Strategic Studies: e-News Volume 1, issue 5 (January 1998)

President's Notes

Learning

Handling Stress

Quality Time

Lesson Plans Wanted

Helpful Links

President's Notes

Happy New Year! May your year be prosp Fathertime

erous and successful.

During the holidays, several of the neighbor children stopped in to try some of the programs for the online tutoring program we have been developing, e-tutor. Their enthusiasm for learning was wonderful. For two hours they competed with one another and with the computer to complete lessons and to learn. As educators, we still seem to stub our toe on learning......defining it, describing it, evaluating it, measuring it. As this new year begins. I would like to begin a discussion about learning. If you have comments, suggestions, information, and/opinions about learning, please send us e-mail and let us know your thoughts. We will publish the most thought provoking in the months ahead.

Learning

In an educational sense learning and behavior are inseparable. Learning is said to have occurred when there is an observable change of behavior. All learning results from exposure to stimulation.

The source of stimulation is referred to as the stim Learning

ulus. For the newborn all stimuli are unique in that they have not yet been meaningfully associated with a personal response mode.

With the passage of time the child begins to associate specific stimuli with specific personal reactions. By way of example a child may relieve personal discomfort by moving the head away from an intensely bright light. Conversely the child may associate auditory sound patterns made by an adult with the satisfaction of his need for food.

Learning Through continual exposure to stimulation, the child begins to accumulate a pool of stimulus bound information. In this way he is ultimately able to predict his personal reaction to any stimulus which he has previously experienced in some meaningful way.

A stimulus is not sufficient unto itself. A stimulus must be sensed or received if it is to have instructional value. Some sensory organ on the body must be able to detect the stimulus. Having a stimulus and the process of receiving it cannot complete a learning sequence. The received stimulus must be processed by the brain to cause some form of expression. The final part of the learning model which must be considered is what actually happens as a result of having detected a stimulus, or the terminal behavior. By combining all of these elements the basic learning model, in its simplest form, looks like this:

Stimulus —» Reception —| Processing |—» Terminal Behavior (Expression)

The learning model graphically represents a chain type of reaction commencing with receptive skills, proceeding to process skills and concluding with some form of expressive activity.

To develop a strong self-image that can handle stress that seems to accompany bad days, you might want to consider these suggestions from a national speaker on management and sales:

Remember that it’s not what happens to you in life...good or bad...that matters. It’s how you react to it.
Strive for at least one success before you leave the office each day.
Don’t rush. Schedule appointments with 10 minutes between them so you can gather your thoughts.
Compliment someone every day. You’ll feel better about yourself and those you work with.
Listen to cassettes that offer positive suggestions. Injecting yourself with someone else’s positive convictions might help improve your self-esteem.
Make a list of 10 key life goals; then visualize yourself accompishing them.
Spend at least one hour a week on a hobby or something else you just enjoy doing. Be a little selfish and block out at least one hour out of the 168 in the week for yourself.
Find a 40-hour block of time each month and get away from office pressures. But schedule that weekend just the way you do everything else. You owe it to yourself.

Happy and relax

Busy parents......especially those who are working or are single working parents.....have a limited amount of time to spend with their children. Spending time with your child, no matter what the age, is extremely important, but research suggests it is the quality of the time spent, not the quantity of time that is important.

Family The quality of the time you spend together can be enhanced by talking with and listening to your child. Communicating with your child encourages him or her to express ideas, improve vocabulary and develop thinking skills......all of which are important for success in school.

Quality time can occur at any time or any place. Driving in the car or riding in the bus, taking a walk in the park or a stroll through the neighborhood or going for an ice cream after dinner are all good opportunities for talking together. Cleaning the kitchen, doing the laundry, or washing the dishes together provide time to communicate with each other and keep in touch with each other’s activities. Children of all ages especially enjoy having your full attention at bedtime when you can read or talk together.

Lesson Plans Wanted

Lesson Plans Wanted Strategic Studies needs teachers to prepare lesson plans which can be used in conjunction with the Internet. Lessons are being sought in all curricular areas and all grade levels from primary to high school. You may want to visit

(http://www.strategic studies.com/lessonPlans)

to view a model lesson plan.

For more information about lesson plans, please call (847) 318-7110 (M-F, 9 AM to 5 PM, CST)

http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/Questacon/wn_main.html
From Australia a wonderful site with information for the whole family. Also, information for teachers.
http://www.parentingpress.com/tip.html
Parenting Tip of the Week
http://olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/
Are you interested in analyzing educational policy? This site from Arizona State University has articles from 1993 on educational policy.
http://www.weather.com/twc/homepage.twc
At this time of year you might want to keep your eye on the weather!

The Last Word...

One night at sea, the ship’s captain saw what looked like the lights of another ship heading toward him. He had his signalman blink to the other ship: "Change your course 10 degrees south." The reply came back: "Change your course 10 degrees north." The ship’s captain answered: "I am a captain. Change your course south. " To which the reply was: "Well, I am a seaman first class. Change your course north." This infuriated the captain, so he signaled back: "I say change your course south. I am on a battleship!" To which the reply came back: "And I say change your course north. I am in a lighthouse."