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Content and language Integrated learning (CLIL) Methodology at Schools!

July 27, 2022August 3, 2022Subashini Srikumar Leave a comment

The Content and Language Integrated Learning refers to the overall development of the students. The focus is on both the context and the language and when the subject is specifically in a different language which gets excelled and both the language and the content gets accommodated giving a better and beneficial platform to the students.

Having examined over the concept the dual focus instruction is meant to be a revolutionary change as it develops additional skills in the students. To be clearer on this concept, the classroom teaching is generally implied in the first language of the learners but here it is learning a foreign language. It is not all about learning language but along with the learning of language they work on the content and make sure all the subjects are taught and learnt in the new language. This is the factual reason for the success of the both.

This CLIL (Content and language integrated learning) paves the way to the learning of additional language and not mere sticking to the first language medium of learning. This focus becomes exceedingly accommodative and when the language is being learned with the subject specification it shows great improvements. The recompenses over it are that the language competency been developed. Improves multi-lingual communication skills, the subject gets more interesting to learn it in a different language, advances the students confident level and enriches the motivation. When learning the subject in a different language the ability to think, analyze and reproduce develops right from the beginning.

CLIL develops a welcoming approach!

This concept gradually spread across the globe and many countries internationally adhere this trend to the benefit of the students. This system of education becomes suitable for all grades and in simple the knowledge enhancement is dual in the span of learning one subject. The power of learning a new language comes naturally with no different or dedicated time for it, for the simple reason when the subject must be learned for understanding, learning and reproducing the language must be made familiar and hence the learning process seems to be quick and easy. There are schools which adapt the concept partially and when the school is backed with the right teachers and mentors it is all the simpler.

More specifically the benefits of CLIL is that it prepares the students for the internationalization which is important for higher studies and work life as well, creates and develops a unique interest in the multilingual and henceforth stays motivated. All these ultimately accelerate the school profile and takes pride in the success of each student.

The Role of Teachers and Mentors:

At this point in CLIL concept, the subjects and the curriculum serves as a tool for learning the new language. As the target of teachers been to prepare the teaching in the new language means much of strategies involved and the right side by side exposure is obligatory. The class lesson plan should also be planned way in advance in the target language, to improve the vocabulary, the provide the complete learning skills. To this implementation, the right meaning of the works in different contextual is much more required. In most cases, they then to work on their skills of language reading, writing, speaking and presenting. The cultural enhancements with the interconnectivity are been experienced.

What as Teachers need to understand?

Teachers involved in the CLIL should aim to distinguish their teaching from the conventional methods. It is not about schools or regulations, it works best on passion.

The teachers should understand:

It is not any kind of scheme or rules in CLIL.
It is also not all about language.
CLIL is not about aiming the learner to be fluent in the language.
CLIL is entirely about Dual-focused education as deliberated above.
It works best in Team Efforts.
CLIL is not something impossible.
CLIL can do wonders when applied innovatively.

The Challenges:

Primarily English is the extensively chosen medium and the instruction methodology is been existing for years while the new era system CLIL getting popular would be difficult in meeting the possibilities and the parameters. The language teacher would not be strong in the context subjects while the subject teachers will not be efficient enough in the language. So, this method calls for the integration and the blend of both the subject and the language teachers to make it successful. Still, the adoption of English the universal language teaching cannot be forgone and needs to be in practice as the new language teaching being in many socio, cultural issues.

Another controversy experienced is that the certified subject teachers, when handled the CLIL methodology, does not reach the expectations as they are not skilled in the language meticulously and the vice versa also face the efficiency issue. The teacher’s skill enhancement becomes primary while adopting the CLIL methodology.

How Schools Practice CLIL!

CLIL is effectively practiced in Germany, Italy and they show the professional development in everyday teaching and learning. As this concept was promoted by the European Union with the inspiration of introducing innovative teaching with a foreign language together with the effective content learning.

Schools need to implement the 4C’s – the Content, the Communication, the Cognitive ability and the Culture.

The content is the depth of the subjects to learn like History, Geography, Science, Math’s, etc.

The communication involves the familiarity and the use of language in both the oral and written form.

The cognitive ability is the mental aptitude where the students are trained to think and respond in other language.

The culture is the exploration of the other languages and their experience.

Schools essential is to support and train teachers to learn strategies, they need to approach using ICT, teachers should be provided with the guidance of partnering for teaching.

Inference:

Constant motivation and encouragement make CLIL implementation a success and an overall progress is experienced with all the stack holders-the school, teachers, and the students. Criticism must be eliminated if the schools wish to globalize and perform distinguished.

STEM Education, The learning Revolution – An Explanation with Examples!

June 27, 2022ShriHariRam G Leave a comment

STEM-based education or curriculum is popular and gaining momentum among the education and academic communities across the globe in the recent years. So let us explore what is special about them, and are they new in the education communities and systems?

Well, the answer is yes and no, if we look closely at the acronym of STEM, we get Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. We define STEM, as a way of educating and creating exposure in children to the world of STEM-related fields (Science, Technology, Engineering) with real-world problem-solution scenarios, and not just by the conventional theory-and-experiment education followed in schools worldwide.

If we see the existence of the STEM, the answer will be, it is one of a kind. Something new that is dictated by the time and era we live in. If we look closely at the education, it is used as a means of educating and creating exposure to the student to a more sustaining education.

Where the science and technology are at its height, innovation pops up every second, by this way the student gets ample exposure and abundant opportunity to explore the various fields in STEM and are likely motivated to pursue the STEM-based profession.

Inevitability of STEM Education

The main necessity for the STEM education is preparing the student for a sustaining career, with respect to time and current trend. As mentioned earlier STEM education is one of the kinds which is dictated by time and era.

If we look at the Renaissance era, the importance is given to art and literature, where the printing press first emerged, here the growth of the art and architecture excelled. When we consider the era of 40’s and end of 50’s we could see the development of system/curriculum for education framed, and here the Knitting for girls and the carpentry for the boys existed.

Then followed by workshop classes, focusing on mechanical skills, this followed by the computer era, where the home-brew computers emerged. Here the computer literacy co-existed, which it is the basic for a sustaining career then and now, in due course, it became a part of the curriculum since computers are playing a crucial part in our lives.

How to Incorporate STEM

As the recent study and analysis of researchers showed the best method of incorporating STEM education into current curriculum should be done at the elementary level. It is always best to introduce them as generic as possible, rather than as separate STEM concepts. In this process, their creativity of examining, exploring things and finding solutions are seeded in their minds.

Again, if we take a closer look at introducing STEM, it is suggested that best time to introduce is at a preschool level, where they would be learning the skill of exploring things. Much like Hands-on Attractive Exploration! Where the mere imagination and hands are put to the labor in order to stack pebbles, will form a basic masonry craftsmanship.

Understanding the Scenarios

Fundamentally, the scenarios involved in STEM are in the first hand the problem needs to be identified and then the solution to be sorted out from the available possibilities. The solution must be thought of based on the economy, time-critical dependency, build challenge.

The execution will be the end process of the result that will mostly be of physical computing related solution in the academic community, since it helps in the exploring and interacting visually and will be easy to grasp.

Physical computing is a type of computing where the interactions performed by the computers are brought to reality, rather than being hypothetical. The sensing or the input are fed through buttons or sensor, then the actuator/output is in the form of interaction, such as articulation through light or sound or automation or computer/remote server input or the combination of all. The physical computing involves the use of some form of task-specific computer, like the micro-controller (Arduino/ NodeMCU) which are limited in processing power, or microprocessors (Beagle Bone/Raspberry Pi/Orange Pi) having dedicated processor and higher memory and capable of multitasking. The cost and the usability vary, based on the performance and speed.

Example 1: Automated Pedal Bin

Situation: The pedal bin is a type of dustbin, with a normally closed lid. And has a pedal at the front bottom, which should be pressed to pivot the closed lid at the top. The encountered problem is that the opening and closing of the lid should be automated.

Solution: Investigation is conducted on the working of the pedal bin as a first step. The student studies the mechanical structure first and tries to come up with a semi-permanent solution. The students would then seek a mechanical actuator which is controlled by electronics. The electronics can be replaced by single chip computers since they are designed for doing a single task and in order to avoid the complexity of circuit design. With this, the working of the pedal bin is been semi-automated.

To make it fully automated, a sensor is required to sense the environment and based on the reading by the sensor, the computer makes the decision to activate the actuator or not. The sensor can range from cheap IR sensor to full-scale industrial precision sensor. Now, the usage of such sensors is planned based on the economy and complexity and lastly precision.

Example 2: Plant Watering System

Situation: Now we hop into a little more complex problem of ‘Automated Plant Watering System’. Here the problem is plant growing medium require manual watering which should be automated.

Solution: The setup is focused on simplicity and academic viewpoint. Here the first thing to know is the soil moisture. The soil moisture should be the determinant of the level of water content. The precision is based on the cost and processing power. For the academic purpose, we stick to moisture resistance sensor, where the output is given as voltage. Here the student is made to take field tests on soil moisture at which the coded logic for the automatic watering unit should be activated. The soil moisture gives output in terms of voltage, the 5V output for the presence high moisture content followed by 0v for low moisture content.

So, it is gets simplified as the computer is programmed to listen for input from the moisture sensor and when certain moisture data condition is met, it activates the dc motor pump which waters the plant up to certain time as the constraints are met.

The real and practical exposure is encouraged in the STEM learning and proves to be the best curriculum for the overall development of the child.

Recommendations to Teachers: An approach on the first day of academic year

May 27, 2022PPE DESK 1 Comment

Academic year may run either for 9 months or 10 months of the year and imagine how important and obvious the first day should be. It is the primary and foremost responsibility of the school and the teachers to transmit an intense growth mindset in students. This may be done with a discussion, a story session or with live examples of the successful students who had made the achievement. You could also call it Brainology which would foster the growth mindset where in the teachers teach the students to observe the lectures, take notes, study, think innovatively, practice and be attentive always.

Beyond the traditional schooling and the conventional advice over the discipline, manners, scores, organizing, managing, friendship, sports, entertainment are few things which are usually as a teacher tend to impart to their students. In the current scenario, it needs to be much more concentrated over the soft skills and the techniques to handle the situations, the right and supportive manner for the overall academic excellence. This is all about the teachers addressing to the students on the day-1 of the academic year to help them successfully perform each day and mark their overall excellence.

Here we go,

The sociable approach… and this need not be emphasized as you being in years of experience would certainly give your best to introduce the system, the personal introduction, discipline and rather a great ice-breaking session. Apart from these, the first day to the aspiring students should be strong enough that keeps them tight with their targets and aspirations. Here go the recommendations that make the teacher provide better and build the best possible aims and aspirations in each of the students.

Provide tips to be motivated

As a teacher, you should be providing the right solutions to students to stay motivated always. Even the most successful and ambitious student find it difficult to stay motivated at all times. This challenge persists in all our lives and the understanding the techniques to deal with the needs to come with plenty of guidance and practice.

Show them the methods to deal with the motivation level and it has to be at high level, work up repetitively to build and boost the motivation. The tips you could share on motivation can be the following.

Surround with the most capable and high performing students which substantially improve your score.

Music is a great addition to instantly boost up and keeps your mind alert and attentive.

Enhance the spirit of optimism, show them ways to keep the minds stimulated and triggered each moment.

Get to know their dreams

Students dreams would certainly be ambitious enough which would strongly relate to their academics. Talk it out to understand their mission which and make them feel energized which would add to their motivation. Keep them infused over the reminders of the mission which will get them back to watch out for their performance and keep them moving on the right path.

Discuss to set them a routine

Among the many students, the mindset and the mental frame for even the bright student may lead them to distractions and deviations. They would certainly find it difficult to get back to the right mode of concentration. It would certainly be of much benefit to the student to set them back to the productive form. Suggest them to set the routines as good and smart it can be, like starting from the routine of sliding into the running shoes till the day draws to end. Once the schedules are fixed and catching up back to back will gain them much advantage over excellence in academics all through the year.

Educate to Plan the rewards

As students, it would be a constant requirement to keep looking for new additions to the personal gadgets, stationery, general books, novels and outdoor entertainment. Teach them to plan the reward for their prominence in the hard work, once they learn to relish the fruits of the real hard work, it becomes easy and throughout the year the workouts turn successful.

Teach to focus on high achievements

Students should be motivated to aim higher and it is true persuasion towards high goals bring it to reality. Teach them that no mountains are high being beyond reach and no distance are far that cannot be traveled. Let them aspire with a vision that is really high.

It is rather important to make the students the high aspirants of the year and imagine the complete class strength of yours performs extraordinarily well, would it not be a great go for the teacher as a performer.

Keep on track with all the motivational points right from the day one and every student would rather be grateful to have you as their teacher. No lessons can be fast practiced, no place can be reached swift all it takes is sincere efforts to make it happen.

How PenPencilEraser can help different types of schools?

May 27, 2022June 8, 2022PPE DESK Leave a comment

Hello Schools! It’s wonderful being at the start, mid or the end of the academic year. You may be new or experienced with the school digitalization. Your school may be using some sort of school management software or some specific modules like Timetable, Attendance or Accounts. Rather your school might be located in any part of the geographic location in the globe. Irrespective of these we would say that your school should glance at PenPencilEraser that gives you more ideas and has an edge over the many software.

Here comes the new change in the overall school management and administration which goes digital. Watch out to get this effortless and incredible software integrated into the center of your school system. Delays, miscommunication, homework, intimation, time consumption worries that drag the delays of success and the ability being questioned are eliminated.

Take a chance to look into the features of this effective school management software that guides you through the complete school management which is suitable for any schools.

Schools that are Management-Centric

Here you are to experience the wholesome interesting features that give you better ROI, keeps you updated and enhances peace of mind.

Stay updated always with anytime, anywhere access
Access information in the friendly dashboard
Stay updated with the various happenings in the school in a single screen view
Keep track on all user activities
Consolidate reports over attendance, payroll, fees, schedule, exams etc.
Communicate and send instructions anytime across the platform
Manage the school website with any additions in menus, sub-menus, notifications and other information
Publish the school achievements, images, accolades and reviews
Invite new applicants through the website
Submit various reports as required by the education board and other related government bodies
Manage school accounts with the customized audit reports

Schools that are Teachers Centric

The most stressed with a lot of crunch in time are the teachers of any school. The faculty members who are the backbone of the school should always aim to spend more time with the students enriching them all academically, socially and disciplinarily. To them, the tasks being handled are ample which takes away much time in planning and later to the execution. This form of digitalization which keeps them away from some routine tasks and makes them gain much more time with the students and their lessons.

The first primary responsibility of attendance comes to a total solution with the digital system
The issue of homework is again automatized
Collaborating with parents becomes the simplest and easy task
Schedule for exams, issue of timetable, portions becomes a swift process
Planning the lesson plan eases the job
Allocating the marks and consolidation of marks for various subjects from the respective class teachers becomes simple.
Updating and issuing of the consolidated CCE report are automatic.

All of these will certainly work better on saving time and energy and it proves to be a welcoming change in any schools. The schools which provide their faculty with more time in teaching is the first sign of the school being successful.

Schools that are Parents Centric

Parents are the people who provide feedback and rating to the school and their prime expectations are their child’s education and safety. The parents look for updates from school, track the student’s performance and stand by their child to help overcome the troubles if any. So, they are the most delighted to have a school app in their smartphones to check and track all the updates of the schools.

The mobile app features is an award winning Android app for schools.
They are able to track the attendance, time schedule, exam schedule and others
Simple to track the marks, fees, balances and the periodic report cards
Communicate with the school management and the teachers
Take the print of the CCE report
Submit their ward’s homework with the respective attachments
Request for leave, send reminders and get the approval status
Understand the various happening in the school with other classes too
View the gallery and download the corresponding pictures as required.

The above features would certainly impress the parents and they get closer to the school with the better understanding of the school systems and their child’s performance.

Schools that are Students Centric

The complete success of the application can be experienced as the convenience experienced by the students. It relatively brings about the updates from the school and makes it notified instantly to the students. Students tend to keep all things related to school and education within the palm. This makes them work competitively and does not miss any work assigned. This relatively increases their interest, discipline and the performance in the school activities and academics.

Similar to the parents’ features, students would be able to access the updates from the school in terms of homework, attendance, exams, marks, messages and website intimations. Along with these, they are able to wish the birthdays of their buddies and also receive wishes for your birthday. Access the gallery images, the website updates and all this related to exams and schedules.

Schools which are new to the digital platform

Just stay cool and we would take you to complete transformation in an easy and effective manner. The Schools although with large database and yet to digitalize should find this to be the right time to adhere. So much so the schools may think of security, convenience, and reliability. This would rather be enriched and gives you better peace of mind when you adhere to the digital platform. All that we expect from schools is to initiate a discussion by submitting the contact request or the demo request on our website.

Schools which are partially digitalized

You may be with schools which have some sort of digitalization, may be a Timetable management or attendance management or admission management. In this case, you have a feel for how convenient it works saving on your time and energy.

Just the thought of having an integrated platform for the complete management of the school activities will be ideal to go with forever. You would be pleased to have PenPencilEraser as a part of your school management as it takes you with the comfort of the overall digitalization. The best part is that as the new modules keep updating you have the advantage of scaling up.

Schools which are fully digitalized

Schools which already engaged with some kind of school management software may be the one built for your school or had signed up for SaaS subscription. Now is the right time to analyze if you have been completely satisfied and how much of added convenience can be experienced with an outright comparison. You should be prepared to do so and would tell you the results would be amazing.

It is indeed much simpler to shift the digital platform to any service provider, your data is in the digital form and hence the migration can be taken care easily by our team. All that is required is an analysis and keep in mind the demo would be delivered by our team on your request.

It is interesting to reach the world through this post and building much awareness to the schools across the globe. Only when systems are in place the effective running of the institution can be experienced. Making sure that all the best part put together we wish to discuss with your school and hereby request to you to submit the demo form here.

PenPencilEraser, the online school management software serves schools globally, its integration of various modules makes the school management simple and effective. Here is explained the how schools of different types find it best to work with PenPencilEraser, look into the features of communication modules and so is the details of other modules which can be glanced for an insight. Providing you a quick glance of few modules Homework Management, Attendance Management, Fee Management and Payroll Management. You can request a demo here for better understanding, demonstration and guidance over the various features.

How to become a best and outstanding student?

May 26, 2022Subashini Srikumar Leave a comment

Internationally, the standard phenomenon over the best students is that they are really advanced and know lots of Mathematics. Not sure, where it started but across the nations, the same point is considered. At most times, it tends to think whether the best students are ahead in knowledge and awareness or the scores decide the destiny.

I did mention about Maths but it is rather Science too which most East Asian countries pay attention. This has deliberated to the STEM talent and now progress to STEAM education which includes Arts along with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

Just as we come to the topic we released that the best person to evaluate the outstanding students are their teachers themselves as all the teachers are somehow exposed to all level of students and the different ability individuals. When encountered with the high school teacher at a metro in India, she was so clear to mention the outstanding student is the one who is advanced in all inclusive of the subjects, language, activity, discipline and they are much advanced compared to the others in same age group.

On keen observation over the toppers or the achievers, follow the pattern to see yourself transforming to the betterment.

Keep exploring more on the pieces of stuff you are proficient

Starting from scratch will not take you in the rocket speed but it is possible to have a good grasp of what you have already learned and had them in your gray cells. Now think of ways you could explore the set of skills and try to outsmart. You may create a platform outside your classroom to gain more knowledge and bring it forward to your class to exhibit. This will draw attention to your skills and would strengthen your confidence.

You are outstanding, challenge yourself in new ways

This is exactly something you should crave for and it requires in-depth knowledge and understanding of the subject. Keep yourself in pace with the ever-changing scenario and exploring a great many available resources you must build your mind sticking to challenge with the new and advanced challenges. This could be a debate session for a language enthusiast, a creative presentation for the designer and what more get yourself set into the challenges of professionals.

Get interested in high-level discussion and complexity

Nothing can be worked on lacking interest. It is important to set a high level of interest and engage with the advanced learners and seniors. It may be something which we call to dig in deep to outsmart, Exactly! You are to show up some fascinating interest level and keep moving by reviewing yourself in the truly engaged complexities.

Choose something to excel based on your interest

This philosophy most commonly applies to all the tasks we do and particularly for the advanced learning students they need to think in the most creative way and have to show up to the global challenges. The exploration and the incorporating the skills in the chosen field need to be worked on the consistent basis. Such an involvement and the motivation can be experienced only when the subject is based on the interest. Undeniably, the learner who is keenly interested would work it up at the advanced level and get the brains of the outstanding student and would be able to generate competitive ideas.

Never ever get exhausted

This should be one among the most key points to be realized. As most of the advanced learners would stretch themselves from the normal working day and they would extend the schedule and constantly engage themselves in practicing new things and to achieve the set targets. We need to work on consistency basis and never let the minds set on the pinnacle reach where in you would not be able to extend. So, without losing interest and acquisition of the knowledge should take place for which able planning need to be concentrated.

Dear enthusiastic student, you may be all set to demonstrate your extraordinary ability and prove to be an outstanding student. For some reason, you can perform it better with some guidance from your teachers or parents. Now, all that you have to do is owe to your mentor over your challenges and gain their assistance.

What your mentors can do for you?

You mentor can better identify your strengths and help you dive into the subject. They help you choose your choice and make you adapt to the challenges.

Your mentor can get you integrated to the technology providing you the bridge and help you with time to explore innovative and academic contents from the web world.

They have kept you associated with other advanced learner and can make you work together with them in projects, groups, and studies.

They can accelerate you to the toughest engagement and they are best to strategies the various learning skills in students.

Your mentors can help you in comparing with your peer groups and update you with your missing comparative skills. This update will create a benchmark and aids you in better performance.

You mentor can set the goals and track the progress. They exactly know the reaching spot and the timeline. They help you preparing and motivating to achieve the goals.

As the goals are tangible they can help you in accounting the progress and keeping you in line with the schedules to win the plan.

Exploring is one aspect and creativity is another, your mentors are best to teach you creatively and help you in lateral thinking.

Indeed, it is also possible if you wish to transform to achievement without the adult intervention if you a quick in grasping, able to access the additional resources, stay responsible in the group, distract all the distractions, exercising the leadership in yourself, bringing self-initiative and strengthening your ability and aptitude. Most importantly able to self-evaluate periodically.