Name: Trisia  Angela B. Bengua 

Course: BEED 2 

Technology and Teaching Learning 1

1.Now that you have an idea of what the 21st century skills are, how would you be incorporating them in your classes? Provide a situation where you can best apply the four skills (Communication Skills, Learning and Innovation Skills, Information, Media and Technology Skills, Life and Career Skills) and the 4 C’s of 21st Century Skills (Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration, Communication). One situation each, that makes 8 situations all in all.

⚜️Communication skills- communication is one of the most important skills they can use or use in life. it also includes interpersonal, and collaboration with other people.effective in word formation, correct pronunciation, spelling and even in interpreting the meaning of the word. 

⚜️Learning and Innovation Skills- innovation skills is an asset in the workplace because they enable you to solve problems and advance knowledge in your field. Investing in your own innovation skills can help you become a competitive applicant for top positions and promote your career success.

⚜️Information- Studies have shown that feeling a sense of accomplishment is an important element in students developing positive wellbeing over time.

⚜️Media and technology skills- it refers to technological proficiency. We are in a time of continuous development and growth of science and technology because it is necessary for students to know how to use it when they can keep up with the trend of time in our current ratio because it is one of the most important things in today's time.

⚜️Life and career skills- it is necessary in life that the person has the ability to have a wise decision that will help himself, his family or community and the society that he is because the 21st Century skills must be learned to prepare the students and for them to succeed in life and career in the time we are in.

2.In your own words, discuss how technology serves as a tutor, a teaching tool, and a learning tool.

⚜️For me, technology in today's time is very important because it is one of the ways for students to better understand what is being taught and here it is shown in the clear discussion of their subjects and it is used in all schools and other others can use it. In this day and age, it is easier for students to study because all students have technology that they use and this is also a truth messenger that they can use just by sending their topic to gc for review, unlike in the past generation. He experienced writing on the black board or on manila paper and we would also write so that we could use a reviewer back then so it was very difficult at that time when technology did not exist and it was not yet popular or known how to use it. so take care of the technologies to further expand what we can learn from them.

THE VIRTUAL STUDENT

The truth is, a student who’s fully geared with high speed gadgets is not enough to say that he/she is completely ready for online classes if his/her mind is unprepared. Same with the student who’s self and mind is fully ready but doesn’t have enough gadget to use for online classes. What more for a student with both unprepared self and lack of gadgets?

The quick shifting from face-to-face classes to Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is a kind of cultural shock for me. No more seatmates, no more hugs with friends and classmates and most of all no more fun on non-verbal interactions. All of these now are happening in place called “Virtual Classroom”, where all interactions and communications are done in a computer networking structures. Although I am already used to utilize the internet to connect with my teachers and classmates, it is still difficult in the case where 24 hours with no face-to-face interaction at all. Being habituated of a teacher teaching in class, it is very difficult to maintain focus only on the given e-learning materials. At some point, sometimes, I don’t read anymore the links and resources given to me. I thought that online classes would be that easy because we are already freely to access different resources on the internet, but information overload is the backlash. I am also having the difficulty to reach out my classmates whenever there are group activities and collaborative works. I was in the situation where I thought that he/she might have trouble in the internet connection or maybe no care at all. Enrolling online classes is big responsibility to take and being independent is the key to perform and learn well.

Both of the teachers and the students are having difficulty in this online class. The first weeks of the class is not yet that heavy because the teachers and the faculties need to work on the online payments, online registrations and the e-learning platform where the virtual classes will took place. As the classes continued, it seems like the days that were used for the preparation and other concerns cut the days where we can do the requirements. Now, we are already rushing on passing the requirements. Some subjects gave too much of requirements in a short period of time or near deadline. Being at home is not being confortable to take online classes. There are many chores to do and also need to help my parents. The environment at home is also somehow disturbing and it diverts my focus and attention in taking the online class. That’s why, I used the night time to finish my requirements and video myself for presentation requirements, because night time is more quiet. The struggle only is, I am already lacking of sleep and I have to wake up early to check on my 7:30am classes, because sometimes our instructor is checking our attendance. The hardest part in taking online classes is the connection and lack of enough gadgets. I am only using data in order to connect on the internet. Yes I am already connected, but the signal is too low for processing of uploading and downloading of videos. It is really difficult in times when we have to make an online report video and the uploading process takes time. I only have a cellphone and a net book that most of the times does lagging whenever there are too much processing to do. I can’t also use my netbook to edit videos because it processes to slow, so, I just use my phone but the storage is too low. Also, difficulty arises for some activities with unclear instructions. There are also times that I can’t connect with my instructor and they don’t reply in some concerns given to them. The asynchronous classes is somehow really difficult because I can’t tell if when will the teacher to reach out and sometimes we are given activities after the designated time for the subject. Another concern is that when the teacher didn’t give much of the explanations on the topics and we are not sure if we are doing the right thing. Also, I suggest that the teacher will give feedback on our requirements for us to know if we did well or we have some mistakes to improve on.

These challenges that I experienced during these online classes did really trained me to be resourceful, courage, independent and more responsible. This kind of classes is more of on self-learning. The provided e-learning materials are considered not useful if we don’t utilize it very well. I learned to manage my time properly in finishing my requirements, however, sometimes, my gadget s can’t perform well that’s why I submitted some of my requirement after the given due date. I have also developed my leadership skills while in a collaborative work. I learned how to manage my members and work with them as smoothly as possible. Learning to be considerate and understanding my classmates who are in difficult to give contributions because of their unstable connection. It is such an achievement when I can perform well in a given task and acquire high scores out of it.

Learning in online class is much more than learning in an actual class. Being able to realize that being enrolled in an online class and still continuing my studies is a privilege that needs to be taken seriously. The missing of the outdoor activities and outside world is not easy, but this opportunity given by technological advancements is a blessing to us. I have learned to take the risk to be able to grow and develop. This is the time where we really need to take some risk on depending on technological advancements because there is a possibility that at the future, online classes will already be the norm of education system. There will be such time that, we will be 24 hours connected through the internet and use Computer Mediated communication as a means of our interpersonal communication. This shifting of classes helps us to be ready in the future where technologies will already be dominant in our daily lives. We can’t control what will the future brings but we can control what self we should bring in the future.

1001 Brand Story | Lotus Speech 莲花演说

writen by ZHOU Junjun

edictor XIANG Hongjin

//

第一个故事

男人拖着疲倦回到家，妻子问：“怎么这么晚回来？是不是外面有人了？”

男人忽然感到非常愤怒地对妻子说：“你怎么这么不理解我？”

第二天，他们去民政局换了一本证……

First story

The man dragged home tiredly, his wife asked, "Why are you back so late? Is there someone outside?"

The man suddenly felt very angry and said to his wife, "Why don't you understand me so much?"

The next day, they went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to exchange for a certificate ...

 第二个故事

课后，老师对学生说：“如果再是这个成绩，我会劝你转校了，跟上你会很吃力。”

回家，母亲拿着试卷恨铁不成钢地指责孩子说：“再过一年高考了，你看你该怎么办，你看考得上哪个学校，你看你将来该怎么办！怎么这么不争气呢。”

晚间补习，补习老师说：“怎么教了这么多遍，你就是做不对呢？”

当晚，学生从补习老师家一跃而下，当场死亡，他才十六岁……

Second story

After the class, the teacher said to the students, "If it is this grade again, I will advise you to transfer to school. It will be difficult to keep up with you."

Going home, the mother accused the child with a test paper hating iron and steel, saying, "After another year of college entrance examination, what do you think you should do, which school you can take, and what you will do in the future! Why not Fight for it. "

In the evening, the tutor said, "Why did you learn it so many times that you just didn't do it right?"

That night, the student jumped from the tutor's home and died on the spot. He was only 16 years old ...

 第三个故事

十年寒窗苦读，他是有名的学霸，名企招聘会上，面试官对他说：“介绍下你自己。”

他说：“啊……嗯……我……我叫……”

面试官说：“对不起，请下一位。”

走出门，他靠着墙蹲下，把简历撕得粉碎……

Third story

After ten years of hard study, he was a well-known school bull. At interviews with famous companies, the interviewer told him, "Introduce yourself."

He said, "Ah ... um ... I ... I'm ..."

The interviewer said, "I'm sorry, please next."

Stepping out of the door, he crouched against the wall, tearing his resume to pieces ...

 第四个故事

团队准备整整一月，精心编制各种节目，终于迎来了万众期待的年会。

董事长在员工热情的掌声中缓步走上讲台，举起话筒方才发觉演讲稿落在座位上，他望着台下黑压压的人群，一双双亮晶晶的眼睛，忽然觉得呼吸急促，头冒冷汗，双脚发抖……

他不禁往讲台中间挪了挪，这一挪，却不小心把话筒掉到了地上，台下一下子热闹起来，传来闷声的笑声。

他完全慌了神，已不记得演讲稿的内容，有些尴尬地弯下腰捡起话筒咳了两声说：“哈哈，大家，吃好，喝好！谢谢！”

然后像逃荒般地窜下台回到座位，连忙拿起纸巾擦拭满头汗水，剧烈的心跳声在耳畔久久不能散去……

Fourth story

The team prepared for a whole month, carefully compiled various programs, and finally ushered in the much-anticipated annual meeting.

The chairman slowly walked up to the podium with the warm applause of the employees, and raised the microphone before he realized that the speech fell on the seat. He looked at the crowd under the stage, his bright eyes, and suddenly felt shortness of breath and cold sweat on his head. Your feet are shaking ...

He couldn't help but move to the middle of the podium, but this accidentally dropped the microphone to the ground, and the audience burst into excitement and heard a muffled laughter.

He was completely panicked, and could not remember the contents of the speech. He bent down a bit awkwardly, picked up the microphone and coughed twice: "Haha, everyone, eat well, drink well! Thank you!"

Then fleeing from the stage like a flee, returning to the seat, quickly picking up a tissue and wiping sweat, the intense heartbeat can't disappear for a long time in my ears ...

 第五个故事

商业路演现场，他拿着一个团队整整一个月不眠不休做出的商业计划书，已经有20万高粘度粉丝，信心十足。

当话筒递到他手上，投资人说：“请用三句话说明你的项目。”

他说：“呃……我们做的是……是……”

投资人说：“谢谢，请下一位。”

他黯然坐下，合作伙伴们都黯然低下了头，拍了拍他的肩膀，起身离去……

Fifth story

At the commercial roadshow, he held a team of business plans that he had been working on for a whole month, and had 200,000 high-viscosity fans with confidence.

When the microphone was passed to him, the investor said, "Please explain your project in three sentences."

He said, "Uh ... what we do is ... yes ..."

The investor said, "Thank you, please next."

He sat down sadly, the partners all bowed their heads sadly, patted his shoulder, got up and left ...

 第六个故事

古有贾诩一句话引起百年战乱，亦有张仪三寸不烂之舌抵百万雄狮。

历史由人演绎，社会由人诠释，生活由人改变。

今天，当我们面对各种繁琐，各种误解，各种质疑，各种矛盾，各种委屈，我们都说，这是人造成的。

蓦然回首，三省吾身，这是——沟通——造成的！

Sixth story

In the ancient times, Jia Yi's words caused a hundred years of war, and Zhang Yi's three-inch non-rotten tongue arrived at a million male lions.

History is interpreted by people, society is interpreted by people, and life is changed by people.

Today, when we face all kinds of tedious, all kinds of misunderstandings, all kinds of doubts, all kinds of contradictions, all kinds of grievances, we all say that this is caused by people.

Suddenly looking back, the three provinces are my body, this is-communication-caused!

 第N个故事

..........

Nth story

..........

“莲花演说”源自“舌灿莲花，口吐莲花”，主要形容人口才好，口齿伶俐，能言善道，有如莲花般的美妙。莲花，也有纯洁，正直，吉祥之意。古月今心取“莲花演说”，意其一是人若有纯洁正直的心，逢人多说吉祥的话，这样人们便会心生欢喜，人事顺利，性格也就乐观包容，命运也就更加舒顺。意其二，公众演说，能够能言善道，犹如莲花般的美妙。

The "lotus speech" originates from "tongue lotus, spit lotus". It mainly describes the population, is articulate, can speak well, and is as beautiful as a lotus. Lotus also means purity, integrity, and auspiciousness. Gu Yuejin took the "lotus speech". One of the reasons is that if people have a pure and upright heart and say auspicious words every time, people will rejoice in their hearts, things will be smooth, their personality will be optimistic and tolerant, and their destiny will be even more. Shushun. Secondly, public speeches can speak kindly, just like a lotus flower.

 在这个科技日新月异的时代，移动互联网深入到我们生活的方方面面，改变了我们的社交方式，看似缩短了人与人之间的距离。恰恰相反的是，而今“人际交往”却成为大家津津乐道的话题，人们热衷学习“情商”，“智商”，“处理人际关系”。

In this rapidly changing age of technology, mobile Internet has penetrated into every aspect of our lives, changed the way we socialize, and seems to shorten the distance between people. On the contrary, "interpersonal communication" has become a topic that everyone talks about. People are keen to learn "EQ", "IQ", and "handling interpersonal relationships".

 古月今心说，从他帮助的几千位因公众演说有障碍的学员，他发现经常用正确的方式进行演说训练，不仅让更多的人成功的解决了公众演说障碍，还更加提高了沟通和谈判能力，连同日常人际关系也有积极改善。而今，古月今心已经帮助几千人因为沟通，因为演说问题而遇到困惑的人。而今，莲花演说遍布���国多个一线城市，成为中国极具影响力的互动演说训练机构，收获学员大量赞誉。

Gu Yuejinxin said that from the thousands of trainees who have difficulty with public speaking, he found that often speaking training in the right way not only allows more people to successfully solve public speaking obstacles, but also improves Communication and negotiation skills, along with daily interpersonal relationships, have also improved. Today, Gu Yuejin Xin has helped thousands of people who are confused because of communication and speech problems. Nowadays, Lotus speeches have spread across many first-tier cities across the country, and have become China's most influential interactive speech training institutions, receiving a lot of praise from students.

 古月今心过去十二年，把自己的全部心血和精力专注于沟通、演说事业，未来，他将一如既往……他只是希望能够帮更多人解决沟通问题，让他们不会再因为沟通问题失去家庭，不会因为沟通问题失去机会，不会因为沟通问题失去自信，不会因为沟通问题铸就大错后悔终生。

For the past twelve years, Gu Yuejinxin has devoted all his efforts and energy to the cause of communication and speaking. In the future, he will continue as always ... He just hopes to help more people solve communication problems so that they will not be affected by communication problems If you lose your family, you will not lose opportunities because of communication problems, you will not lose confidence because of communication problems, and you will not regret your life because of communication problems.

 沟通，让你学会怎么好好生活；沟通，让你学会怎么面对他人；沟通，让你学会怎么认识自己；沟通，让你学会怎样把握机会；沟通，改变命运，演讲，改变人生……古月今心说：人一生，学会好好说话，你会发现满是惊喜 。 提升演讲，做一个懂得一对多、一对一沟通的人。

Communication lets you learn how to live well; communication lets you learn how to face others; communication lets you learn how to know yourself; communication lets you learn how to grasp opportunities; communication, changes fate, lectures, changes life ... Gu Yue Jinxin said: In your life, learn to speak well, you will find it full of surprises. Improve the presentation and be a person who understands one-to-many and one-to-one communication.

Service-Learning(S-L) Post Reflection

The specific outcome of this Service-Learning program is for us IT students to make good use of our IT skills learnt in life and apply them in solving real-world issues. In this case, by teaching a group of senior citizens the effective ways of utilizing a smartphone. This program also brings awareness to how the government is active and determined in promoting ‘Silver-IT’ and a “SMART-nation”, as well as allowing us students to have a personal experience with the elderly community.

The program was held at Radin Mas Community Centre in the month of April and May. There were many parties involved in supporting this wide-scale event, and distinguished guests who played a huge role in providing monetary resources to kick-start the event. Representatives from corporations like Huawei and Singtel were present and the Member of Parliament for Radin Mas was also there. Along with student volunteers and lecturers from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. It was then I felt really fortunate and happy that there are so many people who are willing to step out and support such initiatives to help those who are less fortunate and does not have the ease of access to technology.

What we did

This S-L consist of many sessions, where we only partook in two of which. The role I had in this event is to teach and guide the elderly to utilize the functions of their smartphones. The lesson plan was pre-designed to cater to covering the most crucial functions that an elderly can use. Each of us was assigned to a specific function and we would plan accordingly. The session would be like a lecture where a presenter is Infront presenting the slides and students would have a 1-to-1 interaction with the elderly to guide them and answer their doubts.

The elderly were split into the English-speaking and Chinese-speaking classes as this would cater to their individual lingual needs. Being born in a Chinese-speaking family, I felt obligated to help out at the Chinese-speaking class as they were lacking student helpers. However, I am not as proficient in explaining in Chinese especially technical terms like ‘operating systems’, than in my conversational skills. I could not risk and hope that my conversational skills would suffice as this would show that we students are unprofessional. So, the night before the first session, I took some time to look at the slides that my class has prepared. The presentation slides contain explanation and step-by-step instructions that were translated into both Chinese and English language.

In the midst of the lesson, I got a glimpse of my peers in the classroom and many of them were either laughing or smiling. The delight we got from the interaction with the elderly sure brought a grin to our faces. Everything seemed fun-filled and soon, I did not feel like I had a job to do. I was just enjoying every moment of it.

The elderly I was attached to was an elderly man in his 60s. He came along with his wife who was assigned to my friend behind me. He had smoky-grey hair with wrinkled creased skin. However, he was as energetic as if he was 22-year-old. At first, he was patient with my teaching. But halfway through the session, he wanted me to teach him only what he wanted to know, such as using the smartphone to answer calls, reply texts and phone configurations. To my surprise, he was not interested in other functions like apps such as WhatsApp or the Internet Explorer. The most amusing thing that happened was towards the end of the session. What he did was he whipped out his flip-phone and said: “This is so much simpler than what you’re teaching me now”. I was a little bit turned off at the moment as the lesson has gone on for about 2 hours now but in the end, he was not interested. The way he expressed himself was very calm and peaceful. As he showed me how he would call with his flip-phone, it indeed seemed much simpler than calling with a smartphone. Honestly, I was very impressed as the user interface seemed more simple and friendly than an average smartphone. Functions, like messaging others and saving people’s contacts, were also much faster and simpler. That was then I had to agree with him that his flip-phone was much simpler and more optimized for usage of most elderly. It was then I have accepted the fact that not every elderly would be interested in using a smartphone and sometimes the smartphone seems too complex for the elderly to want to use it.

 Academic Learning

As student helpers in this Service-Learning, there are a certain degree of skill and sets of skills that are required to successfully execute our plan to teach the elderly. Some skills that I feel are mandatory includes interpersonal skills, digital literacy and the ability to manage diversity. These are skills that are essential to fulfill the technical nature of this event, which is having knowledge of technology and specifically the use of a smartphone. The event is also catered to the ‘elderly’ age group, specifically those that belong to a low-income household. Some topics are more sensitive to the elderly, such as children and their financial status. Due to the large age difference, there will be age gaps and thus we have to avoid saying or doing things that may make them label you as ‘unprofessional’ or ‘rude’. This is where interpersonal skills come in place. I feel that our role is primarily to teach the elderly how to use a smartphone and secondarily to promote the importance of Information Technology in our lives. Areas of IT such as e-payment, information confidentiality, and crime-prevention affect almost all of us in Singapore. I used all this information learnt in school to educate them and bring awareness to IT vulnerabilities so that they can be safe when using social media services or e-commerce applications. For example, I taught them how we can identify risky websites that can steal personal information.

 The senior citizens have generally learnt what I intended to teach. Although there was a lesson plan that includes topics like shopping online (which involves connecting their bank account) and setting internet-banking apps like Paylah!, I was still very concern with the elderly having too much access to their money. This is my personal concern as there have been a handful of senior citizens who have been scammed of large amounts of money as they were unaware of how IT can be manipulated to exploit monetary and sexual gains from its victims. However, I did ask the elderly I was teaching whether she would like to learn all these things. She refused with an astounding ‘NO!’ as she was also aware of the danger that e-payment brings. The senior did learn the more important things like downloading applications onto the phone and how to manage their mobile data. I made sure the elderly would remember what I taught her by reiterating my points and after demonstrating a function, I would ask her to do the same action to use the functionalities.

If I were to rate on how well I have applied my skills to teaching the elderly, I would gladly give it an 8/10. Initially, I chose to study IT as the aspects of it is extremely dynamic and it appeals to me. In my daily life, I picked up very important life-skills that cannot be learnt from normal lectures in the classroom. These skills would be essential in the working industry.  I was able to solve all of the problems that the senior citizen had. I also included in my teaching what could potentially improve their usage of smartphones. I focused mainly on security, like how public Wi-Fi hotspots can steal information unknowingly and how to set strong passwords for their phones and accounts. Overall, I felt that the senior I taught had learnt a lot as I could infer that her knowledge on the smartphone was getting stronger every minute as she was soon giving examples and small details to her questions. Although I did not follow the lesson plan exactly, I was still able to cover other topics that I had.

 Personal growth (Particularly in gratitude)

During the experience, I felt hopeful and fulfilled. It is amazing to know that you have the potential to drastically improve the lives of the senior citizens though tech-enabled solutions. Despite the fact that they may not find the teaching helpful, hosting of such an event will promote the message that technology does not exclude anyone because even the less-privileged has the rights and opportunity to gain access to common technologies like a smartphone. Previously, I have assumed that technology can help everyone to make their life easier and interesting by giving them information on everything available. I have never really considered the harm and disadvantages that technology can bring to its victims when used by people with bad intentions. My general perception and stereotype on the elderly remained the same. Not all elderly will be versatile enough to switch from their traditional flip phone to an advanced smartphone. However, most of them are receptive to exploring technology to increase their standards of living.

Through this service, I have learnt the most important value from them, life-long learning. Firstly, I was quite shocked to see the number of senior participants who attended the sessions. This proved that they were kin to come down and learn something that is so foreign to them. I was genuinely impressed by how participative the seniors were during the 1-to-1 session. Their questions were in-depth and I almost couldn’t keep up with their enthusiasm. If I were in their position, I would probably be satisfied with my life and would not attend such an enrichment programme. Thus, I really admire how hungry-for-knowledge the seniors were throughout the whole event.

 Gratitude

To me, gratitude is a value I hold very dear to my heart. It is how we appreciate what is given to us and hopefully, we are able to give back and share the joy from it. In this case, I am firstly thankful to my lecturers and peers. Without them, this Service-Learning would not have taken place and us student would not have been able to learn so much. Most importantly, I want to thank the organizers who were so generous. Huawei sponsoring tens of thousands of dollar worth of smartphones and Singtel coming down to provide free SIM-cards to the elderly. In an increasingly competitive society, it is becoming more difficult to have the heart to contribute especially in terms of money and actions. I am also grateful to the seniors who participated so actively and try their best to learn as much as they can.

 I think someone can show more gratitude through 3 different ways. First, a word of praise. To be thankful to someone for being positive or helpful by saying “Hi, I think you did very well today and I’m proud of you!” Words may be simple but a single praise can make someone’s day. Second, through actions. We can impact someone the most by showing our appreciation to them. Showing gratitude is not necessary through the mean of rewarding them. It can be as simple as bringing food from the snacks station to the elderly so they do not have to travel much if not convenient. Then thank them for coming today. Such small actions may even make an impact on someone’s lives forever. Third, I feel that this is where gratitude starts from. To mentally acknowledge those who helped you. Even if you are too shy to show appreciation, knowing that the person did a good thing for you is as good. The first step to solving a problem is to identify it. This can be shown by how I was helped by many strangers before. Although I could not show my appreciation as much, I can carry forward the gratitude and help more in need.

In my personal life, I can show the same gratefulness to my friends, family or even colleagues. Things like working hard in life to make my parents proud for working so hard to provide for my 3 other siblings and I. Thanking my friends for patiently guiding me in my academics when I needed it. The most grateful person I know is definitely my mother as well as other parents out there. Our parents had to invest so much time, effort and money to raise us and they never ask for any rewards for it. They view us as a gift in their lives and not a burden. They show so much thankfulness and gratitude for having us that they can selflessly slave their lives away in a 9 to 5 job for half of their lives, all to nurture us.

 I feel that Ngee Ann Poly is not doing a good job in teaching the value of gratitude to the students. There are almost no events or platform for students to show our gratitude or to still gratitude. Even if there are, the information is sent to our email which is often ignored. The culture is to the extent where teachers and students would not even know one another’s name by the end of the term. Ngee Ann Poly can teach the value by simply introducing platforms that allow students to show their appreciation to teachers. Such as booths set up by volunteers where students passing by can write a small note with positive messages to the specific teachers. This can also be done by making it mandatory for a session between the student mentor and the students. However, I feel that being grateful to others is not as easily instilled into students. It requires constant visible efforts to develop the culture of appreciating and giving back.

 Civic Learning

From the seniors’ sharing of their life stories, I learnt more about the thoughts of the elderly in Singapore. In the sense of their daily needs and activities and how they spend most of their time. I also learnt to be a good listening ear as some of us may not be as interested in listening to what they have to say about their past but we have to understand that they share their personal experiences with us because they want us to learn to not take things for granted.

 I feel that the venue, Radin Mas Community Centre was a perfect place to hold the Service-Learning due to the abundant facilities and it is located near the residential areas. Fortunately, due to much support from the government and society, such an event was able to run smoothly. The background-end of the entire event was very smooth which brought ease to the execution on the actual day, thanks to the volunteers and staffs at Radin Mas CC. Events like this are the perfect opportunities like elderly and families can gather and spend their weekends wisely, through fun-filled and enriching activities.

  Conclusion

As a result of completing this reflection, I learnt that we should all be grateful for what we have and what is given to us. Hearing life stories of seniors who reflected on how when they were our age, they had nothing no technology at all for entertainment purposes. This really reminded me to not take what is given to us for granted. This matters a lot as it is the most important thing society needs to develop to achieve peace and graciousness. In the future, I hope to be able to look into more events like this that helps enrich the lives of others and maybe participate as volunteers so as to see the smile on the faces of people you’ve helped once again.

“The PBL Playbook” and How PBL can Help You Innovate Inside the Box

My good friend and a colleague I highly respect, AJ Juliani, is offering an opportunity to get a copy of his book, “The PBL Playbook” by paying shipping and handling only.  AJ does some incredible work, and I love his blog, and this is a great way to dive deeper into Project Based Learning.  If you are interested, you can order your copy here:

The PBL Playbook – by AJ Juliani

If you want a sample of AJ’s work, here is a post where AJ shows how PBL can help you “innovate inside the box” by providing students exceptional opportunities for deep and empowered learning, while still preparing students to do well within the traditional constraints of school.

Check out his post below.

I was worried the first time I tried a project-based learning unit with my students. As a young teacher, I had prided myself on running a challenging class and had focused much of my attention on getting my students prepared for what we were both going to be assessed on: the test.

I was not doing test prep. I didn’t believe that giving students sample test questions would make them do any better on our state standardized scores (and still don’t).

Yet, I was actively trying to match my lessons and activities to what they would be assessed on later down the road. I thought that this was best practice, and would benefit us both as they would be ready to tackle challenging questions (in any format) as we got towards the end of the school year.

Heading into our first true project-based learning unit, I wondered whether my students would learn as much as they did when I was teaching in more traditional methods.

I wondered if they would have more fun and balk at going back to those traditional tasks.

But, deep down, what I really worried about (if I’m being honest with myself), is how their results on the standardized test would reflect on me as a teacher.

And I don’t think I was the only teacher who felt this way…

Is Practicing the Test the Best Way to Prepare for a Test?

As author Jay McTighe states: “The logic of test prep is plausible and rooted in experience from other domains. For example, if you want to improve your performance in dribbling a basketball or piano playing, then you must practice those activities. Shouldn’t the same apply to test taking?”

I was a former athlete and was a football and lacrosse coach during my time as a middle school and high school English/Language Arts teacher.

As a coach, I believed that winning was a byproduct (not just a goal) of the time, work, and focus the team displayed while practicing. Fundamentals, teamwork, strategy, tactics, planning, and execution all had a role in how well the team performed. But, at least we had common goals.

In the classroom, we had varying goals. Each student was different. They all had unique interests, ideas, friends, and views on what success looked like to them in school.

My goals as a teacher were fairly simple.

I wanted students to enjoy my class and find success in learning.

I wanted to challenge students and give them an opportunity to grow.

I wanted to make sure their hard work in my class showed on the learning assessments that were measured.

I say this because, maybe, just like me, you only have one or two assessments each year that are actually measured beyond your classroom walls.

And guess what?

We care about what we are measured on. We focus on it, and we try to improve it. This is not only teachers, this impacts every person in any field.

In a recent HBR article they talk about how the measures in other fields (CEOs, Medicine, Science etc) have the exact same impact:

It can’t be that simple, you might argue— but psychologists and economists will tell you it is. Human beings adjust behavior based on the metrics they’re held against. Anything you measure will impel a person to optimize his score on that metric. What you measure is what you’ll get. Period.

This phenomenon plays out time and again in research studies.

There is no way around it, except to change what we measure. Or, to change the game entirely.

I was caught up in a circle of practice that was based on some misconceptions on how to improve the metric I was judged on as a teacher. It is important to note, I was trying to do what was best for my students this entire time. I believe almost all teachers have the best interest of students, and that their practice is predicated on preparing students in any way possible.

McTighe shares the misconceptions that led me down this test prep trap as a young teacher, and what many of us commonly believe as the reasons for preparing students for a test that we don’t believe in.

Misconception #1 – The best (and only) way to improve test scores is to practice the test.

Here McTighe shares an analogy of the yearly physical exam with your doctor. Although the physician examines and measures your health, spending all your time trying to prepare for this physical with practice on the strategies would not make much sense.

It would be thought silly to practice the physical exam as a way to improve one’s health. But this confusion is precisely what we see in schools all over North America. Local educators, fearful of results, focus on the indicators, not their causes. The format of the test misleads us, in other words.

Misconception #2 – Standardized test items involve primarily recall and recognition, and thus drill and practice will be the most effective method to prepare students for them.

Grant Wiggins (2013) points out the flaw in this reasoning: “Even though the test format requires a selected response, it does not mean that the tested knowledge is necessarily simple. The [format] deceives you into thinking that since you are mimicking the format of the test, you are therefore mimicking the rigor of the test. But data show the opposite conclusively: local tests are often less rigorous than state and national tests even when they mimic the format.”

Too often, the information revealed by test prep exercises identifies whether students have chosen the “correct” answer rather than helping teachers determine if they have a conceptual understanding of the underlying concepts and skills and can apply (transfer) those.

How I Got Out of The Test Prep Trap with PBL

It started small.

First, I started to notice how disengaged my students were in class. Despite my efforts to use technology, create fun learning activities, and challenge my students…I was failing them in many ways.

They cared more about getting a GRADE and playing the GAME of school than they did about learning. When I looked at the research it was clear that it was not just my class (and my students) that were showing signs of apathy.

In a recent article by Scott Mcleod on Dangerously Irrelevant, he shared results available from the annual Gallup poll of middle and high school students (over 920,000 students participated last fall). Here are a couple of key charts that Scott made from the data:

Interestingly enough, it seems that our students know this is happening. They know that they and their peers are often bored in school.

This was when I first started with project-based learning. It was a natural attempt at doing school differently, so my students might become engaged. At this point, I had nothing to lose.

My co-teacher and I taught our symbolism unit using an activity where students would create “junk sculptures” to represent characters, scenes, emotions, and much more through their creation. Our transfer goal was having them discuss in roundtables how the authors use the words on the page in the same way.

We got students talking during class, in real ways. Discussion games, fishbowl activities, and symposiums focused on their analysis out in the open, instead of trapped on the centered lines of a worksheet.

We changed our assessment of the human rights and genocide unit from being a letter to a state senator to developing, creating, and running an awareness campaign that would reach our community and people all across the country.

With each of the changes, my confidence grew as a teacher. With each new project, my students’ confidence also grew in their ability to critically think, problem solve, and create in authentic ways.

And they were not doing worse on standardized assessments. They did better.

They were not missing pieces of content that we could not cover because of lost time to the project. They were going deeper.

The Research Supports PBL Approach to Achievement

I wasn’t the only one finding out how wrong I had been about Project Based Learning. Everywhere I turned I started to see articles, journal reviews, and videos of teachers around the world who had seen their students achieve at high levels when moving from a traditional teaching approach to a PBL approach.

When Edutopia came out with this overview of the research around PBL I nodded my head at the results:

Studies comparing learning outcomes for students taught via project-based learning versus traditional instruction show that when implemented well, PBL increases long-term retention of content, helps students perform as well as or better than traditional learners in high-stakes tests, improves problem-solving and collaboration skills, and improves students’ attitudes towards learning (Strobel & van Barneveld, 2009; Walker & Leary, 2009). PBL can also provide an effective model for whole-school reform (National Clearinghouse for Comprehensive School Reform, 2004; Newmann & Wehlage, 1995).

A 2016 MDRC/Lucas Education Research literature review found that the design principles most commonly used in PBL align well with the goals of preparing students for deeper learning, higher-level thinking skills, and intra/interpersonal skills (Condliffe et al., 2016).

No longer could the argument be about how well (or poorly) students would do on standardized assessments. The research was clear. When PBL was implemented well, students thrived in traditional tests and in a wide variety of soft-skills that are crucial to development and success beyond school.

The Buck Institute for Education also put out a research summary on PBL and 21st Century competencies that states, “Project Based Learning has been shown to yield a number of benefits for students, ranging from deeper learning of academic content to stronger motivation to learn. Looking specifically at how PBL supports 21st century learning goals, we can find several promising areas, including:

Academic Achievement

21st Century Competencies

Equity

Motivation

Teacher Satisfaction

I urge you to dive into this research more here on the BIE website if you have any doubts.

If you asked any teacher, administrator, parent, school board member, student, or community member to list their top goals for an academic program, you would see achievement, 21st century competencies, equity, and motivation all at the top.

Project-based learning is shown to work in all kinds of schools, in all different grade levels, with students of varying backgrounds and abilities.

So, if this is what the research says about PBL, then why do we still have so many schools falling into the test prep trap? Why do some many teachers feel like they cannot make the jump into PBL? Why haven’t we seen a nationwide movement towards PBL as a best and effective practice for all students?

Finding the TIME for PBL When We Have to Cover So Much Material

When teachers ask me about my PBL experiences, they’ll quickly ask three questions over and over again:

How did you find the time?

What about the curriculum?

How did you assess it and make sure students were understanding content/concepts etc?

In reality, this is just one question, that I can phrase in a quick sentence:

How did you do PBL given the current constraints as a teacher in our educational system?

The issue is that we all have constraints. Are we supposed to as teachers and leaders NOT do Project Based Learning because we don’t have enough time…or can we start within the time we are given?

This isn’t a case of all or nothing.

I think teacher and author, Joy Kirr, put it perfectly in this comment:

I cannot redesign my entire school like I know you dream of. I am one teacher. I can, however, with the blessings of my administration, give 60 minutes of my week over to the students. It is TOO LITTLE time, I know. And I can’t make sure each project will change the world. But it is a start. And the lessons we all learn during this time seep into the other four hours I have with these students throughout the week, thank goodness. I don’t have numbers to show student progress. But I’m trying to create life-long learners. How do you measure that?

Project-based learning experiences give students opportunities that they would never have in school otherwise. To ME that is enough. It is enough to try this type of learning with your students. It is enough to take a risk and go beyond the curriculum.

I’d ask anyone who is criticizing PBL in the classroom to talk to the teachers and students who have had this opportunity. I’d ask them to look at what students are creating, making, and building during this time. I’d ask them to talk to the parents about their students’ attitude towards learning.

I’ve heard from so many colleagues and teachers around the country (and world) who have said this time has changed their teaching and the way they view learning.

I give two answers to the question above:

Try it for a day and see what happens. Start small and build from there.

Teach through the project, instead of using the project as an “end-of-unit” assessment that takes more time than a multiple choice test. When kids learn during the project, the time constraint goes away.

And yet, it also comes down to the school leaders. What do we praise, support, make time for, and allow as school leaders? Are we encouraging our staff and students to take risks and go beyond the traditional models of teaching and learning?

If you are a school leader, try to reflect on these four questions as a way to promote this type of learning in your school.

The First Question is: What do We Praise, Look For, and Assess?

There is famous saying I referenced earlier: “What you measure is what matters.” And this is very true in the teaching and learning world. If our schools are only successful based on standardized measures, then it is no coincidence that many focus their efforts on the performance of these measures. For our students, this tends to mean they believe handing work in on time, being compliant, and doing well on traditional assessments is what makes them a good student. It’s why a third of my 11th graders during the 20% project asked if they could just get a handout with a rubric instead of having to think for themselves on what they wanted to learn. Yet, when we change what we praise and look for in a classroom, students begin to adjust what matters. When we praise failure, look for grit, and assess the process (instead of only the final product) then students are empowered to share their work and grow as learners in a variety of ways.

The Second Question is: What do We Support?

Take for instance a school that solely focuses on standardized assessments. The teachers are not supported by the administration by bringing in new ideas or curiosity to their profession. Then it is increasingly difficult for teachers to support students when they create or make. Often they’ll never get the opportunity. Yet in schools like Wissahickon (where I taught) I was supported when I wanted to try something new in the classroom. Online and global opportunities like the Flat Classroom Project weren’t looked down upon. And when my students wanted to try something outside of the box or run with a project idea, I jumped at supporting their innovative work through ideas like Project: Global Inform. Support is a key ingredient to help those new ideas actually work.

The Third Question is: What do We Make Time For?

A constant complaint I hear from teachers and students is that they don’t have enough time. It drives stress levels up, and brings innovative work to a halt when we create curricula and schedules that are jam-packed with content and pre-determined lessons. When we make time for reflection/self-assessment (look at Hattie’s work), sharing, and making/tinkering our students (and our teachers) actually go out and TRY new things.

The Fourth Question is: What do We Allow?

What we allow for in our schools and classrooms will ultimately open up avenues for new ideas to develop. If we don’t allow for inquiry, choice, collaboration, digital tools, failing, then usually only the people in charge are allowed to have ideas.

How to Teach About the Test and Learn Beyond the Test

Around the testing time, when it came to be March, there started to be a real sense of urgency in my school. Are our kids ready to take this test? Have we done our best to prepare them for this assessment? And how can we figure out ahead of time, what we need to do to get them there?

What always struck me as odd, is that we have all these tools and all this data that we can use, but we never have enough time. Instead of approaching the test as the ultimate measure of my ability to teach and my students’ ability to learn, we began to take a different approach in my classroom and school.

Our focus was not to dismiss the test but to treat it as a reality.

The conversation I used to have with my students before the test was simple:

“I want you all to try your best on this, just like in anything else you do. But you should not be waking up in the middle of the night because of these tests. You should not be coming to school nervous because of these tests.

You all, have been prepared for much greater things than these tests. The tests only show a smidgeon of your ability, not just as English students, but as human beings. So if you think that I’m going to stand up here and tell you how important these tests are, I’m not. Instead, you should treat them the same way you treat anything else. Do it to the best of your ability, and understand that everything you’ve been doing in my class has prepared you for this. But, it has also prepared you for much more than this.”

My students scored well on our state tests. Not every single student, but across the board covering minority groups, low-economic groups, and all different types of students, they scored very well. In an effort to teach above the test, I had to look at my choices as a teacher with a different viewpoint.

Our focus needs to change. We can’t hate these assessments. And we also can’t love these assessments. We need to start treating these tests for what they really are, which is just one assessment out of many that our students will have to take in life.

Their first interview for a job, that’s an assessment. The college essay they’ll have to write, that’s an assessment.

They are assessed every single day, and judged every single day, and this is just another assessment they’ll have to take in the game of life.

Is Project-Based Learning the solution to all that is wrong with our current system? No.

But, it is a start. Like so many teachers around the world jumping into PBL, I saw my students get excited about learning again. I saw my students work together with their classmates towards common goals. I saw my students struggle and fight through tough learning moments. I saw my students become leaders and push their classmates to success. I saw them reflect on what worked, what didn’t, and what they would do differently next time.

Above all, I saw my students LEARN. They demonstrated their understanding in all kinds of ways (and yes, the test was just one way). And, as a teacher, when we see our students learning, the excitement is contagious, and our creative spark continues well beyond the school day.

Wondering How to Start?

If you are wondering where to start with project-based learning, I’ve got a free guide to kick-start this type of learning in any classroom. Just enter your email below and get access to The Epic Guide to Student Ownership for free.

September 26, 2017 Incremental Innovations #IMMOOC

August 14, 2017 10 Reasons to Try Genius Hour This School Year

July 2, 2017 Preparing Learners For Anything #EmpowerBook

July 18, 2012 Lessons from Caine

October 27, 2016 Developing Innovators and Entrepreneurs

“The PBL Playbook” and How PBL can Help You Innovate Inside the Box published first on https://profitinfomastery.tumblr.com/

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Whatever you do, be sure you don't fall in the trap and begin doing some black-hat SEO techniques like cloaking or spammy backlink building, it may get you seriously penalized by Google. Unless you upgrade your own SEO strategy and just stay to traditional methods, you may find hard to push your own website pages in top ten results, and even worst, obtain penalized by Google for moving forward aggressive and forceful SEO strategies to gain ranking. The blog post of interest in order to SEOs from is this 1: 4 Search Trends That Produced Waves in 2017” This article begins using a paragraph that would certainly resonate with those who possess searched on Google (or various other search engines like google, regarding that matter) for many many years: For the past 2 decades, the particular pinnacle of search sophistication had been talking to a search motor like you're Tarzan. The acronym PASO appears for Personal Assistant Search Marketing, and it is referred in order to the use of SEO strategies with the aim of setting content as the source associated with the answers provided by Private Assistants (PAs) such as Siri and Google Assistant to their own users. SEO SERVICES There are the number of SEO services which usually can help improve the research engines engine rankings of the website. This brand-new paradigm of users relying upon voice search for many associated with their search needs will become a game changer for SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION. These are the actual SEO strategies that have helped to enhance our natural search engine traffic (unique visitor) by 35. 36% in just 30 days. And well, for own particular reasons from the above features, 12. 7% of the worldwide SEO professionals chose Mobile SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION and 11. 3% of all of them chose Local SEO to end up being the most impactful Google alter on SEO skills. Working as a Jr. Electronic Marketing Specialist with Circa Online, she has gained experience within SEO and higher education articles marketing while cultivating her innovative skills. SEO differs from nearby search engine optimization in that will the latter is targeted upon optimizing a business' online existence so that its web web pages is going to be shown by search engines when the user enters a local lookup for its products or solutions. In a latest survey by Hubspot only 9% of businesses using inbound marketing and advertising with SEO failed to observe an ROI. Today, the only way to show up in the search engine webpages like this is by posting your videos on You Pipe or through video SEO. SEO requires an understanding associated with how search engines work, exactly what individuals search for, and exactly why and how people search. While Search engines makes it near impossible in order to completely crack its page standing algorithm code, constantly adjusting in order to accommodate one thousand different technicalities will be the challenge intended for SEOers in 2018 and a lot of a long time. In order to get them, you'll have in order to read other blogs that study between the lines of exactly what Google representatives are saying which usually publish data that illuminates the consequences, say, of a new criteria change or that tries in order to determine is new ranking elements are taking effect when Search engines isn't being clear about can be going on. The comments upon posts in this blog are usually often worth reading, even in the event that just to see what various other SEO professionals are thinking. SEO is about the consumer experience and creating great web sites for your users. This particular really is more tedious plus tasking than inorganic SEO mainly because this is where all associated with the keywords get a complete blast of attention. In the article, we will consider ten important SEO trends, which are worth watching within the coming year 2018. Users' happiness is furthermore an excellent factor, that's the reason why one of the best methods for SEO is to reduce down on as much articles as possible and only create necessary information with necessary phrases to make the website super-fast for users. 5. SEO or search motor optimization helps you in obtaining good Google page rankings. Links and technical SEO are usually the largest pieces of the particular pie, but multimedia efforts for example video, photos, and podcasts would certainly be the game changer plus differentiator in several competitive markets. When we're looking regarding a bigger trend it's that will SEO and what we contact real marketing” will continue in order to blur the lines between all of them as the job of a good SEO becomes that of the conventional marketer - having in order to understand the user, the competition, the marketplace and also the particular implementation side. Today, some website themes furthermore come with a built-in SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION tool kit which allows a person to definitely monitor the key phrases you use. SEO is usually conducted for the understanding that websites rank because of how appropriate a webpage is to analysis online query and how several links point out that web page. You might be who else owns a growing and flourishing business, the webmaster of the dozen sites, the SEO expert in a Web agency or even a DIY SEO ninja fascinated in the mechanics of Lookup: information is meant for a person. In truth, this SEO method is regarded as deceptive since it tricks research engines in order to obtain the desired ranks for focus on keywords. Black Head wear SEO's tend to look regarding loopholes and in order to game” the particular search engines in a method that causes massive results, plus fast results. In order in order to maintain the right track, all of us have come up with the particular new SEO Trends that will certainly be necessary to overcome your own competition in the year 2018. Since organic brand mentions become even more essential for SEO ranking achievement, you need to monitor plus grow your positive brand says. Even though, it is usually bit time consuming to generate a quality video, it actually is more than worth this. Great for traffic and SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION as well. When you are usually under the guidance of skilled SEO professionals, you are going to understand the particular real need and significance associated with improving visibility of the site through search engine optimization strategies. Eventually a person can submit these pages upon various SEO sites or just submit the web page therefore the search engine spiders may crawl on the created content. Traditional SEO is focused upon building (keyword relevant) links plus (keyword relevant) content. Don't get frightened by them but make certain to use only natural hyperlinks and keep in mind that will their SEO potential may become a bit lower when in comparison to single links. SEO could be the bit of a minefield with regard to small business owners; with normal Google algorithm updates and rumours over what is changing, is actually hard to keep up along with the latest news, including SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION trends for 2018. It is usually quite true how the search rating depends on the WEB two. 0, content, Blog, keywords, higher quality links, and technical search engine optimization and UX easy to use design. With the rise of tone of voice search more than half associated with Google's searches can come from cellular devices, so you clearly are unable to afford to ignore mobile SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION anymore. Anyone can find out basics of SEO and include it into their digital product sales, advertising content strategy. This can help drive spreading, links and mentions of content material that can affect SEO ranks and traffic. Because a savvy company owner, you understand how important keyword research is definitely and always has been regarding SEO. This ‘what is SEO‘ guide (and this entire website) is definitely not about churn and burn off type of Google SEO (called webspam to Google) as which usually is too risky to set up on the real business site in 2018. Organic SEO Competitors: Like commercial intent, evaluating the keyword's competition in Google's natural search results takes some even more digging. Enter: SEO -- a method to filter plus organise websites depending on key phrases. SEO today is producing sure a user's experience will be optimal in terms of the particular content they're consuming, how they may consuming on various devices, plus what action they're lead in order to take next. And as over 55% of most search results on Search engines contain one or more video clips — almost all of which usually are YouTube videos — submitting SEO-optimised YouTube videos will obtain you more Google search direct exposure and increase your online presence exponentially. In situation your website is on the particular newer side, you can prioritize your PPC campaign first because it can take a whilst for SEO rankings to turn out to be established, but don't ignore your own SEO in this process. In reality, you're going to see even more and more people investing within SEO as paid traffic stations will get expensive. Google failed to result web pages so much right after updates, quickly but they gather data on a regular basis so they are usually testing their algorithms then this effects all directories in search engine optimization.

1. Entrepreneurs are burdened with vision AND a sense of obligation — they’ve all taken a leap of faith.“Somebody should do something… and I’m somebody.”This is perhaps the first “point of divergence” between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs. Everybody has daydreams and fantasies — but entrepreneurs seem to be more pained than everyone else at the prospect of not doing something about it.Entrepreneurs of all personality types, introverts and extroverts, “thinkers” and “feelers”, all seem to casually–yet–sincerely use words like “vision”, “conviction”, “leap of faith” and “courage” to talk about themselves and their work.I’m naturally quite a creative person, and I really had passion and flair for my craft. I’ve always had a million ideas for things I would do to break the mould of the cafe market. I always had ideas that I was so sure would work, and I would always propose them to my manager. They’d get rejected — because of issues like costing, ordering, storage, the additional impact on existing operations, etc. So I was constantly on the lookout for the opportunity to start my own thing — and the moment I spotted one, I dove right into it. — Christine Seah, Dapper CoffeeNot every entrepreneur has a clearly-articulated grand unifying vision, or a super-elaborate business plan. But every entrepreneur has taken a leap of faith. And taking that leap is never easy, no matter how much preparation you do. It almost always boils down to “somebody’s got to do it, and I’m somebody”.Interestingly, when I tweeted about this, someone asked, “But you’re probably talking to SMBs in tech right? That would explain the emphasis on vision and mission.”And the answer is… nope! It’s true for restauranteurs and ‘traditional’ entrepreneurs selling everything from seminars to standing desks. Vision and mission may have become buzzwords, but they’re still fundamentally important to entrepreneurs.Why is this so persistent? I think it’s because of the activation energy required to start a business. Unless you have lots of disposable cash to burn, starting a business requires you to decisively walk away from everything familiar and comfortable to most people.I think every entrepreneur puts a significant part of himself into his business. Not just time, energy, money, but also vision, personality, values, ego, in a way. Self doubt is huge, when you struggle to meet your business goals, when you think you’re not good enough. When as the leader responsible for the entire business, you couldn’t think of the answer, or do the right thing that can unlock the answer to your goals. But even deeper than all that is the idea that your business is a part of you, a representation of you and your beliefs and values. For that to fail, and be rejected, can be extremely personal. It can feel like the world is rejecting your existence. […] All the way through, theres the questioning of whether even if we irreversibly compromise our values, whether we can achieve the vision. Is that vision even still meaningful? — Louis Puah, Praxium2. Entrepreneurs constantly battle self–doubt , and they do it in an arena where there are real stakes and consequences.“But can I do it? I’ve never done anything like this before.”To most people, the phrase “self-doubt” tends to imply a generalized self-criticism: doubting whether one is fundamentally capable, good, worthy. And that definitely is a question that many entrepreneurs have deal with — and sometimes one that they turn to entrepreneurship to answer.But entrepreneurs also grapple with a much more granular, nuanced sort of self-doubt than most people relate to. And that’s about contending with each aspect of their abilities.Are you good enough to hire the right person for the job? Are you good enough to make the sale to the client? The success of your business depends on you being accurate in your self-assessments!“I’m a specialist, and I’m focused on making the classes better. I rely on my teammates to focus on bring in sales. I did a strengths test — I’m all about relationship building. It drains me to think about sales.” — Fagan, MOVE AcademyLots of people don’t know how to support entrepreneurs through The Struggle. For example, when they have self-doubt, it’s tempting to say, “Don’t doubt yourself!” But that wouldn’t actually be good advice, because self-doubt is part of what helps entrepreneurs survive in challenging and uncertain environments.3. Entrepreneurs endure increased accountability to others — to customers, employees, vendors, investors.“I need to deliver the goods so I can realize our potential. I cannot let everyone down.”The word “entrepreneur” literally means “one who undertakes”. To be an entrepreneur is to volunteer to shoulder more responsibility than other people. It’s to declare, “I think we should go that way,” and then bring people along with you for the ride — without being completely certain that it’s absolutely the right thing to do.Just think for a moment about all the people entrepreneurs are accountable to.They’re accountable to their customers, who will sometimes write scathing reviews online if something isn’t right.They’re accountable to employees, who expect their paychecks to come in on time, but may not necessarily feel the same sense of obligation when it comes to clocking in the hours.If they have investors, they’re accountable to them too — to give them a return on their investment.Some entrepreneurs even feel accountable to all their friends and family — by choosing to strike it out on their own, they become a flag-bearer for the pursuit of dreams.“I often feel guilty that I’m not giving Statement enough attention. I believe there’s still tons of ideas that we can explore with it. I feel like we are sitting on this huge mountain of potential, and possibly inhibiting its growth.” — Desmond, Statement4. Entrepreneurs appreciate the true nature of constraints better, because they’re rubbing up against them all the time.“Can I feed my family doing this? Does a market exist? Will competitors eat me? Can I make payroll this month?”As consumers, we never quite appreciate how tough it is for SMBs to survive — and how personal it is. Deciding to start a business is a very personal, overwhelming decision — and the moment you start, the timer starts ticking. Costs are guaranteed, revenue is not. And so begins a frantic race for survival.“Time is one constraint. We spend our office hours in an ad agency. After dinner, paperwork, and the occasional fitness/social/me-time, there’s not much time for anything else. Market size is another. Our brand isn’t directly scalable, so growing while remaining authentic is a challenge. We also have partners not paying up on time, which isn’t fun.” — Selena Soh, Temasek ClothingsThis has all sorts of effects on entrepreneurs. Some liken it to the highs and lows of gambling. Others describe it as like “living in the wild”, hunting for every sale, warding off predators.One thing is clear — SMB entrepreneurs are hypersensitive to the beating hearts of their business. Every sale, every review, every social media share has a real impact on their moods, even if they try to be somewhat stoic about it.When I first started, I was the only cafe making a variety of homemade vegan-friendly milks out of nuts. We had hazelnut milk and macadamia milk, it was fantastic. But it took a lot of labour to make them, and nuts are expensive. One day I realized, “I’m just going to have to get packaged almond milk because it’s taking 2 days to make a batch of homemade nut milk and nobody’s buying it.” So y’know I had to really have a good hard think about what I do, and how to compromise creativity vs product quality vs cost vs marketability.But in a way I felt it was good to have so many constraints, because you can only really do something out of the box when you have an actual box to work with. Unicorn Tears was my best work, arguably classified as a “perfect” product. it was creative, no one in sg had seen anything like it before. it was tasty, visually impactful, it was cheap and easy to make, and it sold like hotcakes. — Christine Seah, Dapper CoffeeEntrepreneurs are also always mindful of the opportunity cost of what they’re doing — many of them have walked away from lucrative, well-paying jobs in order to enact their vision.5. Entrepreneurs “wear many hats” — in a much more fragmented way than regular folk are used to (or can even imagine)“I do everything around here — operations, accounting, sales, hiring, morale…”“I was really exhausted. Trying to pull everything together — construction, manpower, suppliers and costing; was a considerable feat for one person. I struggled because of my lack of experience. I learned the hard way that running a café was a lot more than just the simple stuff like preparing items and serving customers.” — Samantha Koh, Curbside CafeThis is obvious intellectually, but experiencing it is something else altogether.You might start a business because you want to do your own thing — say, selling your specially-frosted cupcakes, which your friends have raved about. But you can’t just be a specialist — you also need to be a salesperson. You need to manage the numbers. You need good communication and interpersonal skills. You need to figure out how to hire people, fire people. You need to be an “influencer”.How do you actually build that up in almost no time at all? Most of the time, you have to learn on the job. And that means enduring a lot of failure as you learn.In school, we learned about the various fields of management, finances, technology— but until I experienced it for myself, I didn’t fully appreciate why there are specialists in each field. I understand now why there are entire disciplines about the various subsets of business. Each thing takes a lot of expertise. How can a single person build that up overnight? You have to figure it out as you go, on the job — and that means you’ll be failing a lot. — Fagan, MOVE Academy6. Entrepreneurs are constantly overwhelmed with decisions, “fighting fires” and an infinite todo list"I have more things to do than time to do them."“Our vision has always been to empower couples and the challenge has been to avoid getting distracted by other things. So the question we’re always asking ourselves is, “Does this help empower couples?” Recently we’ve looked at expanding the ways in which we empower couples but our end goal remains the same. Sometimes it can be helpful to distinguish between what the goal is and the means by which you try to achieve it. From time to time, the means might change but our goal is still the same.” ~ Dharma and Leana, The Wedding Scoop Every entrepreneur is living in a sort of chaotic state in their minds, where everything around them is suboptimal and needs to be fixed, corrected, addressed, taken care of.Nothing good happens unless you make it happen, while bad things happen all the time — sometimes because of your neglect and failure, and sometimes due to events entirely beyond your control.“Our todo list? Well — there’s a mix of things we haven’t done, things we need to do now, and things we need to do in the future. At some point I realized I can’t just keep cleaning what’s due or past due. It’s always never done. So I have to touch a bit of everything, and be okay with the fact that every day is going to be like this. I have to keep reminding myself of that.” — Selena Soh, Temasek Clothings7. Entrepreneurs value relationships a lot, and often speak about them with a certain tenderness and reverence“Through shared struggle, my partners and have developed extremely intimate bonds.”To me, this seems related to the fact that they get to “choose their partners”. If you start your own business, you get to decide who you’re going to hire — and each person you hire is going to contribute the culture of the organization you’re building.Most people inherit their relationships and coexist with their colleagues. Entrepreneurs are more discerning.“We didn’t initially expect to work together. But it made our relationship even better. I think we’re both ambitious career-driven types. And we get to make more decisions together, face conflict and challenges together. Solving problems together on more than just domestic issues helped us grow.” — Lydia Shah, A Good CitizenIt’s interesting to consider the causality here — in several cases, it seems to me that entrepreneurs either crave the sort of intense relationships only cofounders have, or they dislike ‘regular’ relationships (consider the stereotype of everyone going to the bar after work to complain about their jobs).I have a huge, huge appreciation for everyone that becomes part of the journey, even if it’s just giving support, giving advice, making connections. […] Regular folk” would form friendships with colleagues, but retain a business relationship for anyone outside of the department or organization. But as an entrepreneur, every connection is valued, nobody I encounter is “none of my concern”. — Louis Puah, Praxium Ironically, entrepreneurs are often “people persons” and yet quite lonely — because they’re so consumed by their work. As my colleague Si Quan pointed out when I talked to him about it,I’ve grown to realize, there is a loneliness to entrepreneurship. It’s a funny paradox: they’re very sociable, that’s why they’re in the people business… and yet they’re too busy to have much of a social life. One merchant even said to me, “I don’t think anybody has actually asked me the full story before.” — Si Quan, Breakdance Decoded8. Have a growth mindset: prioritize learning and growing to get better at managing uncertainty“It’s not going to get easier. I’m going to become stronger.”Being an entrepreneur is staggeringly overwhelming — if you don’t believe that you have room to learn and grow, or you don’t believe you’re capable of doing it, you’re going to quit.I find that running a business makes you almost “live on another planet” compared to friends who stayed in a regular job. Most employed people “avoid uncertainty” (or so they think) by e.g. going for a fixed contract or sticking with a big name employer. As an entrepreneur, we learn to “manage uncertainty” by not relying on one big client, agree things clearly in contract, requiring payment up front. While it can be challenging and draining, I tell myself that employment only provides the illusion of security. And I really see no alternative for learning to manage it. If you have a job, it’s just one job and when it’s gone, it’s gone. By always managing uncertainty, entrepreneurs live more in the real world. Once you build the skill of managing uncertainty, you are much better equipped to deal with sudden events. — Guus Goorts, Crystal MarketingTo me, this seems directly related to the fact that entrepreneurs operate in a more uncertain environment.Some seek out the uncertain environment because they want to learn, and tolerate the uncertainty to enjoy the accelerated learning.Some prefer the uncertain environment to other more controlled, predictable environments, and learning is the rent they pay to stay in it.And for some, well, why not both?In the best cases, this results in entrepreneurs learning and growing more than — if they manage to survive in a chaotic, uncertain environment, they begin to develop skills and abilities that they wouldn’t have otherwise. They learn to manage and inspire people. To set a course. They create meaningful, colourful experiences, that make the world a brighter, more colorful place.There’s a staggering caveat, though. Having a growth mindset does not guarantee success. And growth only really feels good on retrospect — it’s uncomfortable, painful and exhausting all the way through.After working night and day to make your vision reality, you wake up to find that things did not go as planned. Your company did not unfold like the Jack Dorsey keynote that you listened to when you started. Your product has issues that will be very hard to fix. The market isn’t quite where it was supposed to be. Your employees are losing confidence and some of them have quit. Some of the ones that quit were quite smart and have the remaining ones wondering if staying makes sense. You are running low on cash and your venture capitalist tells you that it will be difficult to raise money given the impending European catastrophe. You lose a competitive battle. You lose a loyal customer. You lose a great employee. The walls start closing in. Where did you go wrong? Why didn’t your company perform as envisioned? Are you good enough to do this? As your dreams turn into nightmares, you find yourself in The Struggle. — Ben Horowitz, OpswareThanks for reading! The struggle is real.

Pros and Cons Should My Teen Work During High School

 Pros and Cons: Should My Teen Work During High School?

Student-Tutor Blog

Updated on April 20, 2016.

Growing up, the only time I ever heard the words “allowance” were when they came out of my friends’ or their parents’ mouths.

Having two siblings before me who had gone through the same channels, it didn’t come as a surprise to me when my parents let me know I would have to start looking for a job. I was a part-time cashier and barista for both my junior and senior year of high school.

There’s definitely two distinct sides to the argument of whether or not your teen should work during high school, and looking back on it I can draw both pros and cons from my own experience.

Pros of working in high school

As of October 2014…Youth enrolled in high school had an employment rate of 18 percent.

The following are different skills and attitudes that students can obtain early on from working in high school.

1. Gain Interpersonal and Communication Skills

Knowing how to effectively communicate and work with others towards a common goal is essential to success in any business environment.

While in most jobs it is essential that you have a pre-determined degree of knowledge, technical expertise and skill, without interpersonal skills you certainly will struggle with those all-important relationships. These struggles can negatively impact your career as well as your ability to function as part of a team. Most jobs today require that you be able to engage others, both internally and externally and it’s your social skills that can make all the difference.

In most jobs, you will be one member of a team. Whether this be your coworkers, or your employees, you will need to utilize interpersonal communication skills both to preserve the harmony of the workplace and to ensure that you reach your goals and objectives.

2. Build your resume early on

For most people, their first job will be something part-time and unspecialized. This is because in high school, most of us have little to nothing to put on our resumes that would qualify as actual work experience.

A lot of high schoolers will have jobs as babysitters, fast-food and grocery cashiers, delivery men and women for restaurants, etc. These types of jobs usually pay minimum wage, and rarely require a college degree (hence the reason high schoolers apply to them).

However, these are still real jobs with real pay, and your student can put them on their resumes. That can make a world of difference when it comes to applying to a more specialty job later on, because future employers will see:

Your student held a position for a certain amount of time

Your student has experience working with others in a professional environment

3. Develop a work ethic

Taking pride in what you do is a big part of success.

In a surprisingly profound speech at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards, Ashton (Kris) Kutcher highlights 3 key ideologies for teens to follow in life.

In one of my favorite lines of the speech, Ashton makes another point about having a strong work ethic.

I never had a job in my life that I was better than… Opportunities look a lot like work.

Your teen may not be passionate about selling frozen yogurt, or selling discount retail, but they can still draw from the benefits of doing their jobs well.

Working their way upwards towards better things is a humbling experience that can help your teen appreciate and excel in future jobs.

4. Learn the value of a dollar

Your high schooler approaches you in their graduation cap and gown, a diploma in one hand. They flash you a big smile and wrap their arms around you and say “Thanks for everything!”

Everyone works — it’s a part of life. But more often than not, the only way for someone to truly understand what it means to spend a lot or a little money is by earning money themselves.

It’s not just about your teen recognizing the sacrifices YOU’VE made for them, but them understanding how to be smart about what they spend and knowing that money is earned, not granted.

5. Time Management

I’m a full-time college student with 2 jobs. I can honestly say if I hadn’t learned how to manage my time effectively early in life, I would not be able to handle 18 credits on top of 30-40 hours a week — and that’s not including my social life!

Part of growing up is having a schedule and staying on top of it. By taking a job in high school, your teen can get a feel for what that is like before they hit college. As a result, they may be able to take on more responsibilities and credit hours, and experience the benefits of both!

Cons of working in high school

1. Increased stress

High school can be a very stressful time in itself. There is a lot of pressure for high school students to excel academically, and with college admissions seeming more competitive than ever, many students feel they must go above and beyond to even have a chance at getting accepted.

“What I did was cut out sleep… I had kind of a panic attack in spring of junior year. I honest to God went into therapy to work on my anxiety about the math, because for the amount I worked, my score should have been higher.”

With so much stress already placed on high schoolers to succeed in their courses and exams, adding 20 hours a week of dealing with difficult customers and juggling responsibilities could tip things over the edge.

Worse, stress is proven to have lasting effects on our health.

In the short term it can cause anxiety; over long periods of time, elevated levels of stress hormones can degrade the immune system, cause heart problems, exacerbate respiratory and gastrointestinal issues, and bring on chronic anxiety and depression.

2. Distraction from academics

Even after the last customer finished their meal and left for the night, I was the one who had to vacuum and mop the floors, clean the booths, and prep for the next day’s rush of hungry people.

Staying late at work meant I wasn’t at home studying for exams, or reviewing math problems I didn’t understand. It also meant that the next day, I was tired and arguably less focused on the new material I was learning in class.

3. Cutting childhood short

For most of us, once we start working, we will work for the rest of our lives. High school is a confusing time wedged in-between the last of one’s childhood and the beginnings of one’s adulthood.

At 21 years old, it’s hard for me to remember the last time I woke up without obligations for the day, the week, the month, the year. And sometimes I do wonder about how it would have felt to have had just a couple more years of freedom before I started “adulting”.

Student Sarah Rodeo from the article I quoted earlier has a similar notion about spending all her time securing her position at an elite university in high school.

“I’m still not sure how I feel about using all that time prepping instead of playing the piano, playing with my little brother and sister, or seeing my friends.”

How to decide

All of the following are questions you should ask before encouraging your high schooler to take a job:

Does your student want to work?

What’s their current stress level?

What’s the need?

Is the job in line with their future career/will help them get there?

Conclusion

As you have seen, there are both things to be gained and potential consequences from having a job in high school. To review, here were the pros and cons we discussed:

Gain interpersonal and communication skills

Build your resume early on

Develop a work ethic

Learn the value of a dollar

Time Management

Increased stress

Distraction from academics

Cutting childhood short

Does your high schooler have a job? How has it helped or challenged them? Tell us about it in the comments below!

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Should My Teen Work During High School? - April 20, 2016

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Sounds like you have a wonderful mother! You very lucky.

Great article! Experience can not only bolster their resume; they can gain insight into whether or not they will enjoy their chosen career.

I unequivocally agree with your assessment about the early exposure/benefits of working during high school. Shahan does raise some good points because each student’s experience and/or family’s circumstance is relative to determining if the former is wise or not.

Instructional Strategies

As teachers, we have to choose daily the best strategies and methods to use to help our students learn content. There are all sorts of factors to consider when making that choice. The following four strategies are commonly used in a variety of educational settings, and we’ll evaluate them as we go: 

Lecture Method

This is where the teacher delivers the content aloud while students sit quietly and (theoretically) take notes. Example: a high school teacher delivers prepared lecture notes in Physics class on Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. Students remain quiet and take notes.

 Much of a college student’s education is “delivered” in this way. Its use at the secondary level is somewhat more occasional, and in the primary grades it is (hopefully) extremely rare if not unheard of...

Are there any advantages to what most people think of as the old, dry and dusty method of teaching? Sure. And what are the Communicative Skills involved? 

Large amounts of material can be communicated in a single class period

It’s fungible - easy to change depending on class sizes or subjects

It can reinforce learning taking place elsewhere - for example, in a science lab

It can provide students with information they can’t get anywhere else

It can be easily organized in linear fashion, especially benefits students who are linear thinkers

It can start the ball rolling for learning that involves student centered activity such as in a science lab

It offers students good practice in listening skills 

When done in conjunction with Visual graphics, audio or other technologies, it can be a stimulating learning experience

If it’s done well, and at the upper high school/university levels, the lecture method can be effective. What communication skills are needed to make it happen? Gather lots of supporting materials, be organized, limit it to a narrow topic, and use visual aids to flesh out information. And VERBAL DELIVERY must use lots of vocal variety and enthusiasm to maintain students’ attention!!! 

Why is it perceived, sometimes, as not the best method to use???  Here are some disadvantages: 

It’s completely impersonal, one-way communication.  

The learner remains a passive recipient of the information

It’s easy for students to become distracted or bored, or lose interest altogether, when verbal delivery is poor

It doesn’t permit higher forms of thinking, including analysis, synthesis, evaluation

Because it’s impersonal, the lecture is not geared toward students’ individual needs or perspectives 

It does not involve or require creative or experiential learning on the part of the students

Sometimes it’s just.plain.dull. 

SO...Should you use it? Maybe sparingly, for  short periods of time, and depending on the subject matter.  Good luck trying it with young students for more than a few minutes.... 

What are some OTHER OPTIONS? 

Classroom Discussion Method

This is where the teacher poses a relevant question on content and then students discuss their ideas/viewpoints together as a whole class. Example: In a high school class on 21st century history, the teacher asks the class to comment (after several class periods of study of the Nixon presidency): “What are the parallels between the investigation of our current president’s administration and the Nixon Watergate era? Students respond individually aloud, as a whole group.

It’s a good method to use for practice of critical thinking skills and for teaching students to be prepared in advance for class. 

Communicative Skills Developed, and Advantages to Classroom Discussion: 

Students get to share ideas, so more resources, more information and more viewpoints are generated. 

Students get a chance to practice speaking to the whole group

Discussion can open up channels where students encounter ideas and belief systems different from their own

Students learn the basics of persuasive argument, and also develop and practice good listening skills

Some students enjoy the energy and activity generated by discussion; it can be engaging. 

Disadvantages: 

Lots of preparation and time are required to execute this strategy correctly

It assumes students have the communication skills required to participate effectively in discussion - this may not always be the case, especially in a foreign language class. 

Guidelines for analysis have to be clear, otherwise, students can get easily off track 

Questions have to be prepared and carefully structured in advance to accomplish learning objectives.

Sometimes certain vocal students may dominate discussion, decreasing chances that quieter students will have a chance to be heard

Small Group Activity

This instructional strategy involves students working together in groups of 3-4-5 on a discussion question or an activity. It’s a good way to insure everyone gets a chance to participate, and some material can be dealt with in more depth as the group explores the topic together. Example: In a French II class, after several lessons learning and practicing the past tense, students form groups of 3-4 to create and practice a skit at a cafe where they gather to discuss what they did last weekend. After 15 minutes, groups present their work to the whole class.

Advantages, and Communicative Skills Involved:

The small group method allows students to interact on an  interpersonal level, which offers them good practice of  appropriate verbal and nonverbal skills 

Concepts can be explored more in depth, and students can help each other learn in collaborative fashion

More work can get done because small groups can work more efficiently

Students take the lead in directing communication and accomplishing the task given

All students become active participants in their own learning

Potential Disadvantages:

When students are placed in groups by the teacher rather than choosing their own partners, sometimes conflicts can lead to lack of cooperation.

Groups can get off task if not monitored carefully or if task assigned is not well structured. 

Especially in the foreign language context, small group work is an invaluable way to allow students to explore their communicative skills and work cooperatively. 

Communicative Reading

Reading aloud to your students, especially in an upper level Foreign language course, can be a powerful instructional strategy to help your students not only absorb the sound of the language and new vocabulary, but can also give them a deeper appreciation of important works of literature in the target language. 

http://www.learningunlimitedllc.com/2015/03/global-read-aloud-day-resources-read-alouds/

Example: In French IV Honors Class, After several class periods where students are introduced to life and culture in Medieval France, as well as time reading and analyzing 3 works of Medieval French poetry, the teacher reads (in performance style) one of the three selections aloud to the class. After several repetitions, students are then paired together to work on imitating the teacher’s pronunciation, intonation and flow in reading aloud. Students are then asked to perform the reading individually for the class. 

Communicative reading has much to recommend it, especially in foreign language classes. It functions as a training model for accent, pronunciation and intonation, and it also provides excellent opportunities to develop second language listening skills. So here are the language skills involved and the advantages: 

Students have a solid model on which to base the development of their listening skills (and therefore speaking) skills 

It’s an excellent teaching tool for history, culture and literature, whether at the beginner or advanced levels

It provides a direct example of the emphasis the French place on learning through memorization and recitation - an important cultural concept

Since imitation is the first step in developing second language speaking skills, it provides the best input toward that end and assists in development of the ability to make word-sense/meaning out of sounds. 

Some things to be aware of in using this method: 

Especially in foreign language, there is a need for advance preparation; not only of the selection to be read, but of the students too. Several lessons on the context, history, cultural importance and/or meaning of the piece are a must. 

The teacher needs to be capable of reading the piece not just with accuracy, but with the correct intonation - i.e., musical sound, that gives the piece meaning. Monotone will.not.do. 

The piece chosen needs to be accessible to the students and their skill level. For example, it’s totally inappropriate to read “Que Sont Mes Amis Devenus” by Villon to a French I class. It is far beyond their vocabulary and language skill level, so any reading of the text without full translation into English would be meaningless.  Even then, they would not understand the context because they lack the training in culture and history. So pick a piece that is within their skill range. 

Don’t just read to them. Let the students have fun with the piece. After you’ve read it to them several times, let them begin to imitate you. allow them to work in pairs, and then have them perform it for the class. Sometimes with really important pieces, skits or props can accompany their reading. Let them use their own imagination in their interpretation of the text. 

How to Teach Your Kids the Most Important Soft Skills That Aren't Taught in Schools

Ever ask a teenager a question and they shove their hands in their pockets, avert their eyes and mumble some incoherent answer. It makes you irritated, maybe even suspicious, but before you jump to any conclusions, that teen may not have learned the soft skills necessary for childhood development. These set of interpersonal skills are usually not taught in schools, but learning them in childhood can prevent future problems.

Unlike hard skills, like math, reading, science and social studies, soft skills revolve around communication, relating with others, and self discipline. Like balancing a check book and figuring out a mortgage rate, these essential skills are usually learned outside the classroom from their families and peers. Sometimes these necessary soft skills aren’t learned at all.

The Soft Skills They Won’t Teach You in School

Did you think that self-confident class president learned how to schmooze his way to victory from his history class? More than likely, he learned from mimicking a family member or through a mentor. But just what exactly are these soft skills[1]?

Social Skills

Social skills may include greeting adults and peers and interaction with people outside their immediate family, peers, and adults.

Manners

Please, thank you, you’re welcome, yes ma’am, no sir. Polite manners are all soft skills that usually aren’t addressed in the school curriculum. Ever hold the door open for someone? Who taught you to do that?

Communication

How to speak to someone. How to get your point across, clear and concise, with no mumbling, no hands over the mouth, or averted eyes and slouched posture.

Listening

Listening is as important as communicating, and due to our reliance on electronics, this soft skill has fallen behind for many.

Building rapport

Making friends and alliances. Again, due to our technology, we rely more on texting than face to face communication, which is necessary to build good rapport with others.

Empathy

Seeing things from another person’s perspective. When you face an issue from another person’s point of view, you are less likely to barge through that situation without concern of how the outcome may affect others.

Problem Solving

Sure, you learn what 2y is in Algebra, but there are so many real life scenarios that school kids aren’t usually prepared for – like what to do when the power runs out or how to gather help from fellow employees on a difficult task. Employers often look for independent problem solvers[2].

Self Control

Centering around sharing, controlling emotions, such as angry outbursts or even interrupting people, self-control is a vital soft skill that should be taught from an early age.

Self Esteem/Self-Confidence

No one is born charismatic and overflowing with high self esteem. This comes from learning to be happy with yourself and realizing that ‘you are enough.

How You Can Teach Your Children Soft Skills

You taught your kids their ABC’s, how to remember their address and phone number, and how to ride a bike and now you have to teach them soft skills?! Before you tear your hair out, children learn a lot of soft skills by example. It’s easy to incorporate them into your daily life – in fact you may already do most of them.

A Trick to Making Kids Learn Soft Skills

Do you find yourself saying: “Don’t slouch. Don’t mumble!” Kids tend to drop that ‘not’ out of everything – so instead of telling them what NOT to do, instead guide them towards what they should do: Stand tall. Speak clearly.

Learning Good Manners

You don’t have to send your kids to etiquette school to learn good manners. Accentuate manners within your life. Always say please and thank you. Hold the door open for people and use ‘excuse me’ and ‘you’re welcome.’ And expect your children to follow suit.

Communicating and Building Good Rapport

Have your kids look directly at the person with whom they are communicating. Ear buds out of ears. Cellphone tucked away in their pocket. They should focus on the person and really listen and respond appropriately. This will aid them to build good rapport with people as well. If they sit in enough adult conversations – with their electronics confiscated -, they will become aware of the give and take in good conversations.

A Lesson in Someone Else’s Shoes

All kids should learn a little empathy. Teens all too often shout out ‘get a job’ to a homeless man on the street corner and call other kids names, without even thinking there might be a story behind their situation. The girl who smells at school may be homeless and without running water. That beggar on the corner may be a decorated veteran out on his luck.

Expose your children to other people’s lives. Volunteer at a soup kitchen, donate items to the Salvation Army, adopt a kid for Christmas, or help put together food baskets for needy families over the holidays and deliver them together.

Real World Problem Solving

Involving your child in the day to day problems of life can help build their problem solving skills. Clean up messes together, replace batteries in things, catch a fish, teach them how to run the washing machine and expect them to help washing up.

You can also try Geo-caching, a world-wide treasure hunt. Put them in charge of the GPS and directing the way. Alternately, you can test skills in an Escape Room – a popular trend where a handful of people must team up to solve a series of puzzles and riddles in order to ‘escape’ before the measured time is up.

Taking Control of Themselves

By far one of the most vital soft skills, self-control does not come easy for children. They have to learn no is no and how to share. Start them young on this. Arrange play dates with friends or join a local parenting group with other parents and their children.

It’s hard for some kids to see other kids playing with their toys, so stay alert, but eventually, when they realize the other child isn’t going to take off with their favorite toy truck, they may just get the picture.

Try not to give in to a temper tantrum and when faced with an angry child, a time out is a good idea and break out the bubbles. Blowing bubbles makes it hard for kids to stay focused on their anger.

You may want to include short meditation (1-3 minutes) into their daily routine to keep them calm.

Feeling Good About Themselves

Kids all too often use things like good grades and popularity as metrics to measure their self-esteem. That’s like trying to shoot a harpoon to the moon – you’ll always fall short of that goal. One day there will be a more popular kid in school, or they’ll face a D on a test or worse. They need to be taught those things really don’t matter in the long run.

If your child gets a bad grade, tell them “it happens” and try not to make a big deal about it.

Have adventures with your kids to build their self esteem and lift their self confidence, like rock climbing, biking, camping or kayaking a river. Set a goal and achieve it together.

Once they start achieving goals outside of the classroom, they may realize that D on the math test was not such a big deal, or so and so may be more popular but heck, they just kayaked an intermediate run!

Your kids may not be taught soft skills in the classroom, but by teaching them these essential skills yourself, and incorporating them into your daily lives, you may find yourself connecting with your kids over stuff that really matters.

Reference

[1]^Interpersonalskillsonline.com: More Soft Skills[2]^Childtrends.org: 5 Soft Skills That Help Youth Succeed at Work

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clinical trial coordinator

Tell me about yourself. I actively do sports such as running, badminton or swimming to keep fit, and also volunteer as an usher as I love to greet people with a smile and build relationships with people. In addition to my interests, my professional life is a huge part of who I am and what I can bring to this job. I am a fresh graduate from Singapore Institute of Technology, with a second upper class honours degree for Food and Human Nutrition in Newcastle University. I have some research experience and did several part time jobs related to customer service.

Describe your research and customer service experience. While I was in polytechnic I worked under a research fellow in Monash University in Australia to identify synergistic antimicrobials which have greater effect against bacteria which cause urinary tract infections. I have also synthesized biosensors using nanotechnology such as gold nanoparticles to identify the presence of porcine DNA in halal and kosher foods. Furthering my studies in university, I was offered a scholarship and was sponsored for my research on the difference between microbial populations found in organic and inorganic lettuce in Singapore. My thesis was on microbial identification of household kitchen dishcloths, where I sampled and performed biochemical tests. Overall, I had a well rounded experience in the research sector.

I worked in the call centres of MOHH and CPF Board previously during my holiday breaks from school. Through these experiences I took the chance to improve my interpersonal skills and learnt how to serve others while not compromising on the company’s policies as well. I learnt that it is important not to overlook data entry but instead to be accurate for mistakes lead to more complicated recovery measures.

What are some of your hobbies? I like to write and keep a personal journal to jot down my reflections. Through collecting my thoughts and reflection on my life, I can learn many things which I did not pick up on the spot. These reflections help me to understand myself better by assessing what I did in various situations, what I should have done and how I could do things differently in future to better and improve myself, allowing me to handle challenges which may come my way Also, during my free time I like to have a chat with my grandfather who stays with me, as the stories he shared were all very exciting and interesting. Through communicating with him I also learnt to pick up the dialect which he spoke, and am able to use this skill to communicate with other elderly participants or subjects who may be more comfortable with speaking in dialect.

What are your strengths? I am a meticulous person with strong writing skills who takes pride in my work, as seen in a testimony written for me by a senior research fellow I worked with previously. I love interacting with people and finding ways to serve them and meet their needs, and I have been volunteering in ministry as an usher for the past three years. I have some experience in customer service as I did some part time work as a waitress and also worked in various call centre departments. I am also able to manage conversational dialect, and have a passion for the elderly and those who are more advanced in age.

What are your weaknesses? I am not the best at speaking and giving presentations in front of large groups of people as I tend to lose my train of thought easily. As I know that I am most fluent in writing, I would write down a list of what I intend to say in preparation for each presentation, and mentally check off the points. This helps me to stay focused and prevent distractions. In addition, being able to converse in fluent English helps me to be more confident in relating to people on an individual level, and could be especially useful for communication with patients, volunteers and subjects.

Why do you want this job? I want this job because I believe I can make a difference in this place and for the people. Since I have experience on research projects, I believe that my report writing skills are able to immediately contribute to the company. Furthermore, while archives and databases may not be seen in the public’s eye, I understand that it is an irreplaceable part of the job as it ensures that records are properly kept for accountability and efficiency in looking for data and to preserve participant confidentiality. In addition, I also look forward to communicating with subjects, participants and patients to help them and meet their needs, while advancing the progress of the company. I believe that I would learn a lot from this position.

Describe a time where you faced a difficult situation. When I was working at Ministry of Health Holdings, there was once a member who had a tenant staying with him and the tenant could not be excluded as his family member since he was unable to provide a tenancy agreement. He was very upset as that would mean he would be unable to receive his subsidies he deserves. I first calmed him down and listened closely to him to get a clear picture of what the issue was. After that, I explained to him that instead of putting the tenant as a family member, he would be put as a friend and thus will also be removed from the household. In this way, I did not compromise the company’s regulations but was also able to appease the member and settled it in a way that he was satisfied with.

What was the worst thing that you have done in your whole life? I have done a few terrible things in my life, including doing things I was not supposed to do, without getting caught. For example, I once sneaked into a cinema theatre and watched a complete movie which I did not pay for. During that time, I was with my brother who was on crutches, which provided an additional level of difficulty as mobility was not convenient for him. Before our first movie, I went through the back door to check if we could enter from there, while my brother waited below with his crutches. The door was a one way door, and was only able to be opened from the other side. We first watched a movie, and after that ended we went into the toilet. When we came out, we took an escalator up to the second level where there were more cinema theatres, and chose the theatre according to the show we wanted to watch. As the movie just came out the day before, the cinema was packed. We went online to see the seat allocation plan and decided on the seats available which were not booked already, and managed to score a seat in the theatre. We even brought our snacks in and enjoyed the show. It was an exciting experience for me, and I did not regret it even though I knew very well that we were not doing something right.

Questions: May I know the types of clinical studies that this job would be working on? What is the research going to be about?