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Grieving Children & Families
This is one of the most highly respected organizations
for helping grieving children and families...
http://www.dougy.org/default.asp?pid=7736932
here's are links to some of their articles:
http://www.dougy.org/default.asp?pid=5072137
http://www.dougy.org/default.asp?pid=3859827
http://www.dougy.org/default.asp?pid=4985010
Books
I Miss You: A First Look At Death
by Pat Thomas, Lesley Har
When Dinosaurs Die :
A Guide to Understanding Death
(Dino Life Guides for Families)
by Laurie Krasny Brown, Marc Brown
Sad Isn't Bad:
A Good-Grief Guidebook for Kids
Dealing With Loss
by Michaelene Mundy
What on Earth Do You Do When Someone Dies?
by Trevor Romain
Where Do Balloons Go?
An Uplifting Mystery
by Jamie Lee Curtis
The Next Place
by Warren Hanson
Lifetimes
by Bryan Mellonie
Tear Soup
by Pat Schweibert, Chuck DeKlyen, Pat Schwiebert (Illustrator)
Pat Cunningham's IRA talk, May
2, 2006
Schools that Work for Poor Children
http://www.wfu.edu/academics/fourblocks/IRAweb.pdf
How to Accentuate Respect and
Eliminate Disrespect in Students
By Michele Borba, Ed.D.
The secret of learning new character-building behaviors
is that such behaviors are "caught" by watching others do them well.
The secret of teaching new character-building behaviors is to tune
up the behavior you want to be caught and accentuate it.
Included: Ten tips for accentuating respect and eliminating disrespect
in your classroom. Many of today's students lack an understanding
of respect because their experiences with that essential character
trait have been minimal. Think about it: If you are rarely around
people who display respect, and if you aren't treated as though
you are a valued and worthwhile individual, how can you possible
"catch the behavior?"
That's the secret of learning new character-building behaviors --
they're "caught" by watching others do them well. Today's schools
and classrooms are enormously significant institutions because for
many students those might be the only places where appropriate character
building traits can be taught. If you recognize that premise, you'll
also recognize the power of educators. Tune up the behavior you
want to be caught and accentuate it. Here's how: Model respectful
statements. Never forget how you impact your students -- you might
very well be their only model of respect. You might wish to say
respectful statements so the class can hear you: "Thank you, Mrs.
Smith, for sharing your slides with us. We really appreciated them."
Or, "Excuse me, Sally, I didn't mean to interrupt you." For many
students, that might be the only time they hear what respect sounds
like.
Accentuate respect. In any environment, establish a firm
commandment: "You may not talk hurtfully about yourself or others."
Put it in your own words if you like, but post it in a highly visible
location, such as on the door, along the length of the chalkboard,
or on a bulletin board. Build awareness of respectful language.
Like is or not, we have become a negative, disrespectful society
that too often emphasizes sarcasm, put-downs, and disrespect. Listen
to the popular sit-coms on television and count the frequency of
statements based on negativity, ridicule, and sarcasm. Studies show
the average student is watching a minimum of three hours of television
a night. Many of today's students are reared in homes seeping in
disrespect and negativity. So don't assume your students know the
language. Why not brainstorm with them lists of statements that
show respect, and post the list as a reminder that choices exist
other than disrespect. "Thank you for sharing." "What is opinion?"
"Are you okay?" "Thank you."
About the Author Michele Borba, Ed.D. is an educational consultant,
recipient of the National Educator Award, and award-winning author
of over 20 books including
Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues that Teach
Kids to Do the Right Thing, Don't Give Me That Attitude!,
No More Misbehavin', and Parents Do Make A Difference.
Her latest book is 12 Simple Secrets Real Moms Know: Getting Back
to Basics and Raising Happy Kids. She has presented keynotes and
workshops to more than one million teachers and parents. For more
about her work or to schedule a seminar for your teachers see her
Web site Proven Tools to Raise Strong Caring Kids.
For more information, see Reading, Writing...and Moral
Intelligence, an Education World interview with Michele Borba.
Label appropriate respectful language. Many students need help
distinguishing between appropriate language and destructive language.
They might have made disrespectful put-down statements so often
they've conditioned themselves to say the negative. It is helpful
to label appropriate and inappropriate language for students. Terms
that can be used to describe appropriate respectful language (depending
on the age of your students) include: "Compliment," "Sparkler,"
"Validator," "Booster," "Builder-upper," "Respect." Inappropriate
disrespectful language can be labeled by such terms as "Disrespectful,"
"Zinger," "Terminator," "Put-down," "Detonator." Choose one term
from each category, teach it to students, and then consistently
use it to label character-builder language. "That's a put-up," or
"That's a put-down." Remember, your attempts at teaching students
the skills of positive, respectful language will be greatly enhanced
if students hear the same key phrases, encouragement, vocabulary
and tone. Reinforce respectful statements. Reinforce what you want
to be repeated. Try to key in on students' respectful statements
and forget the disrespectful ones for a while. It's easier to change
behavior by focusing on the positive aspects instead of the negative.
Some students, however, make that very tough to do; they'll almost
provoke you to put them down. If you remember that you're only hooking
into their game if you do, it'll be easier to stay focused on the
respectful.
Practice respectful behavior skills. Listing respectful statements
on a poster, although helpful, is not enough to change students'
behavior. Students must be given opportunities to practice respectful
behavior. In many cases, positive character-building skills will
be unfamiliar to students; they might not have been exposed to the
skills frequently enough for mastery, or they might never have been
exposed to them all. We can no longer assume that students have
acquired any of the essential character-building skills and habits.
Keep in mind that many students might not be comfortable making
respectful statements. Those students should be allowed to choose
the kinds of statements they feel safe saying. "Hello," "Hi," "How
are you?," or a smile and eye contact are appropriate first steps.
Keep things in perspective: What kinds of behavior were they using
yesterday? Think in baby steps.
STEPS TO ELIMINATE DISRESPECT
We all know that changing habits takes time and effort. Many students
have been locked into saying disrespectful words and displaying
disrespectful behaviors for years. We certainly can't expect overnight
success. So do expect backsliding for a while -- in which a child
will start to demonstrate the new skill, and then -- just when you
think they have moved up a notch on the respect ladder -- they're
right back to where they had been, or even worse off than they were
before. Those are normal patterns to expect. Human behavior tends
to revert to what we're most comfortable with -- that's why habits
are so difficult to break. Don't despair and never give up! You
can help students learn more respectful behavior by slowly replacing
their disrespectful habits. The techniques below show ways to replace
old habits with newer, more appropriate ones. The most important
rule for success is this: "Be Consistent."
Draw awareness to disrespect. Whenever students go against your
classroom "respect commandment," be careful not to be negative toward
their already disrespectful disposition. Disrespect quickly breeds
disrespect. Casually mention, "Remember, we only say respectful
words." Some teachers use a private code or signal between themselves
and certain students. Each time a student makes a disrespectful
comment, the teacher says a word -- such as "Zap!" -- or uses a
quiet signal -- such as raising one finger -- as a reminder to stop.
Often students are not aware of how many disrespectful statements
they're making. One way to bring them to that awareness is to use
a simple tally system. On paper, designate one column for respectful
statements, the other for disrespectful ones. Each time a student
makes either a respectful or disrespectful comment, add a stamp
or mark to the appropriate side. The key to the activity is to keep
the tallying private. It never should be published for other students
to see. Another way to help students become aware of disrespectful
statements is to use tokens (i.e. marbles, poker chips, pegs). A
student holds the tokens in his or her left pocket, and whenever
the student makes a disrespectful statement, a token is transferred
to the right pocket. Often just one reminder will get the message
across.
Label disrespect…Call it! Students need to recognize disrespectful
put-downs by saying a code word or making a sound immediately back
to the sender. The code should be agreed upon by all students so
they recognize it. Words such as "disrespectful putdown," "prickly,"
"zinger" or such sounds as "ouch" or "Buz-z-z-" will help students
recognize that a statement was inappropriate. Teach skills to defuse
disrespect. If the objective is to squelch disrespect on campus,
then it is critical to teach everyone (peers and staff) to take
the same steps in handling disrespectful actions. "Defuser" skills
can calm disrespectful behaviors before they detonate into a full
explosion (usually physical or verbal retaliation). Make it a campus
rule that disrespectful statements are not allowed.
Whenever a put-down is said, teach the rule that the sender must
then change the put-down into a "put-up."
The rule is: One Put-Down = One Put-Up, or One Disrespectful Statement
= One Respectful Statement. In some schools, the rule is even more
stringent: For every put-down, there must be three put-ups. Whatever
the number, to be effective, the rule must be consistently enforced.
Teach skills to replace negativity. Many students are locked into
disrespectful, inappropriate behavior patterns simply because they
don't know what to do instead. Asking them to "Be more respectful"
or "Act nicer" has no value if the student does not know how to
demonstrate the skills of respect or kindness. Those skills need
to be taught. Keep in mind, however, that new behaviors take a tremendous
amount of repetition and commitment before they can replace older,
more comfortable habits. Students will slip back easily into older
disrespectful behavior patterns unless the newer skills of respect
are continually reinforced and practiced. Consistency and reinforcement
are critical. Don't give up, though! Respectful attitudes are contagious.
© 2006 Dr. Michele Borba Article by Michele Borba, Ed.D. Education
World® Copyright © 2006 Education World
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev137.shtml
Helping "Fake Readers" Become Proficient
Life-Long Readers
A Wire Side Chat with Cris Tovani, Author of I Read It, but I Don't
Get It Cris Tovani has been widely acclaimed for her work with students
and teachers in the area of reading comprehension. Author of the
best-selling "I Read It, but I Don’t Get It,”
Tovani recently chatted with Education World about how her own checkered
reading past motivates and inspires her efforts to help students
build real meaning from their reading and become life-long readers.
Included: Tovani’s thoughts about fake reading and how to prevent
it, how teachers’ can share their reading passions, and teaching
reading in this age of accountability. I Read It, but I Don't
Get It, by Cris Tovani, has been widely acclaimed by middle-
and high-school teachers for its honesty and practicality.
Tovani is an accomplished teacher and staff developer who writes
with humor about the challenges of working with students at all
achievement levels. Cris's classroom is a place where students are
continually learning new strategies for tackling difficult text.
This week Education World sat down with Cris Tovani for the Wire
Side Chat below.
Cris Tovani taught elementary school for ten years before becoming
a high-school reading specialist and English teacher. A nationally
known consultant, she chooses to continue teaching high school students
full-time. She has also worked for many years as a staff developer
for the Denver-based Public Education and Business Coalition (PEBC),
the consortium that has received national acclaim for its work in
reading comprehension reform. In addition to teaching and consulting,
she is an adjunct instructor at the University of Denver and the
University of Colorado at Denver.
Education World: In your book, I Read It,
but I Don't Get It: Comprehension Strategies for Adolescent
Readers, you share that early in the school year you explain to
your students how you cheated on book reports when you were their
age. You share all the details of choosing books from the library
that had not been read in two years, re-shelving them so your teacher
could not track them down… Pretty sneaky stuff! But why do you tell
your students that story?
Cris Tovani: Soon after I Read It, but I Don't Get It
was published people started confiding in me that they did similar
things. Smart people -- like lawyers, accountants, and business
people -- all admitted to it. I was shocked that others knew about
"fake reading," and surprised that no one ever called me on it.
I also have discovered that too many adolescent readers know how
to fake read. They have become so good at playing the "game of school,"
they have figured out how to get the grade without "getting the
comprehension." I share my fake reading experiences with my students
because I want them to know that they are not alone. I also want
them to know that someone is going to call them on it. I want my
students to know that it is not too late for them to become better
readers. But I also want them to know that fake reading isn't going
to fool me or help them become better readers. Being a straight-A
fake reader myself, I know all about the tricks kids use to make
teachers think reading is taking place. I want students to know
that I became a reader at 28 and if that wasn't too late for me,
it isn't too late for them. Being up front about the whole issue
allows authentic reading to take place much sooner. It's important
that these readers know that if they are to improve they must read.
When I work with struggling readers my emphasis isn't on numbers
of books read or pages of text skimmed. I assign time spent actually
reading. With time, I know their reading will improve. Time spent
reading is honored. Time spent fake reading is wasted. There is
an old expression: "It's tough to con a con man." I want my students
to know I was a great con man when it came to reading. I want them
to know that I know what it's like to be in high school and not
get it. Our time to become better readers is precious and very limited.
It can't be wasted playing the game of school and fake reading.
Time must be spent practicing, thinking, and learning how to become
better readers, not better game players.
EW: Fake reading is more than producing phony book reports…?
Cris Tovani: Fake reading is what I did from second grade into adulthood.
I'm not sure how to define it. Perhaps a sketch of me as a reader
would help explain the term… I was a good decoder. I could sound
out any word put in front of me. When teachers asked me to read
aloud, I sounded fluent. I was also very verbal. I went to class,
I regurgitated comments the teacher made in lectures and, given
the time, I could talk my way through most assignments. I guess
I looked and sounded like a good reader. I had numerous ways of
avoiding text. I listened to what others said about the reading.
That included teachers, my mother, who was a lit major and avid
reader, and students who actually read. I would repeat snippets
of conversations as if they were mine. In high school, I had every
copy of Cliff Notes known to man. In college, I discovered volumes
of "lit crit." I found doctoral theses written on pieces of literature
and, after copying a few key sentences, I would re-shelve those
pieces much the way I re-shelved books as a child. I was probably
able to get away with this because I was never asked to think originally
about my reading. I was asked to retell. I was asked to discuss
literary elements. I knew how to get into study groups for science
and social studies classes. I could sit back and wait for a more
able reader to do my thinking for me. Today, I would be a much better
fake reader than I was in my day. Teachers are so overloaded with
covering content and meeting state standards that catching kids
cheating isn't a priority. Most teachers have a difficult time deciding
between covering the content or giving kids an opportunity to construct
meaning. With papers and watered down synopses of novels on the
Internet, my job of regurgitating information would be much easier
than it was. Today teachers are challenged more than ever to find
time to ask students to think about their reading. Sometimes, in
our haste to cover content, students are robbed of the opportunity
to wrestle with meaning. Fake reading becomes an attractive option.
I Read It, but I Don't Get It, takes educators step-by-step
through practical, theory-based reading instruction that can be
adapted for use in any subject area.
The book features:
* anecdotes about real kids with universal reading problems; * a
thoughtful explanation of current theories of comprehension instruction
and how they might be adapted for classroom use;
* "What Works" sections that offer simple ideas teachers can immediately
employ in their classrooms no matter what subject they teach;
* teaching tips and ideas that benefit struggling readers as well
as proficient and advanced readers; and * reproducible materials
you can use in your classroom.
EW: Time for a true-false quiz: If a kid can't read well by sixth
grade, it's too late. True?
Cris Tovani: We don't discourage would-be golfers, artists, gardeners,
or musicians if they aren't proficient by sixth grade. Why would
we do it with kids learning how to read? I guess I am living proof
that it's not too late to learn how to read. It may be too late
to score well on the fifth-grade proficiency exam or to be a level
42 reader by a certain grade, but it certainly isn't too late to
become a life-long reader. Reading is one of the most difficult
cognitive tasks we ask children to do. With each grade level, the
amount of reading increases. The material becomes harder and, just
when explicit reading instruction needs to increase to help readers
meet the demands of the reading, instruction stops. We give up on
struggling readers too soon. We herd them off to special classes.
We lower our expectations in an attempt to cover curriculum. We
take away their opportunities to read by feeding them the content.
Too often struggling readers don't see the real-world payoffs of
being literate -- so they quit just about the same time that we
give up on them. Becoming a good reader is like anything else. It
takes time and practice. If we believe becoming literate is a life-long
pursuit, why then do we put a time limit on their reading achievement?
It would be great if golfers could be held to the same rigid standards
of mastery that our young readers are held to. Maybe then I could
get a tee time.
EW: You say that one of the best ways a teacher can improve students'
comprehension is to "become a passionate reader of what you teach."
How can that rub off on students?
Cris Tovani: I know a lot of dedicated teachers who have committed
their lives to teaching adolescents about the content they love.
Unfortunately, many of those teachers end up turning students off
to their classes because of the difficult, inaccessible text they
ask students to read. If we as teachers love our content so much
that we want to spend the next 25 to 30 years teaching it to others,
then we have a responsibility to find engaging text that will encourage
them to study further, not dread coming to class. Now more than
ever, teachers have access to interesting text. Newspapers, Internet
sites, and exciting nonfiction offer alternatives to dull and dry
textbooks. We can't rely on the textbook to do the teaching for
us. We must use our expertise to excite and entice students to study
our field further. Only by being passionate readers of our content
can we sift out the banal and discover what intrigued us in the
first place. We need to find the text that grips our students and
tantalizes them to read more. We must avoid the temptation to use
curriculum that is "teacher-proofed." If we are to hold the title
of expert, we must honor the title by being passionate readers of
our content. It is only then that we will be able to captivate our
students.
EW: But if teachers are always picking the most exciting literature
to use with students, what are kids going to do when they get to
ho-hum reading passages on standardized tests?
Cris Tovani: This summer I was encouraging teachers at a summer
institute to find engaging, accessible text for their students to
read. My experience tells me that if the text is boring and too
difficult to read, many students won't read it. If we want to cover
all of our required content and improve our students' abilities
to read, we've got to find better text. All of a sudden an arm attached
to a gruff-looking principal shot up from the back of the room.
"Interesting, well-written text is fine," he said, "but what about
students who plan to go to college? Everyone knows that in college
and adulthood people have to read boring difficult text." He had
a point. In the real world, readers are expected to read all types
of text. As a teacher, I am often asked to read dry, difficult text
that holds little interest for me. However, I don't read every piece
of boring text that crosses my desk. Much of it goes unread, directly
into the trashcan. I don't arbitrarily throw it away. I have a very
specialized screening process for the text I read and the text I
throw away. In order for me to spend time getting through a piece
of uninteresting, ho-hum text I must have a purpose. I must have
a reason for reading the piece. There must be something in that
piece that will make my life or job better. If there is no reason
for me to read the piece I throw it away. I am not the only adult
who does this. When asked, adult readers tell me they too only read
what will entertain or benefit them in some way. If I use this information
to inform my instruction, I will teach my students to set a purpose
for their reading. I will teach them how to ask a question about
something they hope to learn. Or I might have them consider who
wrote the piece and challenge them to anticipate what that person
might want them to get out of it. Just telling kids to read the
chapter in order to prepare for a test is not enough. We need to
guide their reading and teach them how to sift and sort important
information. The fact of the matter is that as adults we don't read
everything, especially if the text is boring, unless we have a purpose
and can see how that reading in some way will benefit us. As far
as standardized tests go, if adolescents don't have a stake in doing
well, many will opt out of reading ho-hum text much the same way
adults opt out. If test designers hope to truly begin to measure
comprehension, it would serve them well to find interesting text
that would give students an opportunity to demonstrate how well
they really read.
Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World®
Copyright © 2003 Education World
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev078.shtml
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/profdev/profdev135.shtml
FIRST STEPS TO TEACHING
ANY CHARACTER TRAIT
No matter what character trait you choose to enhance
-- perseverance, determination, empathy, responsibility, respect,
caring, or another -- there are five minimum steps to teaching it.
The steps can be integrated easily into your lesson plans, but each
is equally important to ensure that your students develop stronger
character.
The five teaching steps are:
Step 1. Accentuate a Character Trait
The first step to teaching any new character trait is simply to
accentuate it to students. Many schools have found that emphasizing
a different character trait each month can be a successful, practical
first step approach. When everyone at your site is reinforcing and
modeling the same trait, students are more likely to learn that
character trait. As each new character trait is introduced, a student
campaign committee can start a blitz, creating banners, signs, and
posters to hang up around the school to convince other students
of the trait's merit.
Four of the simplest ways to accentuate a character trait are:
Character posters: Ask students to make posters about the trait.
Be sure to hang the posters everywhere and anywhere for at least
a month: "Responsibility means I'm doing what is right for myself
and others, and that I can be counted on."
Character assembly: Many sites introduce the trait at a school-wide
assembly. The staff might describe the value of the trait and perhaps
present a short skit about it.
Screen savers: Each day a staff member or student writes on the
central screen saver a brief sentence describing the trait's benefits.
Anytime anyone in the school uses the computer, the first thing
seen is the screen-saver message accentuating the trait: "It's perseverance
month. Remember to work your hardest and not give up!"
PA announcements: Many teachers (and schools!) use the beginning
of each day to describe over the loudspeaker ways students can demonstrate
the selected trait. Names of students "caught demonstrating the
trait" also can be announced.
Step 2. Tell the Value and Meaning of the Trait
The second step in teaching a character trait is to convey to students
exactly what the trait means and why it is important to learn. Explain
the trait to students within their realm of experiences; never assuming
they've been exposed to the trait. Many have not.
Ways to define new traits to students include:
Character literature: Choose an appropriate selection that embodies
the trait and as you read it, ask: "How did the characters demonstrate
the character trait? How did the other characters feel when the
character acted (name the trait)."
New articles: Ask students to collect current news articles about
real people demonstrating the trait. You might begin each day with
a brief review of a real event in which the trait was displayed
to confirm its value.
Label traits: Whenever you see or hear a student displaying the
targeted trait, take a moment to point out specifically what the
student did that demonstrated the trait. "Alex, that was respectful
because you waited until I was finished talking before you spoke."
Share your belief: Students need to hear why you feel the trait
is important. If you are targeting respect, you might tell students
how adamant you feel about not talking negatively about yourself
or others.
Student reporters: Ask students to look for demonstrations of the
trait by others at the school. Their job is to report to the class
who demonstrated the trait, what the student did, and the effect
the students' actions had on other individuals.
Step 3. Teach What the Trait Looks and Sounds Like
There is no perfect way to teach the trait, but research on teaching
new skills says telling students hw to do the behavior is not nearly
as important as showing them the behavior. You can make a significant
difference by modeling the trait and making your character education
lessons as concrete as possible.
Three ways you can do that are:
Trait role plays: Some teachers find it helpful to use another student
or colleague to role-play what the trait looks like to their students.
It's a simple way to show students exactly what the trait looks
and sounds like. Character skits: Students can create quick skits
about a character trait and perform it either at a school-wide assembly
or in each classroom to show other students the value of the trait,
as well as what the trait looks and sounds like.
Trait photographs: Photograph students actually demonstrating the
character trait. Develop the pictures, enlarge them on a copying
machine, and paste them on a chart so students are reminded of what
the skills looks like.
Step 4. Provide Opportunities to Practice the Trait
Generally students must be provided with frequent opportunities
to practice the new behaviors. Learning theory tell us it generally
takes 21 days of practice before a new behavior is acquired. This
is an important rule to keep in mind as you try these activities
with your students.
Three ways you can help students review their character progress
are: Character videotapes: Students can see their progress by videotaping
one another demonstrating the trait. The tape is played and analyzed
for all to see.
Write reflection logs: Students can keep an ongoing log of their
trait progress by writing each day one thing they did that day to
demonstrate the trait.
Assign character homework: Ask students to practice the skill at
home and record their efforts and results in a notebook.
Step 5. Provide Effective Feedback,
The final step in teaching any character trait is to reinforce
to students appropriate or incorrect trait behavior as soon as convenient.
Doing so helps clarify to the student: "You're on the right track;
keep it up," or "Almost, but this is what to do instead." Catching
students doing a behavior wrong before it becomes a bad habit increases
the student's chances of acquiring more positive character traits.
Here are a few reminders about giving effective feedback:
Use constructive criticism: If the student's behavior was correct,
immediately tell him "This is what you did right."
If the behavior was wrong, tell him what to do to make it right:
"What you did was not right, but this is what you can do next time."
Do on-the-spot correction: Students benefit from immediate behavior
correction.
Catch positive behaviors: Look for opportunities to "Catch them
doing the trait right."
When you reinforce character traits that are done correctly, students
are more likely to repeat the behavior.
EDUCATORS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
With the growing number of today's students lacking solid character
development, it is imperative that schools incorporate ongoing character
education. Keep in the mind, the best character lessons are ones
that blend naturally into your existing plans. There are endless
ways to use literature, videos, music, quotations, news articles,
and historical figures that embody the themes of strong character.
Perhaps the simplest way to enhance your students' character development
is to accentuate a character trait each month. Doing so optimizes
students' chances of developing solid character they'll use not
only now, but for the rest of their lives. Above all, never forget
your own impact on your students' character development. You do
make a difference!
Article by Dr. Michele Borba Copyright © 2006 Dr. Michele Borba
Are Schools Building Minds or
Machines?
COMMENTARY
By John Gust,
John Gust is a fifth-grade teacher at a math/science magnet school.
I am employee No. 610282. I am a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified
School District. I am working at full capacity to make certain that
in my classroom no child will be left behind. To accomplish this
goal, I am focused on transmitting all of the state's content standards
in language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, physical
education, art, music and health. Each lesson taught in my classroom
is accompanied with the proper posting of the standards. Scripted
lessons are read verbatim. For every item of student work posted
on classroom bulletin boards, a rubric with the specific standards
is provided. The mandated time per day that students spend having
standards transmitted for each subject area is duly noted. District-sanctioned
bulletin boards are prominently displayed. Student desks are arranged
in the pattern recommended by the district. Student report cards
are now done online. Teachers simply scroll down a long list of
standardized teacher comments and choose several for the small comment
box. Throughout the course of one school year I implement six district-mandated
standardized tests for language arts, four for mathematics and three
for science. There is also more than a week's worth of state-mandated
standardized tests. And I do these things, for which I am held accountable,
in an effort to accomplish the lofty mission of leaving no child
behind. To reach this goal, all my students must reach the state
proficiency level in each subject tested. Unfortunately, these measures
and mechanizations will not enable us to reach that goal. So, to
make certain that we do not leave any child behind, I propose the
following: First, replace all textbooks with hand-held computers.
Teachers can download standardized course textbooks, assignments
and assessments. Students can complete all work on their hand-helds
and simply send it back to the teachers. Eventually, all standardized
student-teacher interaction will be electronic. And all that sloppy,
nonstandard face-to-face communication can be eliminated. However,
even with this huge change in the way we educate our children, some
will still be left behind. Therefore, something more drastic is
needed. Eventually, we will need to implement a brain augmentation
process utilizing a variety of neural implants. We inject each lagging
student with a solution containing nanobots. These submicroscopic
robots will then travel through the bloodstream into the brain,
where they will construct a neural implant. We can then transmit
all required standards directly into each child's brain. Yet, even
with this advanced technology, a few children may still be left
behind. If the neural implants do not get the job done, we will
need to scan each child's brain, disassemble it atom by atom and
reconstruct it, giving it greater capacity, speed and reliability.
If we stay on course, we will surely reach our goal. Students will
cross the human-machine divide, and then, and only then, will we
leave no child behind.
Corporal Punishment:
Teaching Violence Through Violence
Article by Linda Starr Education World®
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/starr/starr051.shtml
I was recently stunned to discover that corporal
punishment in schools is legal in 23 U.S. states, and that 26 percent
of Americans believe that elementary school teachers should be allowed
to spank their students. Who can explain the reasoning behind those
disturbing statistics?
A couple of weeks ago, I received what was to me a disturbing e-mail
from an Arkansas parent. The e-mail read, in part, “We have corporal
punishment in our school. I wouldn’t have a problem with it if it
was used correctly (as a last resort, with the parents’ knowledge
and participation), but unfortunately, I see it used for kids not
being organized, and not having homework and supplies -- things
that parents could help the teacher and child straighten out if
the parent was made aware of the problem. Instead, parents are left
in the dark, and our children receive physical punishment for things
that need other methods to take care of the problem. [The children]
learn to hate to learn.”
Although I was frankly flabbergasted to learn that any educator
anywhere in the United States still relies on corporal punishment
to control and discipline students, I somehow assumed that this
parent was referring to some scholastic aberration -- a military
academy, a school run by a strict religious sect, a special program
for delinquent students perhaps? Certainly, this mother could not
be writing about a 21st century U.S. public school!
Then, last Friday, an ABC news article popped up on my monitor.
The headline read Support for Spanking. The article stated that
“Sixty-five percent of Americans approve of spanking children, a
rate that has been steady since 1990. But just 26 percent say grade-school
teachers should be allowed to spank kids at school; 72 percent say
it shouldn't be permitted, including eight in 10 parents of grade-schoolers.
Indeed, even among adults who spank their own child, 67 percent
say grade-school teachers should not be permitted to spank children
at school.”
What was this? “Just” one-fourth of Americans believe that elementary
school teachers should be allowed to hit their students! And why
had ABC pollsters even bothered to ask the question? Surely, I thought,
spanking is illegal in U.S. schools. Apparently not.
“There are no state laws against spanking,” the article went on
to say, “although 27 states have policies against the practice and
this year Pennsylvania is debating becoming the 28th. Spanking in
schools is currently allowed in 23 states.”
Pardon my naiveté, but I was shocked to learn that in the year 2002,
nearly half the states in the United States allow teachers and/or
administrators to physically discipline students. I still wanted
to believe, however, that even in those 23 states the permission
was unused, consisting perhaps of primitive statutes collecting
dust in forgotten historical archives. If not illegal, spanking
was certainly abhorrent to educators in all 50 states, I thought.
I decided to do some research to find out.
This is what I learned:
Corporal punishment in public schools is indeed legal in Alabama,
Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho,
Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New
Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.
During the 1997-1998 school year (the most recent year for which
figures appear to be available), 365,058 students were subjected
to corporal punishment in U.S. schools. That number represented
1 percent of the country’s total student population.
Corporal punishment is statistically most prevalent in Mississippi
schools where, during the 1997-1998 school year, nearly 50,000 students
-- 10 percent of the total school population -- were subjected to
corporal punishment. During the same year, 40,811 Arkansas students
(9.2 percent of students), 45,610 Alabama students (6.3 percent),
and 36,477 Tennessee students (4.0 percent) received corporal punishment
in school.
Although Texas ranks only seventh among the 23 states in terms of
the percentage of students subjected to corporal punishment (2.1
percent), in terms of actual numbers, the 81,373 students physically
punished there in 1997-98 outstrips Mississippi by more than 30,000
students.
Blacks students comprise 17 percent of the U.S. student
population, yet blacks are on the receiving end of 37 percent of
the physical punishments administered. White students make up 63
percent of the student population and receive 55 percent of the
corporal punishments.
Schools are the only institutions in the United States
in which striking another person is legal. Corporal punishment is
not permitted in prisons, mental hospitals, or the military.
Every industrialized country in the world except the
United States, five Canadian provinces, and one Australian state
prohibits corporal punishment in schools.
What are we thinking?
Are we thinking that physical punishment is a learning
experience? Are we thinking that physical punishment develops moral
character? Are we thinking that physical punishment engenders respect
for -- and a desire to live up to the expectations of -- the wielder
of the paddle? Are we thinking that physical punishment teaches
children to solve problems? Are we thinking that fear of being hit
clears children’s minds and allows them to learn better? Are we
thinking that children troubled enough to require physical punishment
to control their in-school behavior will become less troubled after
being hit by an all-powerful adult? Are we thinking that hitting
a child is educational? Are we thinking that by hitting children
we are behaving as professional educators who are in any way fit
to be in charge of the development of young bodies and minds? These
are not rhetorical questions. Twenty three states in their collective
wisdom allow corporal punishment in their schools. Can anyone tell
me why?
Article by Linda Starr Education World®
http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/starr/starr051.shtml
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