World-Shaker

Teachers Don’t Like Creative Students

parenttrip:

One of the most consistent findings in educational studies of creativity has been that teachers dislike personality traits associated with creativity. Research has indicated that teachers prefer traits that seem to run counter to creativity, such as conformity and unquestioning acceptance of authority (e.g., Bachtold, 1974; Cropley, 1992; Dettmer, 1981; Getzels & Jackson, 1962; Torrance, 1963). The reason for teachers’ preferences is quite clear creative people tend to have traits that some have referred to as obnoxious (Torrance, 1963). Torrance (1963) described creative people as not having the time to be courteous, as refusing to take no for an answer, and as being negativistic and critical of others. Other characteristics, although not deserving the label obnoxious, nonetheless may not be those most highly valued in the classroom.

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It’d be easier to take this seriously if the sources weren’t at least 20 years old. It’s not like anything major happened since then.

Research Shows Just How Connected Today’s Kids Are to Technology →

K5 Learning Blog, a blog by the online reading and math program K5 Learning that follows educational issues with advocacy for parent involvement, recently reported that a number of studies have highlighted how connected and digitally tuned in kids are today to technology.

The reports showed the following interesting and fun facts:

• More than half of two- to four-year-olds use a computer.
• A quarter of kids go online by age three and half are there by age five.
• Nine percent of Toddlers between ages two and five can tie their shoes laces, while 19 percent of them can work a smartphone app. More of them can open a web browser than swim unaided.
• Children ages 8 to 18 spend on average 7 hours and 38 minutes using entertainment media.
• As they multitask, kids pack 10 hours and 48 minutes worth of media content into those roughly 7.5 hours.

There were a couple of o_O moments in here.

"Teenagers are often accused of being careless and naïve – particularly when it comes to the way they manage their privacy and digital footprints online. Yet, our data suggest that many online teens are considering the implications of their actions at least some of the time. Indeed, more than half (55%) of online teens say they have decided not to post something online out of concern that it might reflect poorly on them in the future."

— More than half of online teens have decided not to post something online because they were concerned it might reflect badly on them in the future. | Pew Internet & American Life Project (via infoneer-pulse)

"Nothing you do for children is ever wasted."

— Garrison Keillor (Leaving Home)

(Source: myquotelibrary)

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I’m always curious to learn what people think about things like this.

Songs in style {StoryChimes SongBook}

stylishipadapps:

Beautifully illustrated song book.

Enjoy!

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I bet kids would love this one.

Our kids' glorious new age of distraction →

Children are not what they used to be. They tweet and blog and text without batting an eyelash. Whenever they need the answer to a question, they simply log onto their phone and look it up on Google. They live in a state of perpetual, endless distraction, and, for many parents and educators, it’s a source of real concern. Will future generations be able to finish a whole book? Will they be able to sit through an entire movie without checking their phones? Are we raising a generation of impatient brats?

Really great article over here.

Warning as children shun books in favour of Facebook →

infoneer-pulse:

Schoolchildren are significantly more likely to be exposed to mobile phones and computers in the home than novels, according to researchers. They also found that reading frequency declined sharply with age, with 14 to 16 year–olds being more than 10 times as likely to avoid books altogether as those in primary education.

The findings, in a study by the National Literacy Trust, follow the publication of an international league table last year that showed reading standards among children in Britain had slipped from 17th to 25th in the world.

Jonathan Douglas, the trust’s director, warned that people who failed to read books at a young age often suffered serious literacy problems in adulthood. “We are worried that they will grow up to be the one in six adults who struggle with literacy to the extent that they read to the level expected of an 11 year–old or below,” he said.

» via The Telegraph

If only there were someone who could control what types of things ended up in front of a child. Who could prevent them from receiving a cell phone, and encourage them to read books. Some sort of parental type of role I’d think.

As Schools Cut Recess, Kids' Learning Will Suffer, Experts Say →

infoneer-pulse:

“He said, ‘In kindergarten we had recess twice a day and we went to gym twice a week,’” Gilboa told LiveScience. Now, as a first-grader, Nadav’s class only went to gym once every six days. They had one recess period a day, split with lunch, so that Nadav had only about 15 minutes a day to run around.

“He said, ‘I get this feeling in my legs when they want to run and that feeling moves up to my belly and when that feeling moves up to my head I can’t remember what the rules are,” Gilboa said. “So he had really noticed a big change in his own behavior and self-control.”

For kids like Nadav, the transition from summer freedom to the grindstone of the classroom may be tough. With schools under pressure to meet standardized testing goals, recess has been cut back and even eliminated in some school districts. The irony, experts say, is that schools may be shooting themselves in the foot by taking away playtime that’s crucial to a child’s growth.

» via Live Science

This is one of those things that seems like common sense, but somehow isn’t.

What Facebook Does to Kids' Brains →

infoneer-pulse:

Facebook is only seven years old and has only been open to non-college students for five years (kids under 13 are not offiially allowed to join), so researchers have not had much time to study the emotional, physical, and psychological effects it could have on kids. But science has proven at least one thing: Facebook does something to some people’s brains, probably. 

» via The Atlantic

Yikes.

Just for future reference.

Stylish chalkboard simulator {Bord}

stylishipadapps:

Cool and fun chalkboard simulator  app.

Enjoy!

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Novel, yet functional. I’m a fan.

Or, “Why I think this commercial is crap.”

Honestly, this is going to be some soapboxing from a dude with no kids, BUT:

More active parenting.

There are too many parents out there who come home and veg out in front of the TV, who lose themselves in the glow of the computer monitor, and who can’t make it through dinner without texting or checking email on their Blackberries. If kids under 13 are joining and using Facebook (which is against Facebook’s Terms of Service, by the way), I feel it’s largely because their online time is not being monitored as much as it should be. In my mind, children under the age of 13 (and even a bit older):

…should not be online more than an hour each day. Send them outside. Force them to socialize with other kids their age. Let them learn that meaningful relationships almost always begin in the real world instead of online.

…should never be able to access the Internet from the privacy of their bedroom. You’re the parent. It’s your right and responsibility to know. If they have an iPod Touch or laptop, it does not go into their room. Any access they have to the Internet needs to occur in a “public” area of your home.

…should learn positive online habits if you choose to let them into a social network. Here are five safe social networks for children (and they are children).

…should, at all times, and without exception, never have any account that their parents do not have the password to. Ever. Period. End of story. Foot = Down.

…should have a good example. If you’re on the computer all night, ignoring the world, you are socializing them to believe that’s the norm. That meaningful interactions only occur online. If you do that, STOP IT.

This is not one of those things that can be pushed off onto teachers. They’ve already had enough pushed off on them. As parents you have the unique privilege of raising a child, which involves setting boundaries and letting them know what is and isn’t acceptable behavior. I’m not saying it’s easy. It’s probably the hardest job in the world (according to what I’ve read on Wikipedia). And it’s not like technology has made things simpler. But what isn’t complicated is setting reasonable boundaries, and establishing easy rules for online access with your children.

This isn’t an indictment against all parents. There are plenty of active parents out there. But there are plenty who haven’t learned to responsibly handle technology themselves. How can I expect those people to set a good example for their miniature people? Ultimately, this one will have to be on mom and pop. Or mom and mom. Or pop and pop. Or just mom. Or just pop.

</soapbox>

positivelypersistentteach:

If you believe in yourself, you will know how to ride a bike.

I’d like this kid to be a motivational speaker in my classroom this year.

This. Is. ADORABLE.