Group items tagged

"Back in the 1980s, a group of social workers in Jamaica visited low-income homes one hour a week for two years, bearing age-appropriate toys for the kids and advice on child rearing for the parents. Researchers tracked the outcomes, and a generation later, the results are in. The children whose homes were visited by social workers became adults who earn wages that are 25 percent higher than those earned by peers who had not been visited. Their I.Q.s are an average seven points higher, and they are less likely to resort to crime or suffer from depression. Other studies, including several recent ones in the United States, have shown similar results, contributing to a consensus on the importance of early childhood development that has led governments around the world to increase spending on the first five years of life. In Latin America and the Caribbean, a region of longstanding social and economic inequality, several countries have been especially ambitious. Brazil and Chile doubled the coverage of day care services over the past decade, while in Ecuador they grew sixfold. These investments build on historic gains in child nutrition and health. But while Latin American children are now healthier and more likely to attend preschool, they still lag far behind in learning, particularly in the areas of language and cognition, when compared with their counterparts in wealthy countries. What are we doing wrong? ..."

"1. The teacher is choosing the technology. It's not always possible, but when you can, let the students choose, and see what happens. Not all of them will be able to. Some need help; so let other students help them. 2. The teacher is choosing the function. This doesn't mean you can't choose the function, but if you students can't control the technology the use nor its function, this can be problematic: the learning is passive from the beginning. 3. The teacher is determining the process. To an extent you have to, but don't overdo it. 4. The technology is distracting. If the technology is more magical than the project, product, collaboration, process, or content itself, try to muffle the bells and whistles. Or use them to your advantage. 5. The technology isn't necessary. You wouldn't use a ruler to teach expository writing, nor would you use a Wendell Berry essay to teach about the Water Cycle. No need for a Khan Academy account and a fully-personalized and potentially self-directed proficiency chart of mathematical concepts just to show a 3 minute video on the number line. 6. The process is too complex. Keep it simple. Fewer moving parts = greater precision. And less to go wrong. 7. Students have access to too much. What materials, models, peer groups, or related content do students actually need? See #6. 8. The teacher is the judge, jury, and executioner. Get out of the way. You're (probably) less interesting than the content, experts, and communities (if you're doing it right). 9. They artificially limiting the scale. Technology connects everything to everything. Use this to the advantage of the students! 10. They're not limiting the scale. However, giving students the keys to the universe with no framework, plan, boundaries or even vague goals is equally problematic. 11. Students access is limited to too little. The opposite of too board a scale is too little-akin to taking students to the ocean to fish but squaring of

"La Real Academia de la Lengua en su primera acepción define el término favor como 'Ayuda, socorro que se concede a alguien', mientras que define bondad en su segunda acepción como 'Natural inclinación a hacer el bien'. Personalmente, creo que hay una diferencia considerable entre hacer un favor y realizar un acto de bondad. En muchas ocasiones las personas hacen un favor a otras porque se lo han pedido, es decir, no tiene por qué salir de nosotros mismos, mientras que el acto de bondad se distingue precidamente por ser una acción natural, espontánea y que nosotros hacemos por propia iniciativa y, por suspuesto, sin esperar nada a cambio. Sé que puede parecer una definición muy simple, pero creo que vale la pena explicarlo así a nuestros alumnos para el correcto desarrollo de la actividad de tutoría Acto de bondad. ¿En qué consiste la actividad de tutoría Acto de bondad? Cursos: Primaria y Secundaria. Duración: Explicación en una sesión lectiva y una semana para ir llevando a cabo la actividad por parte de los alumnos. Participantes: Alumnos del grupo y el tutor o tutora que también participa de la actividad. Material: Hojas de colores y una caja cerrada con una ranura en la parte superior (urna). Desarrollo de la actividad de tutoría Acto de bondad. El tutor explica en clase la diferencia entre un favor y un acto de bondad. A continuación les explica a sus tutorandos que repartirá por sorteo un papel en el que figurará el nombre de un compañero de clase. Será a ese compañero al que deberá realizar el alumno un acto de bondad o aquellos que crea precisos. Para llevar a cabo un acto de bondad tendrá toda la semana. Hay que explicarles que el acto de bondad debe ser una acción muy sencilla, espontánea, fácil de realizar, sin coste alguno y, a ser posible, sin que el otro compañero se dé cuenta. Ejemplos de actos de bondad: Levantar una hoja o un lápiz del suelo. Dejar pasar primero al compañero.