Education Short List

Bye Bye 2009. You had your moments but it’s time to move on.

Hello 2010 – or as all the cool kids are calling you 20-10.

I hear you’re going to be a fantastic year.

One of the first articles I published was about the steps families can talk to help their children be more successful at school. These steps were related to how families could make changes, at home, before going to look for a tutor.

The article from Parade Magazine, discusses the importance of sleep; in addition to how to help kids get more of it. I felt that this article was valuable because it re-emphasized points that I tell parents when they are concerned with their child’s progress at school. Plus, it gave more credibility to the fact that our children need to be more physically active.

http://www.parade.com/health/2009/09/13-how-to-help-kids-sleep-better.html

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Stay Healthy How To Help Kids Sleep Better by Dr. Ranit Mishori

A bit of parental wisdom known to most moms and dads: If you want to get a good night’s sleep yourself, just keep your kids running all day long. An early night and undisturbed sleep are almost guaranteed. But is it true?

New research says it is. A study in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood came to the following conclusion: Active children fall asleep faster and sleep longer than children who get less exercise.

The researchers followed nearly 600 New Zealand 7-year-olds. They had the parents answer a questionnaire on their children’s sleeping habits. They also had the kids wear monitors around their waists over one 24-hour period to measure their activity levels each minute of the day.

Here’s what the study found: It took an average of 26 minutes for a child to fall asleep. But for every hour a youngster was inactive during the day, it took three minutes longer. For active children, it worked the other way: The more activity, the less time it took to fall asleep.

Obviously, a child’s sleep pattern affects the parents too. A child who wakes up often during the night can wreak havoc on grown-ups’ need for rest. But there is also a significant impact on the child. Poor sleep habits have been associated with behavioral problems, low grades in school, and even an increased risk of being overweight.

According to the article, some 16% of parents of school-age children report that their kids have trouble falling asleep. The study, the authors noted, “emphasizes the importance of physical activity for children, not only for fitness, cardiovascular health, and weight control, but also for sleep.”

It seems logical that kids who run around all day are more tired and therefore sleep better. But consider: Perhaps it’s the other way around. Maybe children who get a lot of sleep have more energy to run around all the time. In fact, researchers are not sure what causes what in this chicken-egg scenario.

Still, we know exercise is good for kids, so encourage your children to be active—to run, play soccer, swim, hit a tennis ball, whatever will keep them moving. Even if it doesn’t knock them out at bedtime, they’ll be healthier, and that should let everyone in the household sleep easier.

Not all adults know the name of Jeff Kinney; but if you were to ask middle school and elementary aged boys – they would tell you who Mr. Kinney is. The author of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books has recently released the fourth installment of the series.

As an educator, I am glad for these series of books that are geared towards boys, and younger aged boys too. To me, it seems that boys, more than girls, have a hard time getting into reading or finding books of some depth that really relate to them. Yes, I will always be grateful to Captain Underpants; but I like to give my students something more — something in between Captain Underpants and Harry Potter. I feel that Diary of a Wimpy Kid fits there. There are two additional reasons I encourage my students to read the series.

One, I like the comic strips added into it. It tricks some students into thinking that a comic strip isn’t real reading. When in reality, any reading, is well — reading. And two, I like how it is set up for journaling. When I taught in the classroom I had my students journal every day for at least fifteen minutes. Journaling is a great activity for anyone, but especially students who are in the beginning stages of writing and creating longer written works. Once this series came to my attention, I made references to it. I would also show my students how writing in a journal is different for everyone, and that NO it didn’t have to be called a diary.

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If you haven’t gotten to know this series, I recommend that you do. Maybe give book one to a child you know during their December break from school.

www.theweek.com/article/index/101895/Author_of_the_week_Jeff_Kinney

www.wimpykid.com/

www.funbrain.com/journal/Journal.html?ThisJournalDay=1&ThisPage=1

Ahh, the last week of school before the big winter break. I don’t envy teachers this week. It’s a super busy week, with deadlines, papers to grade, projects to hand out or get back. Plus, if it’s snowing – or you even have the chance of snow – there’s no way you are going to get your students to focus. Add to that, if you are an elementary school teacher – the excitement of the holidays.

For new teachers, I would think that this week is more hectic than others; and a bit more stressful than even the first day of school.

Originally I had planned on giving out resources to aid educators in celebrating all the holidays found in December. But then I remembered my years as a teacher, and a substitute (which you can just forget about accomplishing anything if you are a sub) – and thought better of it.

So, here’s to you teachers, instructors, classroom aides, and educators. Good Luck this week. Do your best to enjoy this time with your students. And go drink a big glass of Martha Stewart’s eggnog (www.marthastewart.com/recipe/favorite-eggnog)

When I was a classroom teacher, I really enjoyed being able to bring current events into our classroom and integrate them into lesson plans.

Here is one that relates to the Gold Rush in California during the 1800s. A lost shipping vessel was recently found. There are so many great ways to use this story and build upon it in the classroom.

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/103471/Germany_restores_1936_highjump_record_to_Jewish_athlete_and_more

Divers find shipwreck from the Klondike Gold Rush
Archaeologists have located the only known untouched shipwreck from the Klondike Gold Rush, 108 years after the vessel sank. The sternwheeler A.J. Goddard vanished in Lake Laberge in the Yukon on Oct. 22, 1901, killing three of its five crewmen. But a diving team, funded in part by the National Geographic Society, announced this week that it had found the Goddard resting upright in 40 feet of water, relatively intact. “It’s a rare window into the past,” said nautical archaeologist James Delgado, who helped find the wreck. About 30 Gold Rush–era shipwrecks exist in the Yukon region, but most of them have either been salvaged or are in poor condition.