Couple of weeks ago I posted my first blog ever, and yes, I feel contemplation and fear for two very fundamental reasons: first, I came from the culture that “speaking up, especially women” is not necessarily good, and second, as I have high regards over words and their impacts, I feel somewhat conscious ( and yes, overly too conscious maybe) that my words are read by the unknown audience, and as the words are published, they are subjected to the many interpretations. I asked myself, “Am I ready?” At that point, the adrenaline rush of speaking up of what I needed to say as a passionate educator overweighs the fear and the contemplation. Hence, the first blog was posted.

I am happy now sharing my belief of what ought to be emphasized and instilled in our educational system, and I believe that “logic” can bring out the best of every future mind-- as I believe that every mind is a gift and it is definitely up to us to nurture it as gifted. Looking back, I now understand why my teachers and parents did what they did such as tweaking the mathematical questions to different directions, giving such detailed and thorough questions to improve the reading comprehension, and to emphasize on good writing as well as a neat and an organized penmanship. All of those build my logic without I was aware of it; I was trained to think in an orderly manner. Who I am, the way I am presenting the materials I am teaching, and foreseeing every material with every student are all possible due to my “logical” way of thinking. 

 I am approaching teaching, and life in general, with LOGIC, therefore I am embracing alternatives and possibilities that provide hopes and assistance to better future. I will be continuing the blog with writing about one of the few educational theories that I am holding dearly close to my heart, “Multiple Intelligence” by Howard Gardner. What attracts me from The Multiple Intelligence theory is it gives the educational world hopes for fair chances to the various learning styles/intelligences that our students/children bring on to the educational system. I will open with an overview of the theory, and will continue with the ways which parents could help more or less identify the child’s type of intelligence plus some suggestions on how to best assist the child with a particular type of intelligence. And, as the blog will be posted on May 8th, 2015,  close to the Mother’s Day, I will also share a beautiful poem, written by a friend of mine who has been a resident of Pavonia Newport for many years and a passionate educator also. I hope you will be joining me on the next blog, and I certainly hope that my writings have been helpful or meaningful for you. 

In the meantime, I am sharing the beautiful learning tips I read from “Fun Food Word Problems Starring: FRACTIONS” by Rebecca Wingard-Nelson. Even though the tips were originally written for students who experience apprehension towards mathematical word problems, the usage of these tips spread beyond any apprehension towards mathematical word problems. They are actually representing a logical approach to any kind of apprehensions towards learnings something new. 

Here they are:

*. Be Positive- when you don’t get the problem the first time and you learn from your mistakes, you are doing AWESOME because you are still willing to learn and the fact is, you ARE learning something new.

*. Get Help Early-- ask help when you need it immediately; if you postpone it, the problem will not go away, rather it will feel heavier and it will be more unpleasant for you.

*. Do Your Homework-- practice, practice, practice. I know you have heard it many times before and there is a reason why it is still repeated; it WORKS!! Practice makes things better and easier.

*. Move on--do not stare and stay still on the problems you can’t solve. Rather, move on and find the ones you can solve and solve them right and well. That way, you build your trust in yourself to come back and try the problems that you find challenging. Trusting yourself is the key to overcome challenges.

*. Ask Questions-- if you don’t understand, speak up and ask questions! Even when the explanation was already given, ask questions if you don’t get it. Remember: no question, no answer.

*. Take A Break-- knowing when to take a break and to walk away from a frustrating moment is important. I don’t mean that you are avoiding to solve problems or to do your homework; however, if you are frustrated, no solution will come to mind and nothing feels right. So, take a break when you need to and get some fresh air, some snacks, some enjoyments before trying it again.

*. Don’t give up-- the bottom line is if you quit, you won’t learn; therefore, make sure that you keep on trying and asking help when you need to. 

So, I will see you on couple of days before Mother's Day; I hope some fun plans are on the agenda…If you would like to meet with me, just chat  about logic and have some good food, I am holding an OPEN HOUSE on May 9th, 3:00-5:30pm at 101 Hudson Street suite 2100, Jersey City, for new classes, Part Time Academic Summer Camp I will be teaching, and it is also an opportunity for me to meet with the readers of my blog, starting a conversation, arguing possibly and the many possibilities that can emerge when people interact and meet up. So, if you are interested, email me and RSVP. 

Until Then,

Chandra Budi, Ph.D

URL Tutoring and Consulting, LLC

URL=Unconventional and Resourceful Learning

101 Hudson Street suite 2100

Jersey City, NJ 07302

E: itworks@urltutoring.org

Ph: (347) 989-3532

www.urlitworks.org