UK primary students urged to Twit, blog and Wiki instead of history lessons

NOTE TO SELF: WHAT ARE EDUCATORS THINKING?

The British education system is contemplating a change in its curriculum. This in itself is nothing earth-shattering but it's the subject that makes one wonder what are they thinking!

According to the Guardian newspaper, primary school students will be encouraged to learn how to blog, use Twitter and Wikipedia instead of history leassons.

Oh goodie! Yet another legimate reason this time, to allow and encourage students to surf the Net! What else!

Students will be required to know about blogging, podcasts, use Wikipedia (such a reliable information source!) which may or may not have the right information depending on the author, and Twitter(?) as their information sources for info. sources of communication.

Twitter? I use Twitter and it consists of a one line statement. Period. What's more - you have a limited amount of bytes in which to make your statement.

For example:"A cow when milked can give up to (insert correct number) gallons/litres per day. " Perhaps the students could be required to re-write the sentence using all the available Twitter bytes and in addition use it as a math exercise to calculate the amount of gallons/litres a cow will give. In addition students would then be required to Wiki as a means of finding background information about cows and/or milking processes.

The Guardian said the draft review requires primary school children to be familiar with blogging, podcasts, Wikipedia and Twitter as sources of information and forms of communication.

Uh-huh... Next thing you know - YouTube will become part of the curriculum as will texting. I mean - c'mon! Get back to your basic education, peeplz! There's nothing wrong with using the Net as an information tool but even to consider dropping a history course in favor of the Internet?

British politician believes dyslexia a myth

NOTE TO SELF: THIS MAN WAS ELECTED TO SERVE HIS CONSTITUENTS?


"It is time that the dyslexia industry was killed off and we recognised that there are well-known methods for teaching everybody to read and write."
Graham Stringer MP


Nobody said that politicians had to be smart to get elected. Case in point, a British Labor Member of Parliment who commented in an online column that dyslexia was a myth perpetrated by educators to cover up poor teaching.

I'm sure those who are in education must have been in shock to read this statement.

The politician, one Graham Stringer, described the condition as "cruel fiction" and should be consigned to the "dustbin of history." Furthermore, he says he believes that many children can't read or write because - well - merely the wrong teaching methods are used.

Silly teachers! All those years of university to acquire knowledge and know-how to pass on to young, fertile minds only to hear from a non-teacher that they have been using the wrong methods. It's so...logical! Were that only the case...

Responding to the politician's conclusion, Charity Dyslexia Action said that dyslexia was real to the six million people in the UK who were affected by the condition.

In the column, which appeared in the Manchester Confidential, Stringer opined that millions of pounds were wasted on specialist teaching for what he labeled, a "false" condition. He also wrote that children should instead be taught to read and write by using a system called, synthetic phonics.

And the politico knows this...how?

"To label children as dyslexic because they're confused by poor teaching methods is wicked.
If dyslexia really existed then countries as diverse as Nicaragua and South Korea would not have been able to achieve literacy rates of nearly 100%. There can be no rational reason why this 'brain disorder' is of epidemic proportions in Britain but does not appear in South Korea or Nicaragua."

Financial considerations appear to be a factor in his statements. He wrote that "currently, 35,500 students receive disability allowances for dyslexia at an annual cost of £78.4m."

Furthermore, certified dyslexics get longer in exams.

Makes sense to me. If you have trouble reading/understanding the question, it takes longer to write an answer!

Read the rest of Stringer's beliefs and reader's comments and reactions related to the story, here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/7828121.stm

TEACHERS ACCOMPANY STUDENTS HOME ON BUS FOR SAFETY

NOTE TO SELF: SOME TEACHERS GO ON AND ABOVE THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

It wasn't that long ago that students who walked to and from school playfully jostled each other, while still others took public transportation.

Passing courses aren't the only things students attending schools in London, England, have to worry about these days. Seems that stabbings are becoming more and more frequent and it's not part of their teaching manual or job description, but some teachers are worried enough to personally intervene.

In the wake of concern about the level of knife crime among young people, one London teacher tells of the extraordinary lengths he and his staff go to, to keep their pupils safe.

Headteacher Tom Mannion surveyed the street from his seat on a London bus and pointed to where one of his pupils was stabbed last month.

Read the entire story here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7448817.stm

Seems like centuries ago now that teachers main concern was ensuring that their pupils learn the 3 R's. Sad and a sign of the times that they have to turn into bodyguards and it's to their credit that some do.

A SIGN OF THE TIMES? NURSERY SCANS PARENTS FINGERPRINTS

NOTE TO SELF: HOW MUCH SECURITY IS TOO MUCH SECURITY?

It's a dangerous world these days with media reports focusing on children who have disappeared seemingly without a trace. This fear was probably one of the main reasons for the daily usage of fingerprint scanners in two nursery schools located in Kent, England, in order to check or verify the identity of parents.

The Springfield Lodge Day Nursery is scanning the prints each time parents drop off their children.

According to the owner of the nursery, the measures were for the "safety and security" of the children, however not everyone sees the move as positive. The charity, Kidscape, which aims to protect children from harm, described the measure as "paranoid and overkill" and gives the wrong message to youngsters.

Kidscape director, Michelle Elliott, provided statistics revealing that in reality of the 11 million children in the UK, on average seven to 10 were abducted and murdered each year.

"But we don't want to give children, particularly young children, the idea that the world is so dangerous that they can't even go to nursery school without being scanned."

Ms Berryman said parents at the nursery were happy with the heightened security measures.
She said it made life a lot easier for parents when dropping off and picking up so that they were not hanging around waiting for their children.

"There is no actual information recorded, only the information that we've already got," she said.

It would be interesting to know how instituting a fingerprint scanner in nursery schools or even kindergarten would go over with North American parents.

Read about Kidscape here: http://www.kidscape.org.uk/

SCHOOL BANS 3 YEAR OLD OVER HAIRCUT

NOTE TO SELF: SINCE WHEN ARE HAIRCUTS PART OF A NURSERY SCHOOL CURRICULUM?



Three year old(!) Tavis Cook has been banned from his Tyneside (UK) nursery school class due to his trendy "tramlines" haircut. His mother, Donna Cook, was informed that the youngster's hair cut broke the rules of Riverside Primary School in North Shields, UK and to keep her son home from school until his hair grows back.

Say what? Since when is a youngster's choice of hair cut part of a curriculum?

North Tyneside Council said it was aware of the matter and was advising Ms Cook on her options. No-one at the school was available for comment (I bet!).

Miss Cook took the youngster to the barber at which point Tavis chose the trendy hairstyle. Less than an hour after dropping the youngster off for nursery class the next morning, she was contacted by phone and requested to come pick him up. According to Tavis's mother, the walls of the barber shop were covered with photos of hair cuts and he choose his "tramline" cut. She had contacted the school and been informed that there was no uniform policy for the nursery or reception year.

When Tavis's mother arrived at school, the young boy was in tears.

A spokesman for North Tyneside Council said that they are aware of this issue and currently advising the parent on the matter.

Uh-huh...

A spokesman from Riverside Primary School said head teacher Dame Mary MacDonald was not available for comment.

Uh-huh...

Judge for yourselves as to the appropriateness of the haircut:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/tyne/7331184.stm

Honestly? The boy is a mere 3 years old and I can't see anything wrong with this haircut! True it's 'different' but in no way offensive!

http://www.northtyneside.gov.uk/ed1/index.htm


Writers & Friends
www.jrslater.com/forum

PENGUIN BOOK BARRED FROM LIBRARY SHELVES: PC GONE AWRY?

NOTE TO SELF: A FAMILY IS A FAMILY IS A FAMILY...SOME PEOPLE SEE SUBVERSIVE PLOTS EVERYWHERE, ESPECIALLY IN LOUDON

Given the fact that this is a place where there is reading matter covering a wide variety of subjects, one parent whose sensitivities were obviously jarred by the prospect of gay penguin parenting, has managed to get a book pulled from the library shelves. Some people see subversive plots at every turn, even within the pages of a children's book.

A children's book about two male penguins that hatch and parent a chick was pulled from library shelves in Loudoun County elementary schools this month after a parent complained that it promoted a gay agenda.

The decision by Superintendent Edgar B. Hatrick III led many parents and gay rights advocates to rush to the penguins' defence. Many say that the school system should not have allowed one complaint to limit children's literary choices. Some are calling for an overhaul of the book review policy. Besides, many say, what could be wrong with a book about penguins?

"The book is based on a true story . . . of what happens in the animal kingdom," said David Weintraub, director of Equality Loudoun, a gay rights organization. "It's about the joy of being part of a family. These penguins love each other. They take care of each other. The book, "And Tango Makes Three," by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell, draws on the real-life story of Roy and Silo, two chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo in New York. It also appears to make a point about tolerance of alternative families.

As the book says, Roy and Silo were "a little bit different" than the boy and girl penguins who noticed each other and became couples. "Wherever Roy went, Silo went too." After they tried to hatch an egg-shaped rock together, a zookeeper gave them a fertilized egg to nurture. Experts say male chinstraps typically share incubation duties with females.The 2005 book, written with simple words and colorful pictures and dedicated "to penguin lovers everywhere," topped the American Library Association's list of banned or challenged books in 2006. Parents challenged the book in Shiloh, Ill., and Charlotte. Administrators in Charlotte initially yanked the book but later restored it, according to news reports.

Read the whole story here:

http://loudounextra.washingtonpost.com/news/2008/feb/16/tango/

Extra Information regarding penguins found on the Sea World site: http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Penguins/hatching.html:

"Care of the chicks
1 . Chicks require attentive parents for survival. Both parents feed the chick regurgitated food. Adults recognize and feed only their own chicks. Parents are able to identify their young by their chick's distinctive call (Marchant, 1990; Simpson, 1976).
2. Male emperor penguins exhibit a feature unique among penguins. If the chick hatches before the female returns, the male, despite his fasting, is able to produce and secrete a curdlike substance from his esophagus to feed the chick (Marchant, 1990; del Hoyo, et al., 1992) allowing for survival and growth for up to two weeks (Pr6vost and Vilter, 1963-1 Stonehouse, 1975).

AND A CHILD SHALL SHOW THE WAY

NOTE TO SELF: ONE GENERATION PLANTS THE TREES; ANOTHER GETS THE SHADE


Seems at times that there is a plethora of negative reports and stories focusing on errant youth. It's therefore refreshing to come across a "feel good" story that gives one hope for the future of mankind. It's the kind of story that makes you smile.

Young Jack Davis, aged 11, was perturbed upon learning that Florida restos throw out food due to legal restraints should anyone eating the food become ill or develop food poisoning, since he felt it could be recycled and given to homeless people. He had visited a homeless shelter on school field trips and worried about people going hungry.

Jack's idea was to pass a law that would give restaurant owners' some protection from lawsuits. He got his dad to float the idea to some Florida legislators.

It now seems certain that Jack's idea will become a law.

"If you take away the reason restaurants will not give food -- they will," he said. "And it's kind of it's a win-win situation 'cause the restaurants get to do something good."

When Jack's bill started gaining momentum, he was suddenly big news in Miami.

"When I go to school, people were chanting my name because they saw me on the cover of the Miami Herald," Jack said. "Over the whole day, they were asking me what does the law say. And in some of my classes they clapped as I walked in. If you think there's a problem in the world," he said, "you don't wait for other people to fix it. You have to try to fix it yourself."

Amen to that!

See a photo of Jack here: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/PersonOfWeek/story?id=4123327&page=1

SCHOOL RELEASES 2008 LIST OF USELESS WORDS

NOTE TO SELF: AS A *WORDSMITH*, *IT IS WHAT IT IS* USING CERTAIN WORDS OR PHRASES


Go figure that someone would create a list subscribing that certain words and phrases are useless. We're talking words that most of us have used over time and now they're - Lake Superior State University - suggests that we find others.

In all there are 19 words or phrases that appear in its List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-Use, Over-Use and General Uselessness.

The school in Michigan's Upper Peninsula released its 33rd list Monday, selecting from about 2,000 nominations. This year's list derives from more than 2,000 nominations received through the university's website, www.lssu.edu/banished. Word-watchers target pet peeves from everyday speech, as well as from the news, education, technology, advertising, politics, sports and more. A committee makes a final cut in late December. The list is released on New Year's Day.

Here is the 2008 list:

PERFECT STORM
WEBINAR
WATERBOARDING
ORGANIC
*WORDSMITH/WORDSMITHING
AUTHOR/AUTHORED
POST 9/11
SURGE
GIVE BACK
BLACK FRIDAY
BLANK
BACK IN THE DAY
RANDOM
SWEET
DECIMATE
EMOTIONAL
POP
*IT IS WHAT IT IS
UNDER THE BUS

If you surf on to the university's site here: http://www.lssu.edu/banished/current.php there's a list of who nominated the words i.e. ordinary people who claim they have a pet peeve against one of the above-mentioned words/phrases, and the reasons or rationale behind their distaste for them.

Looking them over can't say that any of them particularly upset me. For me the mere concept of accepting words nominated by...anybody for no good reason, is ludicrous and a reason not to take this seriously. Strikes me that the university is using their annual listing as a ploy to attract potential students.

SCHOOL BANS HOODED SWEATSHIRT

NOTE TO SELF: EDUCATORS SHOULD STICK TO...EDUCATION


Here we go again. There used to be a time when schools and educators relegated themselves to expanding student's knowledge. It appears that they're also getting involved in fashion choices.

School officials at Lincoln Middle School in Meridien, Conn. have banned hooded sweatshirts, citing that they violate the dress code policy. While the district's Board of Education dress code policy does not specifically ban this piece of clothing, it does now allow head gear, which presumably includes sweat shirt hoods.

"The hooded sweaters, and some of the hooded shirts that are out, all those are excluded. If you're in the stores shopping, that's all there is -- everything is hooded," said parent Cheryl Tomassetti.

School officials said they decided to ban the shirts after some students were spotted wearing hoods over their heads in school hallways and classrooms. Officials said that hoods are sometimes used by students hiding headphones.

Makes a person wonder how far the arm of educators should extend, especially when it comes to the choice of clothing. If it was for safety purposes officials would be justified but headphones?

The ban will go into effect after winter break.

TODDLERS GET TUTORS FOR AN EXTRA EARLY EDGE

NOTE TO SELF: What ever happened to childhood?

As a grandparent this strikes me as too much, too soon but obviously parents don't think so.

Call it kindercramming. These days one of the fastest-growing markets for after-school tutors is preschoolers and kindergartners, whose parents are hoping that if their kids learn to read before first grade, it will ultimately help them get into college and get good jobs. Anxious moms and dads are no longer satisfied with traditional nursery school, which many see as a glorified romper room that focuses too much on learning through play. And of course, after years of Baby Einstein marketing, some parents have become convinced that the more math and reading skills their tots master, the better. Srinivas Rao, a veterinarian in Columbia, Md., began sending his daughter Sanjana to after-school tutoring last summer, shortly before her third birthday. To his delight, he soon found she could not only count the 14 dots on her homework work sheet but also write 14 beside them. "I didn't think kids could just learn that overnight," he marvels.

Read the entire story here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1686826,00.html

What happened to the "good, old days" when children stayed home with a parent or grandparent and played with toys? While it's admirable to want to offer your child the best upbringing, perhaps let them be children first?