Procrastination
Imagine you’re mentoring one of the people in the scenario below who is experiencing a stressful situation in the workplace.
Ashlee and James both work together in accounting and are each responsible for half of an extensive presentation. Ashlee tries to work on the presentation a little each day, while James tends to wait until the last minute to turn in his portions of the project. But, because they rely on each other for certain tasks, Ashlee is often forced to wait for James and then rush to complete her assignments.
Ashlee complains that James’ procrastination is causing her to worry about his work as well as her own and is giving her unnecessary stress. Likewise, James is stressed by Ashlee’s anger and constant hovering. Because of the conflict, James is missing more work, and you suspect it’s because he wants to avoid Ashlee.
Review Queen Latifah’s strategies (either reaching out to others or time management) to help Ashlee or James with their situation.
How can you help either Ashlee or James rise above their stress using one of the two strategies?
Respond to one or more of your classmates’ posts.
As a computer science teacher, I need to have a secure understanding of numeracy myself and understand how important numeracy is. With this, I can become a more inclusive teacher. We rely on the mathematical concepts to help us solve complex problems in Computer Science. That said, ‘by giving an exciting, fun real-world context for the importance of numbers and mathematics in Computer Science topics can also be used to support numeracy’ (Teaching London Computing, n.d). This can be seen from the activities students are required to complete during my lessons. They closely relate to everyday life examples and how certain machines may work. For example a speed camera, calculator and working out grade boundaries which students can adapt and use to work out their own assessment grades. This mirrors what the National Curriculum says about sing mathematical reasoing and numeracy in all subjects so students understand the importance of it. (DfE, p103, 2013) (APPENDIX)
Alongside numeracy is the importance of literacy. Michael Wilshaw (2012) stated that it should be everyone’s priority in all schools to improve literacy standards, supported by OFSTED’s report ‘Improving literacy in secondary schools’ (2013). The report highlights that literacy is a key issue no matter what subject is being taught (OFSTED, 2013, p.8). In Computer Science, if students are not fluent in reading and writing, these difficulties will have a huge effect on students’ ability to evaluate and review their programs and these would not be conducted efficiently. Students also need to be able to communicate effectively when problem solving, in order to explain their thought process in solving a set task, or to gain further assistance. If they cannot communicate, support or explanations could be interpreted incorrectly.
The National Literacy Trust (2014) defines literacy as, ‘the ability to read,