Want an Exceptional Student? Here's the One Thing You Can Do

In their book, Pygmalion in the Classroom, psychiatrists Robert Rosenthal and school principal Lenora Jacobson describe a study they did involving children from kindergarten through fifth grade. They told the children’s teachers which students in their classrooms had “exceptional learning abilities.”

But the teachers did not know that the researchers had chosen these “exceptional” students at random. When the students were tested at the end of the school year, the students who the teachers had been led to believe had exceptional learning abilities had made much greater academic progress than their peers.

In essence, the teachers had been programmed to expect more from certain students, and these students thus expected more of themselves and delivered.

The message here for teachers is that you get what you expect.

Expect the best from your students and you’ll get the best. And, above all praise the efforts. The results will come. This is great advice for parents also.

What are your thoughts. Leave your comments below.

Secrets of School Success, Part 2

Another important feature that sets academic high achievers apart and assures their success in school is their love of learning. 

Rather than viewing learning as a navigational tool, they love to learn because of the feeling of self satisfaction it gives them. They view school as a privilege rather than a problem. 

These children who achieve academic success look forward to the opportunity to shine on tests. They make a connection between effort and good grades, and see themselves succeeding.

Academic high achievers' love of learning is most influenced by the family putting a high value on learning. 

Research shows that the homes of these children tend to be quieter with no blasting of TV, disc players, or emphasis on computer games. 

Noise gets in the way of learning. Children reared in a noisy home are slower to develop language and cognitive skills. Students tend to achieve better in school when family life is harmonious and stable. 

You may not think of your relationships as a tool for your child’s academic success, but studies show that children who perceive harmony and commitment in the household feel less anxious and more grounded – – freeing them up to do better at school. 

Academic outcome studies have also shown that students who eat meals with their families more often enjoy greater academic success. 

Here is Part 1 of the Secrets of School Success in case you missed it. What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below.

10 More Time Management Tips for the Busy Single Parent

When you manage something, you direct or control the use of it. Although you cannot direct time,
you can certainly control your use of it. All of us have the same amount of time, but how we use it, has a significant effect on the success we experience in life.

Time management does not involve any secret principles. Rather it involves setting priorities, organizing your life according to those priorities, making a commitment to keeping them, and enjoying the journey along the way with less stress and more accomplishments.

Here are the 10  more simple and easy time management tips.

1. Do it immediately. If a task can be completed in less than a minute, do it on the spot. So instead of putting the glasses and dishes in the sink and walking away, Wash them right away. Get it over with.

2. Organize your documents. Learn how to organize your documents and photos on your home or work computer. Consider the many free photo organizing applications and the organizing features in your word processing applications and use one or more of them.

3. Purge your email of all unnecessary messages. Get serious about it.

4. Organize your bookmarks. Determine the categories that are important to you and set them up.

5. Count to ten when you feel snowed under by clutter and general disorder, Just putting things back in their rightful place including the trash can. And always have a bag ready for thrift store donations.

6. Organize and file your junk email. Establish at least two new email accounts. Use one for all the retail and internet, promotions you want to receive, and for your shopping. The other email account should be for your relatives, friends, and urgent emails. Visited these accounts three times a week and dispatch everything you don’t want to save into the recycle bin.

7. Cook more rice than you need for your today’s meal. Use leftovers for spanish rice, fried rice, red beans and rice, or other good rice recipes.

8. Organize your bookshelves. You may find a favorite book that you just totally forgot to read or that you can benefit from rereading. Others you may just decide to donate.

9. Recycle instantly. Keep waste baskets in strategic spots around your home, and deposit junk mail, and unwanted catalogs in them. Buy a shredder and remember to shred anything with sensitive information.

10. And, finally, start your day smart. Begin your day with a healthy and delicious breakfast. Consider oatmeal, fruit, and raisin toast, an omelet, grits, and wheat toast, a raisin toast sandwich of your choice of jam and cream cheese and a piece of fruit. Or if you prefer something even lighter, how about raising toast, and cottage cheese with fruit. Reduce or eliminate the amount of meat you eat for breakfast. You’ll be more alert and have more energy.


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