I’d Take No. 11
That’s the class that would be my choice out of PopSci’s gallery of
(best viewed in FireFox)
Aug
30
Aug
30
Jun
4
School Board Member Weekend – Future and Future Lost
When I had a desire to pursue becoming an elected official/school board member, I knew I was in for a rough ride simply because prior to my seat on the Board, I had been a blogger who attended meetings and recorded, critiqued and blogged about the issues to my fellow citizens. I was tough. I knew as a board member I would not be able to please everyone, but in my first year of service I have kept my promise to remember who I work for…the citizens.
I don’t use this blog to write about my school board service. But this weekend is special and I have an urge to write about it. It will probably be like no other during my term…at least I hope not.
Last year I participated in the high school graduation ceremony by being present in formal academic attire in front of the stage as the students marched by. I remembered my own children’s graduation from the same high school in the same place years before. It’s an emotional time for family and friends and it is a proud moment as a school board member.
This year I am fortunate in that Sunday I am going to be one of the board members presenting the diplomas to the graduates. How many citizens get to have such an honor? Several of the students are children of friends of mine. All of the students are special to me. I look forward to the speeches, the smiles, the anxious looks on faces of students and parents as they wonder what will come next in the future …and yes, the tears of joy.
This weekend will also be a new experience for me as a school board member. Tomorrow I will attend a funeral service for a middle school student who would have gone through 8th grade commencement next week. He died in a tragic drowning Memorial Day weekend. I have attended student memorial services in the past. They are always heart wrenching. I have attended them as a student and a friend myself, and as a parent who’s child’s good friend died tragically. This time it’s a student in my District. Saturday there will be tears for the joy that will not be seen – for the future that is lost.
This weekend will be bittersweet. It will not be forgotten by me any time soon. But time will move on and there will be meetings and there will be critiquing. And I will not forget I am working for the citizens.
May
3
Georgia To Outlaw Student-Teacher Sex
Georgia’s on my mind…
What took so long to get out of the dark ages? The Georgia State Legislature passed a bill last week 153-1 which makes it a crime for teachers to have sex with their students. The bill now awaits signature by their governor.
153-1? You have to wonder what Rep. Bobby Franklin was thinking when he cast his vote on HB-571.
from the Marietta Daily Journal -
ATLANTA – Last year, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that teachers could legally engage in sexual relationships with students 16 or older if the sex is consensual. Judges based the ruling on how a Georgia law was written, which allows consent to be used as a defense for teachers involved with students.
A bill co-sponsored by state Rep. Rich Golick (R-Smyrna), HB 571, would outlaw consensual student-teacher sex. The state legislature passed the bill on Tuesday 153-1, which now awaits the signature of Gov. Sonny Perdue. The bill removes consent as a defense and once again makes it a crime for teachers to have sex with their students.
May
1
Attacking Innocent School Children – What Drives These Killers?
The most recent attacks on school children around the world – China. Any attacks are incomprehensible and horrific, but these – three days of them, show us attacks at schools, on the precious children they house, are attacks which strike terror into the hearts of parents, neighbors, city, country and the world.
Is it the attacker’s way of punishing society? The ultimate way to get noticed? Why?
from Times Online -
China has been rocked by a third school attack in as many days, with five kindergarten children beaten with a hammer by a man who, moments later, doused himself in petrol and burnt himself to death.
Apr
25
Mind Games In The Classroom
Even if it is used for positive influences, should sensory manipulation be used on children in the classroom? First we’ll calm our children, then what will come next?
from the Daily Mail -
It can be difficult to keep children focused on their school work at the best of times.
But pumping the smell of peppermint and the sound of trickling water into a classroom seems certain to send the whole group running for the sweet shop - or the bathroom.
Yet this is exactly what one primary school is doing, in the hope the sensory stimulation will actually improve pupils’ concentration, memory and attitude.
Mar
25
Denied
Imagine being so intelligent that as a child that you are teased by having children throw math questions at you for amusement. Normalcy in life will someday catch up with 13-year old Colin Carlson, a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, at least as far as how he is looked upon by his peers. But for now, being an extraordinarily intelligent 13-year old who just wants to complete his education as any other college student does is problematic. Colin believes he is being discriminated against because of his age.
from MSNBC -
Colin is a sophomore at the University of Connecticut, seeking a bachelor’s degree in ecology and evolutionary biology and another in environmental studies. But he’s been knocked off course by the university’s rejection of his request to take a class that includes summer field work in South Africa.
He and his mother say university officials told them he is too young for the overseas course. So he’s filed an age discrimination claim with the university and U.S. Department of Education, which is investigating.
Mar
14
Just Ask, Wisconsin
I know, you can do a search in Google when you need help with a question. But sometimes it’s nice to have the help of a resource person, isn’t it?
At any time of day or night, computer users can type in an informational question and reach a librarian via live chat, who will immediately look for an answer.
A consortium of reference librarians statewide, nationally, and globally, provide the service, known as Ask?Away.
In addition to the live chat format, librarians may be queried by e-mail via a Web form.
“Any question at all” is fair game, says Martha Berninger, coordinator of the program at the Wisconsin Reference and Loan Library, a unit of the DPI. “It can be about state government, the DPI or the DPI website, child care services, their child’s school, elder care issues, their hobbies, help with their homework—everything from ‘bar bets’ to geneology.”
Continue reading at DPI-ConnectEd
So, what are you waiting for? Ask?Away!
Jan
11
Kid Power In Africa
It’s been no secret that Africa has an electricity supply problem. Ghana’s people suffer like those of many countries in Africa, but fare womewhat better. One of the casualties of no electricity is school children. Ben Markham, of Utah’s Empower Playgrounds, Inc. has a solution to help some of the children of Ghana.
from KSL.com -
Markham, a retired engineer, worked with Brigham Young University students to develop a merry-go-round that could harness enough energy to power special lanterns. Students could use the lanterns to study at night, a huge development for villages located outside Ghana’s spotty electrical grid.
EPI has also developed and installed an electricity-generating swing set, and a zip-line is in the works.
Markham said the first ideas for the merry-go-round generators were scratched on the backs of envelopes as he left his mission.
Near the equator, Ghana only gets 12 hours of sunlight. A young student with daytime chores has no chance to study at night without an artificial light source.
I’m not sure about the whole concept though. If children are working during the day on chores – how are there some playing on the merry-go-round during the day? And why are there some playing rather than going to school? In watching the video they were dressed in uniforms and were older children. It’s just a bit confusing as to when the children will be “playing” on the merry-go -round (besides of course recess time, which shouldn’t all be spent making electricity).
Dec
2
How To Keep Spirit In Children (Even After They Start School)
Let’s face it – the majority of us will spend our adult lives working inside buildings. It just seems so wrong, with the beautiful world out there, that we must ignore it. But that is what we have made of life. We’ve done it to our children with school, too. They are given less recess time, and less physical education outside. With both parents wanting needing to work and more children attending school at a younger age, that means less time outdoors for most children.
In a world that is demanding environmental responsibility, how can we deny our children time outdoors? What better way to appreciate the planet Earth than to spend time with your hands and feet directly in it?
Teachers help pupils saw logs to use in getting across bogs.
Photo: Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times
Schools around the country have been planting gardens and planning ever more elaborate field trips in hopes of reconnecting children with nature. The forest kindergarten at the Waldorf School of Saratoga Springs is one of a handful in the United States that are taking that concept to another level: its 23 pupils, ages 3 ½ to 6, spend three hours each day outside regardless of the weather. This in a place where winter is marked by snowdrifts and temperatures that regularly dip below freezing.
H/T: Erin