Daily Education and Technology News for Schools 05/12/2012
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Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Finding Your Beautiful Moment the Last Week of School
Don't just let school end, but end it well in a way that leaves an imprint on those around you. Here's one of the most popular posts that I've ever written from last year's last week of school. Hoping teachers will read and ponder how to end well. You rock!
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Why is everyone an expert on education?: Series » Human
Fascinating series of post on why everyone is an expert on education. This is something I talked about yesterday on my Facebook page. Many of the mainstream media "experts" are not even ex-educators and are saying completely off base things. I read one yesterday that said that one couldn't do science experiments online when I have my science teachers clamoring for computers to be able to do expensive experiments in online environments. This is a nice series of posts to read.
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Peeking Into Division 16: Making Baclava with Cream with Lawrence's Mom
Enjoying the lovely stories of the students sharing recipes and making dishes from around the world. This week, students have been making Baklava with a recipe from Iraq.Here is their video.
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Education Petition: Urge the National PTA: Support Healthy Homework Guidelines | Change.org
The National PTA is supporting "healthy homework" which I'm not sure what this means at all. Life is full of stress. My fourth grader's test scores went through the roof this year and it is largely because I limited my travel schedule and spent 1-2 hours a night with him making sure he understands the concepts. So, we want to improve education but we want kids to have stress free lives. The only people not stressed in this modern age are those in the cemetery. I teach technology courses and don't give homework, however, if a student misses my class, they miss 50 minutes of work and are going to have to get it done sometime. My own children do spend several hours a night and I know as a parent that their time spent studying is directly correlated with their success on their report card. I agree that nonsensical homework is a waste, but the fact is, good students bring work home and review and study. I'm just thinking that many educational initiatives are in conflict with one another. There is also a difference between studying and homework. My child may not have "homework" but he reads every night for 30 minutes, works on his Barnell Loft, and we play educational games on my ipad to review what he is learning in school. It takes more than a good teacher to help kids learn - it takes a partnership between home and school.
