What April Fools Does For A Child…

…actually there is only one word to use….. “nothing”

Children are often subjected to the whimsical humor of adults by being the “butt” of a joke. Children’s sense of humor is much different than an adults. Unfortunately, you would think that everyone would say “well, duh, of course it is”, but yet, on “funny days” like April Fool’s, children don’t laugh when they are made fools of, only the adult laughs.

Case in point, a kindergarten teacher thought it would be fun to spray paint some ordinary rocks, “gold”. Then she handed the “gold nuggets” out to her children and told them she found gold and wanted to share it with her class. My son came home (we had been gold panning, and he knew what gold nuggets meant) and was SOOOO VERYYY excited that his teacher gave him gold nuggets, and we were rich now. The heartbreak when we had to tell him, that his teacher was playing a trick on him, was horrific. He was 5 years old. He trusted his Kindergarten teacher….his FIRST teacher! He didn’t understand her “joke”.

Fast forward to 2013, now he is ten. The first day back to school after the spring break. Excited to see his teacher, his friends and to be back at school. His teacher told the class that they would get brownies today. Big brownies…each student. Oh, they were excited. But they had to wait a little bit, after another subject, of course, the anticipation grew. Later in the day, when the teacher began handing out the “brownies” it turned out to be brown construction paper cut out in the shape of the letter ‘e’ (brown – ees), the children’s heart’s sank. My son said, she just stood there “cackling at us”. All the students were upset, and none of them understood why she would have done that to them.

The humor of practical jokes, is a sense of humor that is developed over time. As we mature, and begin to understand that “no harm is intended”, we begin to accept that sometimes it’s okay to laugh at ourselves. Some adults, and we all know many, who still cannot ‘laugh’ at themselves.

But children are different. They trust us to guide them, support them and most of all be honest with them. And when we break that trust, we take away a little bit of their childhood, and force them to grow up faster and face the “reality”.

Some people might argue that stories of Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, little green elves and tooth fairies is the same thing, that we are playing a practical joke on the children when we tell them these stories of fantasy. My arguement is this: Once the child figures out there is no Easter Bunny, adults don’t stand and cackle at the child because they believed, and thus the child can grow up at their own pace when they are ready to face reality.

IF you want to play a practical joke, play it on an adult who understands that a practical joke is just for fun. You wouldn’t do a practical joke on an adult who “couldn’t take it”, why are you doing them on children who don’t know “how to take it”. It teaches them nothing by cynasism.

photo credit: Dave Bezaire & Susi Havens-Bezaire via photopin cc
photo credit: yum9me via photopin cc

Nobody Owned An Aries, Until I Owned An Aries

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdwilliams1/2838215840/

This has more to do with observation of the world around us. Life around us is irrelavent until it effects us personally.

Many years ago as Chrysler was trying to come out of it’s bankruptcy era it “produced a winner” know as the ‘K’ car (series of cars). The K car was so popular, (and many say it was because the government bought so many for “government use” that basically the tax payers bailed out Chrysler…) that is saved Chyrsler, and they have continued their success. We (my husband and I) never thought much about the K car, we weren’t in the market for that type of car. Fast forward many years, and one day we were at a car dealer. By then, many of these K cars were on the used car lot dealers, and we were in the market for a reliable station wagon to accomodate people and/or our dogs. There was a pretty nice Chryler Aries station wagon that fit our needs and our price range. We were excited about this car, because we hadn’t seen many on the road, and never thought about owning one….after all, we didn’t go looking for it, it kind of found us.

After driving it off the lot, we thought we found a gem, a unique find, a one and only….oh boy…we were worng! Right away, we began noticing that nearly everywhere we looked, every road we drove, we saw other Aries station wagons. They were common place, numerous, and we saw them frequently. Wow…nobody owned an Aries station wagon, until we owned an Aries station wagon. Were we “trend setters?” HARDLY!

It is a unique phenomenon called “Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon”. It is something at occurs when a person, after having learned something unique or some obsure fact, or other item for the first time, and then encounters that item again, perhaps several times, shortly after having learned or become aware of it.

Learn more about the phenomenon….it will amaze you.

After reading this post, what have you done that you thought many people around you don’t do, until you did it, then realize how many others are so similar to you. I’d love to hear your comments.

photo credit: chris-williams via photopin cc

5 Reasons to enroll your child into public school

In yesterday’s post I promised I would give the other side of the coin to the debate, public or private school. If you missed yesterday’s blog, please take a moment and read it. But basically, I have experienced both worlds as a teacher and a parent, and see the positives and negatives of both choices. Since I focus on the positive, I want to give my 5 reasons to choose a public school. Maybe the private school’s can learn a little from them too.

1. It’s Free. That is the bottom line in many parent’s decision. The fact is ‘I can’ or ‘I can’t’ afford it. Through our tax system, our society supports and education system that offers learning to every child. We as a society, want an educated public. I will not be able to work very well past 60’s/70’s, so I want the younger generation working, helping support me in my golden years through work and taxes, instead of going into the criminal system. Do I like the public system? Of course, it has a very important place in our society.

2. Teachers as well as administrators are educated to specific standards. They must go through schooling, rigorous testing, continued professional development to not only gain their positions, but to keep their positions (up until tenure). Public school teachers are required to be abreast of the education systems’ standards, implementation of these standards, state adopted (approved) curriculum and testing of students.

3. Facilities are more condusive to a learning environment. This is an interesting point that I never thought about as a public school teacher. The facilities are required by law to accomodate ADA, updated safety features, and security. Now that doesn’t mean that private schools aren’t held up to fire safety codes, on the contrary, they are inspected and specific laws (room occupation etc) must be obeyed. But more and more private schools (and public charter schools) are being established in strip malls, business buildings (complexes) and older school buildings and grounds that have been abandoned by public schools. Play areas (playground and athletic fields) are smaller, sometimes non-existant, and buildings are subpar (in need of paint and windows). A charter school with a local public school was offered an old school grounds that was abandoned for use with children, and turned into a storage facility. The charter group and parents wanted success so badly, that they went on their own time to clean the facilities, fix up the grounds and try to restore order to the facility. Needless to say it wasn’t longer than 2 years that the charter group dismantled.

4. Transportation. More often than not, even if parents have to pay a dollar or two a day for the convenience, public schools have the ability to transport the children to and from school. Some children, depending on the needs of the students and requirements of federal laws, have buses that will take them miles and miles and miles, just to get them to the ‘correct’ school to give them the education they are guarenteed by law. One district I personally knows will spend an excess of $35,000 just for transportation to take a special needs child to a school 20 miles away from his home to the school that can meet his individual needs.

5. If parents are STRONG advocates for their children, and know their child’s rights, they can get the public school to jump through hoops! The school district won’t like it, admininstrators and teachers will grumble and talk, but they must comply. This is one thing, considering you are paying taxes to support this system, if you know how to use the system, you can get them to provide MANY services for your child. One parent used to call meetings and bring a tape recorder to play for his lawyer everytime we met. Was it upsetting as a teacher?….of course, was it smart on the parent’s part? Absolutely, because if this parent wanted something done for his special needs child, it was done. But your child isn’t a special needs student? You would be surprised how easy it is to get them “designated” and then have the law on your side. One parent I know had the district buy her child a laptop (way before laptops were inexpensive and easy to come by), because she had a medical doctor diagnose him with a condition that he couldn’t write fast enough to keep up with lecture to take notes by hand. Yeah….

So if you have the “fight” in you, and the deligence to stay on top of the system, it can be quite advantages. Is this a good thing?….I don’t know, it is your child, you decide what is best for you and your child.

Now you have both sides of the private/public school debate from someone who has worked and parented in both worlds, with 20+ years of experience in the public schools and private schools,(including public and private university level courses), hope I gave you some insight.

Picture copyrights of Affective-learning.com

5 Reasons To Enroll Your Child Into Private School

The other day I was reading a post from a fellow blogger, and as I do respect her/his opinion, I am glad that we live in America, where we still have academic choice for our children.  She/he advocated that just because someone has money, they shouldn’t have the option of their child getting a different education than “all the rest” of the children, because it isn’t ‘fair’.  That is like saying we all have to drive the same cars, because the guy with more money shouldn’t be able to drive a more expensive car (Porsche, Mercedes Benz etc), because that wouldn’t be ‘fair’.  Now of course, you can argue that children are different than cars, and every child deserves an equal opportunity in life.  To me this sounds like a debate between “getting an education and not getting an education” as many other parts of the world experience (especially girls, special needs children or children of low economic/social status) a complete LACK of education to the point they seek education under the threat of death.  Fortunately here in America, that debate is mute, everyone can get an education.  But why, when someone can afford to give their children a different option, it is looked upon as they are evil, and they hate (insert group name here).  For now we will leave the debate on the fairness of education in our society for another time.

I have worked in public school and in private school and I have seen both worlds.  I came up with 5 reasons to enroll your child into private school.  Public schools should take a look at these 5 points, and maybe implement them?

1.  They COMPETE for your business.  When a private school forms, it needs to attract clients to it’s school.  As other great businesses do, they most successful businesses are those with great customer service.  A parent can take their child out of the school at anytime, and save lots of money, so it behooves the school to cater to the parents to keep their business.  This desire to keep clients is lacking in public schools, and I personally have witnessed MANY times when a principal says, “well, if you don’t like it, take them to another school”.  This doesn’t mean catering to the money, it means you need to listen to the ones making you successful.

2.  Better contact with the teachers.  This is an extension of the customer service.  I will venture to say that ALL parents want their children to succeed, be happy and enjoy learning.  Because of this reason, parents want to hear when their child is learning well, where they are successful, and when they are struggling and need extra support.  At  a local public middle school, a parent said she needs to make an appointment with the teacher, several weeks in advance sometimes, just to have a conversation.  They are lucky if they hear anything, and the only way they know of successes or struggles is what is on the report card, or if their child tells them.  Private schools expect teachers to communicate often, to keep their clients informed.

3.  Teachers are responsive to parent concerns.  Another extension of #1.  Private schools often have committes of parent involvement, advisories and information meetings.  They tend to be more active in the school volunteering time, money and other needs of their children.  One might argue, well the rich parents don’t have to work.  On the contrary, most parents in the private schools work to earn a dual income to be able to afford the school, even taking side jobs or building a small business for extra income.  (I don’t have statistics here, strickly my personal experiences and speaking with parents who’s children attend private school that I have been involved in across California).  I am not saying that public school parents don’t volunteer, or donate time and money, they do, (so don’t get mad!), but the percentage of parents is greater at a private school.

4.  Curriculum is more flexible for individual students needs, including advanced skilled and low skilled students.  Often, (not all the time), class sizes are smaller and longer instructional minutes (day) mean students with individual needs can be addressed much easier.  I teach 85 students per day in my science class, where the local public school teacher teaches 180+ per day (average 40 x 5 periods).  With such a large number of students it is nearly impossible to cater to academically advanced students as well as academically challenged, often leaving the task to tutors or academic camps (Lego camps/ competitions, space camps, museum art camps) to help enrich the child’s learning.  Most if not all private schools have become more focused on state standards, and now with Common Core Standards, the entire nation is getting aligning on an agreed upon learning focus that all students must achieve by their grade’s end. And with job shortages, the agruement of “non-credentialled teachers is nearly non-existant.

5.  Additional Activites.  Often, private schools are stepping up to “compete” with public schools in afterschool care, extra-curricular activities (clubs, music lessons, sports) and homework help, (all part of tuition or a little extra), that students are able to stay “in a safe school setting” much easier.

This is a quick list of 5 Reasons to enroll you child into private school….all private schools aren’t the same, and just as public schools, parents should shop around, visit schools, meet the administration, meet the teachers, and ask LOTS AND LOTS of questions.  Good luck in your decision. 

I will soon post “5 reasons to enroll your child into public schools”

Photo: copyright Affective-Learning.com

7 People To Have Dinner With

This is a sidetrack to my usual thinking, but again, I have been inspired by my fellow bloggers to think and learn about blogging, writing, dreams and life in general. So I was thinking, if I had to limit it to 7, who has inspired me to view my the world the way I do, and what if I can view their world through their eyes? I would love to sit down an talk to these people to ask them questions about their view of the world….and I also had to think about where I would want to have dinner (or lunch) with them to have this discussion.

7. Ronald Reagan. I would invite him out for a lunch in the foothills, on horseback. We would sit down, overlooking the Ca coast with the golden hills dotted with oak trees. We would talk about his acting career, (is it really as glamorous as it seems), his political life, (was it really as easy as he made it seem), and what was his favorite part of being president. Being president would be an amazing job.

6. Jane Goodall. I would ask her to lunch on top of a canopy in the jungle. We would overlook the forest and nature. We would talk about her research with the gorillas, what is the most important thing she has learned, and what about the “civilized” world she misses the most. I guess her answer to the last question would be “I don’t miss anything”. I would like to live among the gorillas….I think I would feel safer.

5. Galileo Galilei. I would ask him out for midnight snack under the stars where we would see the milky way as clear as day, and the aurora borealis paint the night sky. I would ask him if he could live in today’s world, with the knowledge we have gained about our existance among our universe, would he? I would talk about what inspired him to see the world differently than anyone else of his time. Also I would ask him, who inspired him. I would like to go to the moon….I think he would too.

4. Jonas Salk. I would ask Jonas to lunch in a school cafeteria. The food there is a contentious subject. I would ask him what he wanted to be when he was a kindergartener. Did he always want to be a medical researcher? I would also ask him what he thinks the number one medical problem is for our society today…and how he would try to cure it. I don’t think he would say it is obesity, because there is a cure for that already.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/monkeyc/95191971/
3. Winston Churchill. I would ask Winston to have dinner with me on the shores of Normandy. I would ask him how he felt about all of those men giving up their lives for his vision of the future world without Hitler. His belief was so strong, so focused, so undaunted. He knew with all his heart and soul that no matter the sacrafice, that the world had to stop the lunatic. I would ask him what lunatic needs to be stopped today? I think he has several to choose from.

2. Rosa Parks. I would ask her to dinner in the most fancy, amazing restuarant I could find. She would probably say, no, and instead pick a corner diner, where you can get a great homemade meal. I would ask her what was the most scary part about not moving off that seat…saying no, or the moment before she said no. I would ask her what still needs to be done to help our world be more equitable, no matter what the color, sex, preference, religion or idealogy. I think she would be happy with how far we have come. I think she knows who needs to not get up anymore.

1. Walter Romaniuk. I would make my dad a nice bowl of borscht with sour cream, french bread and for dessert, a weak cup of tea, with a slice of apple pie and mom’s rum cake. It has been over 25 years since I lost my dad to cancer. I know he wanted 5 more years, but God needed him sooner. I am glad I asked him all the questions I needed to before he died. I recorded his thoughts, life story, ambitions, challenges and adventures. He was an amazing man…not so much for the world as a whole, but for my world as a whole. I would tell him I miss him very much.

Be sure to talk to the people who are important in your life, who have inspired you, who have made you, you. They won’t be around forever, so ask them the questions while you can.

Photo credit is in the order they appear:
photo credit: Randy Son Of Robert via photopin cc
photo credit: lorises via photopin cc
photo credit: Children of the Concrete via photopin cc
photo credit: EscoPhotog via photopin cc
photo credit: monkeyc.net via photopin cc
photo credit: cliff1066™ via photopin cc
photo credit: code_martial via photopin cc

Who are your 7 people that you would have dinner/lunch with?

Share with your friends, and get them thinking!

: : : : : : : : : : :

Those who can do, because….

It is amazing job, being a teacher…..

The other day, I was instructing my students how to go online, find a website, enter a passcode, to find more information about a concept we were learning. I suddenly realized I was teaching my students how to use a technology that didn’t exist when I was their age. What is amazing, I haven’t even made it to the 1/2 century mark yet. The technology has moved at lightning speeds, leaving behind those who blink.

Winston Churchill, arguable the one man who changed history. I’ve taken an interest in him lately because not only did he accomplish an incredible feat (for all of those of you who missed it, he challenged Hitler, and won) but he had such a timeless philosophy, it can be easily applied to today’s world.

Consider this quote: “Where my reason, imagination and interest where not engaged, I would not or I could not learn”.

How to catch the interest and imagination of our children or students is a daily challenge. I am teaching students to be ready for a (their) world that probably doesn’t exist today, by using today’s technology (that didn’t exist in my world), with yesterday’s (my grandfather’s) philosophy.

When we ignore today’s world, and teach them ours, we are missing an opportunity to use their interest and reason.

So what do we teach them from our world? Love, understanding, respect, compassion, trust, honesty, loyalty. To stand for what you believe in using a moral compass that guides them through a world of amazement and confusion. It is a challenge to teach. It is not for the weak hearted. People joke “that those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach….I have a different thought…Those who can do, because they can’t teach.

photo credit: InSapphoWeTrust via photopin cc

: : : : : : : : : : :

Solar Energy – The Original Motivator

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3938631939/

I know that everyone is trying to “go green”….it’s the newest hippest thing to do and be….

Solar Power, a great thing to harness, as all the energy that has been used by man since the beginning of time, is released in 1 sec from the sun…..so there is no doubt that the big ball of energy in the sky has a LOT of energy….

We obviously need the sun’s energy on a daily basis, as evidence of the success of Starbucks(TM) in Seattle, and their lack of (solar) energy and thus needing some kind of energy, they use caffeine, and Starbucks(TM) filled that niche very well. (That isn’t a commentary one way or the other, but a meer statement of fact).

But I digress…..today, as my daughter played outside with the neighborhood children, I wanted to keep an eye on them, without interferring in their play. I stood in the front yard with my hands in my pocket, trying to figure out what I should do….
…as I stood there, the warmth of the sun began to seep through my sweater, as earlier I was in an ice skating rink for 3 hours where I know I bonded with the icicles that glittered as decoration.

As the sun continued to warm and comfort me into a peaceful, relaxed, and content disposition….I didn’t want to leave my post of watching the children at play nor did I want to leave the sun, as I was remembering I just don’t sit enough and watch my children play in the sun, so I pulled out my foldable cloth chair, retrieved my book, and spent the afternoon reading in the sun.

It would have been easy to go into the house, turn on the cable (well, not really, because I don’t have cable…but you know what I mean….) and just sit there with my mind going numb…. But the sun motivated my to enjoy a moment of peace, watching and enjoying the precious gift of life…..

When is the last time you bonded with the sun?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pinksherbet/3938631939/

photo credit: Pink Sherbet Photography via photopin cc

Project Based Learning…What???

[/caption]

Student made scale model of the planet Uranus, showing solid core and liquid/icy mantel with blue gaseous core.

I’m tired of learning about the planets….same thing….year after year….

My 6th graders needed a challenge. Reading the textbook is one thing (boring too)…but bringing the planets into our classroom was another. I wanted the students to understand the scale of the planets and the solar system, along with exhibiting the core of the planet. They came up with many clever ways to show the exterior and interior. Once planets were built to scale, the classroom was turned into a scale model of the solar system, with the sun being the front door. From there, the planets were measured by Astronomical Units (AU) from Earth being one AU to Pluto, Charon, Quaoar, and Sedna being 45 AU’s away.

Student created Neptune planet with “window” into the core and mantle.

While students were constructing their planets, and scaling out the classroom, they were also researching and writing up a report about their planets. Once the planets and solar system was complete, classes from within the school were invited to “Tour the Solar System”, and each sixth grader gave 4-5 minute oral presentation from their research about their planet. The entire “tour” took 20 minutes, but the presentations were “out of this world”.

[caption id="attachment_143" align="alignnone" width="168"] student contructed Saturn with rings around the planet. The other half (unseen) is the core and mantle.

Students were graded not only on their presentations, research, and construction of planets, but on collaboration and cooperation between peers. Some students obviously had smaller planets, (like Venus, Mercury, and Mars) and other students had enormous planets (like Jupiter and Saturn). Through daily observations of students, I watched how students volunteered to help eachother and work together, to finish the project together. It was a wonderful process to watch and facilitate. I can’t help to think my sixth grade students learned so much more about our planets and solar system doing this project, that they ever could have from the textbook.

Project Based Learning is a way to facilitate student learning, by putting the responsiblility of learning on them. As you can see by these projects, the unit was a success.

You can see by the 6 foot ladder that the planet is perched on, the planet is enormous.

DIagram of the interior of the planet.

I Sent The Police, A Boat, And A Helicopter….

Sometimes you think that you have done all you can do….
You try new ideas…
You throw oatmeal at the wall….hoping something sticks!
Hoping something else triggers an idea for success.

What is the answer? I don’t know…

It reminds me of the story about the man who was stuck in a flood. After the police came to rescue him, he said….I have faith I’ll survive…after a boat came to rescue him, he said…I have faith I’ll survive….after the helicopter came to pull him off the roof…he said…I have faith I’ll survive. After the water swept him away, and he drowned, he went to St. Peter in heavan and said, I had faith, why did I die? St. Peter says: I sent the police, a boat and a helicopter….whatelse did you want?

Sometimes we need to realize that there is help all around us….people are reaching out to help, but if it is difficult for them to reach you, maybe you need to reach out your hand, and participate in your rescue…

photo credit: d_oracle via photopin cc

Memory…All Alone in the Moonlight…

…I must smile at the old days…they were beautiful then….

http://www.flickr.com/photos/malingering/102904595/
Oh PLEASE! Really? The good ol’ days?

Back when I was young….yeah…I had to pull over in a strange neighborhood to find a phone booth, that maybe had a phone book….so I can maybe find where I need to go….or run down to the CALLBOX on the side of the freeway if I needed help….

Back when I was young…groceries were a lot cheaper….yeah, so was minimum wage, at $3.10!

Back when I was young…the world seemed safer….yeah with Krushev threatening nuclear war, and we practice “bomb” drills in school…

Back when I was young…the music was better…because that is what you heard when you were impressionable…

Back in the old days….I know…it was so much better than….really?

Quit telling the kids, that the world they have to live in, is not as good as when you were young, because they have no choice, but to live in their world today. Help their world become better yet, by living in your present world, and enjoy the days, that your children, one day will be calling “the good ol’ days”.

photo credit: Malingering via photopin cc