Author Archives: christina
You’ve heard of learning Spanish or French, but Mandarin?
Most of us were required to take a foreign language in high school. Many of us chose Spanish, a lot of us chose French, and some of us chose Italian. But did any of you chose Mandarin?
School breakfast for all?
In some elementary schools there is a new start to the day. Some schools are now serving breakfast. But not the way schools used to do it.
Gone are the days when mom or dad served up some pancakes or scrambled eggs before little Johnny or Suzy got on the bus. No news flash there – those days have been gone for a while! But what about the days of some cereal and orange juice before catching the bus? Evidently some schools are making even that a thing of the past. The new movement is being pushed to the forefront by four organizations known collectively as Partners for Breakfast in the Classroom. The groups feel that all students need to come to school ready to learn and the best way to do that is to ensure they all have a good nutritious breakfast.
To write in cursive or not to write in cursive?
Do you remember the long, sometimes painful, moments of trying to learn to write in cursive? Most of us experienced this right of passage in third grade, maybe fourth grade. For some of us it was fun and we had that “can’t wait” attitude about FINALLY learning it. For others it was something we had to learn, but not something we looked forward to. No matter what you thought about it, there was no escaping it. Cursive was to be learned, practiced, and used. Well, times are changing!
Would you want your child to “attend” elementary school online?
For those unfamiliar with the online education world it has now crept into the elementary-aged student realm. So how does it work? Are there real “teachers” that the students interact with? Is there a way to interact with other students? Can the level of difficulty be adjusted for the particular student’s learning needs? Below I will try to provide a little insight on a few of the options out there as well as my opinion about online learning.
Should all students be taught like English Language Learners?
English Language Learners (ELL) are a fast growing subset in many elementary schools across the nation. They are students whose first language is not English. Many times the parents speak no or very little English, so English language growth at home is slow at best.
Often these students participate in ELL programs during the school day. In my experience the programs are frequently underfunded resulting in too few teachers which in turn means students who could most benefit from this extra support only meet with an ELL teacher once or twice a week for about 30 minutes. Not nearly enough in my opinion.
How young is too young to start teaching technology?
Should a two year old be using a computer? What about a five year old? How do you feel about students in elementary school using computers and other technology during the school day? If you’re like me you probably have mixed feelings about it.
While I understand the inevitability of technology in my own children’s lives, I’m not sure I want them to be inundated with it at an early age. I still feel somewhat compelled to teach my kids how to use an encyclopedia and dictionary the old fashion way. To have them learn the proper way to write a thank you note or a birthday invitation. When was the last time you got an invitation that wasn’t through a site like Evite? (Will even wedding invitations come via Evite soon?)
New York changes math and literature standards in Kindergarten
The Wall Street Journal reported that New York is going to raise the bar when it comes to what is expected in kindergarten. By the 2011- 2012 school year staff will begin to implement the new standards. “The new kindergarten math standard will build on the instruction of basic math and counting concepts. The new standard will seek to develop understanding of ordinal numbers — first, second, third, etc., recognize and identify coins and use other methods that had been taught in later grades.” The new literature standards will teach students to respond to literature “by employing knowledge of literary language, textual features, and forms to read and comprehend, reflect upon, and interpret literary texts from a variety of genres and a wide spectrum of American and world cultures.”
Mnemonics in math: Good or evil?
We use them all the time. I still find myself saying “I before E except after C” on occasion. What about when trying to remember which months have how many days?
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one
Excepting February alone:
Which has twenty-eight, that’s fine,
Till leap year gives it twenty-nine.
You have Roy G Biv for the colors for the rainbow and Every Good Boy Does Fine for the treble clef lines when learning to play piano…
School Lunches are Becoming Healthier
School Lunch Menu:
Pizza with marinara sauce, banana, raisins, and whole milk
Or
Chef Salad with romaine lettuce, grilled chicken, low fat mozzarella cheese and soft whole-wheat pretzel, cooked corn, raw baby carrots, skim milk, low fat Italian dressing, low fat ranch dressing
Which one would you choose? Which one would your kid choose? Personally I prefer the second choice, but I’m pretty sure my kids would pick pizza if the choice was given. However if there was not a choice and the second menu was all that was available I can say with confidence that my kids would be quite happy with a salad and pretzel. They love corn and carrots, and skim milk is all that is served at home so they wouldn’t think anything of it.
21st Century Learning: what’s so different?
Through an educational source I was reading I ended up viewing a YouTube video put out by the Pearson Foundation. The video is simply done having a black backdrop as people who work in the field of education all over the world speak candidly about where education could go in the 21st century. They all seem to agree that schools should be a very different type of place than schools of the last century.
