Outstanding Teachers being Honoured

In keeping with its tradition in every January, the Corona Schools has celebrated its teaching and non-teaching staff who have demonstrated extra ordinary commitment to accomplishing the mission of the school.

The occasion featured various forms of
entertainment by the staff and climaxed with giving award to different categories of workers. The most outstanding is the Model Teacher of the Year Award.

In the 2014 edition, Mr. Innocent Oaikhena won the Corona Model Teacher of the Year Award in the secondary category; Mrs Oluwatosin Balogun, Corona Model Teacher, Elementary;
and Mrs Naomi Izakpa, Corona Model Nursery Teacher.

Narrating the teaching methodology that gave them the edge over their colleagues, Oaikhena stated that for adequate learning to take place, teachers must see their students as projects which must commence with solid foundation,
well floored, erected and monitored to a
complete structure.

“For effective teaching to take place, teachers must see their students as projects, like the engineering designs and set up a structure.

Your students, their happiness and their success is your project. So if any student doesn’t do well, if any student is sad, and I’m there as a teacher without any significant impact, it then means I am failing in my project.

“Also, you must act like a teenager to be able to work with these students. Most of the things they go through, we have passed through them before and as adults, we should try to guide them right without condemnation. That is why
you are there as a teacher, if they knew
everything, they will probably not be in school,” he explained

For Izakpa, who has been teaching in the
school for 17 years, every teacher in Corona is good, very dedicated, hardworking and loyal.

“But for me to have won this award, it means greater work and commitment, because getting the children to understand what you are teaching them at that formation age requires strategic action.

“Nursery education is a level where pupils have to gain background knowledge, and so it is a point of duty for a teacher to bring the lesson to their level and ensure they understand the right thing. A teacher at this point should be very careful so as not to inculcate the wrong learning or culture into the pupils.”

Balogun, on her part, informed that her passion for teaching has been a strong drive.

“I love teaching right from when I was in school, I studied Geology and I used to teach my course mates who call me professor. I also have passion for children. The fact that I love Mathematics, and I realised most children have phobia for mathematics, I looked for creative ways to make it real fun, as much fun as possible because what you love you want to do it over and over again.”

Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of the
school, Mrs. Olufunto Igun, said Corona is
endowed with people of diverse strength and skills drawn together by a common passion which, according to her, is the education of a total child.

“This strength of ours has continuously made our school to remain very relevant in the education sector. This year, we celebrated the 60th anniversary of this great institution, the journey so far has been remarkable. We are not just known to deliver world class education, we
have carved a niche for ourselves in the industry and this is by no means a task achieved by a few individuals, rather by everyone.”

She stressed that the award was designed to reward and recognise deserving staff who, during the past school year, took advantage of
the immense opportunities within the system and excelled by sustaining their professionalism, creativity, commitment, ethics and self- development.

Written by Ujunwa Atueyi

Teaching an Entirely New Topic

When presented with new material, standards, and
complicated topics, we need to be focused and calm
as we approach our assignments. We can use brain
breaks and focused-attention practices to positively
impact our emotional states and learning.

They refocus our neural circuitry with either stimulating or
quieting practices that generate increased activity in
the prefrontal cortex, where problem solving and
emotional regulation occur.

Brain Breaks

A brain break is a short period of time when we
change up the dull routine of incoming information
that arrives via predictable, tedious, well-worn
roadways.

Our brains are wired for novelty because
we pay attention to any and every stimulus in our
environment that feels threatening or out of the
ordinary. This has always been a wonderful advantage
because our survival as a species depended on this
aspect of brain development.

When we take a brain break, it refreshes our thinking
and helps us discover another solution to a problem
or see a situation through a different lens. Consider
trying these with your class:

1. The Junk Bag

I always carry a bag of household objects containing
markers, scrap paper, and anything that one would
find in a junk drawer -- for example, a can opener or
a pair of shoelaces. Pick any object out of the junk
bag and ask students to come up with two ways this
object could be reinvented for other uses. They can
write or draw their responses. Once students have
drawn or written about an invention, they can walk
the room for one minute sharing and comparing.

2. Squiggle Story

On a blank sheet of paper, whiteboard, or
Promethean Board, draw one squiggly line. Give
students one minute to stand and draw with their
opposite hand, turning the line into a picture or
design of their choice.

3. Opposite Sides

Movement is critical to learning. Have students stand
and blink with the right eye while snapping the fingers
of their left hand. Repeat this with the left eye and
right hand. Students could also face one another and
tap the right foot once, left foot twice, and right foot
three times, building speed they alternate toe tapping
with their partner.

4. Symbolic Alphabet

Sing the alphabet with names of objects rather than
the letters.

5. Other Languages

Teach sign language or make up a spoken language.
In pairs, students take turns speaking or interpreting
this new language for 30 seconds each.

6. Mental Math

Give a set of three instructions, counting the sequence
to a partner for 30 seconds. Example: Count by two
until 20, then count by three until 50, finishing with
seven until 80. Switch and give the other partner
another set of numbers to count.

7. Invisible Pictures

Have a student draw a picture in the air while their
partner guesses what it is. You could give them
categories such as foods, places, or other ways to
narrow the guessing.

8. Story Starters
A student or teacher begins a story for one minute,
either individually or with a partner. The students then
complete or continue it with a silly ending.

9. Rock Scissors Paper Math
With the traditional game, the last call-out is "math."
With that call, students lay out one, two, three, or four
fingers in the palm of their hand. The best of three
wins.

Focused-Attention Practices

A focused-attention practice is a brain exercise for
quieting the thousands of thoughts that distract and
frustrate us each day. When the mind is quiet and
focused, we are able to be present with a specific
sound, sight, or taste.

Research repeatedly shows
that quieting our minds ignites our parasympathetic
nervous system, reducing heart rate and blood
pressure while enhancing our coping strategies to
effectively handle the day-to-day challenges that keep
coming. Our thinking improves and our emotions
begin to regulate so that we can approach an
experience with variable options.

For the following practices, the goal is to start with
60 to 90 seconds and build to five minutes:

1. Breathing
Use the breath as a focus point. Have students place
one hand close to their nose (not touching) and one
hand on their belly. As they breathe in, have them feel
their bellies expand. As they exhale, they can feel the
warm air hit their hand. Students will focus on this
breath for only one minute. Let them know that it's
OK when thoughts sometimes come into the mind
uninvited. Tell them to exhale that thought away.

2. Colors
Visualize colors while focusing on the breath. Inhale a
deep green, and exhale a smoky gray. Have the
students imagine the colors as swirling and alive with
each inhale. If a student is de-escalating from an
angry moment, the color red is a great color to
exhale.

3. Movement
For younger children, direct students to stand and, as
they inhale, lift an arm or leg and wiggle it, exhaling it
back to its original position. For younger grades
beginning these focused-attention practices, it's good
to include an inhale and exhale with any type of
movement.

4. The Deep-Dive Breath
We inhale for four counts, hold for four, and exhale
slowly for four counts. You can increase the holding of
breath by a few seconds once the students find the
rhythm of the exercise.

5. Energizing Breath
We pant like a dog with our mouths open and our
tongues out for 30 seconds, continuing for another 30
seconds with our mouths closed as we take short
belly breaths with one hand on the belly. We typically
take three energizing pant breaths per second. After a
full minute, the students return to four regular deep
inhales and exhales.

6. Sound
The use of sound is very powerful for engaging a calm
response. In the three classrooms where I teach, we
use rain sticks, bells, chimes, and music. There are
many websites that provide music for focus, relaxation
and visualization. Here is one of my favorites .

7. Rise and Fall
As we breathe in and out through our noses, we can
lie on the floor and place an object on our stomachs,
enhancing our focus by watching the rising and falling
of our bellies.

When we are focused and paying attention to our
thoughts, feelings and choices, we have a much
greater opportunity to change those thoughts and
feelings that are not serving us well in life and in
school. When we grasp this awareness, we see and
feel the difference!

How do you stimulate or quiet your students?

Courtesy: http://www.edutopia.org/blog

I need more MONEY

 

; Nigerian students there are better ways of surviving financially in School than getting involved in dirty deals.

There are 20 SMALL SCALE BUSINESSES that you need LITTLE CAPITAL for:

* Laundry services

* Tie & dye business

* Gift basket business

* Advertising agency

* Interior designing

* Car wash business

* Floral shop  business

* Shoe making business

* Weight loss business

* Cashew nut business

* Catering services

* Zobo production

* Standup comedian or MC

* GSM phone repairs

* Event planning

* Rug washing business

* Plantain Chips making

* Fire wood and charcoal business

* Branding of T-shirts

* Make-up business

* Making of  Soups

* Online sales agent

      Bonus : Sharwama business

If you feel this businesses already exist around you, then you have to observe your environment well, identify people's needs not "wants" if they are affordable, then buy and resell to people Look out for what people complain a lot about and fix it, get paid in return. Start small, no one really believe you will give them the best until they give you a try. Don't destroy first impression, they are unforgettable. Think wide, innovate and the size of your purse will increase.

Poverty is by choice not by chance.

Swallow your pride and get to work.

Don't forget "anything worth doing at all is worth doing well".

Every little nice or naughty customer counts.

Save more, Spend less.

Dont think of impressing people dont think you matter.

Everyone wants to be a friend to a successful person