Only the right kind of practice

“Star performers are made and not born, according to research which shows that memory is not intuitive, but developed through practise.” Prof. Ericssion went on to say that, after studying a range of tasks including chess, golf, writing, piano and darts, he found that achievement was more strongly linked to memory training than I.Q.

”That intelligence is necessary to be successful is not accurate. Part of the reason we underestimate practice is because we associate it with dull repetition”.

“Indeed , repetition was not the key to improvement. Lazy performance of the same task over and over again could prove to be fruitless...”

Interesting reading, for a good teacher shapes knowledge to fit into the mind easily. Within a small group at tutoring a student is stimulated by the synergism of like minded peers.

What I call “240 volt knowledge” is transferred to the individuals in the group. Not dull repetition but key rules, laws and methods are taught. Beginning with the foundations of knowledge, then the students are extended into new and more difficult areas.

The tutorial session is consolidated by the weekly homework assignment, not repetition but consolidation and extension of the content. 

Creating a Positive Self Image

Master Coaching can help your children's set and work towards their goals... our aim is to help all students to achieve their personal best ( P.B.) results. Many of our students have experienced the thrill of turning a hard topic into an easy one.

But what if the result doesn’t improve straight away? .... When the student feels alone in their quest for improved results they can give up, believing that they will never be any good at a particular subject or topic.

Consistent efforts build stairways to success. Keep trying and be patient and the improved results will come

With the support of you family at home, and Master Coaching, improved understanding will come. Built through a positive learning environment and the repetition of homework and practice in class.

Relax to Remember

Did you know that the human brain can store more than a billion items in long-term memory?... But do you wonder sometimes why you cannot remember the simplest things such as items you want to buy at the supermarket?

It is because they (grocery items) are in your short term memory, which has more limited capacity of between five and nine items. Putting things in our long-term memory is easy, as long as you are in a relaxed 'learning mode'. Recalling them when we want to is not as easy because they are stored in the subconscious part of the mind.

You know what it is like...walking down the street you run into...?? nod a brief hello. About 100 metres down the street, you stop. Their name pops into your mind. Your mind has been searching the subconscious for it.

To recall items from our subconscious we need to relax and slow down the electrical activity, in essence, to slow the brain. If we are stressed the brain speeds up and this makes it harder to recall things. At worst it becomes a 'stress attack' and the brain shuts down. 

Tutoring in small groups is best at creating the slow or alpha state... like the environment at Light House Tuition.

Boys Need Order

(from ‘Raising Boys’ Steve Biddup)

The book tells of a new inner city scoutmaster who ‘inherits’ a group of rowdy boys. They are always fighting and damaging the hall and many of the gentler boys have left.

On his first night with the troop, the scoutmaster sets some rules, invites some boys to shape up or leave. He brings a clear structure and begins teaching skills in an organised way.

He successfully turns the the group around and in a couple of months it is thriving.

The scout master explained that there are three things that boys always need to know:

• Who’s in charge ?
• What are the rules ?
• Will those rules be fairly enforced ?

The key word is structure

Boys feel insecure and in danger if there isn’t enough structure in a situation. If no-one is in chge they begin jostling with each other to establish a pecking order. Their testoserone-driven make-up leads them to want to set up hierarchies, but they can’t always do it because they are all the same age. If we provide structure, then they can relax. For girls, this is not so much a problem.

Boys act tough to cover up their fears. If somebody is clearly the boss, they relax. But the boss must not be erratic or punitive. If the person in charge is a bully, the boys’ stress levels rise, and it’s back into the law of the jungle. If the teacher, scoutmaster or parent is kind and fair ( as well as being strict) then the boys will drop their ‘macho’ act and get on with learning.

This seems to be an in-built gender difference. If girls are anxious in a group setting they tend to cower and be quiet, whereas boys respond by running about, making a lot of noise. This has been mistakenly seen as boys’ dominating the space in a pre-schools and so on. However it is actually an anxiety response.

Schools which are very good at engaging boys in interesting and concrete activities do not experience this gender difference in children’s behaviour.

"I'm Dumb!"

Earlier in the year a junior high school boy enrolled in maths, he had been performing poorly in school assessment tasks. In the first few weeks when he make a error he would cry out ....”Oh! I’m so dumb!!”.  

I would immediately pounce on the statement....”Don’t say that! you ARE not!” 

Over the next months  in the well structured learning environment of tutoring his periodic outcries became less frequent... then ended as better understanding led to excellent results at school 

In June he told me quietly, as he ate his way through some difficult solid geometry problems...

"Maths has become my favourite subject.”  “Why?” I replied.  “Oh!  It’s so easy!”  

...I smiled within and thought back to his early days. 

What this means is a major shift in his view of himself, a view which will remain.  

Alpha Environment

Why is Tuition so successful ?  It’s all to do with ‘the storage’ of what is learned in the memory.

That is why a noisy and disruptive classroom is a poor learning environment.  The access to memory occurs more successfully towards an ‘alpha’ state (a slower mind rhythm).

Lighthouse Tuition has a very clear approach when creating a positive learning environment. This is why it is so successful. For we provide, strict rules of behaviour,  in a small group : quietness so each child can focus fully on their tasks.  This couples with very experienced, talented and caring teachers with interesting and innovative content. 

In an ALPHA environment- students are calmed to focus on the task in front of them. Each child then works on their tasks set by their teacher. 

A good example of accessing long term memory is simple as walking down the street.  You meet someone from your past and ...cannot remember their name... after an embarrassed farewell you walk on.  100 metres down the street you cry out- “it was Joe Bloggs!” Your mind had been searching automatically for the name. Searching the long term memory in the right side of the brain.

During tuition there is no chatter, only background ‘Baroque’ (slow) music. This leads to improved understanding, learning, and importantly activation of long term memory.

This  provide the structure for organising a coaching session.  Positive attitude is encourages. Students are reminded of the benefits of staying positive, persistent and patient as they strive to achieve their potential.
      

Persistence, Practice and Patience

Persistence, practice and lots of patience are required, for success. Some of our students have achieved ‘P.B.’ (personal best) results at school this year. This has not happened for all students. It is more common for students to record a gradual improvement. Parents need to be aware that success for some students, comes with lots of hard work, over an extended period of time.

Within the National sporting teams you can imagine the commitment and dedication it must take to be an elite competitor... we Aussies watched transfixed daily, as top players of national teams battled physically and mentally to win. Success at an international level comes with HARD work.

The same formula for success can be applied to maths, English, essay writing or reading skills. Exercises set in tuition are aimed to clarify and consolidate what is taught at school.

To provide a solid foundation for students struggling with the content. For brighter students extension, such as problem solving exercises or advanced writing skills for literacy, resulting in better performances in both school and external exams. As shown in the ‘Student Success’ Lists.

Focus and determination

This time last year I had a mind battle with a student. She just wanted to put the answer for solid geometry problems e.g. area & volume.

“ Where’s the working out?” I asked. She replied in an assertive way,

“I just pressed the buttons on the calculator!... its right!”

I saw amber and enforced the need to show working out. For the processing is the key, to greater clarity and completed work rate. Fortunately it was a ‘bad day’ for her and next week we were once again ontrack for an indepth study of the topic. (OH !! yes, ...the answer was wrong)

How the Mind works

I’m sure you have had the experience of hearing and remembering all the words and to be able to sing the whole song. You may not have sung it for many years. The verses are locked away somewhere... I did this myself with a song ‘Simple - Ben’ I had not sung (screeched) since the 1970’s.

How am I able to do this ?The words to songs and many other memories are locked away in the right side of the brain in our subconscious which has 88% of our minds power.

I learned of this whenI was fortunate to attend an Educational Conference where , Sandy McGregor the author of ‘Students Steps to Success” was the guest speaker.

He is an engineer and he is interested in how science sees the mind working. His applications of the findings to learning are all about our brain waves...

“scientists have measured the energy that flows through the human brain, expressed as cycles per second (cps), using a machine called the electro-encephalograph. The output is often represented graphically on TV or a computer screens. When the line is flat that means ‘brain dead’ - the legal definition of death".

He goes on to explain that the rate of cycles switches our consciousness into different levels. At the tuition centre we are interested in first two...

Beta state ( 13 to 28 cps.) waking state

Alpha state ( 7 to 13 cps.) opening sub-conscious

Theta state ( 3.5 to 7 cps. ) creative state

Delta state ( 0.0 to 3.5 cps.) deep sleep

Note in high beta greater than 20 cps. people undergo ‘stress attacks’ and can even die. Less than 0.5 is a coma. As educators we are most interested in the upper two.

Sandy explains that .. we operate daily in Beta. The mind is busy undertaking up to 7 tasks simultaneously.

For learning that transfers information to our memory the mind needs to move towards and into alpha . For the filter is opened which allows information to pass into memory, the mind needs to slow down to focus on one activity.

Such an environment occurs with subjects being studied at our tuition centre. All of our teachers create the disciplined and quiet learning environment . (Unfortunately absent in many classes at school today. All very interesting).

AND....that is what we aim for at tuition a relaxed learning environment ..to slow the mind down through the Beta State towards the Apha zone where the subsciouscious and long term memory are.

Tuition Works

At the end of 2006 I ran into a mother of a Yr.9 boy, Ben, who is doing maths tuition with us. 

“How did he go? “ , I asked . She replied excitedly, 

“he came top .. in the Yr. 9 Advanced class at school ! ”  

I gave her a  ‘high 5’  and chuckled.  Through this year I had  witnessed  a good ‘average’ student’ evolve to someone who is displaying mastery over content.  

Ben’s  mother concluded, “he is so pleased with himself...” 

Tuition does not always lead to top position. But it does broaden and strengthen the knowledge  of  content.  Knowledge which transfers to better results. 

Often P.B. (personal best) results. AND it can change ( I see it all the time) a student who is failing to a pass student . 

Also for students tuition can lead to a permanent  positive self image about a subject.  Yes, I reflected on the words.. 
"Yes... he is so pleased with himself".  Yes,  tuition works. 

Guideposts to success

Self  Image

Any child will achieve only the results that he or she realistically expects,  Parents should take advantage of every opportunity to raise a child’s level of expectation.  

Genuine praise and encouragement given liberally by a parent can often work miracles whilst sarcasm can destroy a child’s confidence and ruin many hours of study and application.  Master Coaching is always mindful of the importance of self image and actively promote this in classes.

Goals and Objectives

Children should aim for excellence in all their endeavours and to be continually moving towards the achievement of this goal.  In the pursuit of this ultimate goal many more attainable goals can be set and reached in the process.  (eg  "achieving in the top half of the class,  or, being promoted to the class above” etc.)

Homework  

Homework is an important part of learning - often the ideas and concepts explained at school or at coaching are only fully mastered and understood by children after private revision in their own homes.  Every child should do some homework each night of the week.