Group items tagged

"Scare tactics, blocking sites can be bad for kids"

"Katrina Schwartz's recent KQED blog post explores why trust is crucial in shaping independent learners. The article points out that in this age of preparing students to be "college and career ready," it is puzzling that schools block portions of the internet in the name of protecting students from inappropriate online behavior. Additionally, by blocking digital tools that serve a useful purpose in learning, schools effectively stop educators from teaching and modeling appropriate online behavior. And yet, younger students especially need some kind of protection online. In this article, we explore why building trust today is difficult in a traditional sense, while also remaining crucial for independent learning activities."

"People use the Scratch language to create interactive stories, games, and animations. Includes an active community to share projects. In the simplest terms, the Scratch language is a free programming language where you move blocks (also called bubbles) into a set order, then configure some of the blocks to create interactive stories, games, and animations."

"Dear Parent: I know. You're worried. Every day, your child comes home with a story about THAT kid. The one who is always hitting shoving pinching scratching maybe even biting other children. The one who always has to hold my hand in the hallway. The one who has a special spot at the carpet, and sometimes sits on a chair rather than the floor. The one who had to leave the block centre because blocks are not for throwing. The one who climbed over the playground fence right exactly as I was telling her to stop. The one who poured his neighbour's milk onto the floor in a fit of anger. On purpose. While I was watching.  And then, when I asked him to clean it up, emptied the ENTIRE paper towel dispenser. On purpose. While I was watching. The one who dropped the REAL ACTUAL F-word in gym class. You're worried that THAT child is detracting from your child's learning experience. You're worried that he takes up too much of my time and energy, and that your child won't get his fair share. You're worried that she is really going to hurt someone some day. You're worried that "someone" might be your child. You're worried that your child is going to start using aggression to get what she wants. You're worried your child is going to fall behind academically because I might not notice that he is struggling to hold a pencil. I know. Your child, this year, in this classroom, at this age, is not THAT child. Your child is not perfect, but she generally follows rules. He is able to share toys peaceably. She does not throw furniture. He raises his hand to speak. She works when it is time to work, and  plays when it is time to play. He can be trusted to go straight to the bathroom and straight back again with no shenanigans. She thinks that the S-word is "stupid" and the C-word is "crap." I know."

"High school social studies teacher Emily Block had used design thinking in her classroom before, but wanted to take it one step farther and have her students learn by making. Through a course at Scarsdale Schools' Teacher Institute (PDF), Emily incorporated a maker experience into her practice and used design thinking to help her manage the process."

Joyce Valenza's ideas on what to do when YouTube is blocked

A dashboard which monitors popular English sites* which are blocked in China by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)

"How do you teach programming to children with no prior programming experience? How do you teach programming to children that can yet read or write?"

"Questions can fire the imagination and feed your creativity. In my research for The Book of Beautiful Questions, I found dozens of questions that can help in identifying fresh ideas, overcoming creative block, soliciting useful feedback, and getting an idea "out the door" and into the world. However, the questions we ask ourselves about creativity also can have the opposite effect. They can undermine creative confidence or cause us to misdirect our efforts. Below are five questions that can be thought of as "creativity killers." Take note of them now-so that in the future, you can stop asking them."