Students Don’t Have Enough Time to Eat
I’m glad that there was an article about this. As a school teacher, I barely had enough time to eat; for kids it seemed even faster. From bell to bell there are 35-40 minutes to eat. That means to leave the room, get to the lunch line, get food, sit down, eat the food, and go to recess. All of the kids want to have recess – so they will scarf down their lunch just to go and play. There were also plenty of times that I saw kids throw away food just in order to go and play. I think it would be a lot better if it became mandatory to eat 2/3 of your lunch, or you have to sit for at least 15 minutes before racing off for the playground. I remember watching Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution, and he tried doing that with the kids. It seemed to make them eat more and they tried eating different foods too. It’s important that kids eat, or else they are tired and sluggish in the afternoon – and way more irritable.
Let’s Talk about Race…in the Classroom
“By calling it out, you take a risk. By ignoring it, you take a bigger one.” I really liked this article because it brought up something that has happened to me as a teacher; and, unfortunately, I took the easier way out. I liked that this article called me on my s*%t. The quote I used, from the article, really sums it up perfectly. In fact, it can not only apply to race/diversity discussions in the classroom, but many other topics too.
Moshi Monsters and Rory’s Story Cube – Bloomberg Business Week
Rory’s Story Cubes
Moshi Monsters
Two interesting items came out of last week’s Bloomberg Business Week. I was reading the ‘Popularity’ Issue and was surprised to find two of the popular items that were directly related to kids. The first was Moshi Monsters, it’s a social networking site aimed directly at rather young children (ages 6-11). I cannot imagine what six year old is online and what need they have for their own social networking – but the numbers don’t lie. Nearly half of all children that age are online with Moshi. The second article was about Rory’s Story Cubes. I was so intrigued by this that I actually bought the story cubes. They are dice with pictures on them that are used to help students use their creativity to write and make up stories. Apparently it’s so fun and popular that adults use them at work (case in point – my purchase). I’ll get back to you on how fun and easy they are to use.
Too Much Homework
I recently wrote an article for Teach Hub about having teachers rethink the amount of homework. I do believe that our students need homework, but that they are getting too much. It seems as though homework has become something you stopped doing at home, and more into ‘rush to get it done.’ Or maybe it’s always been like that. But, the real purpose and goal of homework has gotten lost along the way as well; which, I feel, only adds to the overwhelming amount of homework that students receive.
New Study about Students’ Ability to Learn Words
Key Insights to Learning Words
This article talked about how a new study is saying that flashcards and rote repetition/memorization might not be helping our students as much as we previously thought. The article brought up some interesting points, such as, the environment and surroundings and interactions that our students have play a more important role in their education. I do agree with that. However, there is a lot to be said for the use of flashcards with sight words and basic math facts. For me, until this study can be replicated I don’t know if I will worry too much about it.
President Obama and No Child Left Behind
I’m so happy to have read this article. It’s about time. President Obama is releasing schools from the restrictions of NCLB. I mean, obviously, he is going to start enforcing his own brand of No Child Left Behind (Race to the Top) – but at least the restraints have been lessened. I swear, when are politicians going to stop being the ones to decide what happens in our classrooms? Sigh.
