« February 2007 | Main | April 2007 »
Looking for a way to improve your students' concentration, classroom grades, and standardized test scores? Vigorous hand clapping may be just what you're seeking. Take a look at this article on qigong, a Chinese exercise practiced by educators and children in a Salt Lake City Montessori school.
I wonder what the all-day clapping workshop for adults is like?
Good news for social studies teachers: world history and geography classes are making a comeback among our nation's high schoolers. As I recall, the 1980s showed little regard for these courses. I took a semester-long geography class my sophomore year, but I successfully avoided most history classes that would have helped me watch international news as an adult.
As more and more American industry and technology trades move overseas, our youth should prepare for global economics. I think the trend toward international studies is a good one.
The "witch" trial in New York is over. The teacher who claimed a New York school district dismissed her for practicing witchcraft lost her $2 million lawsuit. Simply a case of non-renewal, folks. . .
Click here to read the previous post.
"Michael Kane, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, sampled the thoughts of students at eight random times a day for a week. He found that on average, they were not thinking about what they were doing 30 percent of the time.
For some students it was between 80 and 90 percent of the time. . ."
No kidding! Has Michael Kane ever taught middle schoolers? If so, he wouldn't have needed a study to discover this tidbit. But this article is interesting, nonetheless.
My mind wandering helps me keep "To Do" lists, create projects for myself at home and work, and multi task. Ironically, it seems to have the opposite effect for those who are diagnosed (or self-proclaimed) to have attention deficit disorders. The curiosity is that we all do it, yet I've not seen any academics regarding mind wandering until now.
This should be a hot topic for teachers. The results of this study could help us better understand the habits of students. . .
I've not yet read the new book by former U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige. However, it sounds like my kind of reading. Rumor has it teachers unions are the villain in this twisted plot. . .
In fact, one quote pulled states, "The NEA was so powerful that even [President Ronald] Reagan knew better than to try to tackle both the Soviet empire and the teachers unions grip on their educational monopoly at the same time."
Sound melodramatic? You bet! I'll be interested to see how the plot of good vs. evil unfolds. . .
This report from CNN states that MIT will offer all of its courses to anyone, online, for free. Although you can't get a degree from them, everyone will have the access to the same education that students pay thousands of dollars for. What courses are you interested in?
Probationary teachers in the state of Missouri are not entitled to additional contracts with the school districts in which they teach. They must earn the respect of their supervisors in order to be recommended for rehire. At times, reasons stated for non-renewal of a teacher's contract are vague or trite (i.e. ". . . does not meet the expectations of the board of education. . ." or some such language).
A New York school district may have had good reason, though, to non-renew Lauren Berrios. However, they shouldn't have hinted at suspicions she practiced witchcraft! For some head-scratching reading, check out this tale. How did she last two years at Hampton Bay Elementary School?
A little criticism never hurt me during childhood. In fact, it made me work all the harder to impress my teachers and my parents. And to a large degree, it made me very competitive with classmates to achieve the best scores possible. A new study from professors at San Diego State University shows how times have changed since I graduated from high school in the 1980s.
Today's college students were raised in the "self-esteem movement" especially prevalent in elementary and middle schools. The constant build up of self worth has caused students to ". . . lack empathy, react aggressively to criticism and favor self-promotion over helping others." Teachers observe these behaviors every day. Students are demanding of certain attention to which they are not necessarily entitled nor which they deserve. Since when do we applaud children for doing what's expected of them - like washing their hands before lunch or pushing in a chair as they leave a desk? I am all for positive reinforcement, but let's save the standing ovation for actions that are truly grand!
Perspective is what's needed here. There is a way to demonstrate to children they are special and loved without putting them on a pedestal. I know because that's the way I was raised. If parents and public schools don't reflect upon their practices, we're bound to live in a society of isolated, self-important, and uncaring individuals.
Take a look at this article about the Narcissistic Personality Inventory administered between 1982 and 2006. It is interesting!
Recent Comments