Ghclassrooms

  Why do parents sometimes spend so much in educating their children but later get disappointed? Well, maybe parents could be unconsciously making certain mistakes that needs to be corrected immediately. The wish of every parent is to see children succeed in life. No wonder most parents are willing to spend their hard-earned money in educating their children. Parents in a bid to help children succeed, unconsciously make some serious mistakes that affect childrens' academic progress. In fact most parents have no idea the damage they have done to their children. The following are four Serious mistakes parents make. 1. Choosing Careers For Kids The last thing a parent would want to do is to decide for children what they should become in future. Most parents unfortunately decide for children what to do in terms of career choices. The only role parents can play here, I believe is to give guidance and support. Parents are obviously experienced and their advice on career choi

  Teacher education in Ghana has seen a lot of changes in recent times. One major change has been the change of diploma awarding colleges of education to degree awarding colleges. This means all teachers coming out of the colleges of education will have a degree as the minimum qualification. This was great news to all teacher trainees in the various colleges as this will mean a marginal increase in their salaries when they are deployed to teach. Many have louded this move by government but my question is, will the degrees automatically result in better outcomes? I am yet see any difference in the skills set of a diploma holder and a degree holder as far as teaching is concerned in this country. A lot of teachers have acquired degrees on the job but pupils in government schools are still struggling to read and write, our children are not doing well in basic arithmetic and they can't think critically. I have enquired from few teachers on why they acquired university degr

By Edinam Ahiably-kumordjie What a year 2020 has been, who could have predicted this? The COVID-19 pandemic has indeed taught humankind vital lessons in different aspects of our everyday life. Important sectors such as health, banking, aviation, transportation, sports, entertainment and of course education have all alter their operations due to this global pandemic. As  a professional teacher, I will talk about four major issues this pandemic has uncover about teaching and learning. THE WORK OF TEACHERS HAS LONG BEEN UNDERRATED The rate at which the Corona virus was spreading meant that schools be closed down. This was highly unexpected. Never in my 32 years of life have I seen schools being closed down for this long. Teachers like myself had no choice but to peacefully go home and rest as it were. On the other had, parents were reeling under the pressure of having to take care of their wards during this period of school closure. I received calls from parents complaining about their fr

In our quest to achieve better outcomes in our schools, the focus is usually on teaching methods, text books, teaching aids and qualified teachers. However  there are other factors that are very important but usually overlooked, especially here in Ghana. In this post I will talk about three of them. FOOD We all love to eat good food especially when it's our favorite. Food is eaten to satisfy hunger and our personal cravings. Am not sure many people will take in specific foods for academic reasons. Am not a medical doctor or dietician but my little research on the internet has shown that the food we eat can actually affect our cognitive abilities and hence academic work. Nutritional psychiatrist, Drew Ramsey suggests there are foods that can actually improve the functioning of the human brain. This is no rocket science because every organ in the human body requires some essential nutrients to function well. Certainly the brain also require certain  nutrients to function well. It'

The mere mention of mathematics can send shivers down the spine of any student who dislikes mathematics. Many students develop a  sort of fear when it's time to takle a seemingly challenging math question. Lots of literature exist today on the best methods of teaching mathematics and making the subject more friendly to students. As a mathematics teacher myself, assisting my students to understand mathematical concepts is my fundamental goal. I have done a lot of reading and applied many methods just to make the subject I teach less dreadful. Among the numerous methods that I have used are what I prefer to call "The three catalysts". This three methods have worked for me to a large extent. Humour Mathematics should not be too formal, it should be casual and exciting. I have always managed  to make my classroom a sort of theater where you are assured of fun before the lesson ends. In mathematical concepts that involve a level of complexity, I take students through processes

Anytime I lift up my head to check the time table of my class and I see I.C.T. as part of the subjects, a feeling of guilt runs through me. The sad thing is that my concerns are wide spread across the entire country. I do not know of any institution today that works without computers today. Computers have certainly come to stay. It is sad however to note that most schools in Ghana especially government schools teach ICT without computers and I just don't get it! In rural areas, it is more serious. Some communities do not even have electricity let alone computers. My own community was connected to electricity on 24th November 2020. This means my school can now think of procuring computers after it's 70 years of existence. The urgent need for computers in our schools cannot be overemphasized. Teachers are struggling teach ICT without computers. Students are also struggling to understand how computers work without ever using a computer.  This situation can be likened to a medical

 In my first professional job as a teacher, I decided to ask my pupils in basic 5 the kind of profession they would like to pursue. The responses I got wasn't different from the responses I got from other kids I've asked the same question. Most of the pupils wanted to become medical doctors, engineers, lawyers and pilots I have wondered for years why most Ghanaian kids would  always want to become one of the above-mentioned professionals. I remember telling my mum I wanted to become an agriculturist as a young boy but she wouldn't agree. I then decided to become a businessman. This was because my mum had asked me to study business at senior high school instead of the science I preferred. Never did it occurred to me that I could and would become a teacher. After high school, I decided to pursue a career in soccer because I was very good at it but my main attraction was the money soccer players earn, the cars, huge apartments and what not. I somehow ended up at the Kumasi Tec