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Category Archives: A Little Good News Today
Yes, Parents Are Capable of Choosing How Their Children Should Be Educated
The idea that parents get in the way of children’s education and can halt their flourishing is nothing new. It’s also false!
At the heart of debates around education freedom and school choice is the subtle but sinister sentiment that parents can’t be trusted. They are too busy, too poor, or too ignorant to make the right decisions for their kids, and others know better how to raise and educate children. Never mind that parents have successfully cared for and educated their children for millennia, ensuring the ongoing survival and continued success of our species. Continue reading
In 2019, more Americans went to the library than to the movies. Yes, really!
The US film industry may have generated revenues somewhere in the region of $40 billion last year, but it seems Hollywood still has plenty of work to do if it wants to compete with that most hallowed of American institutions: the public library… Continue reading
“Boom!” There, I said it….
No, Let Me Shout It Out For You… ‘BOOM, BOOM, BOOMER!’
“Boomer” as of recent past is being used as a pejorative term to paint us boomers in veils of black. How quaint! Yes, it’s true that we think a lot alike.
We grew up with all-American values, values that coarse through our veins as our life blood. Freedom is more than just a word; it has become a genuine part of our DNA! We know Americanism because we were taught from young on what the alternative was. We embraced the American way of life with every fiber of our being because we were taught the history of what the alternative was. WE WERE GIVEN THE CHOICE AND GIVEN THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE, WE CHOSE FREEDOM!
Continue reading
States Move to Add Native American History to Curriculum
A recent report shows that 87% of state history standards include no mention of Native American history after 1900.
At the old well of Acoma (1904) Tiwa by Edward S. Curtis
On the heels of the National Indian Education Association’s conference held in Minneapolis earlier this fall and just in time for Native American Heritage Month, the nearby Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community announced a $5 million philanthropic campaign to fund resources, curriculum, and training on Native American heritage for teachers and administrators across Minnesota, according to the Star Tribune. “We’re hoping we can move the needle in the narrative in Minnesota and be a model,” Rebecca Crooks-Stratton, the secretary-treasurer for SMSC, told the newspaper. Continue reading
My, My, My – what a novel idea!
Bring Back Shop Class In All Public Schools
This isn’t a new thought, as highlighted below, but this does need to be a growing trend. Teaching the youth that not only is it acceptable to work with your hands, it is also very rewarding. The process of creating something, and then being able to hold it in your hand, can have a profound effect on a kid’s desire to learn more… Continue reading
Machines Are Not Teachers… Passion Is
There is this idea Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad asking Malaysians to emulate Japan and Korea as models, of showing recordings of good teachers teaching. The 94-year-old prime minister liked it a lot and wants school to adopt and implement. I suppose his minister of education would also abide by the wishes, as a loyal party member. But I hope I am wrong. That this is not to be the solution to improve our education system, any for that matter. If this is so, I believe this is an idea whose time should never come. Continue reading
The NEW old way to study…
How Financial Knowledge was Taught in 1889
Try to do these problems without a calculator….
On November 22, 1889, Gertrude Jones of Tennyson, Indiana penciled her name into her copy of Complete Arithmetic, a math curriculum book in use at the time. In 2016, the book is now in my possession. It smells delightful, if you’re into old books. Continue reading
Teacher Uses LEGOs To Explain Math To Schoolchildren
As if LEGOs weren’t enough of an awesome childhood toy, one teacher has found another awesome educational/developmental use for this super-toy – as a math education aid! Alycia Zimmerman, a 3rd-grade teacher in New York, uses them to explain fractions, squares and other mathematical concepts. Continue reading
Ditching The Smartphones: ‘It’s Really Refreshing And Relaxing’
College Students Say Ditching Their Smartphones For A Week Changed Their Lives
It’s old school in Jacob Dannenberg’s dorm room – with an alarm clock to wake him.
Handwritten notes remind him of an actual wristwatch to keep track of time… Continue reading
Colorado Middle School Banned Phones 7 Years Ago. They Say Students Are Happier, Less Stressed And More Focused
A student at Mountain Middle School, a public charter school in Durango, Colo, puts her phone away before entering the building for the school day on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019. [Chris Neal/Shooter Imaging]
Teachers at Mountain Middle School in Durango knew they had to do something. La Plata County had one of the highest teen suicide rates in Colorado and the school wanted to be a truly safe space.
One of the first things that came to mind — a cell phone ban. So, seven years ago, that’s what they did. Continue reading
Mike Rowe Says Death of Shop Class Is Why Country Has $1.6 Trillion in Student Debt
“Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe said in a Thursday interview that the death of shop class is to blame for the country’s $1.6 trillion in student loan debt.
Rowe joined Stuart Varney on Fox Business to discuss his new book, The Way I Heard It, and was asked why there are “seven million unfilled jobs in our country.” Continue reading
Students Learn Way More Effectively From Print Textbooks Than Screens
Today’s students see themselves as digital natives, the first generation to grow up surrounded by technology like smartphones, tablets and e-readers.
Teachers, parents and policymakers certainly acknowledge the growing influence of technology and have responded in kind. We’ve seen more investment in classroom technologies, with students now equipped with school-issued iPads and access to e-textbooks. Continue reading
Thing You Can Do
Reading plays an integral role in developing our intelligence and problem-solving and analytical skills. Good reasons to do more of it.
We’ve all had it embedded within us since the day we were born: The only way to become smarter, no matter what you study or where you are, is to read. What few people tell us, however, is why reading plays such an integral role in developing our intelligence, problem-solving, and analytical skills, and our ability to understand others with alacrity.
Why, then, is this hobby – one that gets more and more difficult to maintain as we get older – so crucial to maintaining our brain function and improving our overall intelligence? Continue reading
School completely bans mobile phones and teachers say kids’ behaviour changes
Even teachers are not allowed to use their phones ~ Unfortunately, it is not in the U.S.
Ysgol John Bright, Llandudno
A school said its total ban on pupils using mobile phones has improved exam results and behaviour The ban, which has been running for a year, has “made a massive difference” said Ann Webb, headteacher at Ysgol John Bright, in Llandudno .
The strict rule applies at any time during the school day, even during breaks or at lunchtime. Staff are also asked not to use mobile phones in front of pupils. Continue reading
5th Graders Learn Powerful Life Lessons by Writing Letters to Cancer Survivors
This teacher wants his students to know that even the smallest act matters.
This October, students at Abbey Lane Elementary School in Levittown, New York, will take on a project that helps make the lives of cancer patients, survivors, and their families just a little bit brighter. They’re writing letters to cancer survivors to give them hope and encouragement. Continue reading
School Is Not Supposed to Be Fun All the Time
School is not Disneyland
I’m working on writing a middle grade book. I love to write. I read loads of middle grade books. I’ve friended every middle grade author I know on Facebook and enjoy reading about them. But when I sit down to write, it’s not that fun. In fact, it’s frustrating and stressful and time-consuming. Because the truth is that hard work isn’t really that much fun. Continue reading
Malawian Teen Taught Himself How To Build A Windmill From Junk…
…Brought Power To His Village, ALL Learned From Library Books!
William Kamkwamba
We are joining a call from Anonomous who posted a very simple message, they say the media is blacking out the importance of Malawian Teen William Kamkwamba. He taught himself how to build a windmill from junk, brought power to his village, learned from books he read in the library!
He was a simple farmer, he hadn’t see a computer and certainly not many white people in his life. But his mind prevailed and his inventions made lives better. Continue reading