Education Short List

Teaching Tolerance Gym Article

Game Changers

I will admit it – I am not athletically inclined. I’ve never been on a sports team and I was never excited about gym class. The opening sentence of this Teaching Tolerance article says “You might as well give me an ‘F’ now – get it out of the way.” This is from a student to a P.E. teacher — and I have to say I felt the same way in all of those years of Physical Education classes. I just never got into it, didn’t see the point, and felt it was a waste of time seeing how we really never had time for any real activity. However, this article doesn’t focus on those points. Instead, it puts it’s attention on how to get all students motivated, interested, and involved in gym class. I thought the key points of inclusive PE were really great: personalize the curriculum, be creative with the needs of special needs students, emphasize effort and personal progress, and refrain from making physical activity a punishment. A few of these I had given little to no thought before, but now I want to learn more on how I can incorporate them.

It’s Not All Flowers and Sausages

Where is My Fun at?

I’m a really big fan of this blog. I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but I think Mrs. Mimi is the bee’s knees (what does that really mean anyway ? ) One of my brothers goes to the college where she teaches and I’m trying to get him to meet her for me (well, her and David Bowie). Anywho, I digress. I enjoy this blog, and this post in particular, because Mrs. Mimi is so right on in her assessments of education and school. I really liked her ideas on bringing the fun back to school – especially the times of year that are a bit rougher going. Her idea on ‘sandwiching’ criticism with good points reminds me so much of the approach I take when providing feedback on students’ essays. I liked her ways of using that within other realms.

Teaching about Gays in school – Oregonian

Action to Halt Anti-Gay Bullying

I found this article to have a refreshing perspective on the harassment and bullying towards homosexual learning. Instead of doing informative sessions in schools about bullying itself, this approach is about integrating the accomplishments of homosexuals into curriculum. Now, obviously, the acceptance of gay and lesbian individuals is more difficult to accept by some — but, I think it’s a very smart idea. In fact, this is one of the major goals of the bingo game that I created . If we can, as educators, present more information to our students about ALL people – then we allow them to have greater understanding and compassion towards people who may differ from themselves. Which, despite any personal reservations adults may have about anyone, should truly be the goal of every teacher. And I’m glad to see that some educators are finding more ways in which to do that.

Parade Magazine

Fed Up With School Lunch

I’ve been reading this blog pretty much since it started. It goes through what students eat on a daily basis at school. I’ve never eaten a school lunch, not even when I was in school ( ). To say the least the blog gained a lot of attention, so much so that the anonymous writer of the blog as come out from behind the curtain and now has a book. During her interview, she offered suggestions to those wanting to make changes in our children’s diets. My favorite was on what parents should do, “The first step is to go to school and have lunch with your child. Think of it as your fact-finding mission. How much time is allotted? What is being served? Then talk to your principal about what steps can be taken, like swapping out snacks in vending machines, adding a salad bar, or planting a school vegetable garden. ” Great ideas.