How to Deal with Bullying

Each day there are students who have fear and anxiety about going to school. They have this fear and anxiety because of bullying.  Bullying is a problem that affects millions of students, and it has everyone worried, not just the kids on its receiving end. Yet because parents, teachers, and other adults don't always see it, they may not understand how extreme bullying can get.

Bullying is when a person is picked on over and over again by an individual or group with more power, either in terms of physical strength or social standing.

Two of the main reasons people are bullied are because of appearance and social status. Bullies pick on the people they think don't fit in, maybe because of how they look, how they act (for example, kids who are shy and withdrawn), their race or religion, or because the bullies think their target may be gay or lesbian.

Some bullies attack their targets physically, which can mean anything from shoving or tripping to punching or hitting, or even sexual assault. Others use psychological control or verbal insults to put themselves in charge. For example, people in popular groups or cliques often bully people they categorize as different by excluding them or gossiping about them (psychological bullying). They may also taunt or tease their targets (verbal bullying).

Verbal bullying can also involve cyber bullying — sending cruel texts, messages, or posting insults about a person on Facebook or other social sites.

So if you are being bullied what should you do?

The first thing you want to do is to let an adult know that you are being bullied. This would include parents, teachers, school administrators, coaches, any adult that you feel comfortable talking to.

Practice having confidence because the most confidence that you show the better off you will be. When bully's see that you are confident they tend to pull away and leave you alone. Bully's only pick with those who they think they can intimidate.

Don't blame yourself and don't beat yourself up. 

Believe in yourself and the courage that you have by returning to school each day.

Keep a journal and this is not so you can show someone but keep a journal so you have a record of what is going on and when it happened.

Stay calm by not showing the bully that you are affected by what they are saying or doing. The more you engage with the bully the worse the situation can become. Walk away and ignore!

We hope these tips help in dealing with bullying.

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How to Make Better Grades

So we all want good grades and it is easier said than done so today we want to give you some tips on how to make better grades.

1. So the easiest and most important thing to do is to attend class everyday and be there on time.
2. Stay organized - some students wonder why do I need to be organized, I can still make good grades without staying organized but the more organized you are the easier it is to be organized.
3. Remove all distractions when you are studying this includes cell phones. Make sure you are ready to study when it is time to study by having all of your materials with you and ready to go when you sit down to get your work done.
4. Use your time wisely by not procrastinating and tackling the hard work first. Take breaks every 30 to 60 minutes so you are not overworking yourself. Work hard so that you can play even harder.
5. Sit in the Front of the class because it makes you focus and pay attention as well as retain more information.
6. Finish your assignments on time - sometimes we get overwhelmed with the amount of work we are given but make sure you keep a schedule and submit your assignments on times. Not doing so can lead to lower grades and may lead to assignments that are not accepted by the teacher.
7. Start a study group or join a study group. It is not always necessary to study alone. Sometimes it is better to join a group and get different perspectives on what you are learning.
8. Study in short intervals of 30 to 60 minutes. You need to do this because after spending a lot of time studying you need to take a break and allow your brain a moment to relax. These breaks should not be hour long breaks but maybe 5 or 10 minutes that will give you an opportunity to run to the restroom or grab a snack.

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Top 10 Ways to Increase Math Grades

Students ask us all of the time How can I make better Math grades so we want to provide you with the top 10 ways to Increase Math Grades:

1. DO NOT move from one skill to another until you have mastered the first one. Any Mathematics course is like a building, you cannot move from one skill to the next without learning the previous one just like you cannot start building a building without first having a foundation.
2. Always use a pencil when working math problems. Not only is it a pet peeve of your teachers but it also helps you in having nice neat work. Having to continuously scratch things out will lead to you having more anxiety about a messy paper than you think.
3. Increase your Mental Math Skills. Practice working on your mental math skills at any given opportunity because mental math will help with those larger more complex problems.
4. Practice, Practice, Practice - work on sample problems and check yourself so that you can learn the concepts and how to solve the problems whenever they come your way.
5. Make math apart of your everyday life by incorporating it in everything that you do.Think about it we need Math for everything: money, time, cooking. So focus on the ways money is used in your life and increase that.
6. Don't work on math problems very late at night. A lot of times we will save the homework that we like the least for last which for most puts Math as the last assignment that we complete. We are normally tired and become frustrated when we cannot get the solutions so it is best to start Math while your mind is fresh.
7. Ask questions - If you do not understand something make sure you ask questions. Do not feel embarrassed about needing help from teachers or tutors make sure you ask for help if you need and be receptive to receiving that help.
8. If necessary draw a picture. For example if you are asked to find the area of a rectangle given certain information, draw the rectangle and write down what you are given and what you are looking for prior to attempting to solve the problem.
9. Learn about the "big picture" why are you solving this problem what is the purpose of it. If you understand what the purpose of the problem is and why you have to solve it then it becomes easier to solve.
10. Find a quiet place to study and do homework!!!

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Back to School from Holiday Break: How to Help Your Kids Focus

We all love the holidays and as students and teachers we appreciate having some time away from school and work. You as parents may have even used it as a time to take family vacations or just to take some time out to be at home with your kids however between Thanksgiving and New Year's something more than just time away from work and school occurs. During this time students experience learning loss and can lose up to a month of schooling forgetting a third of what they learned during the fall semester. If you were unable to participate in some of the education activities that we posted to work on with your kids over the holiday then you may have to help your child get focused before returning to school this week. So we wanted to provide you with some ways in which you can help your child focus.

The first thing you want to do is make sure you provide them with a healthy breakfast every morning or make sure that they get a healthy breakfast at school. This provides them with fuel for the day allowing them to focus on classwork.

Provide them with structure: Make sure that they have a bedtime, a time in which they have to wake up, and a homework time and location.

Allow them to have an outlet if this means sports, a job (for older students), art, whatever they need that provides them with a way to get away from school work and home life.

Limit Distractions this includes television, toys, and video games (we will discuss this more a little later). Some parents only allow children the option to watch TV and play video games on the weekend so that their children can be focused on school and school only during the week.

Sometimes as children work on homework it can become overwhelming and they need a break so if they seem to become overly distracted it is alright to give them a short break. 

Be an active parent and take some time to talk to your children. These conversations do not have to always be about school or school work just find out what is going on in their lives.

Make sure you are monitoring homework. We recommend providing all students with an agenda or calendar in which to write down homework assignments. Some school systems use grade monitoring systems (if yours has one sign up for it immediately) these systems allow you as a parent to see all assignments, attendance, and grades as well as set up triggers for grades and attendance.

Make sure you limit television and video games especially during the week. Studies show that by the end of elementary school, the average child has witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on TV. Studies have found that children who watch more TV are likely to be aggressive, especially immediately after watching violent programs. 

Finally I cannot express this enough Please, Please, Please Encourage Reading. The more your child reads the more fluent they become and the more they comprehend. As they increase comprehension and fluency their grades will not only increase in Reading but it will also increase their grades in their other classes.

Get Focused!!!!!!

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5 Reading Tips for Parents

Parents are always asking what can I do to help my child with Reading. We wanted to provide you with 5 tips that will help you assist your child in becoming a better reader.

1. Read with your child nightly - Have your child spend a minimum of 30 minutes reading to you each night. If your child is not at an age in which they are reading take some time out to read to them.
2. Ask your child to tell you what happened in his or her own words.
3. Ask them questions about the story.
4. If at any point your child gets tripped up on a word make sure that once they pronounce it correctly they go back and read the entire sentence to make sure they understand the definition of the word and the context in which it is used in the sentence.
5. Stop reading at some point before the end of the story and ask them what they think will happen next and why.

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Top 5 Things Parents Need to Know about Common Core

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) is a set of standards in English/ Language Arts and Mathematics for grades K-12. 

We will review the top 5 tips parents should know about CCSS. 

1. Better Standards/ Better Assessments  teachers will be administering assessment tests via computer therefore having the ability to cater the lessons to the needs of the students based in the test results. 

2. Consistent learning goals for students regardless of where they live. So if you choose to relocate to another state your child will have the ability to pick up where they left off as everyone will be on the same standards. 

3. Standards are not curriculum. Standards are a guideline for teachers to follow but it is not a curriculum so teachers still choose their own lesson plans and how to get the material to the students. 

4. CCSS is cost saving because it keeps students from taking unnecessary courses and allows students to take the ACT which is the college entrance exam for free. 

5.  CCSS prepares students to be well prepared for college, technical education, or the workplace after high school graduation. 

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New Year, New You?

So we made it to the new year. It's now 2015 so what should you do? Most people are spending the first few days of 2015 recouperating from their activities of the last few days of 2014 and because it is the weekend most people will relax and not start working towards any resolution until "Monday". 

So what's your plan? Will you start now or wait until Monday? If you wait until Monday will you REALLY start at that point?

As parents we must be an example for our children so if we have set resolutions with them we want them to get started today. Now I know the kids are not back in school yet so you're asking "How do I start on academic goals when they are not in school?" Well it's all about the prep. Go out and replenish school supplies that they have run out of since the beginning of the school year. 

Once you have all of the supplies that they need get organized this includes getting binders set-up with tabs, getting folders labeled for classes, getting supplies in a proper location (i.e. Pencil case or box), and getting their agenda/calendar out and getting them in the habit of using it now. For instance, label bedtimes, study times, and the times in which they are to wake up as well as any after school activities and any activities you plan to do before they return to school. This will help in getting them in the habit of being organized and using their resources. 

Now the biggest and most important thing that you need to do is stay on top of them. It takes 30 days to form a habit so make sure that they are keeping this up for the next thirty days. 

Stay tuned for our next series of tips on How to Make Better Math Grades.

Nashville Learning Center

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