Society - Education, Schools pacific learning

PACIFIC LEARNING AIMS TO HELP STUDENTS IN LEARNING; IT WILL ALSO POST PHOTOS AND VERSES.

AUGUST 17, 2011 Hellow everybody! This is the first entry in this blog after a long time. From now on you will find the most recent entries on the top and the ones from previous months (and years) would be found further down.

AUGUST 18, 2011 MEMORY SKILLS ARE VITAL The need to memorise data is crucial in learning Mathematics as well as other subjects. I think you know that most of us had problems with learning Maths in primary school level because we did not memorise out timestables and our formulas. I have found that as a result of learning words in a few other languages. (You can check my notes on a language in my blog in this site "BASIC FRENCH NOTES".) See the item below about my meeting a friend who is also learning French. He told me that his experience in learning Maths has helped him with his learning French. (July 3) THE MAN WHO WANTS TO TAKE ON THE CHALLENGE A media officer (from East Sepik in PNG) who works for a government department is learning French from Alliance Française de Port Moresby. He told me this yesterday regarding the challenge he is taking to learn that foreign language. He said he had an experience where, as a matriculation student, he flunked his Calculus (Maths) course in the 6-week summer semester (called Lahara in PNG). However, when he signed on again for the same course in the same semester, he passed that. He said he will bring the same mentality to learn French, quite a difficult language to learn. “I found it hard in the first two lessons. My head was ‘blocked’. “But slowly I am making my way through in my fourth week. “I am determined to learn this language,” he said. MATHS HAS ITS OWN TERMS AND WAY OF WRITING I agree with his statement. I have stated a few years ago that learning higher level Maths as Calculus and Complex Analysis is like learning a foreign language. The language of such Maths is not spoken on the street as subjects in Social Science are. The language itself is unique (definitions and symbols used) and you have to work your way through the different topics in a course or subject to fully understand the course. You have to have the patience to go one step at a time. Many people think that you would be good at a subject if you can understand it very quickly – or in the very first lesson. Well, some of the most important topics in Maths do not come that easy. But then by patiently working on them for days and weeks, with a determined mind will get you to understand a fair bit of what is learnt in class. THE TIME SPENT IN THE SUBJECT OUTSIDE THE CLASS And then you must put in extra time out of class to go over concepts learnt in class. The French tutor told our class that we must spend about 20 minutes each day on going over concepts learnt in class, then we will be more confident in the use of the language. You see, that is exactly the same thing that good Maths teachers tell students. Mr Billy Kaleva, the long-serving senior tutor of Foundation Mathematics at The University of PNG tells his students that, apart from doing work given in class and tutorials, one has to go over Maths work for at least one hour every day to really be confident in what is taught in class. I learnt that lesson a long time ago when my Grade 12 Maths teacher told my group. Mrs KMG, from Kerala, India, said if you want to do well in Maths, you must spend at least one hour every day on that subject. That bit of information was the most important advice I was given in studying that challenging subject. I was shocked when I first heard it, but then she was a senior teacher and a mother and knew what she was talking about. Adhering to those words made a big difference in my life in choosing to study Physical Science and Mathematics at the tertiary level. BRING ON THE SAME HABIT OF STUDYING TO LEARNING FRENCH That same approach must be brought over to learning of a foreign language like French. You must not give up because you do not understand anything in the first lesson. Be patient and go for the next class, and the one after that. And be a good student and spend 30 minutes to one hour to go over what you learnt in class. You will be amazed in a few weeks time how easy things can be if you learn the subject with the right type of mentality. For now, au revoir!

SUCCEED IN MATHEMATICS—THE BEST METHOD TO STUDY MATHS - BY TBH Mathematics is a challenging subject. Some people find it easy while a good number of students have difficulties working with it. What about you, do you have problems in the subject? Have you ever yearned to improve your Maths marks? This page will help you! It will continue throughout the year; it will offer tips to help you improve your marks in Maths. In this issue I will start with something personal. I FAILED MY FIRST MATHS TEST AND WANTED TO GIVE UP To do my senior secondary studies I left home on the coast and travelled by plane 350 kilometres to another province in the highlands of PNG. The school I attended was the best school in the country at that time. Despite being in the best school I failed my first Maths test in grade 11; it was a real disaster. I was so discouraged by my score that I wanted to give up school. The test had many questions in Basic Numeracy, and was marked out of 30. The majority of the students in the whole grade scored less than 10. A handful of students scored 0. The highest mark was 23 and that was scored by the boy who would later be the Dux of our school. I scored 11 or 12 and was very discouraged. But I stayed on: I realized that higher secondary studies was different to lower secondary work. THE BEST METHOD TO STUDY MATHS IS… My grade 12 Maths teacher was Mrs K. M. George or Mrs G from India, the wife of my grade 11 English teacher. Both of them may have been in their 50s when I was a student at that particular school. Mrs G was a good Maths teacher. I was in the class that was made up of students who majored in Science. Some of these students are now engineers, pilots, doctors and architects. In one of her first lessons Mrs G stated: IF YOU WANT TO CONSISTENTLY DO WELL IN MATHS, YOU MUST SPEND ONE HOUR OR MORE EVERY NIGHT ON THIS SUBJECT! When I heard that I could not believe that. You see, I had a problem like most students. I never had a routine way of studying in the evenings. I just did whatever work that was given on a particular day in any subject. Often I spent too much time in one subject than in others. I never thought about distributing night-study time equally amongst all the subjects. And now I reasoned: If I follow Mrs G’s suggestion and spend one hour each night on Maths that would mean almost one third of my time would be spent on only one subject – and how can I study the other subjects? A best friend of mine was a friend of the Georges. Through him I also got to know the Georges. We would take care of their house when they go out for weekends. When Mrs G realized that I was in her grade 12 Maths class she kept a watch over me and my work. When students in our Maths class did not do well in a test Mrs G would scold us and give us a lecture on the importance of doing well in our studies. When she gave her scolding, for most of my class-mates that was a one-only scolding. As for me she would give additional scolding when I went to get more work from her in her office. And when I got to her house to help in one way or another, yet another scolding was given. That made me shape up in the subject as I never did before. I realized years later that many of us have the capability but we are just too lazy to work hard and we need a push from other people, as in the case of Mrs G and her scolding. And to do well in Maths I came up with another plan. Before I joined my friends with a basketball game at 6.00pm or watch the evening news on TV I would sit at 4.30pm to 5.30pm straight after school service or work parade, every weekday afternoon, and complete my Maths exercises and homework. From 7.00pm to 10.00pm I studied other subjects. From that time onwards, the marks that I got from Maths tests improved. Good marks were consistently awarded to me and I felt good and also more confident in the subject. If you want to do well in Maths you should adopt this method also: it does work! Let me state that again for you; if you have a Maths lesson everyday and: IF YOU WANT TO CONSISTENTLY DO WELL IN MATHS, YOU MUST SPEND ONE HOUR OR MORE EVERY NIGHT ON THIS SUBJECT! If you are taking Maths classes once or twice a week try to spend at least two hours on top of your lesson times to go through exercises and concepts learned in the lesson. In summary the way to go about improving your marks in Maths is to do exercises consistently and spend sufficient time doing that. I will give you more tips on how to do well in Maths in one of my next articles!

I WILL CONTINUE TO POST PHOTOS OF THE NAURUAN SKY AND SEA - AND WITH THAT WORDS AND VERSES! APPRECIATE THE ENVIRONMENT THAT YOU LIVE IN; TAKE TIME OUT FROM WORK AND STUDY TO RELISH AND ENJOY NATURE'S WONDERS - AS OPPOSED TO ALL THE BAD THAT WE HUMAN BEINGS HAVE CREATED.

SUCCEED IN MATHEMATICS - BY TBH - 2009 FIND A QUIET PLACE AND DEVELOP A ROUTINE In the last section on the Study of Mathematics I stated that the best method to study Maths is to spend one hour or more every day to complete your Maths exercises and do extra work. To do proper study find a good place where there is quietness and will be quiet for the next two hours or so. That is so that you are not disturbed. The place may be at your home or under the big tree at the back of the house. You choose the suitable place. Do not bring along your radio or stereo. Such items and what they produce - e.g. music - will disturb you. It is hard to do real Maths work if your favorite song is playing. Your mind will certainly be distracted by that song Try to keep that time that you have decided to use (e.g. 5-6 pm or 8-9 pm every night for Maths work) a routine. Routines are good to develop because over time they become part of our system and it helps you in the long run. Another time to go over your Maths work is to go to school early, go into your classroom before class time, and for that forty minutes or so review your work; you might complete exercises that you did not complete the night before. I used to do that when I was doing my tertiary studies. Morning time is good because that is when your mind is very fresh. Sometimes problems or exercise that seem confusing in the night become clear when you look at them in the morning. That is one of the wonders of learning. THIS IS WHAT YOU SHOULD DO IN THE ONE-HOUR MATHS TIME So what do you do in the one hour that you have set aside for Maths? This is what you should do during the one hour that you have put aside to do your Maths work. I. COMPLETE ALL MATHS WORK THAT WAS NOT COMPLETED DURING CLASS TIME For various reasons exercises started in class may not be completed. Make sure you complete those exercises. II. DO YOUR HOMEWORK If there is any subject that there will always be exercises for homework, it is Maths. During the one hour, try to complete all your homework exercises. If a lot of exercises are given you might go beyond one hour, and that is normal. However if you are stuck with any problem seek help from somebody living close to you who is knowledgeable about those topics. If you cannot find such persons make a note of those problems and seek help from your tutor the first thing the next lesson. If you see that you are taking up more that one and a half hour to do your exercises and you are worried about studying other subjects then stop doing Maths work and switch to studying other subjects. When you have time later in the evening you can continue doing those Maths exercises. III. DO ADDITIONAL MATHS WORK This may include doing other problems in the textbook, which you did not do previously, as during class time. It may also involve REDOING problems you have already done, but may not be confident on. You may have to solve a problem that you may have done already in class - but this time cover the solutions or answers and do it all over. You can never really say you understand a Maths problem unless you do it yourself, all over again, and get it correct. Why many students get certain problems correct one time and get them wrong another time is because they may not have gone over the problem again, by themselves.

MY FIRST FISHING TRIP ON A BOAT (July 09 2009) Today was the first time I went out fishing on a boat. I was accompanying a Pastor (an Australian trained in America) and Michael, a Nauruan; Michael was the owner of the boat which was powered by a 70 horse-power outboard motor. Michael controlled the boat from the front using the steer which is a bit unlike the majority of outboard motors in PNG in which boat pilots controlled the boat from the rear using the steer-handle. We went out at about 6am and returned to shore at about 1pm. Our catch included rainbow-runners (as seen in the pic), some types of tuna (wahoo and wawa) and a few others. I learned a few things from the two men, who were more experienced than me!

IS MATHEMATICS BEAUTIFUL AND POETIC? MATHEMATICS AND POETRY: CAN THEY MINGLE? Is Maths in anyway related to beauty or poetry – or Music for that matter? See what some quotes that I copied. They were taken from a course book used by the Divine Word University (out of PNG). Particularly the quotes are from: ED406 MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LEARNING GUIDE & BOOK OF READINGS JUNE 2009 Reading 6.7 Is Mathematics Beautiful? Page 188 1. J. H. Poincare (1854 -1912) The Mathematician does not study pure mathematics because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it and he delights in it because it is beautiful. 2. J. Bronowski, Science and Human Values, Pelican, 1964 Mathematics in this sense is a form of poetry, which has the same relation to the prose of practical mathematics as poetry has to prose in any other language. The element of poetry, the delight of exploring the medium for its own sake, is an essential ingredient in the creative process. 3. Jane Muir, Of Men & Numbers, Dover, 1996 Gauss: You have no idea how much poetry there is in the calculation of a table of logarithms! 4. O. Spengler, in J. Newman, The World of Mathematics, Simon & Schuster, 1956 “A mathematician,” said old Weierstrass, “who is not at the same time a bit of a poet will never be a full mathematician.” PS. Carl Friedrich Gauss was a remarkable Mathematician; it was his work and that of his student Bernhard Riemann that Albert Eintein must have learned and later suggested time as the fourth dimension to the three that was commonly used to describe physical quantities.

A SHOT OF A RAINBOW OVER THE EASTERN HORIZON IN NAURU!

A FIRST RAINBOW SHOT FOR ME! IT WAS 4.00 PM ON FRIDAY (07/08/09), THE END OF ANOTHER WEEK. AS I WAS WALKING TO MY ROOM I SAW THIS BEAUTIFUL RAINBOW IN THE EASTERN HORIZON. I QUICKLY GOT RID OF MY BOOKS AND BAG, GOT THE CAMERA (NOT THE BEST THOUGH!) AND GOT A COUPLE OF SHOTS. I TELL YOU - IT WAS AWESOME, MY FIRST SHOT OF SUCH A NATURAL PHENOMENON. THE RAINBOW AS SEEN WAS A PERFECT HALF CIRCLE OVER THE HORIZON - JUST AWESOME! DID YOU KNOW THAT IT WAS ISAAC NEWTON, THE MATHEMATICIAN, ASTRONOMER AND PHYSICIST WHO FIRST DISCOVERED THAT WHITE LIGHT WAS REALLY MADE UP OF 7 COLOURS, WHAT WE REMEMBER AS ROYGBIV?!

AH, AFTER A SOME WEEKS OF BEING BUSY WITH OTHER THINGS I AM BACK! HAVE A LOOK AT THIS OBSERVATION. CAN GOOD ENGLISH STUDENTS DO WELL IN MATHS? (21/08/09) It is often observed by teachers that some students who are very good in English do not do so well in Maths! The converse is generally true also. But can such students, students who are good in English but poor in Maths, do well in Maths? Yes, they can. I have this belief (researches may have already done work on this?) that such students who are good in English but generally poor in Maths can do well in Maths – especially in certain topics in Maths. The term ‘such students’ refer to those students who are very good in English but just do not seem to grasp concepts in Maths that quickly; and as a result they do not do well in their Maths tests. I have thought for so long (from my own personal experiences) that Algebra, a topic in Maths, can be understood much better by good English students. The symbols in this topic are just letters or pronumerals (x, y, z, a, b or c) and numbers; and these pronumerals are used here to represent amounts or quantities. The solving of equations involve moving terms (letters or numbers) about both sides of the equation – and letters especially is something that good English students are comfortable with. Topics like Geometry, Measurement of Solids, Numbers (percentages, fractions, and decimals), etc may not be that easy for such students. Some of these topics like Geometry need you to train to look at an object at different angles and notice features that can help you solve a problem. Some people are born with that ability or skill, so to speak; others ‘catch’ that skill because of the environment that they grew up in. Many people, including myself have to train ourselves (something that many such students often do not like to do) to look at a shape and get the ‘feel’ of it in 2-dimensions or 3-dimensions, depending on what shape you are investigating. On a personal note, as I was growing up, shapes did not interest me, letters did, because I liked reading. Hence I found my way around Algebra before I forced myself to think and get a good sense of space and shapes. And I used the word forced, because that is exactly what a student must be willing to do to develop his or skills in other topics of Maths. And such students must realize that all of Maths is not Algebra. Today as I was going through the test papers of students in Indices (or Powers) I noticed that the good students in English who never scored more that 50% on their Maths test scored good marks – as high as 85%, the best score yet (though unbelievable, as it seems) for these students. The Laws of Indices, as taught, use just numbers and letters. Check a good Maths book to see the laws of indices. See that the rules are simple and the symbols used are just letters with numbers. Hopefully these good marks scored by such students, who are good in their English, but poor in Maths, can encourage them to do better in other topics in Maths also. The teacher must also help guide such students to think like that, particularly: If I have done well in tests in Indices and Algebra, why can’t I do well in other topics in Maths? Or: If I can do well in these topics, I can do better in other topics in Maths also. I HAVE DECIDED THAT IN A COUPLE OF DAYS I SHALL SHARE WITH YOU TID-BITS ON A PROJECT I AM WORKING ON. THE PROJECT IS TITLED: HABITS OF A GOOD LEARNER! WHY IS IT THAT SOME PEOPLE SUCCEED IN LEARNING WHILE OTHERS WHO ARE EQUALLY GIFTED AREN'T THAT SUCCESSFUL? THE ANSWER IS 'HABITS'!

SHOT OF A PHOSPHATE-MINING SITE IN NAURU!

Just two days ago I visited a site where some secondary mining has occurred. You can see the almost white freshly scraped rock surfaces hundreds of metres ahead. The other limestone pinnacles close by are the remains of mining activities from years ago. The photo is taken as I was looking north right ahead at about 7 pm. Can you see some rain clouds miles away? The site is very quiet and good for walking in the afternoons if no machines or vehicles are around. Just quietness and the birds in the trees.

WE CAN MESS UP THEIR LIVES! SORRY FOR THE LONG BREAK; I WAS KIND-OF BUSY WITH OTHER THINGS! I WAS THINKING RECENTLY ABOUT HOW THE TRAINING OF CHILDREN IS BETTER DONE WHEN THEY ARE STILL SMALL. WHY IS IT THAT SOME TIMES TEACHERS, PARENTS AND GUARDIANS FIND IT VERY HARD TO TEACH A CHILD SOMETHING EVEN THOUGH THE CHILD HAS NO MENTAL DISABILTIES. THE ANSWER, AT MANY A TIMES, GOES BACK TO HOW WE TRAIN THEM EARLY TO HAVE GOOD HABITS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS LEARNING. SOME PEOPLE SAY THEY FIND IT HARD TO LEARN MATHS OR PLAY A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT; AND THAT IS NOT THAT THEY DO NOT HAVE TO ABILITIES TO DO THAT - IT MAY JUST BE THAT IN THEIR LIVES THEY WERE NOT ENCOURAGED TO SIT FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME (1 HOUR OR MORE) AND COMPLETE A TASK; THEY ARE USED TO MOVING ABOUT, JUMPING UP AND DOWN, ETC.. IT IS FOR THAT REASON THAT EACH CONCERNED ADULT MUST TRAIN A CHILD EARLY THE HABITS OF SITTING DOWN AND COMPLETING TASKS GIVEN; THERE IS MORE HOPE IN A CHILD WHO HAS BEEN TRAINED IN THAT MANNER TO MASTER MANY MORE SUBJECTS IN THE FUTURE. PARENTS, GUARDIANS AND EDUCATION SYSTEMS MUST WORK TOWARDS FOSTERING SUCH ESSENTIAL HABITS IN CHILDREN WHEN THEY ARE STILL SMALL - AS IN KINDERGARTEN SCHOOL OR EVEN EARLIER. PSYCHOLOGISTS SAY THAT THE FORMATIVE YEARS IN THE GROWTH OF A CHILD IS IN THE RANGE OF 1 TO 5 YEARS. WHY SOME STUDENTS CANNOT LEARN MUCH IN SCHOOLS TODAY IS BECAUSE PEOPLE WHO WERE IN CHARGE OF THOSE FORMATIVE YEARS DID NOT DO THEIR JOBS WELL. AND THE POOR TEACHER IN SCHOOL HAS TO PUT UP WITH THE EFFECTS OF THOSE!

LEARNING TAKES PLACE OUTSIDE OF CLASSROOMS ALSO! I THINK IT WAS GEORGE SANTAYANA, THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHER WHO STATED THAT, STUDENTS THAT LEARN IN SCHOOLS ONLY ARE UNEDUCATED! A GOOD LEARNER LEARNS EVERWHERE HE OR SHE GOES; IN THE CLASSROOM OR OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM. I AM HAVING A MIGHTY GOOD TIME LEARNING ABOUT PACIFIC ISLANDERS AND THEIR NAVIGATION SKILLS. SOME OF THESE KNOWLEDGE I SHARE IN MY OTHER BLOG IN BLOG-CITY CALLED PACIFIC LIVING. DO HAVE A LOOK AT TWO BOOKS THAT I AM REVIEWING IN PACIFIC LIVING! I HAVE SEEN IT STATED IN AT LEAST TWO DIFFERENT SOURCES THAT WHILE WESTERNERS WERE SAILING CLOSE TO SHORE PACIFIC ISLANDERS WERE MAKING LONG VOYAGES WITH NO LAND IN SIGHT!

AH, MATHEMATICS, POETRY AND PROSE! You know what I used to think about poetry before I was 20; it was for the weak guys who cannot do anything else in life. I was foolish then because the best words in advice can be in poetry; and the advice sticks much stronger because poetry is often remembered much better than prose. Poetry includes verses and lines that we can later turn into lyrics for a song that may in fact teach us a great truth and/or remind us of some good counsel. Last week I checked my email and saw that a sister commented in her mail saying that she liked the verse I wrote – which happens to be the first page that I posted in Pacific Learning blog. Because of that I am posting a few more that I penned in 2000. In fact the poems were published in The Independent, a monthly paper in PNG, which does no longer exist. And I was also using a pen-name then. The sister also stated that she did not know that there was a link between the learning of Maths and Poetry. I have still to look for famous poets who have attested to the possibility that there is a link between the two subjects. But this I am sure, some of the best (prose) authors have had good grounding in their training in Maths (or Science). Alice in Wonderland, the almost immortal children’s classic was written by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (using his pen-name Lewis Carroll), an Oxford Maths tutor. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize Laureate in 1970, wrote a lot about Russia and its communist regime; his writings had him imprisoned and later exiled. He taught Physics and Maths; he was a graduate of the University of Rostov, Russia, and also served as an officer in the Russian army. Arthur Conan Doyle was serving as a medical doctor in the country-side; with fewer patients to attend to he whiled his time away creating fiction by writing about a detective who baffled the Scotland Yard in solving mysterious cases before they got any grip of such cases. So here are two poems written almost ten years ago: IF YOU ONLY KNEW You said you lived without much money, While her life was all roses and honey; Bro, if you only knew You said emotionally you were bruised more, And she never felt rejected and sore; Bro, if you only knew You said she never knew adversity, Because she now enjoys prosperity; Bro, if you only knew You said she never cried beneath the stars, And she doesn’t bear any emotional scars; Bro, if you only knew Those stories were never on her face, Because she knew that only One did sacrifice- And that all her trials were no pain Have you ever thought of that One who died for thee; He bore the shame and scars on a cursed tree? Yet in Him was no sin! He didn’t curse, swear or complain, And yet He bore the world’s ugliest pain; So Bro, why cry and moan? Shouldn’t we look to tomorrow and hope, With the crosses and small pains lets cope: For He was broken, not we! TREAT PEOPLE WELL See that quiet, dull, dreamy pupil He might become a very great man; He may even become your boss then, So never look down on people Don’t look at that kid as a thing, He’s a whole person, just as you are; And may one day go so far, So as to become a wealthy king Treat all people (weak or strong) well: If one good, fine day when they rise up They’d pity you and invite your to sup; See! You can never really tell! What I am saying is no mirth: Treat them as if they weren’t poor or weak; Blessed (The Book says) are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth!

BROTHERS OUT FOR A WALK! TWO FIJIANS, ONE PAPUA NEW GUINEAN AND A VANUATUAN ON THE TARMAC OF NAURU INT'L AIRPORT.

HABITS OF A GOOD LEARNER: THE LEARNER HAS HUMILITY I said in August that I will share some notes on a project that I am working on. Here is the first article on that. In this set of articles you will learn about the main habits of a good learner. Although I am writing mainly about academic learning (as in learning English and Mathematics) the habits are also necessary for learning physical activities like sport, martial arts or music. Learning makes you valuable; that is, it makes you become useful and increases your ability to create valuable things and makes valuable decisions that will prove profitable in many ways. The profit of those valuable decisions will benefit you, the individual, the society and the world as a whole. 1. THE GOOD LEARNER HAS HUMILITY Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.. - Mathew 5: 5 WHY HUMBLE YOURSELF? It may sound funny to most people that such a term as humility as a quality that should be possessed by a good learner is used. But it is true that for a student to truly learn he has to humble himself before the teacher. That is, the good learner must have humility. Recently a diplomat from Asia told some teachers and me that the relationship between a teacher and a student in China in the past is that of a father-son relationship. It is also not surprising that students in a Chinese school (as in many Kung-Fu films that we have seen) would refer to their teacher as Master. The teacher knows certain things and mastered certain skills or art that the students hope to learn and polish when they enrol in his school. The Apostle Paul, maybe the best Jewish student in Jewish Law in his days, stated that he, as a student, sat at the feet of Gamaliel, who was the authority on Jewish Law. The position of the student in learning in those days (as well as in many schools today) is that of someone who knows being a little higher than someone trying to know sitting down to learn at his feet. The right attitude of the heart, which is that of humility, helps the learner get the best from any teacher. Experience has shown that in many learning groups the ones who think that they know by not humbling themselves in the process of learning do not get the best grades at the end of the term or semester. Often they spend their time evaluating how well their teacher looks and talks that they lose their money’s worth of education.

THE HABITS OF A GOOD LEARNER 2. MAKES USE OF OPPORTUNITIES (29/11/09) Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. - Proverbs 4: 13 LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES ARE EVERWHERE; JUST MAKE USE OF THEM! Some people are born with the desire to learn. They yearn for knowledge as a starving man desires food or as a thirsty man desires water; they are born scholars. For many people, all things cannot be easily learned and yet for them to progress in their lives they have to make use of opportunities to learn. They have to make use of schools in their neighbourhood: students must go to school, they should not be truants. They should learn to read books and ask questions to their teachers and get answers from teachers or other knowledgeable people. Many centuries ago, a twelve-year old boy accompanied his parents and relatives from their small town 60 miles away on a 5-day journey to their nation’s capital city. After fulfilling the reason of their journey the band of travellers returned home. After a day of travel, they, the parents, discovered that the boy was not with any of the small groups that were travelling back. They searched for the boy amongst the other smaller groups comprised of relatives who were also travelling back but the search was without success. The parents returned to the capital and looked everywhere – everywhere a child would want to go. The stables, the sweet-shops and toy-shops were all searched but again with no success. The search continued until the third day when they found him, yet 12-years old, sitting among the elderly teachers of the law. He was learning from the teachers. It is strange, isn’t it, that a boy of 12 made the opportunity to learn from the most knowledgeable men in his own nation? He was not interested in the fine horses of the city, the tasty sweets or the range of toys and shoes that the city would have – no, he was interested in learning and to the temple he went because that was where his queries about some important things he was learning, and has learned, would be sorted out. Lives of famous people like the woman-Physicist, Marie Curie, and the American black educator, Booker T. Washington, are examples of people who sacrificed to learn. As a result of that they contributed immensely to their country and the world.

I AM BACK IN PNG! (09/03/10) If you have been following this blog you will notice that I have not been updating it for the last few months because I was in my small village back in PNG. Many interesting things have happened since including my starting a student paper titled SUCCEED IN YOUR STUDIES. It is going to be produced monthly (starting March, 2010). I am printing it and selling it with the aim to motivate, encourage, inspire and guide students so that they succeed in their academic studies. I am writing for students in secondary and tertiary levels of learning. I have already started selling it in Wewak and I am now in Port Moresby to do the same. If you are interested in buying a copy, just let me know, my email address is: hwbthomas@gmail.com I shall keep you updated.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT! RUNNING YOUR OWN RACE! 23/03/10 MATURITY IS A CHANGE IN THE WAY YOU THINK! IT MAY INVOLVE RUNNING YOUR OWN RACE AND NOT BOTHERED ABOUT HOW THINGS ARE GOING AROUND YOU. OTHERS AROUND YOU MAY BE SATISFIED WITH THE STATUS QUO, YOU ARE NOT; AND THEREFORE YOU RUN, BUT THEY THINK YOU ARE WALKING! - TBH

WHAT IS THE GREATEST DISCOVERY? (26/05/10) What was the greatest discovery? Was it the discovery that the earth really is a ball and you can get to the other side by travelling in opposite directions? Was the greatest discovery the discovery of penicillin, the antibiotic, by Alexander Fleming in 1928 in London? Was the greatest discovery the discovery of the Americas by Columbus? What is your thought on this? My best discoveries include when I learned that I can handle Maths at higher levels after I learned the correct method to use to study that subject. A SCIENTIST¡¯S DISCOVERY Dr Humphrey Davy was the boss at the Royal Institution in London in the 1800s. He had discovered¡­and contributed to scientific knowledge in so many ways. He was asked later in life: What is your greatest discovery? To the surprise of everybody, his surprise was: Michael Faraday! You would not understand the significance of his answer until you knew who Michael Faraday was. Michael Faraday left school at the age of 10 and worked in a book-binding shop. As he worked in the shop he would read books. He was particularly interested in Science books. One day he heard that the great scientist Humphrey Davy was giving a lecture. Faraday prepared himself and went for the public lecture. As the scientist talked Faraday, the young man, took notes. After the lecture, Faraday rewrote the notes, added the illustrations, bound everything and sent the book to Davy. With the book he had a letter requesting Davy for a position to work for him. At that time there was no vacancy and Davy did not take Faraday on for work. However Davy saw the talent in the young man and told him to keep on working on similar projects. As soon as a position opened up at the institution, Davy took in Faraday as his assistant at the age of 21. Over time Faraday, the not-so-highly-educated man contributed a lot to Science in the fields of electromagnetism (as in the making of electrical motors and generators) and electrolysis (the use of electricity to produce chemical changes). In 1833 Faraday was appointed professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution. NOT A NEW IDEA It is this story that brings back something that a lot of people knew in the past. The Delphic Oracle has this: True knowledge is knowing thyself. The greatest discoveries are not in discovering new stars and sub-atomic particles (which are interesting though!) but discovering the talents, abilities and potentials in people. The teacher who works with a pupil and brings out the best in him has made the best discovery. An adult who helps a child know his strengths and weaknesses and develops his strengths and improving areas of weaknesses is helping the child discover important things. And there is also the case in which a person discovers things that s/he can do that s/he thought s/he may not be able previously. The child who, over years of practice, discovers that s/he can play good football as the best football player in school has made an important discovery. A student who learns that correct methods to finally succeed in Maths has made a very important discovery: s/he can do it! The worker who was always working under-performance has finally managed to perform better: that is an important discovery. Maybe you yourself still do not know everything about yourself and your many talents and abilities. Careful nurturing and help from concerned friends and guardians can bring out the best in you. Sometimes we know too much about other people and know very little about ourselves. That is a funny thought but there is truth in it, don¡¯t you think?

I HAVE ANOTHER BLOG! (19/06/2010) I have another blog that you can check on blogspot. It should provide my thoughts on almost a daily basis. The link is: http://thomas-learning2live.blogspot.com

pacific learning (Society - Education, Schools)    -    Author : Thomas - Papua New Guinea



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