Posts Tagged ‘Education’

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Doctors Able to Reverse Egg Allergies

July 19, 2012

This is brilliant news for my daughter and the many others that suffer from egg allergies:

First peanuts, now eggs. Doctors have reversed allergies in some children and teens by giving them tiny daily doses of problem foods, gradually training their immune systems to accept them.

In the best test of this yet, about a dozen kids were able to overcome allergies to eggs, one of the most ubiquitous foods, lurking in everything from pasta and veggie burgers to mayonnaise and even marshmallows. Some of the same doctors used a similar approach on several kids with peanut allergies a few years ago.

Don’t try this yourself, though. It takes special products, a year or more and close supervision because severe reactions remain a risk, say doctors involved in the study, published in Thursday’s New England Journal of Medicine.

“This experimental therapy can safely be done only by properly trained physicians,” says a statement from Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the federal agency that sponsored the study.

It didn’t work for everyone, and some dropped out of the study because of allergic reactions. But the results “really do show there is promise for future treatment” and should be tested now in a wider group of kids, said the study’s leader, Dr. A. Wesley Burks, pediatrics chief at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

I’m glad this method is proving successful, but I don’t think I could put my daughter through the process.

Click here to read, ‘Anaphylaxis: The New Form of Discrimination’.

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30 Per Cent of Teens Have Sent Naked Images of Themselves Online: Report

July 18, 2012

If this survey is a reflection of teenagers as a whole, we have a lot of work to do:

Parents who don’t think their teens are sexting may be in for a rude awakening.

Nearly 30 percent of teens say they’ve sent nude photos of themselves via text or E-mail, according to a study published earlier this month in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Another 57 percent report being asked to send naked pictures, according to the study, which surveyed close to 1,000 Houston-area high school students, ages 14 to 19.

Should those teens oblige, both the sender and the receiver could face serious consequences. Those private photos could resurface online or even land the teens on a sex offender list.

Click here to read, ‘Laws That Seek To Protect Our Kids Fail Them’.

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Teachers Considered “Highly Qualified” After 5 Weeks of Training

July 18, 2012

Of course a student learning to become a teacher has not developed the skills to justifiably call themselves a “highly qualified” teacher. Sadly, with teacher training at such a poor standard, they could be studying for 5 years and it wouldn’t make much difference:

Today a U.S. House appropriations subcommittee will consider legislation that would allow students still learning to be teachers to be considered highly qualified teachers under federal law.

The nonprofit organization Teach for America places college graduates into high needs schools after giving them five weeks of training in a summer institute. The TFA corps members, who are required to give only a two-year commitment to teaching, can continue a master’s degree in education with selected schools while teaching.

Of course it doesn’t make any real sense that a new college graduate with five weeks of ed training or any student teacher should be considered highly qualified — because they aren’t. But federal officials inexplicably partial to Teach for America have bestowed millions of dollars on the organization, and TFA has, not surprisingly, lobbied Congress for this legislation.

The truth is, that 5 weeks of practical observation and teaching is far more beneficial that years of theory and mindless lectures.

Click on the link to read, ‘Teachers Trained Very Well to Teach Very Poorly‘

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Posted in Teacher Training | 2 Comments »

It’s Time to Get New Role Models

July 18, 2012

Unfortunately sports stars are idolised by children. I say unfortunately, because all too often they let themselves and their followers down by insensitive behaviour and poor decisions.

Take this story from my country, Australia, for example:

A YOUNG girl claims she was told by a St Kilda football player that the club saved themselves for ”hot chicks” and that ”there should be a no fat chicks section” in their contracts.

The girl, who has not been named, said the comments were made last week at Melbourne airport while she was trying to get a photograph for her friend.

She told the Herald Sun she was horrified by the experience.

“Instantly my eyes filled up with tears,” she said.

“Body image and how I look is important, so that comment, coming from someone who is in the public eye, made me feel like a monster.

“Now I think everyone around me is thinking those things.”

And what about this for a lackluster response?

St Kilda’s head of football Chris Pelchen confirmed the club had acted on the incident.

In a statement he said: ”The St Kilda Football Club can confirm we received a complaint from the mother of a young lady alleging comments were made by the players at Melbourne airport on Friday that upset her daughter.

”The Club has spoken to the playing group, and while there is some conjecture about the comments, the Club is mindful that sensitivities need to be respected.

”The family involved have indicated their appreciation for the professional way the St Kilda Football Club has managed the matter.”

The team made a donation to the Butterfly Foundation and also provided a guernsey to the young girl.

The sport’s body (the AFL) should step in and demand stronger consequences. This is beyond unacceptable behaviour.

Click here to join in the discussion on body image and our youth.

 

 

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Only Closed-Minded Schools Block YouTube

July 17, 2012

I have been on the record before in stating that I believe YouTube is one of the most valuable teaching and learning tools of the modern age. I have turned to YouTube to solve many a problem; such as learning new tie knots, working out which phone represents best value for money and to assist me in developing some of the features in this blog.

YouTube is brilliant for research, following procedures, guiding students and developing problem solving skills. Yet, because some of the content is unsuitable for kids, many schools choose to block YouTube. I think this is a gross overreaction. Whilst schools have the responsibility to supervise the online activity of its students, they would be best advised to allow access to YouTube with a teacher present.

Added to the benefits I have already touched on, YouTube has become a major source of where people get their news:

A new study has found that YouTube has become a major platform for news, one where viewers are turning for eyewitness videos in times of major events and natural disasters.

The Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism on Monday released their examination of 15 months of the most popular news videos on the Google Inc.-owned site. It found that while viewership for TV news still easily outpaces those consuming news on YouTube, the video-sharing site is a growing digital environment where professional journalism mingles with citizen content.

“There’s a new form of video journalism on this platform,” said Amy Mitchell, deputy director of the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. “It’s a form in which the relationship between news organizations and citizens is more dynamic and more multiverse than we’ve seen in most other platforms before.”

More than a third of the most-watched videos came from citizens. Than more half came from news organizations, but footage in those videos sometimes incorporated footage shot by YouTube users.

Click here to read, ‘Schools Should Not Block YouTube’.

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Posted in School Rules | 3 Comments »

Top 10 Educational iPad Apps

July 17, 2012

An impressive lineup of education apps as selected by gameclassroom.com:

1. BrainPOP Featured Movie, FREE
Made with the iPad in mind, this app delivers fresh, animated movies every day on topics including earth awareness, financial literacy and more. Kids take interactive quizzes to show what they know.

2. SUPER WHY!, $2.99
Rhyme, spell, write and read with PBS characters Alpha Pig, Princess Presto, Wonder Red, and yes, Super Why for an entirely entertaining educational experience. Kids won’t even realize they’re learning.

3. Dr. Seuss’s ABC and The Cat in the Hat, $2.99 each
What happens when you combine classic children’s books with cutting-edge technology? Storytelling magic! USA Today, Huffington Post and mommy bloggers count themselves among iPad/Seuss fans.

4. ABC Phonics Animals Free Lite, FREE
A group of parents created these talking and spelling flashcards. On the iPad, ye olde arte of learning becomes animated, interactive, lively and fun.

5. Star Walk, $2.99
This guide to the night sky shines brightly among iPad’s constellation of educational apps. It’s a window into more than 9,000 stars, planets, constellations and other celestial bodies.

6. RedFish, FREE ($9.99 upgrade for all 50 activities)
Teaching kids ages 3-7 to count, read, spell and even compose music has never been quite as much fun as it is on the iPad. What would Beethoven have done with an app such as this?

7. 123 Color HD Talking Coloring Book, $0.99
Fans of this iPhone app will want to check out the iPad version, with all-new high-resolution drawings that are five times larger than the originals.

8. World Book – This Day in History, $0.99
Thanks to the encyclopedia giant’s interactive calendar that includes pictures, sounds, music and features, history may not seem so ancient to kids.

9. iLiveMath Animals of Africa, $1.99
Stampeding toward an iPad near you, this app combines math with zoology for a hair-raising learning experience (which is currently being enhanced for Apple’s latest and greatest).

10. History: Maps of the World, FREE
Travel back in time with historical maps of all kinds. High-resolution maps on the iPad just might be the next best thing to being there.

Click here to read about The Meteoric Rise of the Educational App.

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Posted in Technology, Technology in the Classroom | Leave a Comment »

What is the Punishment for Beating up a Teacher?

July 17, 2012

The only thing worse than the statistic that more than 5 teachers are being assulted by students in public schools every day, is that nothing seems to be done about it.

Putting the obvious pain factor of being assulted aside, can you imagine how humiliating it would be to be kicked and punched by a child in front of your own students? Can you imagine what that does the teacher’s authority and self-respect?

ALARMING new figures show there were 1062 assaults on teachers in the state’s public system last year – an average of more than five every school day.

Education Department figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, also show 144 were classed as “critical” incidents.

In 2011, teachers lodged 46 compensation claims for assaults by students aged between 5 and 15 – an increase on 38 claims in 2010, and 40 in 2009.

Education leaders say teachers are at greater risk of being assaulted because students have “much more complex problems”.

I’ve been hit by students before (albeit very young students) and I’ve had objects thrown at me. There is nothing much I can do about it. I would rather get a black eye from a student than jeopardise my career by restraining him (if restraining him required force). But should I even have to ponder such a scenario?

This frightening statistic is due to 2 factors. Firstly, there is a lack of respect for teachers among all quarters of society. This lack of respect filters down to impressionable students who see how badly their own parents treat their teachers and think that tormenting the teacher is fair game. And secondly, there is a complete lack of deterrence to send the message that assaulting a teacher is unacceptable.

This whole excuse of students having more ‘complex problems’ is garbage. The truth is, schools have become soft on this sort of behaviour. They tend to be  more interested in keeping the parent body happy than keeping teachers safe.

Click here to read, ‘Teachers Stripped of the Ability to Give Punishments That Work’.

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Posted in Teacher Welfare | 1 Comment »

Who Said Grammar Isn’t Important?

July 17, 2012

I found this particular sign very amusing:

 

 

Click here to read The 15 Most Commonly Misspelled Words in the English Language

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Posted in Literacy | Leave a Comment »

Teaching Young Kids to Throw Away Their Money

July 16, 2012

Facebook offers its users “free” gambling games,which they of course claim is restricted to children over 13 (but we all know how well Facebook police their own age requirement laws):

Members of Facebook, who must be aged 13 or over, can play a wide range of games traditionally associated with betting, including roulette, slot machines and card games.

Addiction experts have now claimed the games could lead children to becoming habitual gamers or even “problem” gamblers.

They believe the free games could lead youngsters to believe they are just harmless fun, setting them on a path towards betting with real currency.

A spokeswoman for charity GamCare added they would like the Gambling Commission to research social gaming and investigate it further.

Mandy Barrie, policy and development director, told the newspaper: “This is a really rapidly-moving area. We need to think through very carefully any risks that it presents particularly for young people.

“There is a link between early exposure to gambling and developing a problem in adulthood.”

These games are designed to get kids into gambling as quickly as possible. Facebook knows it, parents unfortunately don’t.

Click here to read my post ‘Facebook Doesn’t Seem to Care About Kids’.

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Why Our Schools are in Crisis

July 16, 2012

Xavier Symons wrote a compelling examination of our failing education system. He pinpoints three areas where things are going awry:

The first is student-oriented learning. Traditional teaching in which teachers provide a succinct overview of topics is an endangered species. Student orientated, interactive learning has almost completely displaced it.

Certainly, there are benefits: creativity, enthusiasm, research skills. But why not pour a bit of expert knowledge from the well into the bucket? My friends and I loved having a teacher who had just graduated from education school. Student-centred learning for us meant student rule. It was great fun. We just didn’t learn much.

The second problem is the obsession with IT literacy. Students know heaps more than most teachers about IT. X-Box and circumventing internet filters and downloading movies is child’s play for this generation.

IT literacy is like learning to ride a bike: you don’t need school. But essay writing skills? We did need a teacher for that. In the worst cases, students end up pooling ignorance in meandering discussions, and scratching their heads in bewilderment.

As a high school student, I built and produced pictorial essays using film software. Some of my friends made mind maps on smart boards and podcast radio plays. The latest fad is educational games on iPads.

I certainly became IT literate. But it was at the expense of English proficiency and knowledge of history. I had a lot of fun doing a pictorial essay about the Vietnam War – but I I never learned why the French were there in the first place.

While IT literacy is very important in the digital age, the bread and butter of the humanities remains grasping and describing human experience and human history.

The third problem is uniformed teachers. Too many leave uni knowing the bare minimum, and never try to delve deeper. Many of my peers have found that their history teacher knows no more than the textbook. Alarmingly many teachers of English literature don’t actually read. And science teachers may be able to entertain a classroom by emphasising the practical aspects of biology, but students will be seriously underprepared come exams.

I have given my opinion on each of his three points:

Click here to read my opinion of ‘child centered learning’ vs ‘teacher centered learning’.

Click here to read my opinion on the problem with IT in the classroom.

Click here to read my opinion on the standard of teacher training.

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Posted in Teacher Training, Teaching Methods, Technology in the Classroom | Leave a Comment »

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