"For the first time, scientists have identified the brain pathway that links a positive attitude toward maths to achievement in the subject.
In a study of elementary school students, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine found that having a positive attitude about maths was connected to the better function of the hippocampus, an important memory centre in the brain, during the performance of arithmetic problems.
The findings will be published online Jan. 24 in Psychological Science."
"Guidelines for teenagers should stress the importance of vigorous physical activity and fitness to cut the risk of heart disease, new research suggests. Current NHS guidelines say people aged 5 to 18 should do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each day to improve their current and future health.
But in a study of adolescents aged 12 to 17, University of Exeter researchers found significant differences between the effects of moderate activity (such as brisk walking) and vigorous activity (activity that leaves people out of breath, such as team sports or running around a playground)."
"Schools can provide the ideal environment to improve integration and reduce the difficulties faced by refugee children in Western asylum countries, according to a new study from psychologists at City, University of London.
The research, which involved speaking to refugees who had arrived in England and Denmark as children, highlights that schools can provide safe and stable setting where refugee children can develop meaningful and constructive connections to peers, teachers and other professionals, as well as being a place in which discrimination, racism and stigmatisation can be actively countered."
"Often we look for the big leaps, the silver bullets and the next big thing. But in reality progress and improvement often comes in bitesized pieces on multiple fronts. In this UKEdChat discussion we discuss marginal gains and the little steps that you, your pupils, your school and the wider education world are taking to make improvement to the learning opportunities of our pupils."
"With 20 years' teaching experience in a wide variety of schools, I've frequently encountered staff who despair at the behaviour of boys in their classes. Frankly, I love teaching boys, and perhaps my experiences as a P.E. teacher, often teaching single-sex groups, prepared me well for managing the classroom behaviours of boys. Perhaps being (at the very least) a cheeky student myself, frequently preferring attention-seeking behaviours to concentrating in class, I am able to relate to much of what is seen in classes every day. Or maybe I was just under-stimulated and over-confident. Regardless of the circumstances, I certainly have some successful strategies for teaching boys and am happy to share them. So here are my tips on improving behaviour, engagement and outcomes for boys."
"Knowing how to improve literacy is crucial if we are to improve the life chances of our students. The attainment gap between highly literate students and their less literate peers is stark. Add to that the complexity of examination questions and the texts that often accompany them and you have a perfect storm."
"Recorded at the BETT2018 exhibition in London during January 2018, this episode focuses on teachers who have explored ideas and venture opportunities and become entrepreneurs."
"Happiness is not a warm phone, according to a new study exploring the link between adolescent life satisfaction and screen time. Teens whose eyes are habitually glued to their smartphones are markedly unhappier, said study lead author and San Diego State University and professor of psychology Jean M. Twenge."
"Artificial Intelligence is a hot topic at the moment, with estimates varying wildly about how many jobs will be replaced by machine learning algorithms. Whatever the outcome, in reality, it is clear that schools will need to change, in order to prepare their students for the resulting impact on society and the skills needed for future employment."
"The teaching of grammar has changed completely in a generation. While formal teaching of spelling and punctuation have been a mainstay of the classroom, just a few decades ago there was very little teaching of grammar. Many pupils formally encountered grammar through the study of other languages.
Now SPaG takes up a large part of the primary curriculum, but have secondary colleagues noticed a difference? In this session we are discussion how to improve SPaG skills and usage at all levels of schooling and beyond."
"As I stood in the school hall, during an assembly on National Languages Day, I felt such pride, but equally astonishment at how the children had embraced the task of saying hello in as many languages as possible. I watched in amazement as the 34th child stood up in front of the school to share his knowledge of yet another greeting from a different country. I don't know whether it was the sheer volume of children or their confidence whilst standing in front of the school and speak a different language that struck me most, but whatever it was, made me reflect on how I had come to be in this moment."
"I began my personal journey into the world of Cubing when I was attending Regis University in Denver, Colorado in 2009. My senior thesis project involved devising a cryptosystem using the Rubik's Cube to encode and decode messages. Although my involvement with the Rubik's Cube waned post-graduation, it was rekindled shortly after I became a secondary teacher of mathematics in 2014. I had several Rubik's Cubes in my possession from my college days and these decorated the shelves in my classroom. I recall these puzzles catching the eyes of many curious pupils. After months of traditional curriculum presentation, I determined that my students were in need of a novel lesson, one that would ignite a passion for problem-solving. This lesson would involve the colourful and alluring hexahedron puzzle on my desk: the Rubik's Cube."
Y5/6 Teacher on Mersea Island, Colchester - Sharing ICT & other School resources on twitter & my websites http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com. Twitter @ICTmagic