<![CDATA[The Oxford Observer - Blog]]>

<![CDATA[The Oxford Observer - Blog]]>Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:20:55 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[RESTLESS Romans]]>Tue, 15 Dec 2015 20:14:37 GMThttps://www.theoxfordobserver.com/blog/restless-romans

]]><![CDATA[Success at The Citadel]]>Mon, 02 Nov 2015 22:01:01 GMThttps://www.theoxfordobserver.com/blog/success-at-the-citadelSee if you can spot me in these three videos about The Citadel Experience...

]]><![CDATA[Helping Hand]]>Wed, 16 Sep 2015 23:31:15 GMThttps://www.theoxfordobserver.com/blog/helping-handThe videos I created on YouTube explaining the concepts of the Enlightenment have gotten a significantly higher number of views than I could have ever hoped or dreamed! Several thousand views later, and it seems that short videos to help students review information as part of a pre-lesson introduction or post-lesson assessment are very helpful to teachers.

As a result, I would like to announce a Patreon page so that you can help fund and support these videos!

]]><![CDATA[Super Studying]]>Tue, 19 May 2015 17:26:10 GMThttps://www.theoxfordobserver.com/blog/super-studying

Know someone who needs help studying? Check out study.jnmcmanus.comto take a quick quiz and make your study/revision time more effective with just a few study tips!

It's that time of year again! In the US: finals, International Baccalaureate, and Advanced Placement tests. On the other side of the pond in the UK it's time for GCSEs, Advanced Levels, and Advanced Subsidiary (AS) or A2-levels.

Most students I talk to have no idea how to study effectively. They almost always study by reading their notes, but for most people this will not help knowledge recall under testing conditions (or any conditions for that matter).

1. Take a quick quiz
2. Read over your type's characteristics
3. Check out the study tips

There are several tests you can take to determine what kind of learner you are and how you can study best.

I recommend taking the one at the link here but you can also take the one below.

Determine Your Learning Style » Quiz School

]]><![CDATA[Entertaining Enlightenment]]>Tue, 12 May 2015 18:46:38 GMThttps://www.theoxfordobserver.com/blog/entertaining-enlightenmentWhile writing lesson plans on the Enlightenment for one of my education classes, I was browsing through YouTube trying to find a video to succinctly explain the definition of an "Absolute Monarchy." I couldn't find any that fit my parameters, so I decided to just make one myself. Then I figured, "Why stop there?" and made several more videos illustrating the basic topics I needed illustrated. These are only meant as brief overviews as many of the topics are oversimplified, but they should suffice to give students basic background knowledge or introduce them to a topic.

Watch the playlist

Absolute Monarchies

Social Contract

Moral Revolutions

]]><![CDATA[Absolute Monarchies]]>Wed, 29 Apr 2015 15:23:48 GMThttps://www.theoxfordobserver.com/blog/absolute-monarchies

What ARE absolute monarchies? Here's a quick, basic explanation of how they work. To follow: videos on the Enlightenment.

]]><![CDATA[Achievement Gaps and Affirmative Action: Social Responsibility?]]>Mon, 16 Mar 2015 18:53:09 GMThttps://www.theoxfordobserver.com/blog/achievement-gaps-and-affirmative-action-social-responsibilityWhen I was at Oxford, I wrote eight papers for my tutorial on "Comparative Education," looking at major themes in education across the globe. Two of them were on achievement gaps and affirmative action, problems which oftentimes receive the most focus in the public spotlight, and I submitted them to the Gold Star Journal (along with some photographs).

My papers were accepted (as a combined paper), and all of the photos in the 2015 Gold Star Journal are mine! You can see the paper on page 12 of the PDF, and the photos throughout.

Abstract:
Education often does not receive as much publicity as other issues in the public eye, but education concerns tend to divide the country. Achievement gaps among genders, races, and socioeconomic strata are often not discussed but are at the heart of many of our nation’s issues, from unemployment numbers to average salary and overall quality of life. Affirmative action, favoring students with a certain feature, characteristic, or situation in college placement, is a controversial way to fill quotas in incoming college classes in an attempt to close achievement gaps. Can we close achievement gaps by catering to a “lowest-common denominator” in classes? Is affirmative action an ethical and effective way to eliminate achievement gaps?

]]><![CDATA[National Youth-At-Risk Conference]]>Tue, 10 Mar 2015 02:05:15 GMThttps://www.theoxfordobserver.com/blog/national-youth-at-risk-conferenceI had the great opportunity to speak at the National Youth-At-Risk Conference in Savannah, GA on March 3, 2015. The Citadel's Zucker Family School of Education is dedicated to the Charleston-area community, specifically in helping the schools in the area.

Myself and three other cadet mentors were able to "Mentor Partnerships Between Colleges and K-12 Schools: Perspectives from College Students Who Mentor". I also attended sessions entitled "Bullying and Zero Tolerance Policies: The School to Prison Pipeline" and "Motivating 'At-Risk' Youth: It's Possible!" which provided me with a lot of great resources and tips (I may write a post about each of them later).

Our presentation focused on the relationships The Citadel has with local elementary and middle schools, particularly regarding one-on-one and small group mentoring. Below is the embedded PowerPoint presentation.

I wholeheartedly believe it is a college/university's obligation to give back to the communities from which its students come and in which it resides. This can be a crucial determiner of a student's achievement: all too often, students fail simply because they do not believe they can succeed. Giving them college student mentors lets students see themselves in college and higher education, and achieving the goals which they set for themselves. Many students (regardless of background) also feel as though they have no one to talk to, and developing appropriate and individual relationships with said students can be invaluable towards increasing their motivation and achievement.

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