How to Take Advantage of Private Tutoring

How to Take Advantage of Private TutoringBroward County, Florida's public school system has recently added an option for parents to send their children to private tutoring throughout the school year. This program is for parents that want to send their children to private tutors for a minimal fee, and they do not require proof of being home schooled.There are actually many reasons why parents would choose to send their children to private tutors, especially in Broward County. The school district has come to the realization that many students can benefit from private tutors during the school year. It is important to understand the different reasons for parents to take advantage of this option, and the many advantages that private tutoring has to offer.The most obvious reason for parents to consider private tutoring is because the schools are so overcrowded and the classes are so large that some students are not able to take full advantage of the time that they have during the school ye ar. Additionally, the school system can provide students with the opportunity to learn with a certified private tutor at any time of the day. Private tutors may only be needed in the early morning or late afternoon, so parents can ensure that their child is receiving proper tutoring. This is essential for students that have limited opportunities to have private tutoring during the day.Another reason for parents to use private tutors is that there is a greater chance of their child getting better grades during the school year. Students may need extra help during the academic year, and private tutors are often recommended for those students. Some private tutors even offer additional instruction or guidance during their time with a student, providing additional tutoring options to their students.Broward County public schools are typically overcrowded during the school year, which may discourage parents from sending their children to private tutors. However, the alternative to private t utoring is going to a private school, where there is usually a much larger enrollment. Students often find it much easier to fit in with a group of similar students in a private school setting.There are many tutoring programs available to parents in Broward County, Florida. Many tutoring programs have contracts with private tutors, so students that wish to participate in a program may either have to pay a fee for the school year, or they may enroll in a free program. Often, there is not a large difference between private and public schools regarding the fees for tutoring services, but it is important to keep in mind that they will not be able to afford the fees that public schools charge for private tutoring.Broward County has taken the initiative to offer a new type of home schooling opportunity. The district is now offering families the opportunity to send their children to private tutors for a minimal fee. The program can be found online at BrowardTutoring.com.

Teach Yourself to Sing on Key With These 5 Tools

Teach Yourself to Sing on Key With These 5 Tools Sign up successful 4) Work With a Voice Teacher Back to the trusted pair of ears advice, there is no substitute, electronic or otherwise, for a good voice teacher who can check your posture and correct any bad habits that might be affecting your tone and your ability to sing in tune. Your singing teacher will help you train your ear alongside your voice, and ensure that your musical skills advance alongside your vocal progress. Ear training is probably the most important part of your development as a musician, and should be considered an essential step as you learn to sing. Even at a fairly basic level, a singer that sings in tune will be pleasant to listen to and get the kind of listener feedback that encourages them to keep going. Anyone can improve their ear, and hopefully a combination of the above options will work for you! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo by Javier Ignacio Acuña

Understanding moving the decimal

Understanding moving the decimal The decimal number representation is one of the basic and important representations in mathematics. A decimal number is placing in decimal point between the digits. The decimal place can be moved according to different mathematical operation. The decimal number when multiplied by number having zeroes the decimal point moves to the right according to the number of zeroes. The decimal number when divided by number having zeroes the decimal point moves to the left according to the number of zeroes. Example 1: Terry baked 100 cookies for a bake sale and sold them all for a price of $ 1.15 each. How much money did she make? Solution: Number of cookies Terry baked = 100. Price of each cookie = $ 1.15. Amount of money Terry earned in the bake sale = 100 x 1.15 = 115. (Here 100 has 2 zeroes so the decimal point can shit 2 places right in 1.15) Total amount of money Terry made = $ 115. Question: Multiple choice question (Pick the correct option.) What is the answer for the division of 456 100? a) 456.0 b) 45.6 c) 4.56 d) None of these. Correct answer: option c. Explanation: Here the division 456 100 = 456/100. The number 456 is equal to 456.0 (A whole number has decimal point at the end of the digits.) The number 100 has two zeroes so the decimal number moves 2 places to the left. This gives, 456/100 = 4.56 Hence, the answer for the division = 4.56.

British Actors Kate Winslet

British Actors Kate Winslet The Lady of the Titanic: Kate Winslet ChaptersKate Winslet: the Road to TitanicKate Winslet’s Move to the Big ScreenTitanic: Kate Winslet’s Iconic RoleKate Winslet: Away from StardomThe Two Thousands for Kate WinsletRecent Films With Kate WinsletTwenty years after her role in the blockbuster Titanic, renowned British actress Kate Winslet still knows how to steal our hearts. But how did she land the part and what has she done since? in 2005, a musical comedy where she sang and danced.All the King’s Men, starring Sean Penn and Jude Law, plays in Louisiana in the 1940s.Little Children, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta, in which she plays Sarah Pierce, a housewife who starts an affair with her neighbour. She received her fifth Oscar nomination and won in the category Best Actress.2008: Revolutionary Road and The ReaderKate Winslet had read Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates and recommended an adaptation to her then-husband, Sam Mendes. She reunited with her old co-star DiCaprio as a 1950s couple in suburban America. Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio were both praised for their performance. Winslet won a Golden Globe for her role.After turning down The Reader, a film about an illiterate concentration camp guard who has an affair with a teenager she brings in to read to her, her replacement Nicole Kidman became pregnant and Winslet got the role after all. The film was quite controversial, as having a Nazi in the main role offended many. She won yet another Golden Globe, an Academy Award and the BAFTA award for Best Actress.The ReturnAfter a two-year hiatus to escape media attention and focus more on her children, she came back to acting in 2011 as overprotective mother Mildred Pierce, a hardworking Depression-era woman trying to survive without her husband and earning her spoiled daughter’s respect, in the eponymous HBO mini-series. This earned her yet another Golden Globe as well as an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and a SAG award.Kate Winslet in her role as Mildred Pierce in the H BO series. Photo credit: CasualCapture on Visual huntYet another Golden Globe nomination was for Carnage in 2011, where she starred next to Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly and Christoph Waltz.The Return: Take TwoAfter another hiatus, she starred in Labor Day, a film about a single mother who falls for an escaped convict. In the 2014 sci-fi movie Divergent, an adaptation of a Young Adult dystopian novel, she took a leaf out of actor Gary Oldman's book and plays a villain as the head of an authoritarian regime. Despite lukewarm reviews, she returned for the sequel Insurgent.In 2015, she took on the starring role in the Australian film The Dressmaker, as a seamstress accused of murder who returns to her hometown years later. She won an  AACTA Award for Best Actress.Another project to come out in 2015 was a biopic on Steve Jobs with Michael Fassbender in the title role. She played Joanna Hoffman, marketing chief of Apple. She won yet another Golden Globe and BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actress and was nominated for the Academy Awards for the seventh time.One of Kate Winslet's newer roles in The Mountain Between Us. Photo credit: Bluedreamer2011 on VisualHuntRecent films include Triple 9 (2016), Collateral Beauty (2016, alongside Will Smith), The Mountain Between Us and Wonder Wheel in 2017.Kate Winslet was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2012.Find acting classes with a personal coach on SuperprofActing classes LondonActing classes LeedsActing classes Glasgow

5 Excellent Sight Reading Exercises for Singers

5 Excellent Sight Reading Exercises for Singers Megan L. Unless youre a career-chorister, the concept of sight reading music is probably going to at best make you slightly nervous, and at worst paralyze you with fright. However, at some point, probably when you join a choir or perhaps go to an audition, youre going to have to face that hurdle. Sight reading comes easier to some singers than others, but its not some mythical task akin to retrieving a golden fleece; sight-reading, even for the more able, is a learned skill, and there are several sight reading exercises you can practice to improve. Here are five sight reading exercises that will make a difference and help calm your fears: Familiarity Pick an octave that comfortably covers the middle of your voice. Sit down at a piano and play up and down that octave; as a major scale, harmonic and melodic minor scale, and as a chromatic scale. Listen carefully to each of the notes, and fix them in your mind and your ear. Next, play intervals to yourself within that octave and memorize the sound of the interval. The final stage a friend will be useful here is to play the home note, and then sing back a specific interval. Check your work thoroughly, as this sight reading exercise has as much to do with memory as anything else! Ear and Eye Once your ear has established what those intervals sound like, train your eye to recognize them on paper, as youre going to struggle in any sight reading exercises if you cant translate that knowledge from ear to page. Be aware that intervals dont always look how you might expect on paper, so use this as an opportunity to improve your general music reading skills as well. How Do You Eat an Elephant? The answer should always be a forkful at a time! It may feel overwhelming to be faced with a whole page of tricky music during sight reading exercises, but dealing with it one bar at a time will make it seem much less scary. If the whole page fills you with panic, put the brakes on for a moment and just deal with small sections at a time. Map Reading Think of a piece of music like a roadmap. Take careful note of key and time signatures, and pinpoint interesting landmarks like accidentals or key changes. Look ahead, and fix rest spots, i.e. half or whole notes where you can take stock and plan your strategy for the rest of the piece.  Dont be afraid of sight reading new pieces a little under tempo better to do this and keep going than practice with an error that you cant shake. Self-sufficiency Rules Nothing will give you greater confidence as a singer and a musician than being able to prepare your music yourself, and to know that youve prepared it accurately. There are many singers out there even working within the classical industry at the very highest level that cant read music, and need a voice coach to teach them every single note.  Being able to read songs as easily as you would a newspaper is a valuable skill that will carry you far. Now that you have all these tools to make you a confident and capable singer, there is one final, important thing to bear in mind over and above any exercise or other preparation rule: Without a well-trained, properly-produced instrument, all of your work will be pointless. Finding a good voice teacher is essential to take you beyond being a talented, untrained amateur singer with natural ability. Since we cant hear our own voices accurately, its important to find a good teacher to help you identify and correct bad habits as they happen, and show you the right exercises to practice to improve your skills. Good luck with your singing, and dont forget to have fun! Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo  by Dave

How To Assess Teachers

How To Assess Teachers Students who like their teachers learn more, according to a new report cited in the New York Times. This study, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is seeking to distinguish the good teachers from the bad. Students who described their teachers as skillful at maintaining classroom order, at focusing their instruction and at helping their students learn from their mistakes learned more than their fellow classmates, as measured by their outperforming them on standardized test scores, according to the report. This report is part of a larger, two-year project that the Gates Foundation is funding to enhance education. This two-year project includes scores from social scientists and around 3,000 teachers in Charlotte, N.C., Dallas, Denver, Hillsborough County, Fla. which includes Tampa Memphis, New York, and Pittsburgh. The larger Gates Foundation project is a $335 million effort to overhaul and improve the teachers and personnel in the aforementioned districts. This effort began last year as statisticians ranked all teachers using a value-added method, which calculates how much a teacher has helped his/her students learn by changes in achievement tests from year-to-year. Researchers are now comparing teachers value-added scores with questionnaires that students filled out, giving their opinions of their teachers. The results are not surprising, and researchers found strong correlations between teachers value-added ratings and students evaluations. Teachers whose students agreed with statements like, In this class, we learn to correct our mistakes, and, My teacher has several good ways to explain each topic that we cover in this class rated much higher on the value-added program than teachers who did not receive positive evaluations. Surprisingly enough, this study marks one of the first times researchers have actually asked students what they think about their teachers. Why? Maybe it was too obvious to ask the students themselves if their teachers were good or bad. Previously, most public school teacher evaluations were performed by the principal as he/she would sit in on a teachers class lecture for the day. The Gates Foundation well equipped with common sense is now being considered a thought leader on overhauling education. Over 20 states education administrators and policymakers are seeking input and information from the Gates Foundation on how to measure teacher effectiveness. This report is more concerned with how to measure teacher effectiveness, and it offered very few suggestions on how to improve it. However, a director of education at the Gates Foundation, Vicki Phillips, told the New York Times that teachers who constantly berate students to prepare for the standardized tests have lower value-added measures than teachers who slowly and methodically work their way through literary or mathematical concepts. Teaching to the test makes your students do worse on the tests, Phillips told The New York Times. It turns out all that drill and kill isnt helpful. Currently various organizations, ranging from the Obama administration to the Gates Foundation to other smaller, grassroots organizations are all attempting to be the organization that saved Americas education system. With this arms race, students can greatly benefit with better education systems.

Learn Maths Online with These Resources

Learn Maths Online with These Resources Let the Internet be Your Online Maths Tutor ChaptersBeing Critical of Your Maths ResourcesOnline Maths Resources: Advice from a Maths TutorTake Your Learning FurtherMaths Video TutorialsThe Relationship Between Online Resources and Formal EducationAccording to a study by the French organisation, INSEE, around 86% of young people between the ages of 15 and 29 use the internet  on a daily basis.This statistic is hardly surprising as we become more and more dependent on technology.What is remarkable, however, is the change in opinion toward the usefulness of the world wide web. The same survey found that only 27% of those who did not use the internet said it was because they did not find it useful, compared to 50% in 2008.This marks the true scale of the digital revolution we are experiencing, where the internet will continue to grow as it gains more relevance in people's lives.Of course, we should not ignore the way in which this tool is used. The INSEE tells us that in 2010, around 70% of the same age group had used the interne t in the last three months for the sole purpose of learning and enriching their knowledge.Why Not Mix the Useful With the Enjoyable When it Comes to Maths?The era when the internet served only to distract has come to an end.Now, the nature of the world wide web  has inspired developers and educators, as they see people searching for answers to their maths questions and using it to widen their knowledge.The Internet: a tool with infinite uses ¦ source: Pixabay - twinquinn84In addition to the recent interest in the internet as a tool, school pupils and university students need to find out how they can use it as an effective means of remedying their personal difficulties in maths through interactive games and tutorials, for example.Students can find free online math help relating to math problems about triangles, trigonometry, Pythagorean Theorem, algebra, geometry, area and volume, graphing, probability and statistics, turning fractions into a decimal, and polynomial functions, for e xample.The internet can be particularly  useful for math lessons in either delivering them or providing access to revision materials. Online tutors make a living on the internet, advising students in the run up to exams and giving them tips on how to not fall into traps placed in maths test papers. MyriamMaths Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £200/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Dr parikhMaths Teacher 5.00 (8) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors KamalMaths Teacher 5.00 (9) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PetarMaths Teacher 5.00 (8) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GowsikaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RubenMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ConorMaths Teacher 4.75 (4) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsBeing Critical of Your Maths ResourcesFinding Maths Worksheets and Maths Tutorials OnlineT he internet is bursting with maths websites dedicated to providing revision and learning material in the form of math worksheets and solutions.If you're looking for step-by-step guides to certain topics, have a look at BBC Bitesize maths. BBC maths  has useful resources for learners from all parts of the UK, including learner guides with 'class clips' (video tutorials to walk yo through solutions).There are online resources for every level. From getting used to counting along the number line and adding and subtracting to long division, algebraic equations and even advanced math concepts such as pre calculus, finding the integral and differential equations, there is something for everyone.If you're preparing to sit GCSE, AS or A Level exams, it's very easy to find PDF files of past exam papers from specific exam boards for different levels of qualification with a simple search.Be careful that you don't get distract by the bright colours and appeal of some of these types of websites, though. Whilst playing online math games can be an incredibly effective way of learning and testing your knowledge of maths concepts, they carry the risk of becoming distracting and actually counter-productive in some cases.Maths Exercises with Answer Sheets OnlineWithout answers, what would be the point of exercises and worksheets?Of course, it is important to verify that you have arrived  at the correct answer to the question, but you must be critical of the available resources.What if your answer is incorrect? A useful answer sheet will not just have what the correct final answer is supposed to be, but, just as maths students are requested to do in tests and math quiz questions, they should show their working.Developing good mathematical and problem solving skills is all about trial and error and revisiting your mistakes to learn from them.Understanding where you went wrong is the first step to finding the correct solution and setting yourself up for success in the future.There i s also value in the variation of different exercises. Redoing the same kind of questions over and over again can be useful to begin with, but this method is not so effective when it comes to revision as there is a risk of predictability.There is value in making mistakes, but only if you understand why you made them ¦ source: Pixabay - NOSTIf you're serious about developing advanced math skills, you need to catch yourself off-guard. Try to find questions which are presented differently to how you are used to, or make yourself a compilation worksheet from all kinds of mathematical topics.The greater the heterogeneity of training, the better the learning of mathematics. In other words, by working through diversified exercises, the student will improve their level of competency and therefore increase their chances of maths mastery.The internet offers a vast amount of exercises which can offer refreshment from the limited resources of the classroom as they move away from textbooks. Only having access to revision materials prescribed by their maths teacher can leave pupils feeling unprepared for exams.Online Maths Resources: Advice from a Maths TutorTaking maths lessons online or following math courses are excellent ways to teach yourself maths.The reasons why people choose to follow these online maths courses vary from person to person, but sometimes, schools and colleges fail  to provide sufficient support for students, which leaves them behind the math curriculum and sometimes even behind their peers.Due to the often fast-paced nature and one-size-fits-all approach to classroom teaching, this kind of damage is difficult to repair.Address your maths problems with the help of the internet ¦ source: Pixabay - janeb13This is where online study comes in. Supplemental instruction from an online study programme or one on one online maths tutoring can bridge this gap and provide the necessary support on the way to academic success.One to one tutoring is particularly us eful for homework help and offering alternative teaching methods as well as different explanations to those of school math teachers. Learners can benefit from seeing a math problem from a different perspective that suits their way of thinking and a maths tutor use the strengths and weaknesses of the learner to provide tailored support.Avoiding repetition is particularly important when it comes to learning. Although this is difficult to do when it comes to topics like multiplication and division or addition and subtraction, what makes maths an attractive subject to learn is that is can be learnt by many different methods. So if you don't like the method the teacher uses, you can find an alternative one, or simply attempt questions of a different style out of curiosity!When it comes to learning online without private maths tuition, students may find a website that suits their specific learning strategies and choose to use this alongside their studies.Keeping the subject interesting an d exciting is key to learning success.Remember that you must be critical about your resources. Don't solely rely on a website or programme you find since this risks missing valuable content that may pop up on the exam. MyriamMaths Teacher 5.00 (13) £20/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors MarkMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £200/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors Dr parikhMaths Teacher 5.00 (8) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors KamalMaths Teacher 5.00 (9) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors PetarMaths Teacher 5.00 (8) £40/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GowsikaMaths Teacher 5.00 (5) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors RubenMaths Teacher 5.00 (1) £15/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ConorMaths Teacher 4.75 (4) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsTake Your Learning FurtherThanks to the wonders of the world wide web, students are free to access as many resources as they please. This includes small children who wish to practice maths through playing online maths games and A Level maths students looking for solutions to past exam papers.Smartphones and tablets are in the hands of every teenager and they are fantastic for maths practice. There are also many free apps designed to help students prepare for exams.These apps offer maths revision games for kids as well as maths quiz questions and maths tests to track progress.Having a way to learn math topics on the bus or while in a waiting room can be a fantastic way to revise maths.Getting in that extra bit of math practice without the heavy textbooks can lead to a greater fluency in maths and reasoning as students can practice everything from basic math such as arithmetic, rounding and estimation to more advanced concepts including quadratic equations and vectors.Find out about mathematical vocabulary and how integers are the same thing as whole numbers or scientific notation.Again, students should be wary of any national curriculum topics which m ay be missing from these websites or apps.Thankfully, many of these online resources cater for specific exam boards. So whether you're preparing for an AQA A Level maths exam or the Edexcel GCSE maths higher paper, you can feel free to become a true mathematician through practicing your maths skills and broaden  your understanding on-the-go.Maths Video TutorialsAnother relatively recent development in the world of revision materials, video tutorials from maths teachers on Youtube are increasingly popular among students looking for maths help.Certified teachers such as Mr Hegarty and Mr Barton  (who also has materials for teachers) upload math videos of themselves working through maths problems at an easy pace, explaining every step along the way.This type of learning is particularly attractive to those who prefer to watch and listen rather than read from a textbook. Also unlike the textbook approach, Youtube channels can be updated with new content responding to comments from subscr ibers.Perhaps interactive learning owes its success to the involvement of learners in their own progress by facilitating an exchange between student and educator or technology.Maths videos act like a second math lesson on top of what has been taught in the classroom. Learners can pause, rewind and fast forward parts of the question according to their understanding - this makes for a nearly personalised approach to learning which motivates the student.However, as always, be critical! Don't settle for a math teacher or Youtuber you find boring just because they cover the right topics - engagement is key!The Relationship Between Online Resources and Formal EducationThe internet is undoubtedly a fantastic tool for finding a varied and relevant selection of learning resources.It can be used to download worksheets, play interactive math games online, answer maths quizzes and find answers to maths past papers from various exam boards.The tools you need to help you while you're learning mat h are at your fingertips. Play math games such as Sushi Monster and learn to multiply as you lay the foundations for understanding square roots and how to divide. Learn about math and its applications by attempting world problems, or even find yourself a math tutor to help improve your number sense.Head to Youtube and learn about math for your upcoming exams. Solve problems with a teacher before looking straight at the answers.This impressive range of uses demonstrates the way in which new technology can open up a new world of learning to students.But although fun maths games like math puzzles and video lessons on Youtube can provide excellent support alongside classroom teaching, it should not be used to replace it.By solely relying on online math resources, you could run the risk of missing out on important course content which is critical to an exam, or misusing your time to learn about maths concepts which do not feature on the curriculum.Going beyond formal mathematics educatio n can be interesting and shows dedication, but be careful to dedicate enough time to what you're being taught in class to ensure the best learning experience.

Getting Gritty With It

Getting 'Gritty' With It Improving Academic Performance Failure ain’t what it used to be. Or, at least, failure is understood differently today, as we examine more closely how much it actually helps us in the long run. When we allow failure and setbacks to be learning experiences and jumping off points for the development of resilience and grit, our lives transform. We refine our character all the more, but like a fine work of art that benefits from revision and reframing. Nowhere is such an experience in growth more valuable and applicable than education. Several years ago, a man named (fittingly) Paul Tough, published the excellent book How Children Succeed, which explains in great detail that the process of trying something difficult and not coming up smelling like roses actually provides an excellent opportunity to grow - not only for students, but as individuals. Tough explains, in a nutshell, that although cognitive ability and IQ might still be factors in one’s ability to succeed in education, character and non-cognitive skills can weigh just as heavily on a student’s ability to learn and thrive and that such development of character often comes through the practice of persistence in the face of foundering. You can watch Tough here give an excellent talk on his research and developments and applied practice in schools today. Too much emphasis today is on the end goal or the good-enough grade rather than the process of challenging learning. Too much emphasis is on the over-protection of children and young adults from adversity and potential harm rather than the encouragement to face challenges with curiosity and gusto. Though such intentions like focusing on grades and protecting young ones from adversity are well-meaning, the results are plain, as Tough continuously illustrates in his book, as well as the following article on Edutopia explains: children and adolescents who do not go through necessary trial and error experiences, and yes, even outright failure, are less equipped to handle higher education and the eventual real world. Not only that, but they are missing out on opportunities to develop a character rounded out with strength, resolve, perseverance, and courage. Grit is a term Tough uses regularly throughout his book, which can also be defined as pluck, nerve, fortitude, or strength of character. The idea of grit being applied in education was first coined by Angela Duckworth in her book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. It is an invaluable trait to possess, and both Tough and Duckworth argue that it often develops most strongly in students who are willing to go for sometimes overwhelming challenges without too much fear of failing and the subsequent willingness to learn from that failure. You can check out if you have the five most common characteristics of grit here. We have to look at what our culture means by the term “failure.” Is it simply not succeeding in the long run? No. A better perspective on failure might be understanding that mistakes are inevitable and that perfectionism stifles growth. Failure is not necessarily earning a failing grade on a report card; it might be not making the basketball team one year or getting a lower than expected mark on a science project or dealing with the consequences of putting off studying for an entire semester. It could also mean struggling early on in an extra difficult class before one decides they need extra help or more time spent in the library. These little learning experiences are what help individuals develop grit and understand that a willingness to keep trying, learning, studying, practicing, even in the face of “failure,” is a worthwhile human attribute. If you are a parent, you might want to allow your children to take a few bigger risks now and then; let them risk making a handful of hefty mistakes. Let them risk a bad grade or a cut from the sports team or a last place contestant in a competition. Or, if a student yourself, why not go out on a limb and take that more challenging class or extra curricular activity you know nothing about and see what happens? You might just develop extra grit in the aftermath and become an overall more successful individual down the road. A good way of looking at it is thinking about what type of character you aim to possess rather than simply making the grade or avoiding imperfections. As Tough explains, “what matters…is [that we] develop persistence, self-control, curiosity, conscientiousness, and self-confidence.” Go for it! About the Author Stephanie Ingraham is a former English teacher turned writer and tutor with a BA in English from UCLA and a Masters in Education from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles. She is deeply passionate about education, psychology, child and adolescent development, literature, and writing. She believes the education world can benefit greatly from the meditation world - mindfulness and self-compassion are key! In her free time she loves reading and writing, music, baking, yoga, dance, animals, and exploring new cities. She currently lives in Chicago, Illinois.

English Classes with TED Morgan Spurlock

English Classes with TED Morgan Spurlock Most people know Morgan Spurlock for his popular documentary film, Supersize Me, in which he spent 30 days eating nothing but McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Since then Spurlock has done many interesting projects, and is now working on another film, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, a documentary about branding, advertising and product placement that is, ironically, financed by brands, advertising and product placement.Morgan recently gave a TED talk about the making of the film, for which he sold the naming right to on Ebay. He spent some of the talk focusing on branding, but for most of it he talks about the difficulties of making the film, and his chief point seems to be that it is important to take risks in life. Below youll find the TED video, and some questions about the video. We are now regularly using these videos as part of my advanced English conversation classes. If youd like to take a class, contact us.What unusual thing did he try to do with his TED Talk? What i s your brand? What is his movie about? One of the men that Morgan presents the film idea to says that When I first hear it, it   is the ________ _______ for an audience. Another ask him, Do you sort of know how ____ __ _____ __ ____ ___? What happened when he turned the camera off after presenting the film to the men who said they could help him? What was the fatal flaw with his idea? What are the three sides to every story according to Morgan? What did he have to do? What word do they finally decide on to define Ban deodorant? What are each of the peoples brands? I like really ____ _______. 80s _______ meets _____ ____. ______ Dark _______ A Classic ___________ Mercedes Benz Casual ___ Part ______, part ____, part Brooklyn ____ The ___ guy Fed __ Failed ______ _________ ______ (Morgan) At the intersection between ____ _______ and ______ ___.What did he do next? What does the company tell him his brand is? What does this mean to you? When you train your employees to be risk averse, then youre preparing your whole company to be reward challenged.