Reading on Reflection

It can be such a struggle to get our kids reading if they are reluctant other slightest.  This Christmas I've been told by my mother that I was a reluctant reader, a real shock!  I couldn't remember this at all, such is my memory, but it has slowly been coming back to me.  On further investigation, into why this was the case, I was told it was just one of those things: too busy with Lego (probably).

The answer, according to mum and dad, was to find something I could access.  It wasn't that I struggled to read and very often this is the case with boys.  We are quite capable of reading, but we're choosy.  There's all sorts of advice I, and others, could give you and depending on your child it may or may not work.  Fundamentally, what helped with me is that mum and dad were able to find a genre I found interesting, which at the time was fantasy starting with a chap called Stephen Lawhead.  In the links at the side you will see a link to 'The Big Book Review' which may give you some guidance.  The kids, of all ages, have written a review on a favourite book and it may be useful as a guide.  Otherwise, in a previous post, you will see a link to a site that categorises texts for children of different ages in a really useful way.

Happy Christmas,
Mr Stirrup

Following

Afternoon all,

I have made an update to the 'Lord of the Flies' page after realising there was no 'Follow' gadget attached to the page, so please sign up so that you can keep up to date with what your kids have on offer for revision etc...

I will be updating it over the Christmas break as they don't have any significant time with me prior to the exam.  If we can really crack this paper then they won't have to re-take it in June, but this will still be on offer should they want to anyway.  For instance, last year one of my pupils took the January paper and scored 51 out of 80 but decided to take it again.  Second time round she came third in the year!  Her 'Of Mice and Men' essay is available, as a post, on that particular blog so you can see what she was doing well.

All the best for Christmas.
Mr Stirrup

Reading Books Advice

Here's a great website that categorises texts for a variety of ages.  It's easy to navigate and even has a page for parents, largely aimed at advice for you and that sort of thing.  The Sue Palmer book 'Toxic Childhood' is especially good, as is the Oliver James book, though I wouldn't take it all as gospel if I were you, especially Oliver James.

http://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/genre/g12/2012-Great-Reads.html

All the best
Mr Stirrup

Revision Advice

Repeat yourself

Pathways between neurons can be strengthened over time. Simple repetition – practising retrieving a memory over and over again – is the best form of consolidating the pattern.

Use science to help you retrieve info

Science tells us the ideal time to revise what you've learned is just before you're about to forget it. And because memories get stronger the more you retrieve them, you should wait exponentially longer each time – after a few minutes, then a few hours, then a day, then a few days. This technique is known as spaced repetition.

This also explains why you forget things so quickly after a week of cramming for an exam. Because the exponential curve of memory retrieval does not continue, the process reverses and within a few weeks, you have forgotten everything.

Take regular breaks

Breaks are important to minimise interference. When your hippocampus is forced to store many new (and often similar) patterns in a short space of time, it can get them jumbled up.
The best example of this is when you get a new telephone number. Your old number is still so well-entrenched in your memory that remembering the new one is a nightmare. It's even worse if the new one has a few similarities to the old.
Plan your revision so you can take breaks and revise what you've just learned before moving on to anything new.

Avoid distractions

Attention is the key to memorising. By choosing to focus on something, you give it a personal meaning that makes it easier to remember. In fact, most of our problems when it comes to revision have very little to do with the brain's capacity for remembering things; we just struggle to devote our full attention to the task in hand.
Playing music while revising will make your task harder, because any speech-like sounds, even at low volume, will automatically use up part of the brain's attention capacity.

Sleep is vital

We spend approximately a third of our lives sleeping and it's never as important as during revision time. Sleep plays a critical role in memory consolidation – this is when the brain backs up short-term patterns and creates long-term memories. The process is believed to occur during deep sleep, when the hippocampal neurons pass the patterns of activity to another part of the brain called the neocortex, which is responsible for language and the generation of motor commands.

Recent research in Nature Neuroscience has shed new light on how memories are decluttered and irrelevant information is deleted during this process. This results in the important memories (the pathways that have been strengthened through repetition) becoming easier to access.

Control your emotions

We remember emotionally charged events far better than others, and this is especially the case if the emotion was a positive one. It is not always possible to have warm feelings about your revision, but if you can associate a particular fact with a visual, auditory or emotional experience from the past, then you have a better chance of remembering it, as you have created multiple pathways for retrieval.

Welcome

Morning, afternoon and evening troopers!

This is the blog homepage for Mr Stirrup's classes.  Year 11 can find resources here for Literature; Year 10 will find the Language resources they need for the upcoming exam; Year 8 will find their Travel Writing page here as well.

At the sides you will see links to take you to your own pages.

So, welcome, bienvenue and I hope you are able to make use of this resource.

Mr Stirrup