5 Tips to Teach Your Child About Computer Safety

Every parent wants their kid to focus and have fun in school as well as when they’re at home. Considering how many things you can do online, this productivity and enjoyment also extends to their devices. However, it’s natural for any parent to be cautious when letting their child use a tablet or browse the internet, so you should teach them how to stay safe on all devices around the home. 

Supervise Them

Younger kids should always be supervised when browsing their tablet or computer. This isn’t always because you’re worried they will stumble across something inappropriate, but rather that you want to ensure they use the resources correctly. If you can highlight how to search, view, and create things on the computer, they will feel more comfortable using the device alone when they’re older and are less likely to fall for common hacking tricks. 

Teach Them to Recognize Harmful Links 

Once they get old enough and are more likely to use their devices for homework research or communicating with friends, you should teach them how to recognize harmful links such as phishing emails or links filled with viruses. You can use this cybersecurity kit to train your kids how to determine whether a link or folder is trustworthy and you can remind them to always err on the side of caution unless it’s from a trusted source like their school or a relative.  Continue reading →

Is Doing Your Best Enough To Be A Parent?

One of the things that you often hear people say when things don’t go their way is that they did their best. We’re told from a young age that all you can do is your best and that nobody can expect anything more from you, but is that true when you are a parent? Your kids need you to be your best for them as often as you can so that they have a good example growing up, but it’s true when people say that the most important thing is doing the best that you can. Let’s look at how you can do this.

  • Always Show Up

To be able to say that you have done your best to be the best parent possible, you need to always show up for your kids. When they need you, you need to be there, not just buy them material items, and hope that this makes up for your absence. It doesn’t. Showing up for your kids is the ultimate test of love, because there are going to be times when it is difficult for you to do so, but you have got to make it work Continue reading →

3 Ways to Balance a Business Setup with Parental Responsibilities

That lightbulb moment when you get a business idea can be so viscerally exciting that you have visions of success, stability, and all of your dreams coming true. But soon after, reality sets in and we realize we cannot give ourselves completely to it because we’ve got other more important things that need our attention, like our children. But this is where we have to think about setting up a business in the round and making it smoother and simpler. Here are some approaches to consider:

Think About the Big Things, Don’t Waste Your Time on the Small Things

When we start out, we feel like we need to give a huge amount of consideration to every finite component. Lots of people labor for days if not weeks over a business name. But instead, you can almost outsource this by using a business name generator so you can actually pay attention to the real things that matter. We have to remember the Pareto principle, where 80% of the outcomes come from 20% of the effort. You need to think about those big things that will really matter a year or five years down the line, the rest will almost sort itself out.

Outsource Where You Can

Continue reading →

7 Ways To Make Doctor’s Visit Easier For Kids

Children need to see doctors for immunization, check-up, and to track growth and development. As a parent, you know how hard it can be to make child doctor visits easier for your kids. Some kids don’t react at all, while others can become scared of a stranger trying to assess them. Picking the right time can help with behavior issues, and making them comfy also helps. Sharing here 7 ways to make doctor’s visits easier for kids. Try to apply them, you’ll find out how effective they are.

1. Request a Home Visit

Not all doctor visits have to be at the clinic. You can inquire and request a home visit if your child has an extreme reaction to the office or cannot make it in. There are also some procedures, such as developmental pediatric screening, that doctors prefer to carry out at home. Being in a familiar environment where they feel safe and more in control can be a huge help when a doctor treats your kids. However, ask first because not all doctors are able to come to your home.

2. Make Child Doctor Visits Easier at the Right Time

There are times when your kids will be better behaved or happier than others. For example, you probably know the times when they are grumpy, hungry, or hyper. So it can help to book an appointment at times when you know your kids will be more accepting of a doctor. Of course, every child is different. In most cases, an early morning visit works best when they are in a happier and more lively mood. Therefore, try to book an appointment at around 9 am.

3. Keep Yourself Composed

One of the best ways to keep your kids calm is to stay calm. The way you behave and how you treat your children when they are in distress can have a big impact on their mood and habits while you are out. For example, if your child is misbehaving, try not to shout at them and speak calmly. This will also help keep any other children in the clinic calm as well. Any discomfort your child is feeling will only be made worse if you begin to become annoyed or upset as well. Continue reading →

Strategies Teachers Can Use to Help Students Improve Exam Performance

Last January 30 and 31, the Department of Education (DepEd) administered the National Achievement Test for Grade 12 (NATG12) as part of their K to 12 Basic Education Program national assessment framework. It aims to determine and identify the gaps in the curriculum and gauge the graduating student’s preparedness for higher education. 

Now that it is over, teachers are left waiting for the exam results, hoping that they achieved their number one goal; to make students attain the learning objectives prescribed by the curriculum.

But after a big exam like this, what must teachers do with the results? Quipper is here to guide educators on using exam scores as data for assessment to improve the teaching-learning experience and potentially elevate their students’ future test scores.

Gather test scores and other students’ data for analysis. Data is always present in a classroom and can be gathered in various ways. It can be Formative Data that teachers can collect from learners through raising hands, drills, recitations, and short quizzes, or Observational Data, where they observe students’ behaviors and characteristics when doing a solo task or working with a student.

Lastly, teachers can assess the data from Summative and Standardized Tests (like the NATG12), Projects, and Performance Tasks gathered quarterly or at the end of the academic year. This type of data is necessary because it gauges the learner’s capability to apply and retain the knowledge they learned in the classroom. 

It is crucial to differentiate and categorize data to ensure that teachers adequately address each student’s unique needs. Once these data are assessed, teachers can conduct different strategies to improve their classroom teaching and, later on, improve students’ performance. 

Make use of modern technology where appropriate. Using technology is one of the best ways to break down complicated concepts into smaller pieces that are easier for students to understand. These days, technology encompasses everything from the use of tablets and computers to VR technologies. As Danny Swersky of KIPP Washington Heights Middle School puts it, interactive technology has changed classrooms a lot thanks to mobile learning platforms, interactive tech-assisted lessons, and new VR/AR devices.

Even in just the last decade, educational technology has improved at a tremendous pace, giving students more ways to learn and understand complicated subjects without overworking teachers. Much of this study can be carried out at home as well, making it a great option for homeschooling or self-study time.

Study data to modify teaching strategies. After studying data, teachers should now prepare to alter their teaching strategies according to it. The modification should focus on learners’ individual needs and the overall class condition. 

For example, suppose a student suddenly had low scores compared to their previous exam. In that case, a teacher may want to assess if the student is having problems that are non-classroom-related that may influence the student’s low performance. Or maybe, the teacher placed test questions that are too focused on memorization, which may not be a suitable strategy to use. Teachers must remember that assessing the data is all about identifying the learning barriers or overall curriculum problems to ensure that the learners will always give their best performance on their exams.

Establish realistic student goals and design/adjust lesson plans according to them. After students see their exam results, they might feel burdened and pressured to do better. But a teacher should always remind students that whatever the outcome, what matters most is that they are learning.

Students were always taught to think that scores and numbers are equivalent to their worth; that is why educators must gear away from this mindset and help the students establish realistic goals by designing or adjusting their lesson plans according to them. May it be changing how the lessons were taught or giving a fresher take on summative assessments. 

More than anything, teachers should encourage the student’s individual growth inside and outside the classroom, even if it means getting a score of 10 or 15 points higher than before.

These strategies are not here to make things complicated for teachers. Instead, it treats learning as a process that cannot be accomplished without proper assessment. Yes, an improvement in performance starts with the student, but they cannot do it without the teacher’s help.

To learn more about how teachers can use data from test scores and student performance to improve teaching, they can access Quipper’s Basic Education Exit Assessment (BEEA) assessment package, which includes a module that can be used as their go-to guide on doing proper assessments in the classroom. 

Indeed, Quipper is here to tirelessly assist teachers through its innovative teaching and learning technology that can adapt to the changing landscape of education.

To learn more about Quipper Philippines and its other programs and initiatives, visit https://www.quipper.com/ph/.