Thursday, October 9, 2014
Friday, August 29, 2014
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Saturday, August 23, 2014
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
Free GED Video on Teaching Adult Learners and Students to be Fluent in the GED
One of the most important things we
can do to prepare Adult Learners to pass the GED Test is to help them become
fluent in the GED Test. Now, I need to
make a distinction between knowing the basics about the test and fluency. Knowing the basics means that the learner or
student knows about GED.com, how to sign-up, that the test is only given on
computer unless you have an approved accommodation or your state offers
alternative to the GED Test, that the test is now four tests instead of five
and that you need to score 150 on each test to pass and 170 is considered
honors passing.
When I say fluency, I am talking
about the goals and purpose of the test, the language of the test and the flow
of the test.
Watch the video below to learn more.
http://youtu.be/tDQ05NyN1a8
Watch the video below to learn more.
http://youtu.be/tDQ05NyN1a8
GED® Teacher Damon Tinnon is a credentialed Adult Education Teacher in the State of California and teaches GED®Preparation in the beautiful Napa Valley. Tinnon has helped hundreds of students pass the GED®through his class and has influenced thousands through his straightforward and motivating teaching style over the internet! Visit us at www.mygedlive.com
Friday, August 1, 2014
The new 2014 GED Test is hard!
Leading Adult Learners to pass the new GED test requires an entirely different approach than it did in 2013.
It was easier before. To be honest, students came with more of the skills that were necessary to pass. In 2014, you really have to have the chops to lift someone's skill in a relatively short period of time - to a much higher level.
We are talking about analyzing two articles and then writing an essay about them. We are talking about Algebra: linear equations and quadratic equations.
We are not talking about John buying a sweater for $39.95 and the sales tax is 7.5% and being asked to find out the total cost of the sale!
It is really important to teach conceptual skills. This is how I am having success preparing adult students in 2014.
Listen to my audio post on this topic: http://www.spreaker.com:80/episode/4805224
GED® Teacher Damon Tinnon is a credentialed Adult Education Teacher in the State of California and teaches GED®Preparation in the beautiful Napa Valley. Tinnon has helped hundreds of students pass the GED®through his class and has influenced thousands through his straightforward and motivating teaching style over the internet! Visit us at www.mygedlive.com
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Using news, historical photographs and documents
I am a big believer in using news, current events, historical photographs and documents, and charts and graphs to help Adult Learners to become comfortable with the GED Test.
As news is widely available via the Internet, it is a free and easily used tool to teach reading skills (Comprehension, Application, Evaluation, and Analysis).
Consider using the news articles below to guide your learners in creating their own questions featuring the four reading skills mentioned above.
This helps your learners to get off of the defensive when reading test questions. Helping your learners to have the experience of creating questions will strengthen their ability to answer questions during the test.
Article 1: http://huff.to/1zY5PQw
Document 2: http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/index.html?dod-date=717
GED® Teacher Damon Tinnon is a credentialed Adult Education Teacher in the State of California and teaches GED®Preparation in the beautiful Napa Valley. Tinnon has helped hundreds of students pass the GED®through his class and has influenced thousands through his straightforward and motivating teaching style over the internet! Visit us at www.mygedlive.com
Friday, July 4, 2014
GED Math Word Problems
When you have been out of school for 10+ years, math word problems are the toughest things to come back to. After all, you don't live your life by solving word problems. Or, do you? When you balance your check book, you simply balance your check book. You don't say:
If Ann was paid $2,105.58 and spent 1/3 of her pay on rent, 1/5 of her pay on food and 1/10 of her pay on miscellaneous expenses, what fraction of her pay was left?
But this is your reality now - if you are preparing to take the GED® Test. Watch a video below to dig in deeper to a GED® Styled Math Word Problem.
GED® Teacher Damon Tinnon is a credentialed Adult Education Teacher in the State of California and teaches GED®Preparation in the beautiful Napa Valley. Tinnon has helped hundreds of students pass the GED®through his class and has influenced thousands through his straightforward and motivating teaching style over the internet! Visit us at www.mygedlive.com
If Ann was paid $2,105.58 and spent 1/3 of her pay on rent, 1/5 of her pay on food and 1/10 of her pay on miscellaneous expenses, what fraction of her pay was left?
But this is your reality now - if you are preparing to take the GED® Test. Watch a video below to dig in deeper to a GED® Styled Math Word Problem.
GED® Teacher Damon Tinnon is a credentialed Adult Education Teacher in the State of California and teaches GED®Preparation in the beautiful Napa Valley. Tinnon has helped hundreds of students pass the GED®through his class and has influenced thousands through his straightforward and motivating teaching style over the internet! Visit us at www.mygedlive.com
Monday, June 23, 2014
Algebra and the New GED Test - 2014 Version
Math continues to be the number one sticking point for adults hoping to pass the new GED Test. The fact that the test is now 55% Algebra is all the more daunting for most. On the previous version, there was Algebra on the test, to be sure. But, it was only 25% (the average of a 20-30% range) of the test. You could actually pass the GED Math Test without knowing any Algebra. The Math passing standard was as low as getting 60% of the test correct. So, even if you got 25% of the test (Algebra) completely wrong, there was still hope to pass the test.
Enough dwelling on the past. This is a new year with a new test. Watch the video below to learn how to attack Linear Equations.
Enough dwelling on the past. This is a new year with a new test. Watch the video below to learn how to attack Linear Equations.
GED® Teacher Damon Tinnon is a credentialed Adult Education Teacher in the State of California and teaches GED®Preparation in the beautiful Napa Valley. Tinnon has helped hundreds of students pass the GED®through his class and has influenced thousands through his straightforward and motivating teaching style over the internet!
Friday, June 20, 2014
GED READING TESTS
Are you ready for the GED reading tests? Listen to this brief message
and then watch the video below.
and then watch the video below.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
GED Grads need to be the most careful
I came across this article on my Facebook timeline tonight.
People with GED diplomas need to be the most careful about this trend because:
* They tend to be guided towards non-competitive academic schools (Meaning: just about anyone can enroll)
* Due to real or perceived lack of financial capacity, those with GED Diplomas tend to make decisions based on what will cost them the least amount of money right now
* These so-called "diploma mills" are well documented to have highly aggressive sales people pushing enrollment decisions, even when the decision does not make sense
In the end, these opportunities become yet another educational disappointment and discourage future attempts.
GED® Teacher Damon Tinnon is a credentialed Adult Education Teacher in the State of California and teaches GED®Preparation in the beautiful Napa Valley. Tinnon has helped hundreds of students pass the GED®through his class and has influenced thousands through his straightforward and motivating teaching style over the internet!
GED Resources and the need to recognize the humanity of adult learners
Nationally, some 39 Million US adults lack a High School diploma (click here to see report).
As a teacher, this is hard to get my hands around because there is a ton of GED resources out here and most of it is free. Just think about it:
Now, consider that an estimated 1.2 million students drop out from High School in the US each year.
The image that comes to mind is a battlefield. As a GED Teacher, I see myself as part of this humongous powerful army, complete with weaponry of all kinds. I see the opposition as a small, guerilla type outfit. We, the large army, control the battlefield and terms of the warfare (i.e. the resources, the rules, the schools, the texts, even the test itself ) but the small guerilla oufit (i.e. real life, people's real needs, what it's actually like being an adult student) keeps the war steadily unstoppable and steadily unable to be won.
Coming out of my battlefield daydream - I go back to November of 2001. I assigned an essay to my class in preparation for the GED Essay section. A student wrote about a time in their life when they were violated. For this student, the GED would allow them to move to Texas, get a cosmetology license and open a hair salon with a cousin. Then, they would be able to put their past behind them.
A little chocked up, it was hard to tell this student about subject-verb agreement or that they forgot to add a conclusion at the end of the essay. It didn't feel right to tell them about websites or free tools to really get their writing solid, at least not right then.
I just needed to recognize their humanity. This student had been hurt and needed just one more person to know about and see it. I did.
As a teacher, this is hard to get my hands around because there is a ton of GED resources out here and most of it is free. Just think about it:
- literally millions of web pages offering GED help online
- probably hundreds of test prep books, DVDs, and software series
- there are over 14,000 School Districts in the US offering some type of GED class
- 9,000 Public Libraries offering some type of literacy/diploma help
Now, consider that an estimated 1.2 million students drop out from High School in the US each year.
The image that comes to mind is a battlefield. As a GED Teacher, I see myself as part of this humongous powerful army, complete with weaponry of all kinds. I see the opposition as a small, guerilla type outfit. We, the large army, control the battlefield and terms of the warfare (i.e. the resources, the rules, the schools, the texts, even the test itself ) but the small guerilla oufit (i.e. real life, people's real needs, what it's actually like being an adult student) keeps the war steadily unstoppable and steadily unable to be won.
Coming out of my battlefield daydream - I go back to November of 2001. I assigned an essay to my class in preparation for the GED Essay section. A student wrote about a time in their life when they were violated. For this student, the GED would allow them to move to Texas, get a cosmetology license and open a hair salon with a cousin. Then, they would be able to put their past behind them.
A little chocked up, it was hard to tell this student about subject-verb agreement or that they forgot to add a conclusion at the end of the essay. It didn't feel right to tell them about websites or free tools to really get their writing solid, at least not right then.
I just needed to recognize their humanity. This student had been hurt and needed just one more person to know about and see it. I did.
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