Posts Tagged ‘Education’
July 27, 2012
How did milk suddenly become public enemy number 1?
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a national vegan and physician group based out of D.C., has filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture asking for milk to be banned from school lunches, according parenting site BabyCenter.
According to the report, PCRM claims that the beverage is “…high in sugar, high in fat and high in animal protein that is harmful to, rather than protective of, bone health.”
Despite the American Heart Association’s recommendation that children between ages 1 and 8 drink around two cups of reduced-fat milk a day, the PCRM asserts in its petition there are better ways for youngsters to get their calcium.
“Children can get the calcium they need from beans, green leafy vegetables (e.g., broccoli, kale, collard greens), tofu products, breads and cereals. Additionally, a wide variety of non-dairy, calcium-fortified beverages is available today including soy milk, rice milk and fruit juice, all of which provide greater health and nutritional benefits compared with dairy milk.”
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:American Heart Association, and milk, Anne Goetze, banning milk from school lunches, Childhood Obesity, Education, Health, Is milk bad for kids?, Is milk bad for you? Is milk good for you?, Lunch Box, Milk In School Lunches, Milk In Schools, national vegan and physician group, News, Parenting, petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture asking for milk to be banned from school lunches, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Posted in Child Development | 2 Comments »
July 27, 2012
We have all cheated on something in our lifetime. I’m not endorsing cheating by any means, but we have all done it.
A child who is found to be cheating should be confronted, but not in front of the class and should definitely not have to put up with unnecessary and unhelpful labels and be subjected to gruesome corporal type punishment:
Unable to bear the trauma of being labeled a ‘cheat’ and unable to bear the taunts of her teachers, an 11-year-old girl jumped to her death from the roof of the five-storied apartment building of in which her school. The incident took place is located in Howrah’s Bijoy Kumar Mukherjee Road on Thursday morning. The incident highlights the poor state of affairs in educational institutions across the state. In spite of a blanket ban on corporal punishment, students are regularly falling victim to high-handedness of teachers. This is, however, the first time in recent years that a child has been driven to suicide by those she is supposed to trust and respect.
The principal of the school and the concerned teacher were detained following a complaint from the girl’s father Shiv Narayan Mishra. He claimed that principal Dilip Kumar Dubey gave his daughter a tongue-lashing, telling her to ‘go to hell’ and remain uneducated for the rest of her life. This may have led the Class-VI girl to suicide. While the school operates from the first floor of the building, the other floors have residential flats which had given the kid access to the roof.
Click on the link to read Child Commits Suicide Due to Alleged Systematic Bullying and Inept Teachers
Click on the link to read The Cure for Suicide Isn’t Another Educational Program
Click on the link to read Sick Teachers Need to be Arrested not Fired!
Tags:'go to hell', 11-year-old girl jumped to her death from the roof after being called a cheat, Aparna Mishra, Cheating on tests, Child Welfare, Corporal Punishment, Dilip Kumar Dubey, Education, girl labeled a cheat, Howrah's Bijoy Kumar Mukherjee Road, professional conduct, Shiv Narayan Mishra, St Dominic Savio School, Suicide
Posted in Professional Conduct | 2 Comments »
July 27, 2012
The current system of paying off burnt-out teachers with a $50,000 pay ‘bonus’ in order to get them to retire is very troubling. How come we don’t have the same problem with burnt-out nurses, policemen, social workers and veterinarians? They seem to leave when the passion has eroded. Why is it so hard to get our teachers to leave?
UNMOTIVATED, ageing public school teachers look set to be offered another round of $50,000 “burnout bonuses” to quit.
An Australian Taxation Office ruling reveals that the Education Department has applied for and been given permission to provide early retirement packages this financial year under the Teacher Renewal Program.
Under the scheme, 103 experienced teachers accepted the payout last year, freeing up 100 permanent positions for graduates and early career teachers.
A department spokeswoman said the Government had not yet committed to implementing a second round in 2012-13.
“The recent Teacher Renewal Program was highly successful,” the spokeswoman said.
Perhaps a better question is why do our teachers burn out so quickly?
My view is that teachers are burning out alarmingly young. Perhaps then, the bigger issue is addressing the incredible workload and stress levels faced by a modern teacher rather than the urge to have a burnt-out teacher replaced by another teacher destined to commence their own rapid journey into Burnoutsville.
Click on the link to read I’m Drowning in Paperwork: Please Pass the Snorkel
Click on the link to read It isn’t that Hard to Make a “Poor” Teacher a “Good” One
Click on the link to read The Overwhelming Responsibilies of the Modern Teacher
Click on the link to read That’s Right, Blame the Teachers
Tags:000 "burnout bonuses", ageing public school teachers, Australian Taxation Office, burnout bonuses, Education, experienced teachers payout, Getting burnt out teachers to quit or retire, retirement packages for teachers, teachers look set to be offered another round of $50, Teachers Stress
Posted in Teachers Stress | Leave a Comment »
July 27, 2012
There is a new philosophy which has surfaced in many schools. It is driven by good intentions but is unlikely to reap any rewards.
This philosophy maintains that every child is a born leader. Just like every child has the potential to contribute to society, so too, every child has an innate, yet untouched, ability to lead.
This line of thinking has inspired schools to appoint many different leadership positions such as class captain, house captain, prefects etc and rotate these positions, thereby giving every member of the class a chance to assume a leadership role.
What could be wrong with that?
Two things.
Firstly, what is the point of offering leadership positions if they are going to be devalued by being handed out to every member of the class, regardless of their abilities? Isn’t the whole point of these positions to honour children that have a long and distinguished record of setting a good example and working hard? What is the point of having a class captain if the person taking on the role has a record of misbehaviour, truancy and possesses a poor work ethic?
Secondly, who says every child can be a leader? This is simply untrue. Most people are not leaders – they are followers. True leaders are very rare – just look at some of our lackluster politicians! Appointing certain children in leadership roles will not only not work but will most likely put an unfair set of expectations on children that neither asked for, nor earned such responsibility.
The notion that we should aspire to be leaders is something I find very troubling. I believe we should all aspire to be caring, considerate, respectful and hard working. If we are not a leader, that is fine. We can’t all be leaders, just like we can’t all be good at drawing or playing sport.
Schools that are trying to turn all their students into leaders would be better served trying to turn their students into good citizens.
Click on the link to read Kids Don’t Need Gold Stars
Click on the link to read Experts Push for Kids to Start Driving at 12
Click on the link to read Kids as Young as 3 are Getting Tutors
Tags:Class captain, Education, Followers, Giving every child a prize, House Captains, Leaders, Leadership in schools, Prefects, Rewarding kids for no reason, School Captain, School Rules, Student Leaders
Posted in Child Development | Leave a Comment »
July 26, 2012
How can we trust Facebook to help us fight cyberbullying if they can’t even ban tribute pages to a murderer? How can we trust Facebook to protect our children from online predators when they can’t stop online propaganda championing a sick murderer? How can we trust Facebook when they claim to be enforcing their age restriction policy when they can’t even take a common sense approach to getting rid of James Holmes tribute pages?
I have no trust in Facebook!
While Facebook pages paying tribute to James Holmes — the alleged shooter in the attacks in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., last week during the premiere showing of The Dark Knight Rises— may violate all standards of common decency, they apparently do not violate Facebook’s terms of service.
CNN reported that a “few-dozen” such pages have sprung up over the past week, including one with more than 800 likes.
The social network is caught in a no-win situation in cases such as this: If it removes the pages, it is accused of violating free-speech rights. And if it allows the pages to exist, users complain that it allows distasteful, hateful content on its network.
Facebook Spokesman Fred Wolens told CNN that the pages, “while incredibly distasteful, don’t violate our terms,” adding that “credible threats” against specific people or content with the potential to incite violence would be grounds for the deletion of pages.
The free speech argument must be used only within the confines of common sense. Facebook should be ashamed of themselves!
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
Tags:Colo, Cyber Safety, do not violate Facebook’s terms of service, Education, Facebook pages paying tribute to James Holmes, Facebook Spokesman Fred Wolens, Free Speech, freedom of speech, James Holmes bullied, james holmes childhood, James Holmes facebook pages, James Holmes motive, james holmes parents, James Holmes tribute pages, News, Parenting, shooter in the attacks in a movie theater in Aurora, The Dark Knight Rises, violating free-speech rights
Posted in Cyber Safety, Social Media | Leave a Comment »
July 26, 2012
We used to preach to children to love one’s neighbour – now it’s turn-in your neighbour to the authorities!
School children are being encouraged by HM Revenue and Customs to tell their teachers if they know of anyone “in their local area” who is not paying their fair share of tax.
Critics said it was “un-British” of the HMRC to try to turn “children into state spies”.
HMRC has set up teaching modules to guide children through the hazards of pay as you earn and National Insurance contributions.
Some of the modules – which can be downloaded from HMRC’s website – teach school children as young as 11 about paying their fair share of tax.
The revenue uses video, games, facts and quizzes to “help make teaching financial capability and citizenship issues relevant and engaging”, according to its website.
Isn’t it great that we are teaching our children to be underhanded and sneaky instead of kind and supportive? It seems love goes out the window when money and greed is involved.
Tags:Children spying on tax chaets, Education, facts and quizzes to “help make teaching financial capability and citizenship issues relevant and engaging, Games, HM Revenue and Customs, HMRC to try to turn "children into state spies", not paying their fair share of tax, Parenting, Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg, School children, Tax Cheats, Tax Evaders, teaching school children as young as 11 about paying their fair share of tax, Video
Posted in Money Matters | Leave a Comment »
July 25, 2012
There seems to be a consensus among our Principals that if a methodology is found to be fatally flawed, try it again until it works.
Handing suspensions to unruly students used to work – in the 80’s.
We are not in the 80’s anymore. Times have changed and suspensions are useless in the current climate. The pattern of suspending kids only to see them return to their old ways within days (if not minutes) is a reflection of how hopeless this strategy is.
So, when I read that eighty-nine British primary students aged between 5 and 11 are being suspended every day, I can’t help but ask – Is that mode of punishment working for you?
Around 89 primary school children are being suspended daily for attacking their teachers and classmates.
Youngsters aged between five and 11 were ordered out of the classroom each day for assaults, racial abuse and threatening behaviour in 2010/11, shocking statistics show.
In total,a staggering 850 children of all ages are given fixed term expulsions every day for assaulting or verbally abusing their classmates and teachers.
I love the expression ‘fixed term expulsions’ – it sounds like a bank transaction. I wonder what the interest is on it.
If this is the only approach Principals are willing to take the system is doomed to failure!
Tags:9 primary school children are being suspended daily, Assualts, attacks on teachers, Classroom Management, Education, fixed term expulsions, News, Parenting, racial abuse and threatening behaviour in the classroom, Teachers being assaulted
Posted in Classroom Management | 3 Comments »
July 25, 2012
It’s just not sufficient to fire a teacher who is acting inappropriately towards their students. Often these teachers pop up in another school, sometimes another country, and continue to offend.
A teacher that encourages a student to stuff a pie down his pants shouldn’t just be banned from the classroom, he should be banned from society:
A teacher who asked a female pupil to stuff a pie down his pants has been struck off the teaching register.
Gavin Bradford was said to have made improper suggestions of a sexual nature to 20 girls at a college in Canada.
He was said to have asked them to smear themselves in ketchup and eggs and pour sour milk into their underwear.
Bradford, 37, returned home to Glasgow after the Canadian scandal and got a job as a performing arts lecturer at Coatbridge College in January 2010.
He has now been judged “unfit to teach” by the General Teaching Council Scotland.
Bradford did not turn up at the hearing in Edinburgh.
His removal from the teaching register in Scotland comes after the Ontario authorities tipped off their Scottish counterparts about his behaviour.
The exchanges happened over the internet late at night when Bradford was teaching in Canada.
He asked more than 20 girls as young as 12 to switch on their webcams during online conversations so he could watch them.
Struck off the register? If found guilty, he should be locked away for a long time and put on a sex offenders list!
Click on the link to read Why are so Many Teachers Child Predators?
Click on the link to read Drunk Lecturer Forces Students to Sit 23-Hour Exam Without Toilet Breaks
Click on the link to read Shocking Video of a Student Being Beaten Up by a Teacher
Tags:Child Welfare, Coatbridge College, Education, Gavin Bradford food fetish, Gavin Bradford pie down his pants, improper suggestions of a sexual nature, Law, News, Parenting, professional conduct, sex offenders list, smear themselves in ketchup and eggs and pour sour milk into their underwear, teaching register, unfit to teach
Posted in Child Welfare, Professional Conduct | Leave a Comment »
July 25, 2012
There is a major phonics debate going around. One side argues that one must learn phonics to be able to read properly, the other suggests that phonics is dry and boring and detracts from the pleasure of reading:
More than 90 of Britain’s best-known children’s authors and illustrators have called on the government to abandon its plans to introduce early-year reading tests, warning that they pose a threat to reading for pleasure in primary schools.
The former children’s laureate Michael Rosen is leading the writers’ charge against a phonics-intensive approach to teaching young children how to read.
A letter to the Guardian signed by 91 names including Meg Rosoff, Philip Ardagh and Alan Gibbons says millions is being spent on “systematic synthetic phonics programmes” even though there is “no evidence that such programmes help children understand what they are reading”.
Rosen told the Guardian: “It does not produce reading for understanding, it produces people who can read phonically.”
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.
Tags:Books, children's authors and illustrators against early-year reading tests, Education, Engaging Students, Grammar, letter to the Guardian, Literacy, Meg Rosoff, Michael Rosen against a phonics-intensive approach, Philip Ardagh and Alan Gibbons, Phonics, Reading, Teaching Phonics
Posted in Phonics | 2 Comments »
July 24, 2012
Author Ian Addison recommends his favourite online tools for getting creative in class:
Photo editing – Tuxpi Photo Editor or BeFunky
These sites allow you to take a simple photograph and then convert it into an artistic masterpiece. They provide tools to edit the photo and reduce blurring or red-eye but can also turn your photograph into a collage or provide additional effects such as speech bubbles or clipart images. The final images can then be downloaded to the computer and printed out or used elsewhere. These sites do provide additional tools for a fee, but the free elements are more than enough for most users.
Making music – Isle of Tune or Sound Nation
Isle of Tune is a site that provides a blank canvas in the form of fields and grass. A road is added to represent the path of the music and beats are added in the form of trees, bushes and houses. Once the car is driven along the road, the music is played. This all sounds much more complicated than it actually is and it is very simple to get a basic tune but using the gallery provides a selection of well-known tunes including the Harry Potter theme tune, YMCA and songs from Bruno Mars. These have been created and saved by other users of the site.
Sound Nation provides hundreds of audio clips that can be combined together to create a larger piece of music. The clips can be trimmed or repeated as necessary. Anyone can be a DJ within a few minutes.
Create a game – Sploder!
This website provides a range of characters, objects and walls that can be dragged on to the playing surface and manipulated to provide an area for the main character to explore. This is a great way to introduce game design with younger children as there isn’t any coding involved but they will need to think about the different elements that will make a good game. This includes creating a high-enough level of challenge to interest the player, but not too high to make the game impossible. This can then be used as a precursor to paid-for software such as 2Do It Yourself or free tools such as Scratch or Kodu.
Design an avatar – Unique by Rasterboy or Clay Yourself
There are lots of sites that give tools for creating a new online character. This could be saved and used as part of a display or it could be used instead of a real photograph when using tools such as email but it is their use in literacy that makes them a bit more creative. Use these sites to create characters for a story. This could be the main character or it could be the enemy, the person who has stolen the diamond. What will they look like? What features will they have? Print out the avatar and then give the children time to use descriptive vocabulary to describe their characters.
For the younger audience The Fungooms or Poisson Rouge
These sites are amazing for one brilliant reason, they give children the chance to explore, investigate and experiment with very little (if any) instruction. Often the activities on these sites require clicking, dragging or a bit of thought and young children love exploring the different games and puzzles available. These include making pop-art, learning French, counting games or playing snakes and ladders. These sites are a little bit mad, but truly beautiful. Oh, and can you go through the window on Poisson Rouge and find all eight of the hidden fruit?
A bit of help – Under Ten Minutes
And lastly, some help guides. This site has been created to aid teachers (and children) when they use different tools. Many of these are free but it also contains videos for tools such as Google Apps, ActivInspire and Movie Maker. The idea being that any tool can be shown in around 10 minutes and this is the perfect length of time to show the videos as part of a staff training session or even in a lesson. Why not point children towards the video before a lesson on Scratch or Sketch-up?
Click on the link to read Are High-Tech Classrooms Just a Lot of Hype?
Click on the link to read The Problem With IT in the Classroom
Click on the link to read There is Still Some Love for the Forgotten Class Whiteboard
Tags:BeFunky, Clay Yourself, Education, Ian Addison, ICT, Isle of Tune, Poisson Rouge, Sound Nation, Sploder!, Technology in the Classroom, The Fungooms, Tuxpi Photo Editor, Under Ten Minutes, Unique by Rasterboy
Posted in Technology in the Classroom | Leave a Comment »
Topical Teaching 