Month: September 2023

How to Decorate a School Library

Here are some simple ideas that will transform a school library from a perceived boring space to a vibrant, warm one. Libraries are often associated with dingy, quiet spaces, where there is only pin-drop silence and nothing else to look at apart from books. However, over time, people have realized that libraries have to look warm and welcoming in order to make students want to go there and enjoy any kind of work they wish to carry out in its premises, be it leisure reading, completing an assignment, or studying for an upcoming test. We all know the difference a pop of color or any minor change makes in a room and on our mood. It makes us want to work and achieve something. Yes, if there is too much decoration, it is obviously going to distract us, but if it is just the right amount, it could do wonders to the general old perception of a school library. Here, we tell you how to decorate a school library for that much needed vibrancy in there.

School Library Decorating Ideas

Now, not everyone has an over-the-top budget to go and decorate a school library and change its appearance completely. However, there are still some very simple ways in which it can be given a refreshing look and made bright. Here are some decorating tips and ideas that will help.

* If there are movable book racks in the library, start by simply shifting them around and changing the layout of the library. A little shifting here and there makes a whole world of a difference.

* Stand alone book racks can be used to carve out specific reading or study areas, by arranging them in say a circular shape. This idea would work best if there were half-height book racks to make say a circle or a square, within which tables and chairs could be placed for working.

* Rearrange books in the bookshelves so that their covers are visible, instead of their sides. This will take up a lot of space but you could definitely have one or two sections designed in this manner, so that the covers add the much needed dash of color to the library.

* Near bookshelves, on colored paper, print out lists of must-read books, whether they are educational or fiction/non-fiction. These lists will not only inform students and reduce time spent looking for books, it will also make the space vivid and bright with the use of color.

* Increase the amount of light used in the library by hanging lamps and placing floor lamps. These are available at low costs in flea markets and the like, and can be beautifully used to give the library a whole new look.

* Libraries should be able to refresh students’ minds, and to do so, a great idea is to place plants in there. Even if you place artificial plants, the refreshing green color will breathe in some freshness into this space. Further, artificial plants are available in bright orange and yellow colors so you could create a beautiful melange of colors in the library.

* Make signage that guides students to different areas in the library. Use names of popular authors for different sections, or of terms associated to specific subjects. These signs could be in different shapes and colors that hang from the ceiling, or may be placed on stands with arrows pointing toward those sections.

* Paint the floor to demarcate different sections and areas such as reading areas, book sections, etc. An interesting idea is to paint a pathway on the floor that will guide students to different sections in the library, with the signage painted on them. For instance, an arrow from the entrance to the mathematics section could be painted in red with mathematics written across it.

* Finally, add bulletin boards, rugs on the floors, and other such things in the library to decorate it and keep it looking lively and inviting.

Of course, libraries can be decorated in terms of big events coming up in the school or by the season or festival. These however are temporary changes, and for slightly permanent changes, the aforementioned ideas will definitely help you out well. Try them out and get a little more creative to come up with some wonderful ways of decorating a school library, and see how students throng to it. Good luck!

The Importance of Self Evaluation

Self evaluation plays an important role in the overall development of an individual. It believes on the classic case of judging oneself before being judged by the world. Let us learn more about the importance of self evaluation.

The evaluation of self is an important factor in any study. It is used for a variety of purposes and helps an individual or an entity to reflect on its performance to gauge the strengths and work on the weaknesses. In the course of our lives, we are evaluated by a lot of people, from teachers to employers, and sometimes we may feel that we did not get a fair share or the judgment was biased. But, when one evaluates oneself, there is no scope for any bias and there may be some new aspects of our personality that we may be acquainted with. It is important therefore, that we encourage the concept of self evaluation in institutions so that every individual gets a real chance to examine himself.

Why is Self Evaluation Important?

In order to progress, an institution needs to carry out periodic evaluations. It gives an institution an idea about how much its constituents have grasped and what more needs to be done in order to achieve the best possible results. In the absence of an evaluation system, an organization may not be able to know its true state. For example, in the context of a school, evaluations may be carried out by teachers on a regular basis to know how much the students have been able to learn. They can do it through a series of verbal and written tests, the scores being the parameter to judge a student’s capability. Self evaluation on the other hand, offers students a realistic chance of looking at their own self, without any claims of prejudice or bias. It may provide them with some new information about themselves, and acquaint them with some facts they were unaware of earlier. Self evaluation also helps in changing the role of students from a passive observer to an active participant. For example, after assigning a test to a student, you can encourage the participation of student by engaging him in writing a self evaluation. Some questions that you can put forward to your students to get them involved in evaluating themselves are:

• What steps did you take to complete this assignment?
• What difficulties did you face while completing the assignment?
• Do you feel that this assignment helped you in understanding the concept in a better way?
• Do you think that the performance could have been better?
• What steps would you take in order to improve your performance?
• Do you feel that you need more practice on this assignment before you could move on to the next one?

These were some questions that you can put forward to your students in order to know how they perceive a particular problem. There are times when the students may hesitate in answering these questions due to certain pre-conceived notions, so it is important that you build an atmosphere which is conducive to the active participation of students.

Organizations have been practicing self evaluation for a long time now, most notably at the time of employee appraisals. However, employee self evaluation has met with limited success as the managers have the final say on deciding the performance of an employee. This has led many employees to believe that employee self evaluation is a chore which does not have any affect whatsoever on their careers. It is very important therefore, that organizations instill a sense of confidence and trust in the employees that self evaluation is vital and their feedback is taken seriously. It is understood that in the absence of a self evaluation system, many employees may feel that they do not have an appropriate platform to judge themselves. Organizations which have an effective self evaluation system in place have low employee turnover ratios. When employees are given an opportunity to evaluate themselves, they become more accountable for themselves and take responsibility for their actions.

This was some information on the importance of self evaluation. As mentioned before, self evaluation gives an individual an opportunity to reflect upon himself. This is probably the reason that celebrities, sportsmen, politicians look at their own video clippings to analyze how they can improve themselves. Concluding, we can say that self evaluation is a very important tool for the continuous self improvement of an individual and institutions should effectively include it in their organizational structure.

10 Recommended study habit for students

Genius child is not born, but they become intelligent and successful by honing these 10 recommended study habits. Your child can also become successful in his Grade, if he religiously follow below mentioned success mantra.

1. Don’t try to mug up all lessons a night before exam.

If a child wants to be successful in his exam, he should study consistently and regularly over a shorter study period.

2. Set a regular schedule of study.

Students who study whimsically, do not score high in studies than those who follow regular study schedule. Find out what time of day works well for you, for some students morning wee hours is perfect to memorize lessons. Whereas some students like to study at night, while whole world is sleeping.

3. Study at the same place.

Some students like to study sitting on the chair with a table, which is the best and advisable. Whereas some students like to sit on bed and study, though it should be avoided. I have seen some students walking and studying at the top of terrace or in garden. Care must be taken that enough light is available while studying.

4. Goal setting is important.

it is important to set up a goal before studying. Studying or planning to study without any goal is useless. One must set a goal for that particular study sessions. Like completing Physics Chapter 10 in this 2 hour. One must also measure the output of the study.

5. Do not delay.

Once the study session is set; avoid the temptation to delay. It is very common when child is playing with a neighbourhood child or a favourite movie is playing on Television. Parents should actively encourage their child to resume his study.

6. Prepare the most difficult subject first.

Since most effort is required to study the most difficult subject , he should concentrate on this subject first. Once he has completed this difficult subject, he would be more confident to study other subject as well.

7. Make a habit of taking notes.

Develop a habit of taking notes, while studying. Information and study material are plenty available online. But there is no substitute of taking notes with a pen and paper. Moreover, studying the subject and writing it once on a piece of paper is equivalent to 10 times of studying, and chances of retaining information is high. He can even review his notes to find out his mistakes like spelling mistake, missing key points, etc.

8. Groups or Isolation.

Find out what works best for you , for some students they prefer to study alone in isolation. While some students like to study in groups. But groups need to be structured and each member should contribute actively. Momentum and spirit must be kept high else gossip mongering may soon take place and books will be kept aside.

9. Review school work notes.

It is important to review notes on weekend. If absents notes must be kept updated by taking notes of some good students having clear hand writing. If your school allows, it is better to take photocopy to save time and energy.

10. Reward yourself.

If you have achieved your goal in the prescribed study hour, reward yourself may be with a candy or watch your favourite show.

Summer Trips for Teachers

Teachers can utilize their summer holidays productively by traveling to different parts of the world, at affordable costs. With summers around the corner, teachers in the Nigeria will have plenty of time to invest in recreational activities. How about a summer trips to the world’s most fascinating countries? If you are a teacher reading this, the mere thought of traveling across the globe must have set your imagination reeling. With numerous NGOs, educational institutions and even governments of several countries coming up with lucrative and discounted summer trips for teachers, the road to travel has become all the more easier and interesting.

Why Summer Travel for Teachers?

Teachers shape the future of a nation. They carry the responsibility of igniting young and talented minds of a country to make them responsible citizens. Year long academic schedules leave them exhausted and tired. They certainly deserve the much needed summer vacations break. To make it interesting, worth the efforts and money, traveling can be the most ideal option. There are plenty of reasons as to why summer trips for teachers must be planned. Summer trips rejuvenate teachers and give them the much required time to relax and enjoy a different routine. It also enriches their experience and helps them to get back with abundant knowledge and experiences to share with their students. Moreover, traveling helps teachers to become better individuals and better teachers as they experience multitude of cultures and traditions.

Teachers, during their travel time, are involved in community development in countries where it is needed the most. For instance, a trip to African countries will help teachers to understand the lives of people living in Africa more closely. During their stay, teachers can help students by teaching their favorite subjects. The experience of watching wildlife and marine life are other attractions related to traveling, that I bet, no geography teacher will want to miss.

Who Funds and Arranges Summer trips for teachers?

There are many privately funded organizations that help teachers to manage the cost of trip within the country or even outside it. Travel grants for teachers are a handy tool that help many teachers every year to enjoy great traveling experience. Teachers can apply for travel grants from the local and national level educational institutions who have a legacy or culture of awarding such helps to teachers. Besides privately funded organizations, there are many NGOs, that offer teachers some amazing travel options.

Similarly, there are several other NGOs that coordinate travel tour for groups and network of teachers all across the world. Teachers can find about them by doing relevant research on the Internet. In all countries, there are NGOs and not for profit organizations that help teachers travel the world and experience different life.

If you search on the Internet, there is no dearth of summer trips for teachers. They have plenty of options to travel and with the social media making networking an extremely simple task, it is not difficult to build contacts and coordinate travels with other like minded teachers. Even twenty – thirty teachers in a school can come together and negotiate with NGOs and educational institutes for funds so that they can travel abroad for a grand new experience!

Importance of Extra-curricular Activities in Schools

Are you searching for after-school activities that students of different age groups can participate in? Well then, here’s an article on extracurricular activities list that can be of some help. Check it out…

When students, in high school and university, involve themselves in extracurricular activities, they tend to develop certain skills required in those fields. Working on their individual talents and interests helps them become an evolved student who not only pays attention to his/her education, but also holds an interest in other things. Apart from the extracurricular activities benefiting a student personally, they look quite interesting in their college applications. Along with educational background, these applications also stress on various other achievements.

There are hundreds of students in school and they all possess a unique quality. These extracurricular activities are something that will set you apart from the rest of them. Students should be given ample opportunities to develop other skills that will some day, help them in their brilliant futures. Keeping this in mind, we have made an extracurricular activities list in this article.

Benefits of Extracurricular Activities

There are various schools, government and private, that focus on bringing different concepts of educating students. In today’s times, a student who has only the literal knowledge isn’t enough as he/she has to compete with not just his/her peers, but the entire world. Each year, high schools and universities get international students and this makes getting ahead that much tougher.

Whether extracurricular activities are to be looked as a way to take kids one step forward or just to develop themselves as an individual is up to their parents/guardians. But nonetheless, its importance is must. Before we look at the extracurricular activities list, why don’t we go over few benefits of the same.

* Any kind of extracurricular activity a student takes part in, it reveals a great deal about who they are. It demonstrates where their interests lie and their commitment levels.

* When a student balances school and other activities together, it shows that he/she can manage time and also learn about what are his/her priorities.

* A student’s intellect and knowledge of the outside world increases due to the extracurricular activities.

* Students’ self-esteem increases, they tend to take on more responsibilities in the future, and can also help other students get involved.

* Extracurricular activities brings students together and reduces the feelings animosity. Different students from various ethnic backgrounds come together and work as a team.

Ideas for a Reflective Essay