My high school principal has just announced that our state (Maryland) is now one of 10 winners of RTTT. Our county will be getting $22 million for Professional Development, assessment and evaluation.  Fantastic!  More NGO’s, 501c3’s, and burnt out teacher-administrators will get a good chunk of change for their latest schemes to make the world safe for democracy, or is it to teach and reach all children and graduate them into the ranks of the army, the reserve army of labor (the massive unemployed) or McDonald’s? 

What this means is that teachers will be stressed out even more with testing, evaluating the tests, and workshops on how to administer and evaluate the tests.  Perhaps equipping each school in Maryland with a full bar would go a long way in improving the data.  Happy teacher. Happy student.

What’s missing?  In the funny sign at the church it says CH_ _ CH; the answer is UR.  (Not something I particularly endorse but I love word play.)

In the soon to be well-endowed schools what’s missing is the student. His and her real needs are not in the equation. Testing the student does not make him or her achieve. Evaluating and reforming the test only increases the speed of the wheel in the rat cage.

Here’s what I’d like to see happen in our schools with the additional $22 million. 1.  Hire more teachers, even if it means bringing in portable facilities.

2. Shrink class sizes with these new teachers.  One of our luckier Spanish teachers only has 47 in his class.  He got off easy.

3.  Restock the book room with new books and enough for the students to take home, not  by sharing a class set that’s short a dozen or so.

4.  Make sure all schools have a working library. I’ve taught in 3 high schools in Baltimore that didn’t even have one.  Put A People’s History of the US into the History curriculum.

5.  No more unrealistic quotas for reams of paper per quarter. No more waiting years for a simple lock to a closet and basic school supplies. Regular update of computer warranties.  You know this list is endless. 

6.  Fix the damn leaky faucet in my faculty bathroom that’s been leaking for more than the 2 1/2 years I’ve  been here and don’t say that it’s contracted to a company in Louisiana that went out of business.   

7.  Put AC in every school so when it comes time for the dreaded state assessments in May the students are not taking it in a pool of sweat. And, if the school fails the tests, don’t fire the teachers; get rid of the tests. Come up with assessments that are a combination of realism, rigor, and humanity.    

8.  Wire our schools so using computers and the internet is not based on who signed up first for the one computer room and will hog it for a whole week.

To all the youngins out there in colleges in training to be teachers. Re-evaluate your life’s goals. Do you want to be of a profession that sees you simply as a purveyor of data? Do you want to be evaluated for your ability to teach your students, reach your students, inspire your students, or to get their raw numbers higher than your colleagues, ‘cause one of you is gonna get furloughed, and your mortgage is higher than theirs?

It is a race to the top and the rats are winning.

Back to school – A motivational investment that cannot be afford to be ignored

School days are back! Children are getting prepared to go to school after their summer vacation. There’s lots of offer on school bags, notebooks and other stationery items. Tips are being offered on managing kids in the net and in newsletters. ‘Back to school’ pangs are here everywhere among all the stakeholders involved in child’s education. No doubt, that it is a hard pressing current problem in the field of education that itself is repetitive in nature.

To be honest, I am neither a great educationist nor highly experienced researcher in the field of education. But, I am a person who is interested in such things and try my bit to address such concerns. It all depends on how we view the entire thing as such. To me ‘Back to School’ appears as motivational investment that could take the teaching-learning process a long way. From such perspective, I have shared my thoughts below.

I am sure that the teachers, parents and above all the children will have a challenging time in the beginning. Children will be back to school after spending time with their grandparents/sight -seeing trip/summer camps/time well spent with their family members and so on.  Suddenly they are about to embark back the journey of schooling and hence would face certain discomforts like getting back to routine, waking early in the morning,  more study hours,  examinations, report cards and so on.

This is where we as teachers and parents could help the child and also in turn ourselves.

Here are some tips for teachers

·         Accept that the child needs time to get back to the routine

·         Make week -1 of their school more joyous by conducting structured activities.

·         Provide opportunities for children to make greetings cards wishing each other a great schooling year ahead

·         Tell story tales related to New Year beginning at school

·         Introduce yourselves and share your likes, dislikes and hobbies

·         Provide opportunities for students to share their likes, dislikes and hobbies

·         Organize kinesthetic activities for students

·         Take students on a school walk and orient/re-orient them on various things to be followed across various school zones Ex: Toilets, assembly, activity room etc.,

·         Give activities for students to decorate their classes with pictures of their work, the places they had visited during vacation time, their favorites etc.,

·         Posters with their palm prints together to give a feeling of togetherness

·         Share your first day of school experiences with your children

Here are some tips for Parents

·         Believe that the child is experiencing difficulty in experiencing the sudden change in their routine and does not want to be out of school.

·         Talk to them about the things they like in their school

·         Talk to them about the friends they had met

·         Wake up while you wake them in the morning and be with them

·         Ask them to make a poster of their day –I in school and paste it in their reading room

·         Give them some empty stickers and ask them to write the various emotions they face during their schooling and stick it around the poster

I am sure by now you would have started getting more fantastic and wonderful ideas to make every child’s first day experience beautiful J and make it a motivational investment for their further learning.

How often has your child said, “I don’t like math!” “I just don’t get math!” I can’t learn math!”

Compared to reading, parents are more tolerant of problems in math. But math is very important in children’s lives and future careers. Many of the fastest growing occupations require math through algebra and even calculus.

Math is the most cumulative subject in school. Therefore, if your special needs child falls behind, he is particularly prone to developing “gaps” in knowledge that will haunt him in future years.

Elementary teachers do a poor job of teaching math

Math is the most poorly taught subject in school, particularly in elementary school. Research has proven that elementary teachers are uncomfortable with math—not only with teaching math, but with using mathematical principles in their own lives. In fact, many elementary teachers suffer from math anxiety themselves. Therefore, most elementary teachers are not good influences on the mathematical learning and attitudes of their students.

The combination of a teacher’s poor understanding of mathematical concepts, inadequate knowledge of teaching methods in mathematics, and limited knowledge about modifying teaching approaches to reach learners with atypical learning profiles can create dismal results for special needs children. 

Tip #1

Stress to your children the importance of mathematics in their lives and careers.

Jobs in science and technology require a strong knowledge of math, and play a vital role in the advancements that give us our standard of living. Students who understand mathematics have dramatically more career opportunities than students whose math abilities are weak.

The level of math sophistication is much greater for today’s students

Because the nature of math education has morphed dramatically since most parents went to school, often parents find themselves beginning to struggle with math concepts when their child reaches middle school.

If a special needs child has struggles with math, parents need to face the harsh truth that they may not stand in the ideal position to help their child themselves, particularly when math becomes conceptually difficult. Due to the history in the US of poor math teaching, parents may have limited knowledge of mathematics and may not appreciate the central role math plays in the lives of today’s citizens.

Tip #2

If you are finding that you do not completely understand the work your child is bringing home, you should bow out of the “direct teaching” role. Direct teaching involves explaining concepts and procedures to your child, much as a teacher or tutor would. If you don’t fully understand the math you are teaching your child, you and your child run the risk of ingraining inaccurate beliefs and inefficient habits that can take months to undo.

Math anxiety is rampant in the U.S.

Did you know that at least 66% of adults have strong negative feelings about math! This is largely due to poor teaching adults received in school. These negative feelings are easy to communicate to your child. When children feel negative about a school subject, they unconsciously engage in self-sabotaging behaviors such as tuning out in class, not doing their homework, not asking questions when they don’t understand, and not practicing the concepts and skills enough to make them automatic.

This starts a vicious cycle of failure…as the student “back away” from learning math, he or she begins to fall behind in learning, and this creates even more dislike and avoidance. Eventually, what’s called learned helplessness sets in.

This enemy robs a child of their power. This beast whispers in a child’s ear phrases such as “you’re stupid” “you’ll never learn this stuff” “who are you kidding, you don’t need this” and the ever-present “this is boring”

These self-destructive messages tear at a child’s resolve, limit what he or she can learn, and reduce future educational and career options.

Tip #3

If you have negative feelings about math, make a conscious effort to change these feelings, and encourage your children to feel positively about math. Praise your child’s efforts, especially when the going is tough.

Math has to “make sense” in order for your child to want to learn it

Students respond to a program that puts understanding and enjoyment into math. They benefit from meaningful learning experiences that overcome frustration with “math that just doesn’t make sense.” They learn concepts and computation more quickly from real life situations.

Tip #4

Show children how math is used in their lives.

At stores, have them develop mental arithmetic skills by adding up the cost of a few items, by estimating sales tax, or by figuring out the cost of one can of soda from the price of a six-pack.

Put some fun into math by playing games while riding in the car or standing in line. For “Guess My Secret Identity,” give your child clues such as, “When divided by three, I’m equal to your age,” or “If you add 22 to me, I’m the length of a football field.” Be playful and creative and have your child make up riddles for you to solve.

“Summing in all up”

Special needs kids want to succeed in life and their parents want to do everything possible to help them succeed. If you are among the majority of parents who have negative attitudes toward math, feel your math skills are inadequate, and express your feelings opening to your child, I urge you to make every effort to eliminate these tendencies from your parenting repertoire!

Even if you have, up until now, suffered from the power-robbing demon of math self-doubt, your children can learn math skills and can appreciate the wonderful role math plays in their lives. But they can’t do it without your support and encouragement!

The ultimate goal of parenting is to raise your child to live a successful and healthy love filled life. Our parents are here to protect us from the harm of others and the harm of ourselves. However, protecting our children too much can have a very negative impact on our lives especially when it comes to drug abuse. A lot of parents are against drug education because they want to believe that drugs will never be an issue in their child’s life.  If we don’t expose our children to the unfavorable consequences of drug abuse, the more naïve our society becomes. 

    Have you ever been affected by someone who was addicted to drugs?  Maybe you have even found yourself to be addicted at one time, or maybe you are addicted right at this moment to a substance that you just can’t kick. Sometimes the world puts us between a rock and a hard spot and leaves us feeling hopeless with no one to turn to. The effects of drug abuse should be brought to the attention of teenagers on a regular basis. Do you remember in grade school the little drug abuse resistance and education spill we got from a local law enforcement official? This is not enough education to guide us all the way through high school. Roger Tompson, in the periodical Teen Drug Addiction, conveys that teenage drug addictions run in long chains, so the teenage years are the best time to either break or stop the chain from happening. The only way for America to fight off drug addiction is to make it mandatory for all high school students to continually take drug abuse classes each year.

James discusses exactly what to do when your children get in trouble for fighting at school or at home—and the right kinds of consequences to give them so they learn to use appropriate behavior instead of lashing out when they feel like hitting someone the next time. Read on to find out the steps you can take toward resolving the problem of fighting at school, plus get advice on how to handle fights that break out between siblings at home!

When your children use fighting or other negative physical behavior as their main coping skills, you’ll find that it usually doesn’t stop at home—they will use it at school, in the neighborhood, on the ball field or at the mall. If your son uses physical fighting, for example, or your daughter uses verbal abuse in place of the problem-solving skills they need to learn in order to function successfully as adults—skills like communication, negotiation and compromise—make no mistake, you need to address this problem immediately. If you don’t, understand that it’s as if your children will be entering the world with a couple of hammers to handle their problems, when what they really need is a wide range of sophisticated tools in order to be successful.

How to Handle Fighting at School and at Home: 7 Tools You Can Use Today

When your child is disciplined at school for getting into a fight, I think the absolute best thing you can do is first find out from the school exactly what happened. That way, you’ll have a framework for your eventual discussion with your child.

“Music, dance, drama, and story are the oldest ways human beings learned to pass on information, traditions, customs, and beliefs…. In the vocabulary of some Native American and African languages, there is no word for art, because art is part of everything the people do. Children are natural connectors. Similarly, they see the performing arts as part of everything they do” (Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld; article: Derry Koralek Young Children, March 2010, p. 10).

As we continue our series on Fine Arts, let’s examine how creative and dramatic play is beneficial to children’s learning. Do you remember playing dress-up or performing for your friends and parents? Take a walk down memory lane with us while we talk about some products that will be great in your preschool or daycare center’s outdoor classroom.

I am making a passionate plea to parents and teachers who believe that schooling is the alpha and omega of a child’s life.  Often, schools have convinced students and parents that a child’s focus must exclusively be centered on academic concerns during every waking hour.

This is not a question of whether a quality academic program plays an integral role in the life of our children.  However, do parents and teachers understand the necessity of creating a climate so that children are able to find balance in their lives?  Schooling, as important as it is, should not be the only focus of a child’s daily lifestyle.  There should be more to a child’s life than teaching, learning, and the reaction of parents to a child’s academic performance.

Have you gotten "the call" from your child's school? Janet Lehman, MSW talks frankly about how she and her husband James dealt with it when their son had trouble at school.

In September of our son’s third grade year, we got the phone call from his teacher. She said she was really concerned about our child’s chances of passing that year. I was shocked, angry and anxious—and terribly embarrassed, both as a mother and a social worker who “should have known” what was going on. I immediately took the stance of viewing myself as the victim in the situation. In fact, very quickly it became all about me.

Parents should be actively involved in the education of a child despite the fact that there are already several teachers, administrators and other school personnel to provide them the guidance they need through the school’s rules and regulations, the curriculum, and the learning.

Although it has been shown from studies that the children whose parents are involved in their education by helping them review lessons and study for exams exhibited higher scores in exams and performed better in the overall aspect, this is not how and why they should get involved. If being involved meant teaching and the reason for getting involved was for better grades, then all parents had to be well-educated and good at instruction. Furthermore, it such was the reasoning, then parents will fail to clearly express what the purpose of the education of a child is

Special children’s education can be a touchy subject for parents. Most of the time, parents would be the ones seeking out that needed extra assistance when children begin to show signs of autism. This is not to say that schools are not doing anything to help, when they should. For all we may know, they could be trying to find help but the given circumstances just makes it easier said than done. Reality tells us that the funding for special education is low, its resources are limited, and the waiting lists are long.

This does not mean, however, that all hope is lost. Sometimes, such as in these situations, being squeaky is necessary if it would mean getting the grease. If you are among the parents who are seeking educational help for their special children, here are some advices to get you started: