Get Ready. It's Coming!

Hello, disorganized classroom! I went to see my classroom today and spend time getting it ready for you, my students. Don't think that I'm the only teacher who did this. Many of my colleagues go in before it's time to get their and your rooms ready for the new year. I found so much disorganization that I didn't know where to start. Things were everywhere, which is typical due to all that goes on when we go home and the maintenance crew does its thing, kind of like when you sit down to do your homework-everything is everywhere.

Now that I and many of your teachers have spent time preparing for this school year, I want you to do the same. Now's the time to get your pens, pencils, erasers, calulator, paper, notebook, and folders ready, not to take to school but to set up your homework area at home. Gather all of these things and anything else you may need to do your work at home and put them in a box, bag, or container of some sort so when you have to do your homework everything's there, and all you have to do is grab the container and you're ready to go.

Homework is not the most fun thing ever, so why make it more difficult than it has to be? Some parents make you do your homework before you get to do what you really want to do. So why waste time and energy every day going around gathering everything you need just to get started? Maybe your parents want you to earn As and Bs. There's no way you can get that can be easy if you're constantly getting up to get this and get that. There's nothing like finally getting into it and then having to stop because you need something. Homework is already frustrating enough, so why add to it. Having everything ready when you sit down to work makes it all that much easier.

I hope that this year's homework is a bit more tolerable with this simple yet effective strategy. Here's to a great year!

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

Study Coach Group Offering

If you’re looking for something to do this summer, why not get a group of friends together and take a class with Lora the Study Coach? It’s a great way to master the Study Coach’s methods to learn virtually anything, and with a group a friends, it’s sure to be fun! In 90 minutes, you will learn 20+ ways to acquire and remember information that will help you pass exams and earn better grades in the classroom. It’s a great investment that will help you earn better grades for the rest of your academic career. Wouldn’t it be great to never struggle again with your schoolwork?! Maybe taking a study class in the summer is not your idea of a fun summer vacation, but it’s worth sharpening your skills before you have to use them.

Take this into consideration: Two lumberjacks were chopping down trees in a forest (Hopefully they were planting trees to replace what they were cutting down.). By lunchtime, their axes had begun to dull, so they discussed the situation and came up with two thoughts: 1. If they stopped to sharpen their axes, they would lose time getting their job done; 2. If they kept going not stopping to sharpen their axes, then no time would be lost and they could keep working. After some thought, one lumberjack decided that they were already losing too much time and decided to keep chopping. The other lumberjack decided that it was worth the time to sharpen his axe, so he stopped chopping and began sharpening. His colleague just shook his head as he felled yet another tree. It wasn’t long before the lumberjack who had sharpened his axe got back to work and began catching up to his colleague and soon passed him in the number of trees cut down. After a hard day of work, there was only one lumberjack who was still working—the one who refused to sharpen his axe.

Study skills are like an axe: the sharper they are, the faster the work gets done!

If you’re interested in mastering the Study Coach’s methods, get a group of friends together and set up your class. Classes are limited to 5 students to assure that each student is given appropriate time and practice with each study method. Call or write today: (956) 501-7724, Lora@LoratheStudyCoach.com. Cost per group is $200.

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

Bedhead

Yeah! School’s out for summer! For us Texans, it’s been out for a good two weeks. Sorry to those of you who are still attending. Just remember that we all go to school for 36 weeks of class, and northern schools will have their time to brag in August when they are still on summer break and we are back in school. Enough of that.

Summer is here! Take the time to re-energize. I have found myself sleeping so much! I’m beginning to feel that I’m not worth the air I breathe. But then I remember the 36 weeks of perseverance and hard work that I’ve just completed and give myself a break. So, if you find your parents bugging you about sleeping too much, let them know that you’re body is re-energizing and gaining back its strength. However, don’t think that this is permission to sleep your life away. You do have to get out of bed at some point!

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

You Can Do It!

I feel like The Little Engine That Could! This time of year is so draining for students and teachers. Everyone is ready to throw in the towel. But don’t! We are so close to the end. After 9 months, or 10 in Texas, it is so wrong to flub up when the end is in sight. This, in fact, may be the toughest time of the school year. Keep it up, kiddos! Be determined to end this year on a positive note. You can do it!

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

Testing, Testing!

As I was monitoring one of my students during a state exam, he commented, “This is so boring!” Really? With a variety of interesting stories and articles to read and a chance to shine, how could the test be boring? What I think he really meant is that the test, the writings, weren’t stimulating him. I think he also meant that he was having trouble sitting so still in such a quiet room with no distractions. It is due to this “boringness” that he is likely to fail his exam, not because of his inability or lack of knowledge or skills.

Nothing that this student could have done a week before testing could have cured this boredom, just as someone who plans to run a marathon cannot ready himself for the endurance in a week. He needed to be working on the issue for months prior to the event. Strength is built up over time. From the beginning, or at least months prior to the state exams, every day in every class, my student should have been pushing himself, forcing himself, to do just a little bit more when he wanted to give up. It’s the little bit extra that we practice every day that makes a huge difference in the end.

Today my student sat very unhappy with his test in front of him. I can only imagine what he was thinking, the complaining he was doing in his head and the angst he was feeling as the test was before him—that test that would determine if he is promoted to high school or not. If only he had been a mental athlete, not a mental sideliner.

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

NABE 2011

NABE 2011 was a huge success! In February, at the National Association of Bilingual Education annual conference in New Orleans, teachers packed the room to hear about the learning strategies found in The Study Coach’s Easy Study Manual. Teachers from across the nation attended and left with valuable activities to teach their students.

It usually only takes the knowledge of a few strategies for a student’s grades to soar, but all of the strategies need to be taught so that each student can select a handful that works for him. Not all of the strategies work for all students because all students do not learn the same—some are auditory learners, some are visual learners; and some are tactile learners. The opposite is also true, that some do not learn through auditory, visual or tactile input. Most commonly, though, students learn through the stimulation of multiple senses, which is why the learning activities in The Study Coach’s Easy Study Manual are effective learning tools—they are multisensory!

Thank you to all of those who attended The Study Coach’s session at NABE 2011! I look forward to seeing you again at NABE 2012!

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach

It's Vacation, But Don't Let Your Mind Turn to Mush!

I don't know about you, but I am already bored. Not saying that I want to go back to school or anything, but I'm bored. School let out on December 17th, which gave me plenty of time to tie up all the loose ends before Christmas. It is one of the wonderful things about teaching in South Texas.

Now that we are on the 9th day of vacation, the 9th day of no obligations, the 9th day of waking up late and taking naps, I'm bored. I'm "ready to go." On the inside, I wish I had the desire to exercise my body, but I've been so physically lazy that my desire is not strong enough to do so. My mind has been resting so much that it isn't anxious to do anything either. HOWEVER, if I don't get my mind moving, it is going to be tough going when school starts again. So, here is my plan:

1. Get online and chat with my friends (reading, writing, thinking)
2. Clean my room (physical movement, decision making--"Where should I put this?"
3. Call a friend (language skills)
4. Cook a meal (focus, physical movement)
5. Do crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search, picure puzzle (critical thinking)

If I do a little bit every day, my mind won't go into shock when classes start up again. Plus, I'll feel a shot of satisfaction each time I complete an activity and I won't feel lazy, which makes me feel guilty.

No matter what, enjoy your vacation--you deserve it!

Signed,
Lora the Study Coach