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The following article appeared in the Sunday Edition of the Orange County Register September 29th 2003
Lesson plans By THERESA WALKER Homework used to take Melody Hernandez a long, long, long time. Mostly, because she would wait a long, long, long time to tackle it. Especially when it came to long-term projects. "At the last minute, I'd be up until midnight doing my projects and homework. I'd feel like, oh, they give us way too much," Melody recalls. That was back in first and second grades, before she got the best lesson she's ever had in homework from "Mrs. O," her third-grade teacher at The Pegasus School in Huntington Beach. Melody is a sixth- grader now and still uses the techniques. Vicki Olivadoti, Ms. O to her students, spent the first week of school explaining how to do homework: How to write down what they had to do in a planning agenda. How to ask teachers about something they don't understand.How to figure out how much time an assignment will take whether it was due the next day or the next month and where that fit in with other activities. How to organize paperwork so it wouldn't get misplaced or lost. In other words, Ms. O put her students, not their parents, in charge of their homework. "She taught me how to be more independent," Melody says. "I'm a lot more responsible with, OK, I have to write this into my agenda, I have this much time, or, OK, I have a lot of homework tonight so I'm not going to invite a friend over." Olivadoti believes many parents are at a loss to teach children strategies to handle their own homework. So parents get too involved, ready to jump in the minute a child starts to stress. "That takes away ownership and responsibility from the child," Olivadoti says. "They don't even have to listen in the classroom because they'll get instruction at home." Too often, she finds, nobody is asking the right questions. Students don't ask their teachers questions about their assignments when they get them. Teachers don't ask the students if they understand what they are supposed to do. Parents don't ask what their role should be. She knows it may be hard to find the time, but Olivadoti recommends that teachers try to give students time for questions before the homework leaves the classroom. And parents should encourage children from the early grades on to talk to their teachers about work that is troublesome. "In defense of teachers out there, we only know what our children tell us. If the kids go home, the parent helps, and they bring back completed papers with the right answers, the teachers think they are doing a great job." Her approach departs from that of many homework experts when she recommends letting children choose within their free time - and within your own reasonable parameters - when and where to do homework. "When I was in school, I had to be out in the middle of the living room to do my homework," she says. "If I was in my bedroom, I'd be wondering what was going on out there." Olivadoti's uncomplicated system is outlined in her books "Homework Solutions for the Weary Parent" and "Homework Solutions for Weary Students & Their Parents." She teaches parents and other teachers at seminars. She instructs students from grade school to college that she coaches privately, and in some cases she tutors entire schools and school districts. If something isn't working, evaluate it and trust the child to see that they may need to make changes. Have them write out a weekly plan and see what they learn from it. "I haven't met a child yet who didn't want to succeed," Olivadoti says. "Children who get into power struggles with their parents don't feel like they have choices." And to teachers, she says, homework should not be graded, except on effort and turning it in. "Homework is a great opportunity to learn from mistakes and develop strategies to deal with challenges. When you give them F's or don't accept unfinished work, it puts a lot of pressure on the parents to step in and do it." HELPING KIDS DODGE TRAPS OF DISORGANIZATION, TIME-WASTING For time management, have them mark off 15-minute increments on a daily calendar, highlighting spaces taken up by other activities or responsibilities - anything from piano lessons to showering. For long-term projects, show them how to back-plan. If a book report is due in 30 days, they need to plan time to read the book and time to write the report. Use a monthly calendar to show how they'll need to read 10 or 15 pages a night to finish on time. Mistakes are an opportunity to change behavior. Rather than berate a child for getting an F, ask what could be done differently next time. Teachers don't want to hear "I don't get it." Instead, say, "I tried doing it this way; can you show me what I'm doing wrong?" Disorganized children who have a desk or backpack that looks like it threw up need a specific organization system. Try this visualization exercise to get started: Close your eyes and see the assignment on the board. Record it in the planning agenda. Ask the teacher for the handout. Put the handout in the front pocket of your notebook. Put the notebook in your backpack. Take the backpack home. Take it out of the car. See yourself pulling the planning agenda and homework assignment out of the notebook. Find a place to study. Number the assignments in your planning agenda starting with the one you hate the most. Do that one first so it isn't hanging over you. See yourself finishing it and marking it off with a highlighter in your agenda. Put it in the back pocket of your notebook. Repeat each step with each assignment. Put the notebook with the finished assignments in your backpack. Put the backpack by the door. See yourself taking the backpack to the car the next morning. See yourself handing in the homework. Repeat the visualization exercise several times as children put it into practice. For more information on Vicki Olivadoti's homework books and seminars, go to http://www.homeworksolutionsseminars.com/. CONTACT US: (714) 796-7793 or mailto:<a%20href=">twalker@ocregister.com.
The following article appeared in the Huntington Beach Independent of the Register September of 2001: IN THE CLASSROOM Thinking ahead of the class Pegasus School teacher does anything but talk down to her third-grader charges. H.B. Independent
By Suzie Harrison, Independent
Listening to Vicki Olivadoti speak to her third-grade class one would think that they were high school level students.
Olivadoti teaches at the Pegasus School in Huntington Beach, "A private independent school for bright and curious boys and girls from preschool through eighth grade."
The 8-and 9-year-olds in her class listened attentively and were actively engaged.
Olivadoti has unique teaching styles and ideas. She talks to students about their "think time," during which they analyze and reason through each task.
She asks students to step outside their learning and think about the best way to accomplish their assignments. She would throw out questions to which with practically all the students raised their hands.
She asked what would happen if students gave enough "think time" to an idea.
A student aptly replied that he would be able to come up with more answers.
Olivadoti also spoke to her students about not straining their brains. She said to treat the mind like an elevator door and let all the information out.
"If you say you can't remember, the elevator doors slam shut," Olivadoti said. "If they don't open, wait, and another will come."
She stressed the importance of asking questions.
"When you ask you're already in control of your own learning," she said. "That's my goal for you. Don't wait -- you're empowering yourself now by asking for what you want. You're taking control and that's great."
She suggested that a couple of ways to make studying easier may be to use color coded note cards.
"Remember some people learn kinesthetically and other people need to have it repeated several times," Olivadoti said. "We'll talk more in depth about the different types of learning tomorrow."
At Pegasus the students are encouraged to do their own homework independent of their parent's help.
Erin Vogel explained that she had made a mistake. "I discovered that I did it incorrectly by double checking it and proofing," Erin said.
Students enjoyed taking ownership of their own work and being independent.
"I told my mom that I am capable of doing my homework myself," said Caroline Grant. "I woke up in the morning to refresh and I realized that I forgot a page."
The following article appeared in the Scottsdale Tribune in February of 2007: East Scottsdale
Asking the right questions By Amanda Keim
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