Topical Teaching

Useful Resources to Assist in Behavioural Management

September 4, 2012

A compilation of behavioural management links by the team at The Guardian:

Positive ways to manage behaviour provides a range of techniques from the training organisation Pivotal Education. These include establishing explicit rules and routines, providing students with clear choices regarding their behaviour and starting each day with a clean sheet.

Further advice on some of the most common behaviour problems is contained in Classroom management strategies. Areas covered include dealing with pupils who are defiant, use abusive language, refuse to work or make silly noises in class. The resource highlights “needs-focused interventions”, such as “chunking” tasks to make them more manageable, taking time over your classroom seating plan and encouraging parental involvement. Strategies to avoid include giving ultimatums or tactically ignoring disruptive pupils.

Coping Strategies for Teachers contains tips on preventing, reducing and managing unacceptable behaviour. Ideas include having a challenge on the board for pupils to complete as they arrive in class, giving responsibility to students for activities such as taking the register, and keeping a behaviour file to record any incidents, meetings or contact with parents.

To encourage positive behaviour in early years and primary, Twinkl has created a range of wall display resources. These include a set of posters about good listening and a Noisometer that you can use to set and monitor noise levels in the classroom. To help celebrate good behaviour, there is a set of star of the day and star of the week posters, and as an alternative to the traditional traffic light behaviour management resource, you can use a set of Behaviour Management Dragons to give warnings for misbehaviour in a calm, non-confrontational way.

For newly-qualified teachers, a list of 10 top tips has been created by assistant headteacher and mentor Eugene Spiers. Advice includes remembering to smile and greet your classes, even the groups you dread, being consistent with praise and sanctions and calling a selection of parents with good news every Friday. There is additional advice in the resource 10 top tips for NQTs.

On a lighter note, Five Minutes to a Calmer Classroom provides tips on using meditation in the classroom. It includes details of a simple breathing exercise that can be used to tackle stress and improve concentration.

And for anyone starting the new school year as a supply teacher, there is a list of top tips from primary teacher Colin Cartmell-Browne. Advice includes arriving as early as possible, making a note of the school timetable and discussing with other members of staff whether there are any pupils who will need additional support.

Click on the link to read The Dog Eat Dog Style of Education

Click on the link to read Problem Kids, Suspensions and Revolving Doors

Click on the link to read The Solution to the Disruptive Student Has Arrived: Body Language Classes

Click on the link to read When Something Doesn’t Work – Try Again Until it Does

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Why are Teachers so Threatened by Phonics?

September 4, 2012

I am on record as saying that I find teaching phonics to be a challenge because it can be so dry and tedious to students. However, I can clearly see the benefits of the method.

There is a clear campaign from teacher’s unions and academics against phonics. This campaign is heated and vitriolic and makes absolutely no sense to me. Why would an organisation which is entrusted to help children to read, write and spell condemn a method which has a favourable track record? Even if you believed in other approaches (I like to incorporate other approaches too), it makes no logical sense to rant and rave about strategies that others support such as phonics.

Surely, as our students learn in different ways, it is incumbent on us as teachers to teach skills using a variety of different methods:

Nearly nine out of 10 teachers said they practised nonsense words in the run up to the test.

Words like spron, fape and thazz were included in the test designed to check pupils’ abilities to decode using phonics.

And four out of 10 admitted drilling phonics in the week prior to the test.

One Year one teacher said: “Some able readers failed and some non-fluent, less-able readers passed! What does that prove?

“It proves synthetic phonics is only part of a variety of strategies used in learning to read.”

Another teacher said: “I was willing to try it to see if it helped the children and if it helped inform my planning and assessment.

“It was a waste of time and money – (I had to have) a supply teacher to cover me – and had a negative effect on several of the children in my class.”

A Year One teacher said: “Many children made mistakes trying to turn the pseudo words into real words – ‘strom’ became ‘storm’.”

Some 86% of those polled believed the screening check should not be continued.

Perhaps the test needs some improving, but educators can’t be too tough on phonics as a method. After all, many of us can attribute being able to read by phonics.

Click on the link to read Who Said Grammar Isn’t Important?

Click on the link to read The Resistance Against Teaching Grammar

Click on the link to read Captain Phonics to the Rescue!

Click on the link to read the Phonics debate.

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There’s a lot You Can’t Do in Ten Days

September 3, 2012

A teacher is caught bullying a 13-year old boy. The punishment: a ten day sabbatical!

What is the point of a ten day suspension? What can be achieved by such a useless consequence?

Ten days wont fix the scars of the bullied teen, it wont restore confidence in students, parents or colleagues, it wont provide the teacher with enough time to learn new strategies and it wont deter other teachers from doing the same.

This shocking video shows the moment a Washington middle school teacher allegedly joined bullies in beating a 13-year-old boy to the ground and physically abusing him.

Shot by a fellow student, the disturbing footage begins with the boy being dragged across a classroom floor by his arms and legs, a sock stuffed in his mouth.

One of the bullies can be heard giggling and yelling ‘pull his pants down’ to a chorus of laughter from the others.

Students sit around watching, some visibly entertained, not one of them stepping in to help as the boy cowers on the floor.

But what’s more shocking to the boys devastated mother, Karla Kinney, is that the teacher, John Rosi, stands idly by and is even seen getting stuck in himself.Rosi, an 18-year classroom veteran was suspended from his post for 10 days in an agreement that allowed him to avoid losing his job.

So let’s measure the level of rehabilitation that this meagre punishment has produced:

In a letter to investigators Rosi said he did not consider the incident to be bullying.

‘I can honestly say that at the time I did not believe that any of the children were at risk of harm during their interactions.

‘Nor did I view the incident as anything more than harmless childhood horseplay,’ he wrote.

Welcome back Mr. Rosi!

Click on the link to read The Rise of Teacher Approved Bullying (Video)

Click on the link to read Don’t Even Try to Huminise James Holmes

Click on the link to read How Can Facebook Allow James Holmes Tribute Pages?

Click on the link to read The Need to Blame Anything and Everything for the Colorado Shootings

Tags: bullying captured on cell phone, Chuck Cuzzetto, Gig Harbor Middle School bullying, Joan Mell, John Rosi back at school, John Rosi bullying, John Rosi Video, Karla Kinney, Randall Kinney, Rosi was suspended for 10 days without pay, student was terrorized in a bullying attack by peers
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Our Real Heroes are Not Celebrities or Athletes

September 3, 2012

The real heroes are our family members, the person down the street who works two jobs to feed his family or the lady who works at the bank who greets you because she wants to rather than has to. Our heroes are not necessarily the footballer who wins an MVP or the actor who takes home the Oscar.

Last month “Blade Runner” Oscar Pistorius became a heroic figure to many who watched the Olympic Games. As an amputee, competing in the able body Olympics, many saw his feat as remarkable and looked up to him as a source of inspiration. Some queried that his custom-made blades might give him an unfair advantage over the others, but those arguments were quashed by the outpouring of love and respect from the general community.

To hear Pistorius’ unsportsmanlike rant post-race of the Paralympics 200 meter event just reminds us to look up to heroes that we know, rather than those appointed by spin doctors and television executives looking for a ratings boost:

‘Blade Runner’ Oscar Pistorius suffered a shock defeat at the Paralympics tonight, and immediately claimed that the man who beat him had an unfair advantage.

The South African athlete, who became the first double amputee to run at the Olympics less than a month ago, came second behind Brazilian sprinter Alan Oliveira in the T44 200m event.

Pistorius began the final as the big favourite, and the result stunned the 80,000 spectators inside London’s Olympic Stadium into silence.

But the race was surrounded by controversy after Pistorius claimed that he was at a disadvantage because the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he uses to run are shorter than some of his competitors’.He complained that athletes with longer blades are assisted because their stride lengths are greater.Oliveira, one of the athletes who uses longer blades than Pistorius, won the race in 21.45secs.

Pistorius, who had led for most of the race, finished in 21.52secs.

Immediately after the race, Pistorus said the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) did not ‘want to listen’ to his concerns, adding: ‘The guys’ legs are unbelievably long.

Even if he does have a point, this is not the time to raise it. Heroes are not bad sports. The real heroes are all around us. We just don’t seem to notice them.

Click on the link to read Teaching Children about the Paralympics

Click on the link to read Lessons Children Can Learn from the London Olympics

Click on the link to read Who Would Want This Athlete Representing Their Country?

Click on the link to read Sometimes the Parents are More Exhausted than their Athlete Children

Click on the link to read Teaching Children to Deal with Embarrassment

Teaching Children about the Paralympics

September 2, 2012

Courtesy of The Guardian:

Paralympic interactive guide
Click on the coloured buttons to find out what’s going on where. Also find this day by day guide.

Paralympic news as it happens
Find the latest coverage of the Paralympics here including live blogs, the day in pictures, videos and comment.

Paralympic sport graphics
One of the main mysteries about the Paralympics is just what is Boccia? Find out what and how using this really useful graphics explaining the format and rules of Boccia and other Paralympic sports including Goalball and Wheelchair Rugby.

Paralympic datablog
Data and charts to explore in class on who is competing in the Paralympics including lots of useful charts and a full list of every athlete competing at the Paralympic Games and the disciplines in which they are taking part.

Paralympics opening ceremony
Last week’s dazzling opening ceremony with fireworks, giant umbrellas and, of course, Stephen Hawkins was in essence an upscaled science lesson – so great stuff to review with your class. Here is a selection of the most spectacular images from a memorable night in east London.

Paralympic opening ceremony media coverage
How the newspapers covered the launch of the London Games. The Daily Express and the Daily Star were the only ones to feature another story as their main headline.

The history of the Paralympics
Fascinating tale of how the Paralympics grew from a sports day for veterans to a global event, from the Guardian archives.

10 Paralympics stars to watch
From China’s blind goalball hero Chen Liangliang to Oscar Pistorius, 10 of the 4,200 competitors to keep a special eye on.

Brick-by-brick Olympics
If you are reviewing the Olympics in class don’t miss the incredible Lego animations reconstructing the best moments of the global sports event in Lego. Here’s a montage of the best bits with links to all the Brick by brick recreations.

Virtual tour of the Olympic Games
This immersive 360 degree virtual tour of the Olympics is great for a whiteboard show and tell.

Ability v ability: British Paralympic Education Pack
Useful education pack with plenty of ideas on how to include the Paralympics in your lessons or assemblies.

Dr Ludwig Guttman – founder of the Paralympic games
A Holocaust Memorial Day resource about Dr Ludwig Guttman, Holocaust survivor and founder of the Paralympic games. The resource is an opportunity to teach students about the link between the Paralympic games and the Holocaust.

Using the Paralympics in class
ICT teacher Chris Leach’s useful blog on bringing real world events to life in class using a range of technology.

Importance of failure
Teacher and psychologist Marc Smith looks at how we embrace failure as a springboard to success.

Meet the Paralympians
Inspiring video of Paralympians including Ellie Simonds and Jon-Allen Butterworth.

Paralympic classification of elite athletes with intellectual disabilities
The inspiring story of how athletes with intellectual disabilities have rejoined the Paralympics in London 2012

ParalympicsGB
The official paralympics site with news and athletes’ case studies

And David Beckham
Sainsbury’s is the official sponsor of the Paralympics and its useful site includes an invitation from David Beckham calling you to play an online game of blind football.

Click on the link to read Lessons Children Can Learn from the London Olympics

Click on the link to read Who Would Want This Athlete Representing Their Country?

Click on the link to read Sometimes the Parents are More Exhausted than their Athlete Children

Click on the link to read Teaching Children to Deal with Embarrassment

Tags: 10 Paralympics stars to watch, Dr Ludwig Guttman – founder of the Paralympic games, Paralympic interactive guide, Paralympic news, Paralympics lesson plan, Paralympics opening ceremony, Paralympics teaching resource, Teaching abouyt the Paralympics, Teaching Children about the Paralympics, The history of the Paralympics, Using the Paralympics in class, Virtual tour of the Olympic Games
Posted in Engaging Students | Leave a Comment »

Doctors Treating our Children Like Lab Rats

September 2, 2012

It’s bad enough that doctors are over prescribing medications to young children, to read that they are also prescribing them drugs that are intended for adults makes me extremely angry. How do we allow doctors to prescribe any drug until extensive research has been conducted:

Children are being prescribed unlicensed medicines that could be causing harm, a report has warned.

The Government study is demanding an urgent investigation into the ‘unacceptable’ fact that almost a third of drugs given to sick children are officially approved for only adult use.

It warns of ‘a high number of drug errors’ in which children may be wrongly prescribed too much of a medicine because the doses are meant for adults.

Historically, pharmaceutical companies have not had an obligation to test medicines on youngsters. The law changed in 2007 and new drugs coming to market must now be tested on children before they can be used on them.

But this still means about 30 per cent of drugs prescribed to under-18s – and up to 95 per cent of drugs given to babies in intensive care – have never been tested on children.

It’s one of modern days big tragedies that doctors seem to be in bed with the big pharmaceutical companies.

Click here to read The Drug Companies Are at it Again!

Click here to read Doctors Create a New Normal by Over-Prescribing Drugs

Click here to read ADHD Diagnosis a “Convenient Out For Lazy Teachers”: Dunham

Tags: a third of drugs given to sick children are officially approved for only adult use., ADD, ADHD, ‘a high number of drug errors’ in which children may be wrongly prescribed, Children are being prescribed unlicensed medicines, doses are meant for adults., Drugs, drugs coming to market must now be tested on children, Medication, News, Over prescribing of drugs, Parenting, pharmaceutical companies, Prescribed drugs that have not been tested on children, test medicines on youngsters
Posted in Children and Medication | Leave a Comment »

The Courts are Pathetic in Punishing Paedophiles

September 1, 2012

Newsflash: Prison doesn’t just exist to rehabilitate, it is also there to take the scum off the street. A known paedophile should be locked away for a substantial period of time, regardless of whether or not it will ‘cure’ him of his sickness.

A paedophile who downloaded child porn has been spared jail after a judge said locking him up could be more dangerous to society in the long term.

Jason Fairfax, 35, of Bargoed, south Wales, had amassed a collection of around 2,700 indecent images when police raided his home earlier this year.

The photographs and videos were later graded from one to five – with the higher the category, the more serious the offence.

Cardiff Crown Court heard almost a third of the images were at the higher end of the scale – with 786 level four and 29 level five images.

The details of the photographs were so serious, Judge David Wyn Morgan asked the media not to publish their details.

He said: ‘When the police investigated your computer, they found a staggering number of images that were indecent.

‘There was a very large number of them at the top end of the scale, at level four and five.

‘The natural reaction of any decent human being would be that you should go to prison for as long as possible.

‘But when the revulsion has subsided, the court must consider precisely what that would achieve.

‘You would go into prison as sex offender and still come out as one – just as dangerous if not more so than you are at the moment.

‘And the protection of the public must be of paramount concern to the court.’

Instead what does this animal get?

Judge Morgan decided to make the defendant the subject of a sex offenders treatment programme for three years. He will also have to sign the sex offenders’ register until at least 2017 and undertake 250 hours of unpaid work.

Furthermore, Fairfax is not allowed to have any contact with any children under the age of 16 – either in person, on the telephone or via the internet – without the approval of their parents.

He is also banned from deleting the browsing history on his computer as well as erasing any images from a digital camera or camera phone without permission from the police.

This judgement is absolutely terrifying. We must not put up with it.

Click on the link to read Confronting a Teacher Can Be Very Difficult

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Tags: 000 indecent images, 35, Family, Instead ordered Fairfax to attend three-year sex offender treatment programme Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2196492/Paedophile-downloaded-sickening-child-porn-spared-jail-prison-m, Jason Fairfax, Jason Fairfax amassed nearly 3, Judge David Wyn Morgan, Judge said jail was not the best way to protest public Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2196492/Paedophile-downloaded-sickening-child-porn-spared-jail-prison-make-dangerous.html#ixzz, judge said locking paedophile up could be more dangerous to society in the long term., kids, of Bargoed, paedophile who downloaded child porn has been spared jail, Parenting, south Wales, You would go into prison as sex offender and still come out as one
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If We Accept Dishonesty From Adults, What Hope is There for Our Kids?

August 31, 2012

It bothers me that society has given up on honesty and is now happy to settle for the occasional deceit:

Most women will forgive their partners for cheating once or even twice, but would dump them if they tried it three times, according to a study.

The research found that more than six in ten women would forgive two relationship ‘errors’ – which include infidelity, excessive flirtatious behaviour or romantic neglect. They would, however, dump their man after three.

A full 53 per cent say they would be likely to give their partner another chance even if they found out they had cheated on them, as long as that cheating was a one-off and didn’t involve a pro-longed affair, according to a poll of 2,000 British men and women for laundry specialists Dr. Beckmann.

An incredible 38 per cent of all current British relationships have endured infidelity of some kind, according to the study.

I believe this study represents a negative worldview which is sure to affect the next generations. We must expect nothing less than honesty and loyalty from each other. Forgiveness is a personal choice, but even so, there must be an expectation of trust in every genuine relationship.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

Click on the link to read Is there Wisdom in Making Students Repeat the Year?

Click on the link to read Teachers Should Stop Blaming Parents and Start Acting

Click on the link to read The Benefits of Reality TV on Kids

Click on the link to read Study Reveals Children Aren’t Selfish After All

Tags: cheating partners, cheating wives, cheationg husbands, excessive flirtatious behaviour or romantic neglect, Family, forgive cheating partners, forgive two relationship ‘errors’, forgivness after cheating, Giving a partner another chance, Honesty, infidelity, Love, Marriage, News, Over a third of all relationships have endured infidelity Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2196146/Why-affairs-unforgivable-Six-women-forgive-partner-strayed-twice.html#ixzz256JOLOnT, Parenting, Relationships, Susan Fermor, Truth, women will forgive their partners for cheating once or even twice
Posted in Child Development | 1 Comment »

When the School Bus Mirrors a War Zone (Video)

August 31, 2012

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_oL7B9Manq4

I think it’s highly appropriate for the police to take incidents featuring physical bullying like the one above very seriously:

The argument on a Franklin Township school bus wasn’t particularly unusual. One student had taken a seat that another wanted for himself.

But to Lora Hoagland, what followed was horrifying — a 15-year-old attacking her younger, smaller son for nearly a full minute, the image captured on a cellphone video taken by another student on the bus as it left the parking lot at Franklin Township Middle School East on Wednesday afternoon.

The video, posted to Facebook, was cited by Franklin Township Schools Police in arresting the 15-year-old on preliminary charges of battery with injury and disorderly conduct. It also has left Hoagland with doubts about the safety of her two children, both students in Franklin Township.

She didn’t send either of them to school Friday, likening the scene on the bus to a war zone.

Click on the link to read The Rise of Teacher Approved Bullying (Video)

Click on the link to read Punishments Handed to Children Who Bullied Bus Monitor. Now What?

Click on the link to read The Kids Who Bullied Their School Bus Monitor Shouldn’t be Punished: Nelson

Click on the link to read Video of a Bus Monitor Being Bullied by Middle School Children Goes Viral

Tags: 15-year-old arrested for fight on bus, argument on a Franklin Township school bus, Bullying, Bullying on bus, Bullying ranklin Township school bus, cellphone video taken of fight on school bus, Dangers of school bus, Education, Franklin Township Middle School East bus fight, Franklin Township school bus, Lora Hoagland, News, posted to Facebook, School Bullying, School Bus, School Bus Bully, School bus fight video, Video, was cited by Franklin Township Schools Police
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Parents and Teachers Should Not Be Facebook Friends

August 31, 2012

Trust me, as much as being friends with parents may have its benefits, it is not a good idea:

Jill Schulman-Riemer has taught nursery through third grade, and is currently a private tutor and educational consultant in New York City. She says teachers and parents should keep their distance outside of the classroom, particularly online.

The trouble goes both ways, she warns. “Parents friending teachers and teachers friending parents can be a slippery slope. You put a lot of trust in your children’s teachers. We all need to stay in our professional roles with each other, and Facebook just isn’t a place for that.”

“Talk to them off line,” Schulman-Riemer advises. “Don’t use email or Facebook messenger. Try an actual face-to-face conversation. Explain that, of course, you’re always happy to talk to a parent about their child or anything school-related, but your policy is that you don’t friend parents on Facebook, and you prefer in-person conversations.”

Sure, friending your kid’s teacher may sound like a nice way to have a more personal connection with someone who’s an important part of your family’s daily life. But information on people’s Facebook pages can easily be misread or blown out of proportion. And while teachers recognize that they’re being judged on student performance and how they present themselves in the classroom, they shouldn’t be held accountable for old college pictures, or late-night comments posted on their timeline after someone’s bachelorette party.

If you go out and friend a teacher on Facebook, or accept their friend request, you do so at your own risk, says Carrie Mize, who’s been on both sides of the fence, as a parent of three young children, and a teacher of pre-school and elementary grades in Michigan, Virginia, and Connecticut.

“If you choose to open up the personal side of things, you have to understand that it’s their personal life and you may see things you don’t like,” She says. “A teacher’s Facebook page doesn’t have anything to do with your child. The teacher doesn’t have their teacher hat on, and if you see something inappropriate, you just have to let it go.”

Click on the link to read Don’t Even Try to Huminise James Holmes

Click on the link to read Teachers Who Rely on Free Speech Shouldn’t be Teachers

Click on the link to read Facebook’s Age Restictions are a Joke

Click on the link to read Facebook and Child Exploitation