Jan. 3, 2025
Proven Instructional Strategies and Resources to Explore E260
In this inspiring episode of the EduMagic Podcast, Dr. Sam sits down with Claire Machosky, a seasoned educator with over 55 years of experience, to explore practical strategies that can transform your classroom and empower your students.
Claire shares actionable insights on embracing multimodal learning, fostering clear communication, providing constructive feedback, and leveraging unique resources like the Library of Congress.
From the power of the “Two Stars and a Wish” feedback method to the importance of continuous professional development, this conversation is packed with tools you can implement today to create meaningful learning experiences.
Claire also offers a heartfelt message to aspiring teachers, reminding us that teaching isn’t just a profession—it’s a calling.
Dec 12, 2025
EduMagic: Future Teach Podcast
March 31, 2022
Developing Good Study Habits
By Haley Huchler
Studying is a skill many of us have tried to master since our first school days. It’s an essential aspect of our lives as students, from elementary school to graduate school, and yet many students struggle to study in a productive and efficient way. Studying often becomes the dreaded activity put off until the night before a big exam or assignment. However, by following a few simple rules of thumb, studying can go from a source of stress to a source of success.
Stay Organized
When you look at your desk, piled high with textbooks and papers, the first thought in your head might be “Where do I even start?” To overcome this initial studying anxiety, get your to-do list in order. Write out all your important due dates and deadlines and decide which tasks to prioritize.
Claire Johnson Machosky, author of A Path to Learning and Literacy: Study Guide for Secondary Students and Parents, puts a strong emphasis on the importance of staying organized. Some students might prefer the simplicity of a pen and blank notepad, while others might want an upgrade to a structured planner or
desk calendar. For those who are more technologically inclined, online calendars like Google Calendar or note-taking software like Notion provide a digital space to plan.
Make a Plan
Before diving in, students should create a plan of action. Machosky suggests students verbalize the tasks they need to tackle in their own words, making it clear and easy to understand. Machosky also urges students to visualize their finished work, then make a list of the steps necessary to arrive at that end goal.
Knowing what your assignments are is step one, but step two is equally important: knowing the teacher’s expectations for the assignment. Machosky encourages students to take this into account when they begin their study routine.
Be Consistent
Some simple consistencies can get your brain and body in the right study space — both literally and figuratively. Machosky suggests students have an established study location. By returning to the same spot to study each day, it will feel more natural and easier to get started. And let’s face it, you may be less inclined to distraction if your study spot is different than your TV-watching spot.
Don’t Cram
The all-nighter, the cram session — most of us are familiar with the panic of studying at the last minute, of trying to cram a week or a month or a semester’s worth of material into just a few short hours. And we all know it doesn’t tend to produce great results.
Studying is best done in shorter intervals over a longer period of time. Once you have all your deadlines lined up on your calendar or to-do list, you can plan out how to divide your study time. Make a loose schedule of when you will study for what and add this into your calendar or list to avoid last-minute cram sessions.
Break It Up
Studying for several hours without tearing your eyes from your computer screen or textbook is bound to make you feel frustrated and exhausted. Taking frequent breaks will help you feel calmer and more relaxed, as well as help you process and retain information better.
One of the most popular ways to break up study time is the Pomodoro Technique, a time management method that divides your time into 25 minutes of work interspersed with 5-minute breaks. The method suggests that after about 4 “Pomodoros,” or sets of 25 minutes, you take a longer break of 15 to 20 minutes. Do a quick online search for “Pomodoro timer,” and you’ll likely find one you can set up on your computer desktop.
If intervals of 25 minutes and 5 minutes aren’t for you, maybe it’s 30 and 10 or 15 and 5. It’s not about following one methodology exactly, it’s about finding what flows best for you and remembering to take the occasional break. Stretch, have a glass of water or a snack, or walk around the block, and you’ll come back to your study session feeling refreshed and refueled.
Set Goals
Studying aimlessly is a sure way to get distracted and turn to some other activity or get frustrated and decide to give up. By setting even small goals for yourself during your designated study period, you can give yourself the motivation you need to keep going.
Before you start studying, set an achievable goal or two. Maybe you want to read two textbook chapters. Maybe you want to go through your flashcard set three times. Whatever it is, make sure it’s attainable within the time frame you have allotted for studying.
Despite the importance of good study habits, most of us aren’t taught how to study in school. We’re left to figure it out all on our own, and it takes many of us a long time to determine what works. Follow these simple tips to master those study habits and get your study time back on track.
Haley Huchler is a contributing writer for Prince William Living.
Lifetime of (Arts) Learning
Photo by Evan Cantwell/George Mason University
12/28/2023
Founding members of Performing Arts for Kids with Dean and Executive Director Rick Davis, including (Top L-R) Penny Barrows, Claire Machosky-Ullman, Sue Farris; (Bottom) Mary Postma with Rick Davis. Photo provided.
The Hylton Performing Arts Center’s Education Initiative, supported through the Performing Arts for Kids Fund, has served approximately 157,000 artists, arts students, and patrons of the arts from the very young to the young at heart.
Performing Arts for Kids (PAK) was founded in 2013 as an organization with a vision to support educational performances and programs at the Hylton Center and beyond. Founded by longtime Hylton Center volunteers and supporters Mary Postma and Claire Machosky-Ullman, PAK was run by a dedicated corps of volunteers, many of whom had former careers in education. The team, which included Penny Barrows, Nadine Bishop, Leah Brogdon, Sue Farris, Gail Petty, and Judy Smith, offered a keen understanding of the challenges of students and educators alike.
Inspired by field trips to New York City’s Lincoln Center, Machosky-Ullman had the idea to expose local students to the arts. “I said to Mary [Postma], ‘We have to do something where we can bring children into this beautiful center,’” said Machosky-Ullman. “It will blow them away.”
Through fundraising, grants, corporate sponsorships, and commemorative ornament sales, PAK raised funds to bring education-focused programming to the Hylton Center, featuring field trip performances, Technical Theater Boot Camp scholarships, and teacher appreciation initiatives.
In 2019, PAK was elevated as a Hylton Center funding priority within the Friends of the Hylton Center, and the “Performing Arts for Kids at the Hylton Center” fund was officially established to support Education Initiative programming for all ages.
The PAK tradition of arts engagement lives on in the Hylton Center Education Initiative, in masterclasses, workshops, and curriculum-integrated programming developed in partnership with the Prince William County, City of Manassas, and City of Manassas Park school systems, as well as the surrounding counties, private schools, and homeschool groups.
In 2019, the Education Initiative brought programming into the schools through workshops, and later through virtual workshops and field trips developed during the pandemic. Virtual programs continue to be in high demand.
During the 2022–2023 season, the initiative hosted more than 33 events, including field trip performances, workshops, masterclasses, and backstage tours. That same year, the initiative was formally recognized by the Prince William County Arts Council for its outstanding impact on arts education in the Prince William County community.
“As a graduate of Prince William County Schools, I am thrilled that we are able to offer such diverse artistic experiences to local students,” said Marit Majeske, education coordinator at the Hylton Center.
The legacy of Performing Arts for Kids has been memorialized through the naming of the “PAK Hub”—a suite of practice rooms, generously named by Claire Machosky-Ullman and Al Ullman, in the center’s Education and Rehearsal Wing. Ongoing support for the Education Initiative is provided in part by Lillian Ballard.
The Education Initiative is supported 100% by philanthropy, and the Hylton Center is grateful to lead sponsor Amazon Web Services, as well as the Friends of the Hylton Center, Lillian Ballard, the McNichols Family Foundation, Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and SPARK, as well as to the many individual and corporate donors who support the initiative’s work every day.
Performing Arts for Kids (PAK) Hub. Photo provided.
