Goals We Have Met

As we close our classrooms for the winter, it is important that we acknowledge the educational goals we have met.  Goals that we accomplished last year with our previous class of students, goals that we are working on to accomplish with next year's class of students.  We have worked together, in collaboration, toward the improvement of our education by achieving these goals.

The goals that we have met are of a great variety: Some are personal goals, others professional.  Some can seem simple and insignificant, but these may also prove to be some of our greatest challenges.  Yet other goals that we have labeled as complex and of great importance could have been accomplished with a great deal of ease.

Perhaps it is reaching out to a student in school who is having a difficult time breaking out of their shell, and with our help they begin to develop the social skills that will help them interact and socialize with their classmates.  Staying after school to help a group of students complete a project or just hang out until they are ready to be picked up from school.  Even helping a college during lunch break with the development of a lesson plan, grading homework, or to catch up on with our grades.

Our goals that we have met should be acknowledge and celebrated for we may know know just how meaningful they were to those who were on the receiving end of them.  All of us who are in education should make the time to say thank you and congratulations to each other as this year comes to an end this Winter break, and we look back on all the educational goals that we have met. 

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved

Accomplishments to Date

We should take the time to reflect on the educational accomplishments we have reached to this date.  In January we came back from Winter break, which was followed by Spring break, then Summer break, recently Fall/Autumn break, and once again back to another Winter break.  All these breaks may invoke images of fun filled vacation time for some, for others planned work time.

All these breaks across the seasons crossing two distinct groups of students, two unique classrooms, which we have transitioned over the past year.  Two groups of students, two classrooms, one which has advanced on, the other arriving to their own.  To one we said "Good-bye, take care." to the other "Hello, and welcome."

We created lessons and executed them by implementing such plans into the classroom.  We watched and guided our students through these lessons as they followed directions, payed attention to instructions, learned and developed the knowledge and skills required, and demonstrated, by communicating to us clearly, that they understood and were able to apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills.

We have achieved educational accomplishments to date, that we set for ourselves many days ago, and look forward to what we can accomplish in future days to come, as we start another year after Winter break.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved

Celebrating

We come to the halfway mark of December.  In education we get ready to close a year, while looking ahead toward our own academic midpoint.  As we get ready to close the year and go into winter break, we should take time to celebrate the accomplishment of goals we have set.  We should recognize the achievements we have reached in school, in our educational path.

In education we should make place to celebrate accomplishments.  Celebrating our accomplishments to date should take place in our classrooms, at home, throughout school, and the community.  We should give recognition for the accomplishments that our learners have learned up until now.  Recognition can also serve to us as a tool to measure a learner's growth.  It can also give learners an additional opportunity to communicate and demonstrate to us that they have an understanding of what has been learned by the learner.

 

In education we should make place to celebrate goals.  Celebrating the goals that we have met should take place in our classrooms, at home, throughout school, and the community.  We should give recognition for the goals that our learners have met.  Recognizing the goals that our learner's have met can serve as a tool to measure a learner's growth.  It can also give learners an additional opportunity to communicate and demonstrate to us that they have an understanding of what has been learned by the learner.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Now to Next Year

As December comes to an end, we are presented with the opportunity to plan ahead at what we envision taking place from now to next year.  In education, this planning takes us from this year's class of students, through Summer, to next year's class of students.  We visualize the growth we will do as Educators, Teachers, Students, Learners.

We should make time to plan ahead at how we will help our students succeed this year, and how we will welcome those who will join in next year.  Take time to review our thoughts and ideas, and draw from them for inspiration to create new ones.  Take a look at what is working, what we can improve upon, how to be more efficient, how to be more successful.  Allow students to search further on their own by becoming engaged learners.

We should take the time to plan ahead and keep in mind that our teachers will be there to help us this year and next.  Keep in mind where we are as students in this year's grade, and visualize where we would like to be as students next year.  Take time to plan ahead and envision how the education we are pursuing can be applied to improve the quality of our lives.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Last Year to Now

As December comes to an end, we are presented with the opportunity to reflect on what has taken place from last year to now.  In education, this reflection takes us back from last year's class of students, through Summer, to this year's class of students.  We have all grown over this time: Educators, Teachers, Students, Learners.

We should make time to look back at how we help our students close last year.  Review our thoughts and ideas, and draw from them for inspiration to create new ones.  Take a look at which lessons worked, which did not, which had an effect which we did not expect, and which lessons help lightened the mood of our students, allowing them to become engaged learners eager to search further on their own.

We should take the time to look back and remember how our teachers helped us last year.  Remember where we were at as students in last year's grade, and keep in mind where we are as students in this year's grade.  Reflect on what we have learned, how we learned it, and what we can do to apply this new knowledge to further our studies.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Transitioning

Transitioning

As we approach the close of the year, we prepare ourselves so we may transition from one year into another.   We look back at where we were back in January, and review the journey we have gone through for almost twelve months.  We picture ourselves with a new year to come, and a new slate upon which we can carve a new path.  For those who are in education, the transition period includes our march toward the halfway mark of the school year.

Last year to now

From last year to now, our students have completed and advanced a grade level, our teachers have taught last year's class and welcome this years students, our lives have been changed, in different degrees, by the events and experiences which we have faced.  There were summer plans, summer school, and summer camps during a break in which we we all preparing ourselves for the current academic year.  Teacher lesson plans were reviewed, recycled, rejected, and/or reinstated into their lessons, and students matured and grew up as they moved up further in their educational paths.

Now to next year

From now to next year, our students would have completed this grade level, and be on their way on to their next one.  Our teachers, having said farewell to this year's class, would be welcoming the next class of students entering their classrooms.  We do not know with certainty were we will be, but we hope that it will be in good conditions, a better situation.  We will do our best to anticipate the needs we may have, not just of our own, but for others as well.  Students will continue onward with their education while being guided by their teachers.

Continuation

For now, both students and teachers are going on with the continuation of this school year.  We are not quite at the halfway mark, but it will be here soon, and this transitioning period can be helpful in making adjustments to each others educational needs.   This is a period of school time in which both great progress and terrible loss can occur.  It is a time to become self-assessed and make sure that we are placing our collective efforts toward the betterment of our education.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Transitioning and Celebrating

We are closing the year this December as we transition into a new year which shall begin, once again, as this year did, in January.  We are at a period in time when we are transitioning, and we are also celebrating.  During this period of time in which we are transitioning, we also celebrate and make time to reflect on the past, the present, and the future.

The Transitioning period can be defined by two components: Transition from Last Year to Now, and Transition from Now to Next Year.  We are coming out of the past and are going into the future.  We have learned the knowledge of what has been, and ponder the knowledge of what will be.  We take account and give projections, and hope and think of a better tomorrow.

The Celebrating period can be defined by two components: Celebration of Accomplishments to Date, and Celebration of Goals We have Met.  We have achieved accomplishments and met goals we set.  We are aware of what we have learned, and have learned to be disciplined by establishing ending periods.  We display our knowledge with pride but remain humble by our non-knowledge.

As we transition and celebrate, we learn about our personal education and growth as individuals, collectively as a people, while trying our best to prepare, present, and preserve a selected collection of knowledge and information for others to utilize.  We place ourselves in the posterity of time through the education we leave behind.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

December 2013

The month of December brings about the season of the holidays.

The holidays, and the month, cycle in a period of transitioning and celebrating for us all.

In education we are going from last school year to this school year, and chronologically, we are going from this year tot he next.

It is the time to check our accomplishments to date, as well as the goals that have been meet thus far by all of us who are active participants in the educational journey.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Harvest Sorting 2

What is Educational Harvest Sorting?

Educational Harvest Sorting (E. H. S.) is the process by which, in education, both the quantity and accuracy of a learner's collected knowledge is analyzed and made accountable.

How is Educational Harvest Sorting executed?

The successful execution of Educational Harvest Sorting (E. H. S) is rooted in its two parts:

A) The quantity of a learner's collected knowledge.

It is important that learners acquire a vast amount of knowledge that is varied and diverse.  This includes a variety of subjects, fields of study, life experiences, hands on activities, etc.

B) The accuracy of a learner's collected knowledge.

It is important that a learner's knowledge be accurate and true.  A learner whose knowledge is inaccurate and/or false could have a difficult time unlearning these errors, then learning how to correct them.

Why do Educational Harvest Sorting?

Educational Harvest Sorting (E. H. S.) should be done because it allows educators to become better prepared.  It also provides educators with an accountability tool for their learners.  By analyzing a learner's collected knowledge, educators can better prepare learners for their future education.  Educators need to sort the knowledge obtained by learners to ensure that it is ample and true.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Harvest Sorting

The educational process of harvest begins with the step of collecting and continues with the step of sorting.  These two primary steps in the process of educational harvest help in giving us a view of the growth done over a season, and allows us to plan for future harvests.

Sorting is the arrangement of collected subject information for quantity and for accuracy.  After collecting subject information from learners, we must record and measure both the quantity and accuracy of this information for analysis and accountability purposes.

The quantity of collected subject information allows us to analyze the varied vastness of knowledge possessed by the learner.  It lets us study how much knowledge the learner has acquired over a given period of time.  Care must be taken when analyzing the quantity of collected subject information as this can be acquired by the learner in a variety of places, the classroom being one of the many.  There is a great deal of learning which takes place independently of school.  For this reason, the accuracy of the collected subject information must also be measured.

The accuracy of collected subject information must be measured to account for proper learning.  Whether or not the student has a large and diverse quantity of knowledge, if it is inaccurate, it is of no use, and could be misinterpreted by the learner.  Care must be taken to differentiate between inaccurate information, and misunderstood information.  These two are not the same, but could be the result of learning mistakes which are part of the educational process.  Intentional use of inaccurate information for learning or educational purposes could become a negative experience that can lead the learner on a path of danger.

Measuring both the quantity and accuracy of a learner's knowledge can be accomplished with the step of Educational Harvest Sorting.  After collecting subject information from the learners, we must sort it so we may learn what our learners have learned over time.  This step will help us better prepare the learner for further growth in the years to come.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Harvest Collecting 2

What is Educational Harvest Collecting?

Educational Harvest Collecting (E. H. C.) is the process by which, in education, knowledge is gathered for the purpose of evaluation.

How is Educational Harvest Collecting executed?

Here is a 6-Step guide for the successful execution of E. H. C.

1) Decide what EHC is to be gathered.

2) Decide who will do the gathering of EHC.

3) Decide where EHC will be gathered.

4) Decide when EHC will be gathered.

5) Decide how much EHC will be gathered.

6) Decide why EHC will be gathered.

 

Why do Educational Harvest Collecting?

The collecting of knowledge in education allows educators to measure the progress a learner has made over time.  Educational Harvest Collecting (E. H. C.) provides educators with a process by which to gather a learners knowledge.  What is collected can then provide educators with a further understanding of what a learner knows and how to continue to build upon that knowledge.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Harvest Collecting

The harvest must be collected if it is to be enjoyed.  If it is not collected, it will remain, unpicked, until it eventually spoils and falls to the ground.  Once this has happened, the harvest can no longer be enjoyed, and it will now serve a different purpose.

How the harvest is collected can be through a variety of ways, methods, and techniques or tools.  It can be collected by hand, or with the aid of technological developments.  We can collect what we can carry, or we can carry more with the help of a container.

The harvest should be collected toward the end of the season.  Doing this will ensure that it has had time to grow, develop, mature, and ripened.  If we collect before the right time, we will have an unripened harvest whose product will not be good, or ready for enjoyment.  On the other hand, if we collect after the right time has passed, we will have an over ripened harvest whose use will be limited, and will spoiled quickly.  Only by collecting within the right time frame, can we assure that the harvest will be at is peak, and thus at the best quality.

It is also important to train those who will collect the harvest.  They must know what is being collected, have the proper or necessary equipment and know how to use it, ensure the safety and security of what is collected, and have a support team available if additional help or assistance is required.  Though the training may be thorough, only through actual experience, gained over time, will the harvest collectors become efficient at this skill.

Since it will take time for the harvest to reach the point at which it should be collected, we also have time to prepare and be ready.  As the harvest is growing, we must become prepared so at the right time we can execute the collection of the harvest with efficiency.  Care must also be taken to not sort or evaluate the harvest as we are collecting it.  This is part of a separate step in the process of educational harvesting.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm. All Rights Reserved.

Educational Harvest 2

What is Educational Harvest?

Educational Harvest is the collecting and sorting of the total accumulated knowledge acquired and understood by a student following a period of learning.

When/Where does Educational Harvest happen?

Educational Harvest can happen at any time, in any place.  This can be an on the spot moment of recollection, a surprise quiz, a question asked by a person in need, etc.

There are many different ways in which educational harvest can manifest to our students.  In education, the best place for educational harvest to take place is in the classroom, if not in the school, as it is the place the student is most familiar with and should feel the most comfortable in.

As for the best time for educational harvest to be done, it would be following a period of preparation, rest, nutrition, and awareness.  This could be mid-morning, mid-afternoon, during school hours, or a non-holiday day. The length of the duration of the Educational Harvest should be adequate to allow the student to perform well and to measure the desired knowledge of the subject matter.

Who does Educational Harvest?

Educational Harvest should be done by all who are taking part in a student's learning process.  This includes parents, classroom assistants, teachers, coaches, principals, administrators, schools, districts, counties, and even students.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Harvest

This is the time traditionally reserved for harvesting.  We are but a few weeks away from winter, and we must prepare for the season ahead.  Although there are some seasonal winters for which even our best preparation may not be sufficient, we must do our best to prepare each and every time we are presented with the opportunity to do so.

Harvesting ca be defined as the collecting and sorting of a seasonal crop which has been grown from the planting of a seed.  The farmer plants seeds in a field which has been prepared.  In time, we hope, that the seeds will spring up and germinate, then grow into plants that produce a good harvest which is varied and diverse.

In education it can be said that we harvest a student's understanding after planting the seeds of learning in the ample fields of their minds.  We hope that what a student understands is that all knowledge can be interconnected and applied to find the solutions which present and future challenges will require so that they may be met and overcome.

Collecting in education can be defined as the gathering of a student's prior knowledge for the purpose of presenting it to the public.  If we want to make sure that our students understand what they have learned, we must attempt to collect it as a whole and in its entirety.  Collecting will be a continuous cycle that takes place over the years.

Sorting in education can be defined as the arrangement of a student's prior knowledge by information in subject matter as both quantity and quality.  We need to be able to measure, in multiple standards, the growth that a student has done, over the defined time of the season.  Sorting will allow us to analyze and envision overall education.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

November 2013

November is a reminder that there is a time during which we harvest our crops by collecting them and sorting them.  This is done to do an analysis of the crops that have grown over the last season and the fruit that they have yielded.  Crops are measured and checked with a variety of tools and standards and are submitted for final approval and appreciation to the public.  

In education we do this through collection and sorting of knowledge and information.  We harvest the knowledge and information that students have learned, we measure the quantity and quality, and the student's understanding and application of such knowledge and information for accuracy.  This sorting and collecting serves as a gauge of the education level that the students have acquired up this time.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Training Implementation 2

For teachers and schools who would like to implement an educational training program, for their students, MRCR Education presents the following 8-step guide for Educational Training Implementation (E.T.I.)

This is a guide which teachers and schools could use to implement an educational training program.  It is a general guide that can be accommodated to meet established goals and needs of the program.

MRCR Education 8-Step Guide for Educational Training Implementation

1) Create a Team.

2) Define Educational Training.

3) Develop a Model.

4) Clarify Steps.

5) Address Concerns.

6) Plan Implementation Timetable.

7) Apply to a Selected Sample.

8) Evaluate, Grow, and Reapply.

Teachers and schools that implement educational training programs will provide students with an additional opportunity to obtain support and assistance with their education.  This support and assistance can allow the student to: pursuit further education, grow in a particular subject, review prior education, establish roots in a field or career.

Educational training programs can be implemented in schools and classrooms as a concurrent complement to the academic curriculum, or as an addition to it.  Educational training programs are most effective when created to be low cost, high yield, and long term.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Training Implemetation

To successfully implement an educational training program in the classroom, at school, or for home, the following eight steps to follow are recommended for educators to use:

1) Create an E.T.I. Team

Ask colleges for help, and to participate, in implementing educational training, for students, at an appropriate education level.

2) Define Educational Training

The E.T.I. team should then define educational training.  What is their vision of it?  What is the purpose for implementing it?

3) Develop a Model

Using the E.T.I. team's definition of educational training as the foundation, develop a model that serves as a reference and guide for all the participants.

4) Clarify Steps

Clearly define the steps needed to fully implement educational training, and who is to be accountable for implementing them.

5) Address Concerns

The E.T.I team should hold an advisory council to address any concerns, or worries, that participants may have, prior to implementation.

6) Plan Implementation Timetable

The E.T.I. team must plan an implementation timetable that will hold them accountable for reaching the steps set for implementation.

7) Apply to a Group

Select a group with whom the E.T.I team can evaluate the model created, and its success on the group to which it was implemented on.

8) Growth and Reimplementation

The E.T.I team can then use their evaluation of the model created to grow the educational training program by implementing it to a larger sample.

With these eight steps a group of dedicated educators can successfully implement educational training in the classroom, at their school, or for the home.  Educational Training can provide a beneficial support for students, who are in need of help, to meet education standards, and for those who would like advanced challenge for their education.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Sparks Middle School, NV

To the people of Sparks, Nevada:

This is a day of remembrance.

In a school, a person was shot, others were injured.

And those directly connected to Sparks Middle School,

Will feel most of the shock.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Sparks, Nevada.

A las personas de Sparks, Nevada:

Este es un dia de reconocimiento.

en una escuela, se disparo a una persona, otros fueron heridos.

Y los mas directamente conectados a Sparks Middle School,

Sentiran la mayoria de el choque.

Nuestros pensamientos y oraciones estan con las personas de Sparks, Nevada

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Training Practice 2

Educators will benefit if they train students to develop their educational skills.  Skills which can facilitate a student's success in school.  Skills which help students become better educated by knowing how to study, learn, and teach.  As educators we can properly train students to develop these skills.

How can students practice educational training?

The practice stage of Educational Training has two components: Drills and Application.  Students can practice educational training by taking part in drills that develop a Core Central Knowledge from which ideas and concepts radiate, and by applying such knowledge, ideas, and concepts to produce educational work.

Educational  Drills can be designed to develop a Core Central Knowledge through the use of various sources and samples.  If the core central knowledge we want to design a drill for is addition, we begin by defining it,  demonstrating its use, and allowing students to try it on their own.  Addition can then radiate to other concepts like adding negatives, fractions, real numbers, polynomials, etc.

Educational Application can be designed by educators to have students Produce Work by having them draw on their understanding of core knowledge.  After doing drills on addition, students can produce work that demonstrates their understanding of this concept by applying it to doing projects, presentation, group work, and they can challenge themselves by pursuing further understanding of addition in mathematics.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Training Practice 1

As we train for education, like we do for many events in life, we travel along a three-track process: We study, we learn, we teach.  Training for education leads to the development of educational skills, which can facilitate success in school, when developed properly.

The educational training process provides an opportunity to study, learn, teach, and develop skills at a favorable rate of growth.  This can be accomplished at an individual and collaborative level.  It also provides an opportunity to commit mistakes and errors which should then be repaired and corrected prior to proceeding with further training.

Following Warming Up, the initial stage of educational training, is the Practice stage.  The educational training stage of practice has two components: Drills and Application.  Educational training drills should be designed to develop a core central knowledge from which ideas and concepts radiate.  Educational training application draws from our understanding of knowledge to produce work.

With the development of core central knowledge, from which ideas and concepts radiate, and the application of understanding, by producing work, we can successfully complete the practice stage of educational training.  The educational training stage of practice brings to a close the training process of education.  With the educational training process complete, after warming up through stretching and conditioning, and practicing through drills and application, we can proceed to use the skills, which have facilitated success at school, in our daily life.  Whether it is at home, at work, or in pursuit of further education.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Training Warming Up 2

How can we train learners educationally so that they develop the skills that facilitate success in education?  How can learners be trained to study, learn, teach, and develop educational skills?  To do this, with success, it is recommended that Educational Training be started by warming up.  Warming Up in Educational Training has two parts: Stretching and Conditioning.

How can learners train educationally by warming up?

We learn to warm up in physical education and in preparation for athletic events.  In physical education and athletics we warm up to prepare the body.  The body is prepared by stretching muscles and tendons, followed by conditioning.  Stretching develops elasticity.  Conditioning develops performance and endurance.

In the classroom, warming up is a process by which learners develop educational elasticity so they may perform and endure successfully.  This can be done when learners stretch their knowledge and condition their understanding.

Learners can stretch their knowledge by applying forces to it.  An area of knowledge can be stretched across different subjects, places, and time.  The learner can demonstrate this by taking knowledge from one area of education and applying it to other areas. A learner who knows how to count can stretch that knowledge by counting backwards, skip counting, counting in a different language, etc.

Learners can condition their understanding by increasing performance and developing endurance.  Educational performance can be increased when the learner repeatedly performs with accuracy their understanding of knowledge.  Educational endurance can be developed over time by the learner when maintaining their understanding of knowledge over time.  A learner who knows how to add can condition that understanding of knowledge by adding single digits, more that two digits, decimals, fractions, like terms, variables, monomials, binomials, equations, etc.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Training Warming Up 1

We need to train for education, as we do, for most any other events, that we undertake in life.  Training for education, can be viewed, as a three part process: Study, Learn, Teach.
Training for education, should lead to the development of educational skills, that facilitate success in school, when developed properly.

Educational Training gives us an opportunity to study, learn, teach, and develop these skills at a favorable rate of growth, not only at an individual level, but together as a whole.
While we are going through educational training, we are allowed to commit mistakes and carry out errors; which we should then repair and correct, before we proceed with further educational development.

The first stage of educational training is warming up.
When warming, we focus on two specific areas of educational training, stretching and conditioning.
Stretching lets us develop the elasticity of an area by pulling, pushing, compressing, and exposing it to tension.
It is most beneficial as a short term part of the warming up stage in educational training.

The second stage of educational training is conditioning.
Conditioning lets us develop either a general or specific aspect of educational training for performance and endurance.
It is most beneficial as a long term part of of the warming up stage in educational training.

As we train for education, we should begin with stretching and conditioning as part of the first stage, Educational Training - Warming Up.

By stretching the understanding of knowledge we currently have, applying different forces and creating tension to further develop its elasticity, and conditioning our application of knowledge so it may perform and endure for a long time, we will properly develop the educational skills that can facilitate success in school.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Educational Training

Preparing for the new school year starts by waking up, and getting ready, to begin training.

We have to train to study.  We have to train to learn.  We have to train to teach.

This applies not just to those who are receiving learning, but also to those who are providing instruction.  With proper training learners, and instructors, can develop the educational skills that are needed to succeed in school.

Training presents us with the opportunity to learn, and develop, skills at a rate that favors the growth of both the individual and the whole.  It also allows us to commit, and carry out, mistakes and errors which can then be corrected, and repaired, prior to proceeding with further learning and evaluating.

Educational training can be looked at as having two distinct parts: The warm-up, and The practice. During warm-up we focus on stretching, and conditioning, educationally; where as practice is reserved for drills and simulations.  Each of these steps can be applied to classroom instruction through a variety of methods which give the required flexibility needed to meet the requirements each classroom has to face.  Training is a necessary stage in education which is well worth investing time in.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

October 2013

The month of October requires us to be fully involved in educational training.
By now we should be ready to be in school, and in the classroom.
Warming up, practicing, so we may make the most of our educational opportunity.
To do this, we should be stretching and conditioning educationally.
This can be done through repetitions, simulations, and application of skills.
Educational training allow us to prepare as the year progresses.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator


Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Awake and Ready

As the month of September comes to an end,

We also close the first full month of the school year.

We have established an educational schedule that we are adhering to,

We are awake and ready to complete this school year.

As September comes to an end, this is where we should be.

We are awake and ready, and we demonstrate it in school.

By showing up on time to class, by raising our hands to engage.

By bringing our homework in hand, and handing it in to be graded.

By preparing our lessons and teaching our students.

We demonstrate we are awake and ready.

By being awake and ready for school we show our commitment

As students: Attending, Participating, Learning, Studying.

As educators: Preparing, Engaging, Welcoming, Educating.

As parents: Supporting, Nurturing, Encouraging, Parenting.

By being awake and ready until we complete this school year.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas (Educator)

Copyright 2013. MRCR Educational Consulting Firm. All Rights Reserved

Ready for a New School Year

To be ready for a new school year we must plan ahead of time.  We must plan and must prepare for what could take place throughout the year.

There will be supplies that will be needed like backpacks, paper, pencils, and erasers.  Supplies that, though they may seem as common sense to most, are either out of reach for some due to financial factors or, for others, are expected to be supplied to the students by the schools.

There will be transportation needs like walking with a buddy, getting a ride from a friend, or taking public transit to and from school, in addition to other student activities that they may participate in either on or off campus.  How will you get to where you need to be? To school? To practice? To the study groups?  Students and parents must plan and coordinate these transportation logistics ahead of time.

There will be nutritional needs that also take priority in a child's education.  Proper nutrition plays an important role in the development of the child, as well as amount of energy that will be available for them to complete tasks from staying awake in class, to making the team, and even study sessions.  From breakfast to lunches, dinners and snacks, preparing to meet the nutritional needs of students should be a priority.

With the proper supplies, coordinated transportation, and right nutrition, students will have more energy focused on paying attention in class, and less energy worried about who can they get writing materials from, what are they going to eat when they become hungry, and how are they going to get home after school.

It takes time to plan ahead for the new school year, but it is worth it when it is done together between students and parents, classmates and neighbors, adult and children.  We can collaborate together and be ready for the school year if we just take the time.

Author - Manuel R. CortezRodas (Educator)

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

A New School Year Awakes

By now most of us have had at least a couple of weeks of school.

The new school year has gotten started, and for the most part everyone is starting to settle in.

First day jitters are gone, and we have caught up on what we did over the summer.

But there is one thing, a sound, that even as adults have a hard time getting used to.

That is, of course, the wake-up call.

Whether its from an alarm clock, our phones, or our parents coming into our bedrooms, the wake-up call eventually comes every morning of each school day.

It is our indication that we are to get ready for the day ahead, as we are now awake.

Though sometimes getting ready does require just a little more sleep, eventually we must comply and make it through our daily morning routine so we may be in school on time.

Waking up and getting ready are the first two activities we do each day before school, and they play an important part on the future of our day.

This is why it is important that each and every day, throughout the school year, we do what we can to make sure that these two daily activities help us start our day in a positive manner that can be carried out by us so our day is bright from start to finish, while uplifting and cheering up those who may need to lean on us for support.

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas - Educator

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

September 2013

"A New School Year"

The month of September will bring about the start of a new school year.  It is the time for those who are participating in education to be waking up and getting ready.  This requires that we become mentally and physically awake, so that we may become fully able to start the new educational school year, and to establish a routine that will help us in planning for the next day.

AUTHOR: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

August 2013

Notes for August 2013

Written by: Manuel R. CortezRodas

This month of August brings us closer to the start of the school year.  August also reminds us that the season of summer will soon come to a close.  Students are enjoying the last bit of summer break before facing the soon arriving school year.  Parents are preparing and planning the back to school necessities of their children.  Administrators and faculties are gathering together once again, or for the first time, to make our schools available to our students.

Here at MRCR Education we are also preparing, planning, and gathering.  We are preparing for the start of our second school year blogging about education.  We are planning a variety of themes and topics that will drive and inspire our educational postings for this up coming school year of 2013-2014.  We are also gathering from diverse resources that help us further pursuit a betterment of education while serving education.  We look forward to your visits to our blog, as well as your thoughts and ideas that you wish to share.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  Copyright 2013

A Summer Poem to Education

A Summer Poem to Education

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Education takes time.

Education takes space.

If it takes time,

and it takes space;

then it is science,

so education is science.

If it takes time,

and it takes space:

Then it is old.

And it is new.

It's very small.

It's very huge.

Education is old.

Education is new.

Education is small.

Education is huge.

Education takes time.

Education takes space.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

The Closing of a School Year

Closing the School Year

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

For most of us, in education, this is the time in which we close the school year.  A journey that began close to 9 months ago is now ready to continue as it goes on, developing an educational path for students to continue to travel on.  Students have been with us for the length of the school year, others have left us, while others have just joined us this year.  Yet we, as educators, take them all into our classrooms, and do our best, to share with them, the knowledge we know how to educate them on.  Each educator using all their skills and abilities to make sure that each student has access to the knowledge we have, the knowledge we believe they should know, the knowledge that will help them continue on in life as they make decisions constantly.

Closing the School Year

As educators, we must acknowledge that we have a limited time in which to educate students, and that this time comes to an end.  As the school year comes to an end, so too comes the time and day in which we have to close the school year.  We must turn in our grade books and complete all the school paper work, we must also be fair with our student's work and grading scale.

Saying Goodbye

Over the year we have share a significant portion of time in our schools, in our classrooms, and with our colleges, and students.  This is a time for us to sometimes say goodbye, knowing that it may be the last time we either see or say something to them.  The ones we have confidence in, that we know are strong students and should have the tools to succeed, are the ones we take pride in when we say goodbye to them.  But the ones that we fear for, and we see as fragile, are the ones that make saying goodbye like a shield giving rite.  We hope the best for them.  That they be able to continue to grow, and be given a chance to become strong.

Memories

No doubt, we have also created and accumulated memories throughout the school year.  These memories are diverse and varied, and serve as a reminder of moments in time which have some learning significance to us: Our first day in school getting ready to welcome back students, seen some of them there already, ready to start learning.  The individual and collective solutions that they came up with to solve that challenge we presented them with.  Field trips, fundraisers, indoor recess on ill weather days, and days that were just ill.  All this are memories that we will carry with us as we move on with our education, and we continue on with traveling the path.

Separation

We will become separated from those with whom we have spent an entire academic school year.  We hope that all of us have played a significant part in what will become our academic lifetime.  Throughout the school year, bonds have formed and develop between teachers and students, students and students, teachers and teachers, and many other bonds that have help strengthen our educational experience, and have made it a positive one.  Now we must separate a bit from each other, to allow for growth, and allow for development.

 

Storing

Now, at the end of the school year, we begin the process of storing that which we want to treasure.  We separate memories as we say goodbye not just to our students, but to a whole school year which is now concluded.  We store these treasures and keep them safe, as one day soon we may need them, as we depend on them for wisdom and advice, for many school years to come.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

When to Evaluate Education

A Time for Education Evaluation

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

When to Evaluate Education

As education is learned it should also be evaluated.  Education should be evaluated over time at a constant rate.  Just as time is constant, the time for education evaluation should also be constant.  Time for education evaluation needs to be scheduled so that it is clearly known when education evaluation will take place.  From daily five minute warm-ups to annual 12 hour examinations, we hope that the right time for educational evaluations also coincides with the right time for students to be evaluated on their education.  It is also important that we acknowledge that time limits have a limit, and this will have an effect on the results of the evaluation.

Time

We must set a limit on the time in which students are evaluated, and take into consideration that the evaluation must be collected, counted, and corrected.  Three time frames are of great significance when evaluating education: Administration, Assessment, and Application.  Administration time begins when the need to evaluate is agreed upon, and the process of developing a time-limited evaluation, that is fair, is completed and administer to the learners.  Assessment time includes the preparation of educators and learners on how to execute the evaluation, how to secure the evaluation once it has been administered, and how the results of the evaluation will be presented.  Application time begins with the results of the evaluation, and continues on as these results are studied, analyzed, and apply for the betterment of the educational learning process.

In a limited educational evaluation, the learner has a limited amount of time in which to remember what they know about what they are being evaluated on.  It presents a challenge of knowledge and time.  Students must be able to manage problem solving while being aware of the total time allowed, the time needed to solve problems, and the difficulty level of the problem.  Students who develop the skills of recalling knowledge learned over time, and can apply it to solve problems in the time given, will see the results of their educational evaluation to be at a level that is greater than those who do not develop these skills.

A Time to Evaluate Education

With limited time, we can only achieve a limited evaluation.  With a limited evaluation, can only achieve an incomplete assessment.  With an incomplete assessment, the results of our evaluation will also be incomplete.  When we evaluate education, we must also remember that there is a limit to the evaluation due to time constrains.  This time constrains also set a limit on the knowledge that we can evaluate from the students.  By making sure the knowledge that we evaluate in education is clear, measurable, and balanced, we can make sure that the educational evaluation of our students will be fair and will benefit them in their education.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Where to Evaluate Education

A Place for Education Evaluation

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Where to Evaluate Education

The location of the place where education evaluation takes place has meaningful significance and must be created for such purpose. The significance of the educational evaluation place expands beyond its physical dimensions.  It signifies a secure, positive, environment where students can perform so they may be evaluated on the learning they have done.  This place should be created as a place where the student feels safe, secure, and confident, and the student knows that fair and equal conditions exist as they are being evaluated on their learning.

Place

Schools, Classrooms, Evaluation Centers&Rooms and many other locations can be places where education evaluation takes place.  These places must have been created as locations where students can demonstrate that they have successfully learn the material they are being evaluated in.  Some variables to consider when creating these places are physical aspects like lighting, temperature, sound, smell, and other aspects that up to a certain point, and with the proper support, can be controlled and provided to satisfy the environmental needs required for students to perform at their best possible educational level.

A Place Where to Evaluate Education

There is a correlation that exits between the place where students are evaluated and the results that are achieved.  In an adverse, challenging, uncomfortable place, while a number of students, who are able to make the needed adaptive adjustments, would be able to achieve some success, to most students, just being placed in such place could cause them to fail without taking one step that allows for them to be evaluated.

The objective a place, where education is to be evaluated, is to provide the best, most comfortable accommodation for educational evaluation to take place.  We must do our best to ensure that our students have access to places where their education is evaluated on how they apply it to a measuring challenge, with fair and equal settings, so they may perform to the highest ability possible.  We should also expect great results from students who are evaluated in places who can provide such supportive, fair, and comfortable places where education can be evaluated.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

What to Evaluate in Education (Part 2)

Evaluate Application of Knowledge

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

There is a constant flow of knowledge that goes in our schools.  This flow of knowledge is diverted through the school, by the teachers, and on to the students.  Knowledge, however, can also flow from the students, like a spring of water in the wilderness, and make its way to the school, and into the community, by having students both apply and demonstrate what they know, to present solutions to the problems that we face. 

APPLICATION
What can the student do with the knowledge?  Knowledge should not remain stagnant as it settles in the student's minds, but rather, the student should be capable of applying their knowledge on a daily basis.  They should demonstrate that they know what they are doing with the knowledge, and how that can help both them and us make improvements to our day to day life.  By allowing students to demonstrate that they can apply the knowledge learned in schools, we, as educators, are also given the opportunity to evaluate the performance of the student's education. One example of evaluation can be done by presenting a problem to the students, and look at the solutions that the students demonstrate, then  evaluate the application of knowledge the students apply to the solutions they present for the problems they have been presented with.

Education needs evaluation to ensure that the flow of information in educational knowledge is allowed to flow like rivers through valleys as our students do when they pass to class on the hallways of our schools.  This flow of information should also be evaluated to ensure that it can continuously cycle from teachers, to students, to the community, to the schools, and back to those whose duty is to present this educational knowledge to the many students that are yet to begin the process of becoming educated.  Education should also be evaluated for efficiency as we have a limited time in which to present to students the educational knowledge we have.  These are but three examples of what should be evaluated in education.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

What to Evaluate in Education

Evaluate Student Knowledge

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

Education must be evaluated.  We need to evaluate education.  It is necessary for the betterment of education that it be evaluated on a regular basis.  The need for education evaluation is demonstrated by the students.  Students benefit from having their education evaluated.  Students should be given the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge they have accumulated throughout their learning process so it may be confirmed as true and accurate.

Student Knowledge

What should we evaluate in education?  Primarily, student knowledge.  What the student knows should be evaluated so we may measure the knowledge possessed by the student, and the educational growth they have accomplished.  We must also evaluate what the teacher has presented as knowledge to the students.  In the classroom there is a defined length of time in which the teacher must present the knowledge they are responsible for teaching to the students.  Evaluating what a student knows and what the teacher has presented as  knowledge can then allow us to measure and compare how both factors are related.

As we close this school year, we are once again, reminded of the importance of evaluating education.  We need to measure student knowledge, compare that knowledge to the instruction given by the teacher, and analyze the level of knowledge between the two.  We all benefit from education evaluation, and our student will benefit greatly not just by gaining and growing in  knowledge, but in being reassured by formal confirmation, that their knowledge is both accurate an truthful.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Evaluating Education

Why we need to Evaluate Education

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

FIVE REASONS WHY WE NEED TO EVALUATE EDUCATION.

1) Students

Education evaluation allows students to demonstrate what they have learned.  It is necessary to evaluate what students have learned, in order to confirm to them, that have understood what they learned, and can accurately recall the information they have been instructed on.  Students must be evaluated for their own educational benefit, to build their educational confidence, and to repair educational misunderstandings.

2) Teachers

Education evaluation allows teachers to know the learning comprehension of their students.  It is necessary for teachers to know the learning comprehension of students.  Knowing this will allow teachers to become better educators.  Teachers can implement the information collected through student evaluation in their lesson development, so they may become better educators who are efficient and can reach each student in their classrooms.

3) Administrators

Education evaluation allows administrators to compare student comprehension vs. teacher instruction.  Student comprehension should be directly related to teacher instruction.  Administrators can use the data collected through education evaluation to make sure that both students and teachers are performing above and beyond the established benchmarks of acceptable success.

4) Parents

Education evaluation allows parents to know student comprehension, teacher instruction, and school administration.  Parents should have information available to them which helps them understand how individual students and classmates are learning and growing, the level and quality of the instruction being provided to students by their teachers, and the manner in which schools are being administrated in order for education to successfully take place.

5) Community

Education evaluation allows the community to know that students are being prepared for the future.  In time, the students will become functional members of the community and will have to face the challenges that they will be presented with.  The better educated our communities are, will allow us to make the best possible decisions to improve our way of life, and do good for future generations to develop.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.

Native Language Essay: Spanish

Spanish is not my Native Language

Challenges of an English Language Learner

Author: Manuel R. CortezRodas

The first language I learned, and became proficient in, is Spanish.  During my childhood, and early educational development, Spanish was the primary language of communication, it being used for talking, speaking, reading, and writing.  Spanish was used at home, in school, and in the community.

The second language I learned, and became proficient in, is English.  Since my teenage years, and secondary/post-secondary educational development, English has been the primary language of communication, it being used for talking, speaking, reading, and writing.  English was used at home, in school, and in the community.

My first language is Spanish, and my second language is English, but neither language is my native language.  My native language is Nahuatl, and I am not proficient in it.  It has not been a part of my life or education, and has not been used for talking, speaking, reading, and writing.  Nahuatl has not been used at home, in school, or in the community.

This is a challenge to me as a Hispanic Latin-American, to learn and become proficient in my native language.  A language which if not learned, will be forgotten.  Learning my native language will allow me to abridge the abyss that has been carved since the time that my native land welcomed those who immigrated from other lands of the world.  A Hispanic Latin-American culture has emerged over the last 500 years, but it did not originate then, it originated when the sun first rose.

Copyright 2013.  MRCR Educational Consulting Firm.  All Rights Reserved.