Tag Archives: Teaching Tips for New Teachers

How to Effectively Improve Student Group Work

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improving student group work
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Having your students work in groups is a great way to promote teamwork and problem solving skills. While educating your students is your priority, promoting teamwork is incredibly important as it is a skill that everyone needs in life in order to succeed. The following are a few tips for improving student group work:

  • Emphasize the reason for group work – Before you begin forming your groups, make sure that your students understand why the task is to be done in groups instead of on an individual basis. Students often think that group work is a way to avoid having to teach the class or make grading easier – dispel this notion immediately!
  • Teach students how to work in groups – Students often don’t know how to work in groups. Provide information on how each member needs to take responsibility and how they should relinquish individual priorities or goals for the favor of group goals.
  • Provide reasonable work and clear goals – Obviously, the task should be bigger than a single individual can complete, but you don’t want students to struggle in completing their assignment either. Make sure the goal is clear as well so that the groups know what they are working toward.
  • Provide class time – It can be difficult for students to schedule meetings outside of class. Provide class time for groups to meet.

These are some tips for improving student group work. For additional effective teaching advice, be sure to contact us at Labyrinth Learning today.

Cloud Computing

How to Use Cloud Computing for Homework Help

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Cloud Computing
Stay connected with your students by assigning homework on the cloud.

Cloud computing is a technology that can be incredibly helpful in any number of environments, including a school environment. In fact, cloud computing can provide teachers with the opportunity to increase interaction with their students, allowing them to help students by using cloud computing with homework as well as in-class lessons.

Cloud computing services, such as the use of Google Docs, has a huge advantage over traditional methods of teaching. For example, when a teacher assigns an essay to students, odds are the teach won’t see any progress until the students hand in their final essays. Once they’re turned in, the teacher will have to take 30 some essays from each class home in order to grade. Most students won’t seek help before assignments are due, either. It’s much easier to guide students to a successful assignment with the use of a cloud computing service such as Google Docs.

Through cloud computing, a teacher is able to ask for prompts for a subject in-class through the use of Google Docs and receive them from students within minutes. The teacher can then project these prompts and discuss them, thereby helping students develop their essay’s subject matter. It also makes it easy to track the progress of students by having them send in works-in-progress that teachers can look over quickly. This is much less complicated than having students print or write out their work and having to sort hundreds of papers at home.

Contact us at Labyrinth Learning for additional information on using cloud computing with homework.

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Accounting

Learn Why Payroll Accounting is Important

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Accounting Payroll accounting is a critical foundation of any business. This is especially true now that most companies are required to provide health benefits for their employees. Having accurate and up-to-date books ensure that a company is complying with federal regulations, and it will improve economic transparency for owners, management and employees.

Learning solutions, like Payroll Accounting, provide a sensible, streamlined and hands-on approach to appeal to a broad spectrum of students, including those that do not have previous accounting experience. The course is divided into six sections, all of which cover the basis of a thorough payroll accounting system, including:

  • Salaries
  • Wages
  • Overtime pay
  • Commissions and bonuses to employees
  • Payroll taxes and costs
  • Employer paid benefits

This course is ideal for small business owners or employees who are ready to take their accounting and bookkeeping knowledge to the next level, especially if they are expanding, adding new employees to the books, or growing their benefit and retirement programs.

Labyrinth Learning offers Payroll Accounting: A Practical Real World Approach, for those who teach accounting. We are also hosting a webinar, led by the book’s author, Eric Weinstein.

Contact Labyrinth Learning to find out more about Payroll Accounting and other interactive teaching tools.

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Lecture Hall

Tips New Professors Can Use in the Lecture Hall

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Lecture Hall
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Are you new to teaching college courses and lectures? Teaching at the college level can be very rewarding and more than a little daunting. Here are some tips for new professors when standing up in front of a lecture room full of students for the first time.

1. It’s OK to be nervous- Standing in front a room of people is always a bit nerve racking, but above all else you must exude confidence! Students need to know that you are an expert in your field, especially during the beginning of a semester.

2. Innovate- Sitting for two hours and listening to a lecture can be less than entertaining.  More and more professors are implementing multimedia into lectures. Video, for example, will continue to play an important role in education.

3. Don’t over-prepare– Spending to much time preparing for a lesson may overwhelm you when the school year rolls around. Prepare your course outline and learning expectations early, develop an assessment standard, and take it one step at a time.

4. Be honest- If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t fuddle an answer. Instead, just say, “Let me get back to you.” You don’t want to lose credibility by giving a false answer.

Above all else make the lecture fun! Get creative in your lesson plans and make use of all resources available to you.

To find more tips for new professors and other resources, contact us at Labyrinth Learning to see how we can help you prepare for the school year.

Create a Student Centered Classroom in 2014

Create a Student Centered Classroom in 2014

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Create a Student Centered Classroom in 2014
Focus on each individual student in 2014 with a student centered classroom structure.

As the new year gets underway, how are you planning to create a more student centered classroom? With the following tips you can refine your teaching skills and help your students learn more effectively in 2014 and beyond.

  • Promote interaction among students: The easiest way to encourage collaboration in the classroom is to arrange desks in groups facing each other, in lieu of rows facing the front of the room.
  • Use more thought-provoking assessments: In any old classroom, students might learn about the latest software by listening to a lecture, reading in a textbook, and answering multiple-choice questions. A student centered classroom gives students the hands on experience for a real-world situation. It may be easier to scan a bubble test and call it quits, but meaningful exercises are far more valuable for assessing critical thinking skills.
  • Respond to lack of interest: You may need to shift the original game plan if students fail to show interest. If it’s possible to teach them the material in more than one way, cater to their preferences whenever possible.
  • Make class enjoyable: The goal is to intrigue learners, so even if they weren’t required to come to class, they would. Make the journey an enjoyable one, both for you and your students.

With these tips, the first semester in 2014 can lead to happier, more interested learners. For more on creating a student centered classroom in 2014, please contact us today at Labyrinth Learning.

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Foster a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

Foster a Positive Attitude in the Classroom

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Foster a Positive Attitude in the Classroom
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As with anything else in life, it is often the little things that count the most when dealing with another person. Nowhere is this fact more important than in the classroom, where an educator’s attitude can make or break a student’s morale.

Incorrect answers are inevitable in any class, but how an educator handles an incorrect answer can cripple a student’s morale. Instead of simply discounting a wrong answer and moving on to the next student, a superior educator encourages the original student to think through the process and come to the right answer on their own.

Encourage the student to actively learn by saying something like, “That’s good thinking. You are on the right track. Can you think of another answer?” This technique works in most scenarios. In short, it is one of the most proven ways to foster a positive attitude in the classroom. Not only will the original student benefit but the entire class will also respond positively to the process.

For more information on these and other excellent teaching tips, please contact us at Labyrinth Learning. You will find us online or you can reach us directly at 1-800-522-9746.