Q.No.

What are some major stages for developing writing skills?

Use a variety of writing sources.

The sources can help you develop your writing skills, some are very
common and some you may have not even considered. For example, many major
cities have selective courses based around both business writing and creative
writing. I personally am from Sydney, Australia and there are several schools
designated purely for writing techniques and styles that will aid you in the long
run.
Build your repertoire!
There is a very simple way to do this, as stated in the main article, your
thesaurus. It's built in to most of the major word processing software and can be
accessed with a couple of buttons, but believe me when I say, it knows what you
want.
Using the Internet is also another collective source of writing techniques, and
they're not hard to find.
Right now you're reading what I have written in an article and although I
don't have to use big or fancy words to get my point across this is still definitely
one of the many writing skills out there. Some other places to search are news
articles, even reviews of movies or television shows.
Develop confidence.
If you don't have confidence there is no need to worry, it may be easier to
come by than you think. I always think one important thing to myself, "I could
have written that." Think to yourself when reading one of those news articles,
someone got paid to write what your reading. Why can't you be paid to write
something someone else is reading?
Do some research.
This important step is necessary to give your writing some added value for
your readers. While it may not be the most fun aspect of writing, it is something

that every writer should be willing to do. Whether you are a weekend book
reviewer or a corporate speech writer, your readers will certainly recognize your
hard work and quality writing.
Take breaks if necessary.
To combat stress, fatigue or writer's block, it helps to step away for a
moment. Fresh air, a glass of water or a new cup of coffee could provide you with
a clear approach to your writing.

What is the importance of PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION in the teaching of

English?
Teacher education is more important today than it has been in half a century. Education
policy and practice are being radically transformed in American education, and teacher
preparation programs in colleges and universities are being pressured to fall in line with the
mercerization and privatization of K-12 schools. In teacher preparation this is evident by
looking at proposals to privatize or deregulate the education of teachers, in the increasing
reductive entry and exit tests for prospective educators, in differential funding to those
teacher preparation institutions whose students score higher on high-stakes examinations,
and the increasing growth of home schooling because of various reasons, but perhaps the
desire to reject formal schooling and indeed professionally educated teachers (Apple, 2008).
Robertson (2008) argues that teacher education institutions need to be sustained as
autonomous from social and political centers, which would turn teacher preparation toward
their own interests. The social and political context that we find ourselves in today has
implications for science teacher educators, and especially if the focus of teaching is on
experiential learning. As teacher educators, we need to think about how these realities
influence our work: the polarized political climate, the educational assessment and
accountability movements, and challenges to schools of education (Robertson, 2008, Cody,
2012, Hassard, 2012).
Anthony Cody, a science educator and educational policy writer, recently talked about the
place of teacher education in American society:
Our schools of education ought to be in a position to think clearly and freely about the
challenges our schools face. They are certainly not perfect, but their ability to take an
independent stance on education policies and practices is crucial for us to avoid a
complete groupthink. But this sort of ideological unanimity in support of obsession over
data is what our education reformers apparently want, and the foundations driving the
corporate reform agenda will do what it takes to get it.
There is a new cohort group of teacher educators in the USA and other countries that
approach teacher education based on clinical and experiential theories of learning. Although

the idea is not really new, there is a new and growing number of teacher educators who now
have a strong research base upon which to design teacher education programs.
In 1896, the laboratory school of the University of Chicago opened its doors under the
directorship of John Dewey (Fishman and McCarthy, 1998). Deweys idea was to create an
environment for social and pedagogical experimentation. Theory and practice should mingle,
and the laboratory school as Dewey conceived it would be a place for teachers to design,
implement, reflect on, and evaluate learner-centered curriculum and practice.
Although Deweys ideas did not convert policy makers and education decision makers, it did
have a strong impact on the Progressive Education movement which advocated active and
problem based learning. Although historians of education would agree that Thorndikes
educational and psychological ideas won out in the advancing the direction of American
education, Deweys ideas maintained a hold on a cadre of teachers and teacher educators.
Many of the successful teacher education programs identified by Darling-Hammond (2006)
are substantially Deweyan in nature.
I fell in love with teaching and being a science teacher educator when I was very young. I
arrived at Georgia State University at the age of 29, and was embraced by my colleagues in
science education who had arrived at GSU at the same time, but they were seasoned
science educators, having had professorships at other universities. I was a rookie fresh out of
graduate school. Even though I taught middle and high school science, and had graduated
with a Ph.D. in science education and geology, many of you would agree that I couldnt
possibly be prepared for all the challenges I would face in my new position. There is no
question in my mind that the collaboration with colleagues over the years helped cultivate
my identify and self-confidence in being and thinking like a teacher educator.
Over the years, I collaborated with colleagues in K-12 schools and universities and research
organizations in the U.S. and other countries, especially Russia, Australia, Spain, and the
Czech Republic. We used humanistic, progressive, and experiential frames of reference in
designing teacher education, and curriculum. We closed the distance between theory and
practice by co-creating programs, curriculum, experiences in teaching and teacher education.
Do you think teacher education is important? In what ways?

References
Apple, M.W. (2008), Is deliberate democracy enough in teacher education in M. CochranSmith, S. Feiman-Nemser, D. John McIntyre, & K. E. Demers (Eds.), Handbook of research
on teacher education: Enduring questions in changing contexts (3rd Edition, pp. 105 110).
New York, USA: Routledge.
Fishman, S.M. and McCarthy, L. (1998). John Dewey and the challenge of classroom
practice. New York: Teachers College Press.
Robertson, E. (2008), Teacher education in a democratic society in M. Cochran-Smith, S.
Feiman-Nemser, D. John McIntyre, & K. E. Demers (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher
education: Enduring questions in changing contexts (3rd Edition, pp. 27 44). New York,
USA: Routledge.

Every four years, candidates for the presidency tout their plans on how they are going
to fix the problems of education. One of the many educational problems that some
states face is teacher shortages, particularly in the areas of science and math. One way
that some areas have dealt with these shortages is by providing a fast track towards
teacher certification for individuals who are coming from different fields. For
example, an engineer might decide to become a teacher and is given a different path
towards certification than a student just finishing up their undergraduate degree. The
question then becomes, is this a successful model for creating new teachers?
The following items look at why it is so important for all teachers to have effective
teacher training programs. The sad truth is that not all programs are created equal. To
provide new teachers with the greatest chance of success, they need to have completed
a teacher preparation program that provides them with knowledge, experience, and
guidance. When this does not happen, we not only risk teachers leaving the profession
quickly, but more importantly we risk the education of entire classes of students.

1. Helps Prevent Failure

New teachers have many challenges that they face each day. Effective
teacher training helps prepare new teachers for these challenges. While teacher
training and student teaching won't completely prepare new teachers for every issue
they will face, it can help them feel more confident about many common problems
that arise for teachers each day. Without this background, teachers might feel like
failures and eventually give up.
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2. Helps Avoid Teacher Burnout

Effective teacher training programs will address teacher burnout. First, it helps new
teachers to understand what can lead to teacher burnout. In some cases, this is just
the stress of daily teaching. However, it can also be caused by not varying the
information and methods of teaching enough. Teacher training programs that focus on
particular subject areas like social studies. or mathematics can help students learn
about different ways in which a subject can be presented.

3.
Provides an Understanding
Benchmarks for Achievement

of

the

Many inexperienced teachers focus on getting students to memorize and regurgitate

success. However, does this show true student achievement? Without a background to
what does and does not constitute authentic student learning, new teachers sometimes
create lessons that don't lead to the results they were expecting. However, teacher
preparation programs can help students understand how to find and apply effective
benchmarks for student achievement.

4. Provides Supported Practice in a Controlled

Environment
When it comes to teaching, reading a book is not enough. Even hearing teachers talk
about teaching methods is not enough. New teachers need practice teaching combined
with effective mentoring in order to help them understand what is required from them
in their new position. This happens through student teaching in the classroom setting.
However, it is imperative that student teachers are placed in appropriate classes that
meet their interests. Further, the supervising teacher must be involved and provide
feedback each day to help student teachers learn.

5. Stops Costly Experimenting on Students

While all teachers experiment with new lessons and techniques from time to time,
teachers without proper training will often try things that education might have taught
them would not work. This experimenting comes at a cost in terms of student
learning. As most teachers know, it is very easy to lose your students at the beginning
of a term. If you do exhibit competence, fairness, and consistency from the beginning,
you risk losing respect and interest. The ultimate cost of this failure is in what the
student will not achieve in the classroom.