November 2023 - THP International

High-performance classes at THP International

Posted on November 24, 2023November 24, 2023 by Sandra Serrano

'High-performance' classes at THP

Among the many innovative and helpful educational tools and techniques employed at THP International, there is the ‘High-performance’ class methodology. But, what exactly is a ‘High-performance’ class? A ‘High-performance’ class consists of a guided and structured study time to track and boost the performance of the students. Each day, the HP session will be dedicated to one of the student’s subjects -the choice of subject will be based on the student’s progress and the observation of their ‘weak’ points that should be improved. The structure of this classes is as follows:

-30 minutes of study time: during the first 30 minutes of the class, the student will revise the topics indicated by the teacher, whose decision is based on the student’s performance and the conclusions drawn after a precise evaluation of the student’s needs.

-30 minutes of exercises with study materials: after the study period, the student will work on various exercises provided by the teacher and based on the content from the study part. For these exercises, the student can use any material at their disposal. This way, the teacher can evaluate if the issues that may arise come from a lack of study or of understanding and act accordingly.

-45 minutes of exam-like exercises: in this last part of the HP session, the student will work on a series of exam exercises without being able to look at any material, thus reproducing an exam context. In doing this, the student practices for the exams, learns how to manage a limited amount of time and identifies exactly where problems come from -if they come at all.

‘High-performance’ classes are an amazing tool for students to do their best as they enable them and their teachers to identify and solve weaknesses and boost strong points.

The role of podcasts in education

Posted on November 17, 2023November 17, 2023 by Sandra Serrano

The role of podcasts in education

In-person teaching remains the most widely used modality of education, but there’s no doubt of the importance of incorporating technology in the classroom in order to adapt and prepare students for the future. It is important to understand that choosing the resources you use to complement education can make or break how well students do. This is true of education at any level.

Whether you’re at a primary school, high school, or university, there’s a tool that can be incredibly useful: podcasts, which can help students of all ages learn. They’re a great way to make lessons accessible, engaging and informative. Podcasts are an effortless way to take in information, and they can keep students engaged for longer. Here are some reasons why using podcasts in education helps students learn:

-🎧Listen whenever, wherever: podcasts are easy to fit into daily routines. Downloadable to your phone, you can listen while doing mundane tasks like cooking or commuting. Students can learn content at any point they have a spare moment in their day, just by taking out their phone. This makes them perfect for people with busy schedules, or those who don’t have internet access all the time. Students who have other commitments, like extracurricular activities or jobs, can simply stick on a podcast during their commute.

-🤔Podcasts make it easier for students to catch-up: a teacher recording a podcast could be the solution for some students’ difficulty to catch-up. Instead of being burdened with heavy and intimidating textbooks, students could simply listen to a podcast on their way to school to catch up.

-👂Listening might be more durable than watching or reading: when listening to an audio drama, you have to use your imagination to picture what’s going on. Your brain has to work at the pace of the audio, so your mind can’t wander off like it does when reading a textbook page. And because you have to actively think about what you’re hearing, you can’t only pay attention halfheartedly like you might with video. For this reason, podcasts may be the best way to keep a student’s active attention.

-🧠Podcasts are the perfect revision tool: podcasts are a wonderful revision tool to go over past material. Students can go at their own pace, pausing and replaying at parts they need more time on. Always having a bank of podcasts about the contents of a course will be phenomenal for those stressful few months of revising.

How to get an A+ in AL Spanish:

Posted on November 10, 2023November 10, 2023 by Sandra Serrano

How to get an A+ in AL Spanish:

When you are learning a new language, we all know that the key is to put it in practice as much as possible, but here are some tricks to ace your AL Spanish exam beyond the obvious need of using the language as much as possible:

–Take notes during the listenings: some of the recordings you will hear are very long and the questions very specific, apart from understanding the listenings, you have to remember them, which can be tricky if you haven’t noted down the most relevant data.

–Don’t be constantly afraid of making mistakes: in your speaking exam you have to show that you can communicate and have a fruitful conversation. While following grammar and ppronunciation rules is important, worrying too much about it may block you from expressing what you want. Remember that you don’t have to sound like a native speaker to show that you know and can use a language.

– Context is key: the readings that you will face in the Spanish exam are long and sometimes challenging, it is very likely that you won’t know all the words. Don’t panic: even in your mother language you are constantly faced with words you don’t know, but context is always enough to guess the meaning behind a ‘new’ word, make sure you remember this applies for any other language too.

– Know your chosen works: the writing part of the exam will be based on the two works you have previously studied in class, make sure that you have perfectly understood them while in class and that you are aware of their relevance and their connections with the historical context.

–Remember that there’s not only one correct option for the translations: as with the speaking, the key for a good translation is to transmit meaning and successfully communicate a message; you may not always know the dictionary translation of a word, but you can always use a rephrasing or any term with a similar enough meaning.