of planning, executing, and reconnaissance or fact finding for the purpose of evaluating the results of the second step, and preparing the rational basis for planning the third step, and for perhaps modifying again the overall plan’ (ibid.: 206). What we can see here is an approach to research that is oriented to problem-solving in social and organizational settings, and that has a form that parallels Dewey’s conception of learning from experience.

The approach, as presented, does take a fairly sequential form – and it is open to literal interpretation. Following it can lead to practice that is ‘correct’ rather than ‘good’ – as we will see. It can also be argued that model itself places insufficient emphasis on analysis at key points. Elliott (1991: 70), for example, believed that the basic model allows those who use it to assume that the ‘general idea’ can be fixed in advance, ‘that “reconnaissance” is merely fact-finding, and that “implementation” is a fairly straightforward process’. As might be expected there was some questioning as to whether this was ‘real’ research. There were questions around action research’s partisan nature – the fact that it served particular causes.

The decline and rediscovery of action research
Action research did suffer a decline in favour during the 1960s because of its association with radical political activism (Stringer 2007: 9). There were, and are, questions concerning its rigour, and the training of those undertaking it. However, as Bogdan and Biklen (1992: 223) point out, research is a frame of mind – ‘a perspective that people take toward objects and activities’. Once we have satisfied ourselves that the collection of information is systematic, and that any interpretations made have a proper regard for satisfying truth claims, then much of the critique aimed at action research disappears. In some of Lewin’s earlier work on action research (e.g. Lewin and Grabbe 1945) there was a tension between providing a rational basis for change through research, and the recognition that individuals are constrained in their ability to change by their cultural and social perceptions, and the systems of which they are a part. Having ‘correct knowledge’ does not of itself lead to change, attention also needs to be paid to the ‘matrix of cultural and psychic forces’ through which the subject is constituted (Winter 1987: 48).

Subsequently, action research has gained a significant foothold both within the realm of community-based, and participatory action research; and as a form of practice oriented to the improvement of educative encounters (e.g. Carr and Kemmis 1986).

Exhibit 1: Stringer on community-based action research

A fundamental premise of community-based action research is that it commences with an interest in the problems of a group, a community, or an organization. Its purpose is to assist people in extending their understanding of their situation and thus resolving problems that confront them….
Community-based action research is always enacted through an explicit set of social values. In modern, democratic social contexts, it is seen as a process of inquiry that has the following characteristics:
• It is democratic, enabling the participation of all people.
• It is equitable, acknowledging people’s equality of worth.
• It is liberating, providing freedom from oppressive, debilitating conditions.
• It is life enhancing, enabling the expression of people’s full human potential.
(Stringer 1999: 9-10)
The action research process works through three basic phases:
Look - building a picture and gathering information. When evaluating we define and describe the problem to be investigated and the context in which it is set. We also describe what all the participants (educators, group members, managers etc.) have been doing.
Think – interpreting and explaining. When evaluating we analyse and interpret the situation. We reflect on what participants have been doing. We look at areas of success and any deficiencies, issues or problems.
Act – resolving issues and problems. In evaluation we judge the worth, effectiveness, appropriateness, and outcomes of those activities. We act to formulate solutions to any problems. (Stringer 1999: 18; 43-44;160)


The use of action research to deepen and develop classroom practice has grown into a strong tradition of practice (one of the first examples being the work of Stephen Corey in 1949). For some there is an insistence that action research must be collaborative and entail groupwork.

Action research is a form of collective self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own social or educational practices, as well as their understanding of those practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out… The approach is only action research when it is collaborative, though it is important to realise that action research of the group is achieved through the critically examined action of individual group members. (Kemmis and McTaggart 1988: 5-6)

Just why it must be collective is open to some question and debate (Webb 1996), but there is an important point here concerning the commitments and orientations of those involved in action research.

Conclusion
One of the legacies Kurt Lewin left us is the ‘action research spiral’ – and with it there is the danger that action research becomes little more than a procedure. It is a mistake, according to McTaggart (1996: 248) to think that following the action research spiral constitutes ‘doing action research’. He continues, ‘Action research is not a ‘method’ or a ‘procedure’ for research but a series of commitments to observe and problematize through practice a series of principles for conducting social enquiry’. It is his argument that Lewin has been misunderstood or, rather, misused. When set in historical context, while Lewin does talk about action research as a method, he is stressing a contrast between this form of interpretative practice and more traditional empirical-analytic research. The notion of a spiral may be a useful teaching device – but it is all too easily to slip into using it as the template for practice (McTaggart 1996: 249).

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How to Improve Your Pronunciation

Here are some tips to help you improve your English pronunciation.

First of all, don't worry about not having a native-English accent. It's important to be able to speak clearly, so that people can understand you. However, it's almost impossible to sound exactly like a native English speaker if you are learning English as an adult in a non-English speaking country.

However, there are many things that you can do to improve your pronunciation and your speaking skills.

1. Listen to spoken English as often as possible.

Listen to how speakers pronounce various words and phrases and "model" your pronunciation on what you hear.

2. Learn the phonetic alphabet.

Use the phonetic alphabet page (at the beginning of most good dictionaries) as a guide to pronouncing new words.

3. Don't forget to learn the word stress of a new word.

Every English word has its own stress, or intonation. For example, the word "believe" has two syllables (be and lieve), but only the second syllable is stressed. We say be'lieve and not 'be lieve. Your dictionary will show the syllable stress by an apostrophe (') before the syllable to be stressed.

Word stress is important. In fact, it is more likely that someone misunderstands you because of wrong word stress than because of the wrong pronunciation of a sound.

4. Work out which sounds cause you most problems in English.

Depending on what your first language is, you may have problems with certain sounds. For example, French speakers have difficulties with "th"; speakers of Mandarin have difficulties with "r" or "l", and Arabic speakers have difficulties with "p" and "b".

5. Practise the sounds you find difficult.

A useful exercise is a "minimal pair" exercise. For example, if you have difficulty distinguishing between "p" and "b", try practising pairs of words which are the same except for the sound "p" and "b":

For example, "pair" and "bear"; "pond" and "bond"; "pie" and "buy" etc.

6. Be aware of intonation and sentence stress.

Not all words in a sentence have equal stress, and generally only the "information" words (nouns and verbs) are stressed.

'Where's the 'pen I 'gave you?

'Where's the 'red 'pen I 'gave you?

Where's the 'red and 'blue 'pen I 'gave you 'yesterday?

The unstressed words (such as "the", "I", "you" and "and") don't carry as much "weight" as the stressed words. They become much smaller in length, and are almost abbreviated. For example, "and" becomes "un".

Changing stress

Sentence stress isn't "fixed" like word stress. In fact, you can stress words that are normally unstressed in order to highlight different meanings.

For example:

I 'love you. (Love, rather than just like.)
'I love you. (With the stress on I to highlight that it's me rather than another person who loves you.)
I love 'you. (And nobody else.)

Intonation

There are a couple of easy to remember rules about intonation. Usually our voices go up at the end of the sentence to show a question, and down at the end to show a statement.

Intonation is also important in "tag questions":

You know him, don't you? (With rising intonation on "don't you?" to show it's a question)
You know him, don't you. (With falling intonation on "don't you" to show it's a statement you expect the other person to agree with.)

7. Learn to recognise spelling patterns.

For example, "tion" on the end of a word is pronounced "shun", while "sion" can be pronounced "zhun". There are often many ways to pronounce a particular spelling pattern, but it certainly helps to know what the variations are. For example, the pattern "ough" can be pronounced "uff" as in "enough" and "tough", or "or" as in "ought" and "bought" or "oh" as in "although" and "dough".

8. Don't rush.

If you speak too fast, the danger is that you could skip over some words, fail to pronounce them completely, or mix them up. If you speak too slowly, you might end up sounding unnatural. But it's better to speak slowly and clearly than too quickly.

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How to be a Great Academic Writer

A Great Academic Writer Knows How to Write Well

A thorough understanding of proper grammar and sentence structure is absolutely essential to the success of an academic writer. In other forms of writing, such as fiction writing or poetry, strict adherence to conventional rules of grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation is not required. However, academic writing is held to a much higher standard, and any straying from conventional grammar rules lowers the quality of the paper, even if the content is fantastic.

To Be a Great Academic Writer, You Must Be a Great Listener

An ability to write is important, but it is even more important to able to listen. A great academic writer will be able to listen closely to the needs of the client. This is undoubtedly the most important aspect of becoming a successful freelance writer, and will prevent the need for frequent rewrites when a paper does not meet the client's requested specifications.

A Great Academic Writer is Honest and Reliable

A degree of integrity is important to success in any career, but it is of even greater importance to an academic writer. Clients put a great deal of faith in the writers that are commissioned to produce written material for them, so a great academic writer can be relied on to produce that material and keep all private information completely confidential. Doing so allows for the development of ongoing relationships between clients and academic writers, therefore custompapers.com only maintains independent contract writers that are completely honest and reliable.

Plagiarism is Never Tolerated by a Good Academic Writer

A successful academic writer would never dare consider plagiarizing other writer's works when creating his or her own. This is not only a bad business practice that will certainly destroy any degree of trust between the client and the writer; it is also unethical and can ruin a student's academic career. It is also important to understand that plagiarism is not always blatantly apparent. By not following proper citation procedures, a sub par academic writer can unintentionally plagiarize and cause just as much damage as a writer that does it intentionally. The writers at custompapers.com are thoroughly practiced in the proper way to cite other writers' works and would never even consider plagiarism.

A Great Academic Writer is Willing to Put in Research Time

Our custom essay writers generally write about subjects they have already thoroughly studied during their own academic careers. However, a great academic writer realizes the importance of researching the topic of the academic paper he or she is preparing. Therefore, our experienced writers spend as much time as is necessary to ensure that each paper that is prepared is as detailed and precise as possible.

A Great Academic Writer Can Always Meet a Deadline

Any writing professional understands this, including contracted freelance writers. It is extremely important to able to meet a client's deadline, provided of course that enough time is allowed to complete the amount of work requested.

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writing skills is very important

Of all the classes I took in college and graduate school, the two that have helped me most in my career have been English Composition and Business English. In these classes I learned effective writing skills, which I have used in every job I have ever had. No other job but my work on this site included writing as part of my job description. In spite of this, I was required to write in every job, and it was taken for granted that I would be able to do this. This is the case with most jobs -- whether you must write internal memos, correspond with clients, or help design sales materials. Writing beautiful prose and poetry is a talent. Writing effectively, however, is a skill that can be learned.
Organize Your Writing

Whether you are writing a memo to your co-worker or a report for your boss, you should decide what information you want to convey. Here is how to do this:
1. List each item you need to discuss in your memo or report.
2. Put them in order — from most to least important
3. Write a brief summary of your entire memo — this will be your first paragraph.
4. Expand on each item listed in step 1.
5. If any action needs to be taken by the recipient, state that in your closing paragraph.

Some Tips

Avoid wordiness. Say out loud what you are trying to write. Listen to how the words sound. For example, the sentence, "I found out that I should take a look at our past sales figures in order to come up with a plan to help us re-evaluate our sales technique" could be more simply stated as "I must take a look at our past sales figures to re-evaluate our sales technique."
Write for your audience. Use simple language. You don't want the reader to need a dictionary to decipher what you are trying to say. You should not try to impress your reader with your huge vocabulary. Chances are you will frustrate your reader instead. Most people are juggling several tasks at the same time, and are interested in receiving only necessary information. You are responsible for making this happen. Instead of saying, "His gregarious nature credentials him as a superlative candidate for the job," say "His friendliness makes him a top candidate for the job."

Stay away from jargon your reader may not understand. If your work is very technical, but the person you are writing to is not well versed in that field, stick to words that person will understand. For example, if you are a Web site designer, this sentence in a memo to your client, a psychologist, will make no sense: "What would you like me to use as the BGCOLOR for your site: #ADD8E6 or #FFFFFF?" Anyone proficient in Web page design knows that this question can be translated to "What would you like the background color of your site to be: Light Blue or White?" However, don't expect your client to be more familiar with this technical jargon than you would be with her discussion of a psychological term such as trichotillomania.

A cliche a day keeps the reader away — or at least it does not make him or her remember what you are saying. You want your writing to be memorable. Because we hear cliches often, we become desensitized to them. The words, then, are not uniquely associated with your writing. Rather than saying "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today" in a memo to a subordinate you are trying to motivate. Simply say, "Stop procrastinating. Get the job done now."

When possible, use the active voice. The active voice makes your sentence stronger and usually shorter. Let's try these examples. Passive voice: "Sales increased due to the networking I did." Active voice: "My networking increased sales."

Don't be redundant. It is not necessary to say "2 p.m. in the afternoon" or "the expectant pregnant woman." Saying "2 p.m." or "2 in the afternoon" or "the expectant woman" or "the pregnant woman" all convey what you want to say and are less wordy.

Of course pay attention to grammar. Use Strunk and White's Elements of Style, available on the Web. A good dictionary should be nearby, along with a thesaurus. A thesaurus will allow you to keep your writing fresh by helping you find a variety of words to use. Many of these resources are available online.

Proofreading is one of the most important things you can do. Since you probably do most of your writing on a computer, you have access to automated spelling and grammar checkers. Beware though — some words, used in the wrong context may be missed by computerized spell checkers. For example the sentence "To employees attended too meetings two learn about the gnu software," would pass through the spell check without any misspellings being detected. Have someone else proofread your document, if possible. If time allows, put your composition away, and proofread it later, or even better, the next day.

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Instruction How to Write a Concept Explanation Essay English

1.Select a concept for your essay by considering how well you understand the topic and the availability of sufficient relevant information. If you choose a frequently used repeated topic, think of new information or an interesting angle to cover in your essay. Focus your essay on a few significant aspects of a concept to provide an in-depth explanation rather than briefly touching on a wide range of issues. For example, if you wish to write on the impact of information technology, you obviously cannot cover all areas; concentrate on the effects of technological advancement on healthcare.

2.Search for information on the topic you select. Research books by famous authors or subject experts on the topic. Think of your personal experiences relevant to the topic that you can include in the essay. Find quotes from great personalities that succinctly express the concept. Find quotes that are apt, but rarely used. Locate statistical information that supports the viewpoint your essay propounds.

3. Begin the concept explanation essay with a quotation, anecdote or statistics to grab the attention of the reader. For example, if your essay is on the need for educating kids about drugs and alcohol abuse, offer statistics that highlight the prevalence of such abuse among youth. Give your thesis statement and the gist of the ideas you will explore in the essay.

4.Divide your material into several short paragraphs, each covering a specific point such as classification, comparison and narration of events. Make use of examples, similes and metaphors to convey your point clearly. Remember that a concept essay is an unbiased exploration of the concept and not a vehicle to express your personal opinions.

5. Conclude the essay with a summary of the salient points your essay conveys. Use words and sentences that are different from the ones you have used before, but which essentially convey the same idea. State the concept again clearly in light of the discussion in the preceding paragraphs. Make sure the sentences you use link your conclusion to the beginning of the essay. Use a quotation that aptly sums up the essence of the concept you have developed.

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How to Make Better Speak

1. Listen to yourself talk. Many people do not like to do this, and they often react by saying: "I hate the way I sound." But, use whatever technical tools you need to take this step. Whether it's a simple recording on a voicemail or answering machine, or something more advanced, you need to hear yourself before you can learn to improve your speaking voice. One trick here: record yourself speaking, but do not listen to it immediately. Wait a day. This advice coming from some of the best talent coaches in the country, who train some very prominent public speakers. You must allow time to separate yourself from whatever you have recorded, so you can be more objective. Record something. Wait a day. Then listen to your voice.

2. Begin working on the weaknesses you hear. One of the biggest hurdles to hop over, is getting away from that "monotone" delivery. This happens on the phone and speaking to groups. For some reason, we tend to shy away from using inflection. That is because we are trying to sound professional. But, truth be told, your speaking voice will end up sounding flat when you try too hard at this. Use inflection, like you do when you are telling a funny joke, or a really great story. Envision yourself sitting around the dinner table talking to your family. Let your voice go "up" a little during the more exciting parts, like you do in normal conversation. This will keep people engaged when they listen to you.

3. Learn to warm up your mouth and jaw, just like you warm up muscles for working out. Open your jaw very wide and stretch it, then close, and open and repeat. This will also help relax you. Another good exercise is to loosen up your tongue and vocal chords by using a few little tools learned from well trained talent coaches. If you are driving to a meeting or to give a public speech, repeat this phrase: "Over the lips, the teeth the tongue." Sounds funny, just try it. You will feel it loosen up your mouth. Also stand in front of the mirror and say (opening your mouth nice and wide): "Woo, Whoa, War, Wow." This will also stretch out that mouth and jaw. You don't want to speak when you are all clenched up.

4. Speak from your gut. You have probably heard that you are supposed to "push from the diaphragm." Same thing. The idea is to pull that voice up from the center of your body, instead of speaking out of your throat. You will find this is easier than you think. All you do is breathe and relax, and speak naturally. You should be able to feel your tummy moving a little (just below your ribs) if you press down on it when you do this. This will give your voice a nice, resonant sound. It will also keep you from getting a sore throat, which is what happens when you push directly from the vocal chords.

5.Sing. Even if you believe you are a terrible singer, sing anyway. Just be sure and do it when you are alone, so you are comfortable. This will help your inflection and your control more than you can imagine. Public speakers, news anchors, and actors often even take singing lessons to help them learn to control their voices. You don't have to go that far. Just sing to yourself. And don't hold back. Belt it out.

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CONCEPTUALIZING READING AND READING INSTRUCTION

Effective reading instruction is built on a foundation that recognizes that reading ability is determined by multiple factors: many factors that correlate with reading fail to explain it; many experiences contribute to reading development without being prerequisite to it; and although there are many prerequisites, none by itself is considered sufficient.

Adequate initial reading instruction requires that children:

use reading to obtain meaning from print,
have frequent and intensive opportunities to read,
are exposed to frequent, regular spelling-sound relationships,
learn about the nature of the alphabetic writing system, and
understand the structure of spoken words.
Adequate progress in learning to read English (or any alphabetic language) beyond the initial level depends on:

having a working understanding of how sounds are represented alphabetically,
sufficient practice in reading to achieve fluency with different kinds of texts,
sufficient background knowledge and vocabulary to render written texts meaningful and interesting,
control over procedures for monitoring comprehension and repairing misunderstandings, and
continued interest and motivation to read for a variety of purposes.
Reading skill is acquired in a relatively predictable way by children who have normal or above average language skills; have had experiences in early childhood that fostered motivation and provided exposure to literacy in use; get information about the nature of print through opportunities to learn letters and to recognize the internal structure of spoken words, as well as explanations about the contrasting nature of spoken and written language; and attend schools that provide effective reading instruction and opportunities to practice reading.

Disruption of any of these developments increases the possibility that reading will be delayed or impeded. The association of poor reading outcomes with poverty and minority status no doubt reflects the accumulated effects of several of these risk factors, including lack of access to literacy-stimulating preschool experiences and to excellent, coherent reading instruction. In addition, a number of children without any obvious risk factors also develop reading difficulties. These children may require intensive efforts at intervention and extra help in reading and accommodations for their disability throughout their lives.

There are three potential stumbling blocks that are known to throw children off course on the journey to skilled reading. The first obstacle, which arises at the outset of reading acquisition, is difficulty understanding and using the alphabetic principle--the idea that written spellings systematically represent spoken words. It is hard to comprehend connected text if word recognition is inaccurate or laborious. The second obstacle is a failure to transfer the comprehension skills of spoken language to reading and to acquire new strategies that may be specifically needed for reading. The third obstacle to reading will magnify the first two: the absence or loss of an initial motivation to read or failure to develop a mature appreciation of the rewards of reading.

As in every domain of learning, motivation is crucial. Although most children begin school with positive attitudes and expectations for success, by the end of the primary grades and increasingly thereafter, some children become disaffected. The majority of reading problems faced by today's adolescents and adults are the result of problems that might have been avoided or resolved in their early childhood years. It is imperative that steps be taken to ensure that children overcome these obstacles during the primary grades.

Reducing the number of children who enter school with inadequate literacy-related knowledge and skill is an important primary step toward preventing reading difficulties. Although not a panacea, this would serve to reduce considerably the magnitude of the problem currently facing schools. Children who are particularly likely to have difficulty with learning to read in the primary grades are those who begin school with less prior knowledge and skill in relevant domains, most notably, general verbal abilities, the ability to attend to the sounds of language as distinct from its meaning, familiarity with the basic purposes and mechanisms of reading, and letter knowledge. Children from poor neighborhoods, children with limited proficiency in English, children with hearing impairments, children with preschool language impairments, and children whose parents had difficulty learning to read are particularly at risk of arriving at school with weaknesses in these areas and hence of falling behind from the outset.

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Posted in: conceptualizing reading,good teacher,instruction,learning,learning english,reading,reading instruction,school,siswa,student,teaching

how to improve your writing skills

f all the classes I took in college and graduate school, the two that have helped me most in my career have been English Composition and Business English. In these classes I learned effective writing skills, which I have used in every job I have ever had. No other job but my work on this site included writing as part of my job description. In spite of this, I was required to write in every job, and it was taken for granted that I would be able to do this. This is the case with most jobs -- whether you must write internal memos, correspond with clients, or help design sales materials. Writing beautiful prose and poetry is a talent. Writing effectively, however, is a skill that can be learned.
Organize Your Writing

Whether you are writing a memo to your co-worker or a report for your boss, you should decide what information you want to convey. Here is how to do this:
List each item you need to discuss in your memo or report.
Put them in order — from most to least important
Write a brief summary of your entire memo — this will be your first paragraph.
Expand on each item listed in step 1.
If any action needs to be taken by the recipient, state that in your closing paragraph.
Some Tips

Avoid wordiness. Say out loud what you are trying to write. Listen to how the words sound. For example, the sentence, "I found out that I should take a look at our past sales figures in order to come up with a plan to help us re-evaluate our sales technique" could be more simply stated as "I must take a look at our past sales figures to re-evaluate our sales technique."
Write for your audience. Use simple language. You don't want the reader to need a dictionary to decipher what you are trying to say. You should not try to impress your reader with your huge vocabulary. Chances are you will frustrate your reader instead. Most people are juggling several tasks at the same time, and are interested in receiving only necessary information. You are responsible for making this happen. Instead of saying, "His gregarious nature credentials him as a superlative candidate for the job," say "His friendliness makes him a top candidate for the job."

Stay away from jargon your reader may not understand. If your work is very technical, but the person you are writing to is not well versed in that field, stick to words that person will understand. For example, if you are a Web site designer, this sentence in a memo to your client, a psychologist, will make no sense: "What would you like me to use as the BGCOLOR for your site: #ADD8E6 or #FFFFFF?" Anyone proficient in Web page design knows that this question can be translated to "What would you like the background color of your site to be: Light Blue or White?" However, don't expect your client to be more familiar with this technical jargon than you would be with her discussion of a psychological term such as trichotillomania.

A cliche a day keeps the reader away — or at least it does not make him or her remember what you are saying. You want your writing to be memorable. Because we hear cliches often, we become desensitized to them. The words, then, are not uniquely associated with your writing. Rather than saying "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today" in a memo to a subordinate you are trying to motivate. Simply say, "Stop procrastinating. Get the job done now."

When possible, use the active voice. The active voice makes your sentence stronger and usually shorter. Let's try these examples. Passive voice: "Sales increased due to the networking I did." Active voice: "My networking increased sales."

Don't be redundant. It is not necessary to say "2 p.m. in the afternoon" or "the expectant pregnant woman." Saying "2 p.m." or "2 in the afternoon" or "the expectant woman" or "the pregnant woman" all convey what you want to say and are less wordy.

Of course pay attention to grammar. Use Strunk and White's Elements of Style, available on the Web. A good dictionary should be nearby, along with a thesaurus. A thesaurus will allow you to keep your writing fresh by helping you find a variety of words to use. Many of these resources are available online.

Proofreading is one of the most important things you can do. Since you probably do most of your writing on a computer, you have access to automated spelling and grammar checkers. Beware though — some words, used in the wrong context may be missed by computerized spell checkers. For example the sentence "To employees attended too meetings two learn about the gnu software," would pass through the spell check without any misspellings being detected. Have someone else proofread your document, if possible. If time allows, put your composition away, and proofread it later, or even better, the next day.

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Posted in: belajar,belajar bahasa inggris,cara belajar bahasa inggris,English,good teacher,improve english,improve wriitng skills,learning,learning english,skill,skills,teaching,writing skills

Cara Mudah Menulis Bahasa Inggris

enulis dalam Bahasa Inggris bukanlah suatu hal yang sangat sulit. Hal yang paling penting yang harus kita ingat hanyalah kita harus menggunakan pola kalimat yang betul-betul standart, yaitu SPOK. Jika kita selalu berpedoman dengan pola ini, maka tentu saja kita tidak akan menghadapi kesulitan dalam menulis. Namun demikian, hal-hal lain yang harus kita perhatikan dalam menulis Bahasa Inggris adalah sebagai berikut:
Buatlah kalimat Anda sederhana dan jelas. Jangan gunakan banyak kalimat-kalimat yang rumit dipahami.
Jangan membuat semua kalimat sama panjang.Lebih baik memvariasikan panjang kalimat. Ada yang pendek, dan ada yang panjang. Apabila kita dapat memotong suatu kalimat menjadi kalimat yang baru, maka lakukanlah.
Lebih baik untuk menggunakan kalimat aktif, daripada kalimat pasif.
Jangan gunakan singkatan kecuali Anda yakin bahwa pembaca akan mengerti.
Hal ini lebih baik menggunakan kata benda dan kata kerja, bukan kata sifat dan kata keterangan.
Gunakan kata-kata yang pembaca kenal. Jangan menggunakan kata-kata yang pembaca mungkin akan sulit mengerti.
Gunakan istilah-istilah umum.
Perhatikan tanda baca.

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Posted in: bahasa Inggris,belajar bahasa inggris,cara belajar bahasa inggris,good teacher,guru,guru bahasa inggris,koran masuk sekolah,menulis,menulis bahasa inggris,siswa,teaching

Pentingnya Pendidikan Karakter...!

Saat ini mulai marak dibicarakan mengenai pendidikan karakter. Tetapi yang masih umum diterapkan mengenai pendidikan karakter ini masih pada taraf jenjang pendidikan pra sekolah (taman bermain dan taman kanak-kanak). sementara pada jenjang sekolah dasar dan seterusnya masih sangat-sangat jarang sekali. kurikulum pendidikan di Indonesia masih belum menyentuh aspek karakter ini, meskipun ada pelajaran pancasila, kewarganegaraan dan semisalnya, tapi itu masih sebatas teori dan tidak dalam tataran aplikatif. Padahal jika Indonesia ingin memperbaiki mutu SDM dan segera bangkit dari ketinggalannya, maka indonesia harus merombak istem pendidikan yang ada saat ini.

Mungkin banyak yang bertanya-tanya sebenarnya apa sih dampak pendidikan karakter terhadap keberhasilan akademik? Beberapa penelitian bermunculan untuk menjawab pertanyaan ini. Ringkasan dari beberapa penemuan penting mengenai hal ini diterbitkan oleh sebuah buletin, Character Educator, yang diterbitkan oleh Character Education Partnership. Dalam buletin tersebut diuraikan bahwa hasil studi Dr. Marvin Berkowitz dari University of Missouri- St. Louis, menunjukan peningkatan motivasi siswa sekolah dalam meraih prestasi akademik pada sekolah-sekolah yang menerapkan pendidikan karakter. Kelas-kelas yang secara komprehensif terlibat dalam pendidikan karakter menunjukan penurunan drastis pada perilaku negatif siswa yang dapat menghambat keberhasilan akademik.

Pendidikan karakter adalah pendidikan budi pekerti plus, yaitu yang melibatkan aspek pengetahuan (cognitive), perasaan (feeling), dan tindakan (action). Menurut Thomas Lickona, tanpa ketiga aspek ini, maka pendidikan karakter tidak akan efektif, dan pelaksanaannya pun harus dilakukan secara sistematis dan berkelanjutan.

Dengan pendidikan karakter, seorang anak akan menjadi cerdas emosinya. Kecerdasan emosi adalah bekal terpenting dalam mempersiapkan anak menyongsong masa depan, karena dengannya seseorang akan dapat berhasil dalam menghadapi segala macam tantangan, termasuk tantangan untuk berhasil secara akademis.

Sebuah buku yang baru terbit berjudul Emotional Intelligence and School Success (Joseph Zins, et.al, 2001) mengkompilasikan berbagai hasil penelitian tentang pengaruh positif kecerdasan emosi anak terhadap keberhasilan di sekolah. Dikatakan bahwa ada sederet faktor-faktor resiko penyebab kegagalan anak di sekolah. Faktor-faktor resiko yang disebutkan ternyata bukan terletak pada kecerdasan otak, tetapi pada karakter, yaitu rasa percaya diri, kemampuan bekerja sama, kemampuan bergaul, kemampuan berkonsentrasi, rasa empati, dan kemampuan berkomunikasi.

Hal ini sesuai dengan pendapat Daniel Goleman tentang keberhasilan seseorang di masyarakat, ternyata 80 persen dipengaruhi oleh kecerdasan emosi, dan hanya 20 persen ditentukan oleh kecerdasan otak (IQ). Anak-anak yang mempunyai masalah dalam kecerdasan emosinya, akan mengalami kesulitan belajar, bergaul dan tidak dapat mengontrol emosinya. Anak-anak yang bermasalah ini sudah dapat dilihat sejak usia pra-sekolah, dan kalau tidak ditangani akan terbawa sampai usia dewasa. Sebaliknya para remaja yang berkarakter atau mempunyai kecerdasan emosi tinggi akan terhindar dari masalah-masalah umum yang dihadapi oleh remaja seperti kenakalan, tawuran, narkoba, miras, perilaku seks bebas, dan sebagainya.

Pendidikan karakter di sekolah sangat diperlukan, walaupun dasar dari pendidikan karakter adalah di dalam keluarga. Kalau seorang anak mendapatkan pendidikan karakter yang baik dari keluarganya, anak tersebut akan berkarakter baik selanjutnya. Namun banyak orang tua yang lebih mementingkan aspek kecerdasan otak ketimbang pendidikan karakter.

Selain itu Daniel Goleman juga mengatakan bahwa banyak orang tua yang gagal dalam mendidik karakter anak-anaknya entah karena kesibukan atau karena lebih mementingkan aspek kognitif anak. Namun ini semua dapat dikoreksi dengan memberikan pendidikan karakter di sekolah. Namun masalahnya, kebijakan pendidikan di Indonesia juga lebih mementingkan aspek kecerdasan otak, dan hanya baru-baru ini saja pentingnya pendidikan budi pekerti menjadi bahan pembicaraan ramai. Ada yang mengatakan bahwa kurikulum pendidikan di Indonesia dibuat hanya cocok untuk diberikan pada 10-20 persen otak-otak terbaik. Artinya sebagian besar anak sekolah (80-90 persen) tidak dapat mengikuti kurikulum pelajaran di sekolah. Akibatnya sejak usia dini, sebagian besar anak-anak akan merasa “bodoh” karena kesulitan menyesuaikan dengan kurikulum yang ada. Ditambah lagi dengan adanya sistem ranking yang telah “memvonis” anak-anak yang tidak masuk “10 besar”, sebagai anak yang kurang pandai. Sistem seperti ini tentunya berpengaruh negatif terhadap usaha membangun karakter, dimana sejak dini anak-anak justru sudah “dibunuh” rasa percaya dirinya. Rasa tidak mampu yang berkepanjangan yang akan membentuk pribadi yang tidak percaya diri, akan menimbulkan stress berkepanjangan. Pada usia remaja biasanya keadaan ini akan mendorong remaja berperilaku negatif. Maka, tidak heran kalau kita lihat perilaku remaja kita yang senang tawuran, terlibat kriminalitas, putus sekolah, dan menurunnya mutu lulusan SMP dan SMU.

Jadi, pendidikan karakter atau budi pekerti plus adalah suatu yang urgent untuk dilakukan. Kalau kita peduli untuk meningkatkan mutu lulusan SD, SMP dan SMU, maka tanpa pendidikan karakter adalah usaha yang sia-sia. Kami ingin mengutip kata-kata bijak dari pemikir besar dunia.

Mahatma Gandhi memperingatkan tentang salah satu tujuh dosa fatal, yaitu “education without character”(pendidikan tanpa karakter).

Dr. Martin Luther King juga pernah berkata: “Intelligence plus character….that is the goal of true education” (Kecerdasan plus karakter….itu adalah tujuan akhir dari pendidikan sebenarnya).

Juga Theodore Roosevelt yang mengatakan: “To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society” (Mendidik seseorang dalam aspek kecerdasan otak dan bukan aspek moral adalah ancaman mara-bahaya kepada masyarakat)..

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Posted in: good teacher,guru,karakter,murid,Pendidikan,Pendidikan karakter,peserta didik,siswa,teaching

How To Be A Good English Teacher?

I will ask you to try to remember all the teachers you have had, all of them, from kindergarten until university. Surely you have had that kind of teacher who just gave the number of the pages of the book that you had to copy on your notebook, probably you also remember that teacher who was a human encyclopedia, or that teacher who put everybody to sleep in every class with a boring monologue, or maybe you had that teacher who supported and advised you when you had a problem, now think which one of them is the best for a student, the teacher who transmitted you his knowledge or that one who advice you in your doubts and personal problems.
Now a days, being a good English teacher is a really challenge, because transmitting knowledge to students is not the only goal of a teacher, there are too many aspects and values that a teacher may encourage to students. Teacher profession is not like others such carpenter or mechanic, being teacher is more difficult because a teacher does not work with wood or cars, a teacher works with people.
This entire means that good teachers have to be those two kinds of teachers that I mentioned before: the human encyclopedia and that teacher who advices a student when he needs it, because a student will never learn if he is distracted thinking about some personal problem he has. That is why teachers have to try to help the students to solve their problems.
Obviously transmitting knowledge and ideas to students still being the main goal of a teacher, but he also has to work the psychological, psychical and social aspects, in order to make his students learn better. Good teachers know their students very well, and they know what kind of intelligence each one has in order to know which teaching method apply.

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Posted in: English,good teacher,learning,teaching