Every few weeks, I like to review what I’ve gone over with my students so they remember what they learned. With my pre-GED class, I have students who are at various grade levels and I’ve found that if they don’t constantly review what they’ve learned, they will forget it.

To make the review a fun learning experience, I divide the students into two or three teams, depending on how many students are in class that day. Each team comes up with their own name and will win a point for each question answered correctly. The team with the most points will win. Each student takes a turn answering a question. If the student misses the question, another team will have the opportunity to answer it correctly.

Before the start of the game, I give each student an index card to write a question and answer on it for the game. Not only do I use the questions from the students, but I also will add my own questions into the mix.

The questions will deal with all of the subjects the students have been studying. Some questions include:

• What is the first thing you should do before you start writing an essay? (Answer: Make sure you understand what the question is asking.)

• What sentence contains a word spelled incorrectly:

1. The student was anxxious for class.
2. Bill read an incredibly hard report.
3. Mary was excited for school to begin.
4. Sean was ready to prepare for the football game.

• Solve various math equations. (Students will be given a math equation to solve in a set amount of time.)

• Use “its” and “it’s” correctly in two sentences. (Answer: Sentence 1. Anxious is spelled wrong.)

Overall, the game has been a hit with students. And as a result, many realized they needed more review or help in a particular subject. Some students also have gotten the reassurance and confidence they needed to move forward in a particular subject after doing well in the game. Also, with each question, students are learning how to answer it correctly, which might be something they didn’t know.

I’m looking forward to the next game in a few weeks.

Kathleen Collins, pre-GED teacher in Cuyahoga Falls

Did you miss us?

After a long hiatus, we’re back to blogging. The goal of the blog posts is to give you a look inside Project Learn’s classrooms so you can see what it’s like to be a part of our family.  This isn’t your typical “company blog.” We’ll have shared stories from students and teachers on all levels – basic literacy, GED, transitions and English for Speakers of Other Languages. Be prepared to read some interesting stuff – as you take away information on different cultures, opinions and lesson planning (among other things). Quite an assortment, huh?

We’re taking you on a journey. Are you ready for the ride?

In my GED – Generation Y class, I urge the students to use their imagination to create great essays, poems and stories. Here’s an assignment I found on the Newspapers in Education site. I liked it because it related the assignment to a movie seen by the majority of the class, while allowing them to be creative. Below the description are snippets of the students’ creative writings.

The science-fiction epic “Avatar” takes places in a fictional world called Pandora. Director James Cameron spent years fine-tuning all the details of Pandora and its inhabitants, the Na’vi. Come up with your own plan for a science fiction or fictional land. Describe what it would look like and what kind of creatures would inhabit it. Would they look like people, or totally different?

I’d create a land of peace, called Peaceland. It has a population of 13 million. That’s New York City and Los Angeles put together! It will be sitting under sunny skies all year-long, averaging 70 degrees. When you look around, all you see are buildings as tall as the World Trade Center and even higher. You will see palm trees everywhere. Streets are long and it will take hours to get downtown. The city will be 125 miles long and wide. Just imagine: you would have to fly a plane to get to the other side of the city. The neighborhoods are clean and the houses are mansions. The land is so rich, the people pay their God with peace, love and loyalty.

The people speak a different language called Nuke. But when they talk, they can catch on quickly. But what’s more crazy is they have tails and can run speeds up to 60 miles per hour and won’t get tired. They don’t need cars! The people have Indian-like hair with skin similar to human beings. They breathe the same air as humans and have super strengths. They survive off of water and palm tree leaves. Their lifestyle is very peaceful;  no job, no recession, just spending time with your family. The land of Peace is not ran by a government. A God named Dar looks down on the land, protecting and giving it peace 24 hours a day. When you look into the sky, you can see him smiling down on you. Living in a big city can be difficult but not here. The people are very friendly; there’s no violence and at night, the sky looks like Las Vegas!

- Darryl Coleman

The year is 2050. The planet is called Hendrix Valley and double the size of Earth. One side is land, the other is water. It has a population of 350,000 people, not including animals. The people on land have a special gene that gave 50 percent of the culture lime green feathered wings. Some even say the color of the wings change depending on the person’s mood. The chosen few that have wings are called Fly-Hue. There is a total of 20,000 people with this gene because it skips a generation. The Fly-Hue look similar to humans but have bird beaks and long red and purple dreads. The people without wings are called the Wingless. They are human with one special ability – they can see 12 hours into the future. The water side is covered with mythical creatures that look like lochness monsters. The Fly-Hues and Wingless are very smart and peaceful. They believe that music is the influence of all that is around them. They are musically talented and live in human-sized bird nests and are governed by one person called the Hue-Emperor. The Wingless get around by riding horses with wings, called Ti-Koos. Both cultures are farmers and vegetarians. The average lifespan is 300 years. When they die, they evaporate.

- Aaron Smith

If you could create a fantasy world, what would it be? What would it look like and how would the people live?

Alexia Harris

Change can either challenge or threaten us.

If you’re dedicated to reaching your goals, you’ll allow change to be a challenge that you can overcome.

In July, Project Learn became the only comprehensive adult GED and ESOL provider in the county.

This was hard for us because we had to serve a huge number of students with reduced funding. But we couldn’t neglect the thousands of people living in Summit County who were in need of our services.

So, we gladly accepted the challenge.

Two days ago, we proctored our first official GED test. Not only did 18 students take a big step in furthering their educational goals, they are now a part of Project Learn history.

It is amazing to consider the growth and evolution of this agency from a small volunteer-based agency to a highly-successful comprehensive adult education agency.

To those who’ve supported us, thank you.

Last week, I read an interesting report released by the Alliance for Excellent Education (The Alliance) that showed the Cleveland economy would grow significantly if the number of high school dropouts was cut in half. More than 8,000 students dropped out of the high school class of 2008 in Cleveland and the surrounding areas, according to the report.

The Alliance’s research shows that if just half of those students had graduated, on average, they would earn more than $52 million in additional income every year of their lives. In addition, in these areas, state and local tax revenues in an average year would jump by more than $8 million, according to the report. While Cleveland was the only city in Ohio the report included, it shows clearly the importance of graduating from high school or obtaining a GED.

The Alliance’s study also found that 61 percent of the additional high school graduates would continue their education with many earning a Ph.D. or other professional degree. From a national perspective, almost 600,000 students dropped out of the high school class of 2008 in the nation’s 50 largest cities and the surrounding areas. The Alliance’s research shows that if just half of those students had graduated, on average, they would have earned more than $4.1 billion in additional income every year. In addition, state and local tax revenues in an average year would jump by nearly $536 million.

I wonder how much impact a lower dropout rate in Summit County would affect the local economy? The 4,900 high schools located within the 50 cities that were included in the report have an average graduation rate of 69.8 percent, according to the report. Over 900 of these are considered “dropout factories,” that is, schools where fewer than 60 percent of freshman progress to their senior year on time.

For more information and specific numbers for each of the cities listed in the report, click here. In January, the Alliance will release additional economic and financial benefits of reducing dropout rates in these 50 cities, including additional spending and investment, job and economic growth, and home and auto sales.

The Alliance for Excellent Education is a Washington, D.C.-based policy, research and advocacy organization that works to make every child a high school graduate who is prepared for postsecondary education and success in life, according to the Alliance.