Treating (Teaching) Children "Equally" is Unfair

You hear these statements all the time…

We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal…
Everyone is equal before the law.
Teachers should treat all students equally.

One platitude after another…

Who can disagree with these assertions?

After all, isn't treating everyone equally the same as fairness?

Teaching is Different than Running a Lunch Counter

This article is about providing love, service, protection and caring instruction to every child.

In fact, children of illegal immigrants, the children of the same religion of the terrorist airplane hijacker, the children who come to school wearing the same dirty tee-shirt for weeks at a time…deserve to be treated fairly.

But, for all the compassion, empathy and caring that teachers hold; for all the dedication that teachers donate to students and our society by perfecting their instructional skills; treating children equally is unfair.

In fact, treating children equally turns out to be stingy, uncaring and unkind.

Here we expose some of the effects of the "Treat/ Teach all children equally" prescription…

http://classroomtoolkit.net/serendipity/archives/80-Feature-Article.html#extended

Playground fun

Playground fun aims to bring together traditional and modern playground and street games for children aged 7–9 and aims to encourage children to take part in physical activity through education.
Teaching materials contain worksheets, teaching ideas and curriculum references to help you integrate the Playground fun website and the games on it into your teaching. The Playground fun project consists of six "lessons" that promote the effective use of ICT, digital cameras and the Internet. There are also links back to the website. These lessons are aimed at Years 3 and 4 but can be adapted to suit your class.

Visit Playground Fun

Learned Helplessness: A Habit we Don't Want for Ourselves (or Our Students)

Situations exist. How we interpret situations determines our reaction to these situations. Our interpretation also determines our mood, and long-term, determines our beliefs.

Learned helplessness refers to what happens when, after countless attempts, people come to believe that their work, strategies, techniques and efforts "get them nowhere, provide no positive payoff."
If a teacher comes to believe that a situation is hopeless, and the results of their work and effort are uncontrollable, a number of outcomes (all negative) are possible.

http://classroomtoolkit.net/serendipity/archives/79-Short-Article.html#extended

Reading Recovery in the Classroom

"I consider myself to be a Reading Recovery teacher. I was trained in 1999 and worked for four years as a Reading Recovery/literacy support coordinator. During that time I worked with teachers and gave tips on how they could use Reading Recovery techniques in the classroom. I was very proud of the fact I could teach them how to use running records and sound boxes. I devised a whole list of activities that could be done in the classroom. All of this had merit, but I think I missed the bigger picture of what Reading Recovery is about. It is about looking at the children and thinking of what I can do to help them understand the reading process. It is about being explicit, not wasting time and getting the most out of them as learners. The other things are the tools we use in order to achieve our aims.
This year I have returned to the classroom. I was a bit worried as it had been a long time, and I was given a prep grade. It is funny with classroom teaching, when you are doing all the things necessary to run a class you just do it, but on reflection you think about the lunchboxes, the meetings, the parents, the ‘I want to go home’, ‘he won’t play with me’, ‘she took my lunch’ and you wonder: how did I do it all? Anyway, being a positive person, I decided if other people could manage, I could manage too.
My year started this year as most prep grades do. The children would come in to school, there would be activities on the tables and the children would move around the room as they pleased. As a Reading Recovery teacher I was very mindful about introducing them to their books, so I took the opportunity while they were playing to select a book for them that would match their needs. I was amazed at the rapid improvement in their reading levels. I was treating each child as a Reading Recovery student, introducing them to a new book and prompting them according to their needs.
I began to wonder, was it the time the children were allowed to develop or was it the explicit teaching or was it both?
So I thought I would analyse what else has changed. ..."

Read on ...

Vic schools a 'war toy free zone'

Toy soldiers, model war planes and wrestling figurines have been banned in Victorian schools.
The ban is part of a move towards political correctness.
Primary schools and kindergartens are now "war toy free zones".

Read on ...

Here is a list of the web pages for teachers that I have just

Space
History and Timelines
Booklists
Values books
Ancient Egypt
Internet Research
Maths
Special days
Kindergarten Longer Read-alouds
Year Six Novels
Books for autistic children
Asia - General

"Replacing books with computers shows promise"

The Anchorage Daily News reports that at Wendler Middle School, Sixty seventh-graders have received free-to-use laptops. While the students can't take the laptops home, they can take them into classes, use them for taking notes, and access wireless internet to assist with assignments. The theory underpinning the initiative is that if children have constant access to technology, they will read more often, learn better, and have fun while doing it.

Read more ...

Six ed-tech trends to watch in 2007

Service-oriented architecture, ‘cloud computing’ among the developments sure to have an impact on educational technology in the coming year

Read the whole article

Educated?

To be able to be caught up into the world of thought -- that is educated.

Edith Hamilton


More quotes about education and teaching

Education is ...

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

More quotes related to education and teaching

Education 2.0: The next evolution of school software has arrived

Emergence of open technologies and open-source alternatives makes customizing school software a reality

By Corey Murray, Senior Editor, eSchool News


Aiming to customize their solutions to meet the individual needs of teachers and students, a growing number of school systems are ushering in a new breed of school software that relies on open technologies--whether it's open-source software on their servers and desktops, or so-called Web 2.0 services available free of charge online.

Economics and advancements in technology are fueling this latest trend in school software, proponents of the movement say--but it's also about customization, and the desire to employ a variety of solutions as users see fit.

Read the whole article

An Author in Every Classroom

By Nick Glass

This article highlights specific ways you can replicate these personal connections to authors and illustrators by optimizing a variety of multimedia and online technologies. I will review specific types of virtual author programs, give examples you can freely experience, share how you can use them in your school, and guide you toward bringing an author into every classroom.

-->http://www.mmischools.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=12208

Learning to use technology - videos of real experiences

Here is a site of free teacher videos of teachers teaching and learning to use technology. These are National Board Certified teachers, and all of the resources are free.

ITunes.http://ali.apple.com/ali_sites/deli/nav2.shtml

Principals beg for more preschools

PRIMARY school principals will campaign for more preschools before the state election in March, following a survey that shows a clear disadvantage for children who skip early childhood learning.

The Primary Principals' Association surveyed public schools and will press Labor to match the Coalition commitment to build more preschools and provide fee relief for families. NSW has the lowest preschool attendance in the country and highest fees - about $30 a day.

Read on ...

Books for Boys

There is a challenge sometimes in getting boys to read. I have always admired the teachers who generated a love of reading in my boys. If you are looking for the sorts of books to recommend to boys, especially reluctant readers, check out the book list I have collected.

Why Teacher Unions Are Good for Teachers and the Public

In the current climate, when it is in vogue to select non-educators to administer school systems, it is vital that teachers have a voice. School reform cannot possibly succeed when teachers—who are on the frontlines of implementation—are left out of the decision-making process. If there is no “buy-in,” if teachers do not willingly concur with the orders handed down from on high, then reform cannot succeed. If administrators operate by stealth and confrontation, then their plans for reform will founder. They cannot improve what happens in the classroom by humiliating and bossing around the teachers who are in daily contact with the children. Only in an atmosphere of mutual respect can administrators and teachers produce the kind of partnership that will benefit students. And administrators cannot achieve this collaborative atmosphere unless they are willing to talk with and listen to the leaders chosen by teachers to represent them.

Read the whole article

Six trends for 2007 and the 21st century

Via Stephen Downes and ZD Net

eSchoolNews editor Gregg Downey offers six prognostications for the coming year. He has listed

Web 2.0.

Cloud computing

Service-oriented architecture

The gathering SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model)

Telepresence ...

The sixth is

21st-century learning

An organization called the Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a program designed to help educators prepare their students for the future. According to the Partnership, students need the following skills. The job of educators in the 21st century is to deliver them:

• Information and communication skills;
• Thinking and problem-solving skills;
• Interpersonal and self-direction skills;
• Global awareness;
• Financial, economic, and business skills; and
• Civic literacy.

Website update

I updated the website for teachers last night.

These are the pages updated.

Polar Regions
Behaviour Management
Maths
Books in sign
Science
Animals
Fiction activities
Computers & ICTs
Thinking skills
Books for teaching similes
Anorexia - booklist
Countries

and I have also updated the Quotations about Teaching and Education

and the Just for Fun pages

Social-networking sites confound schools

At least half of school systems in a recent poll do not have policies to address students' use of MySpace, Facebook, and other such sites

More than three years after social-networking web sites such as MySpace and Facebook first began cropping up online, school leaders still struggle with how to set policies regarding the use of such sites both inside and outside of school--and many school systems lack these policies altogether, according to a recent survey. Read on ...

Schools mull new Microsoft technologies

Office 2007, Windows Vista promise greater security and ease of use--but upgrading will require significant planning and training

Software giant Microsoft Corp. will begin licensing two major new releases, Office 2007 and Windows Vista, to schools and businesses at the end of this month.

The programs include a host of new features aimed at boosting security and improving their ease of use--but upgrading will require significant planning and training on the part of schools.

Read on ...