Jillian Hendricks

Warning as children shun books in favour of Facebook

Tue, 23 Aug 2011 21:44:05 -0400

Warning as children shun books in favour of Facebook:

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

Apps for the blind and visually impaired

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:29:10 -0400

Apps for the blind and visually impaired:

coolcatteacher:

Mobile devices can be liberating for those with disabilities. Here is a handy guide to some of them.

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

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:33:47 -0400

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

ADHD Classroom Resources to Help with Special Education

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:31:45 -0400

ADHD Classroom Resources to Help with Special Education:

world-shaker:

Here are three:

50 Tips on Classroom Management of ADD - Tips on the school management of the child with ADD.

Resources for Teachers - Articles and resources to help with the special nature of students with ADD/ADHD.

ADHD in School: Room Set-Up - Tips on how to set up your classroom to help children with ADHD.

Thanks to @tcbird1 for the find!

ADHD Parent Resources

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:31:16 -0400

ADHD Parent Resources :

world-shaker:

Here are two:

Tips to Help Live with ADD - Ideas to help children with ADHD.

What can I do to help my child? - Many parental ideas on helping children with ADHD.

Thanks to @tcbird1 for the find!

Beginning of the Year Resources

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:29:47 -0400

positivelypersistentteach:

Just some good ideas and check lists for those of you just starting (and some of them are good to look at even if you have already started).

Examiner: 10 Tips for Organizing Your Classroom

Scholastic: Back-to-school Tips: Must-Do List

32 Ways to Start the Year Off Right

Examiner: 10 Back-to-school tips for teachers

101 Things for the First Three Weeks

What Ed Said: 10 Things to Do on the First Day of School

Ice Breakers - Back to School

stevekinney: The Great American Teach-Off: Over the past year,...

Tue, 16 Aug 2011 20:13:09 -0400

stevekinney:

The Great American Teach-Off:

Over the past year, the education conversation has largely been critical of policymakers, teachers, unions and administrators. While this examination is largely necessary, it shouldn’t keep us from seeing those educators who truly are making a difference in their students’ lives—often times overcoming significant obstacles to achievement. To this end, GOOD and University of Phoenix is launching The Great American Teach-Off—a nationwide competition that will identify classroom heroes and reward one with a $10,000 grant to use towards his or her classroom.

Great opportunity, I’m going to nominate some teachers at my school.

NPR: Autistic Kids Learn To Survive, And Thrive, In College

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:56:54 -0400

NPR: Autistic Kids Learn To Survive, And Thrive, In College:

positivelypersistentteach:

But as a student living with Asperger’s syndrome, a high-functioning form of autism, the everyday social interactions of college life can be awkward. Heim is part of a new influx of kids with autism who are heading off to college, creating a new demand for college services to help students with autism fit in, graduate and find jobs.

Colorado State is one of a handful of schools that have adopted programs to help ease autistic students’ transitions in and out of college. For Heim, that means meeting with his peer mentor, Jayne Mohar, to practice the very social interactions that can be so challenging for someone with autism — things like working in groups.

“With Asperger’s, it’s harder to negotiate the terms of what each person will do and what each person is expected to do,” Heim says.

Opportunities for Postsecondary Success, Colorado State’s program for autistic students, was launched earlier this year in reaction to an increase in the number of students with autism and Asperger’s who were floundering in class or unable to understand appropriate social behavior.

I am so happy to hear that colleges are actively trying to provide supports to ASD students. These students are very skilled, and have great potential to do amazing things. I also like the idea in this article of providing work-study programs, so that when they finish college they are not only intelligent-super stars but also have work experience.

EdWeek: Third grade reading predicts later high school graduation

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:59:04 -0400

EdWeek: Third grade reading predicts later high school graduation:

A study to be released this morning at the American Educational Research Association convention here in New Orleans presents an even earlier warning sign: A student who can’t read on grade level by 3rd grade is four times less likely to graduate by age 19 than a child who does read proficiently by that time. Add poverty to the mix, and a student is 13 times less likely to graduate on time than his or her proficient, wealthier peer.

Systematic Study of Autism Treatments shows Minimal Support for the use of Drugs as Treatment

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:55:56 -0400

Systematic Study of Autism Treatments shows Minimal Support for the use of Drugs as Treatment:

A new study from the journal Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, indicated that while medication is often used to treat children with autism, “strikingly little evidence” exists to support the approach. That conclusion stems from an analysis of 10 years worth of studies on the use of antipsychotics and other drugs in treating children with autism.“Most of the medical interventions that are currently being applied for children with ASDs have insufficient strength of evidence to evaluate either their potential benefit or adverse effects,” wrote researchers from Vanderbilt University.

The strongest evidence in support of the use of medication for kids who have autism comes from studies funded by pharmaceutical companies who stand to profit, the review found. However, two drugs did stand out in the analysis. Studies suggest that risperidone and aripiprazole, both help to counteract challenging behaviors. But, it must also be noted that the drugs carried significant side effects — such as weight gain and drowsiness — making them useful to only those with the most extreme symptoms. Also, a look at the the use of secretin to treat autism-related gastrointestinal issues suggests the approach is ineffective and does not warrant further research.

This study sheds more light on the companies and medical personnel who are trying to sell a simple solution for the complex problem that is autism. As has been mentioned in prior posts much like the autism spectrum with its many facets and caveats, the treatments that work for any individual child and the ways in which they work are always different.

(via Special Education Law Blog)

Apple Highlighting Disability Apps

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:53:30 -0400

Apple Highlighting Disability Apps:

Apple is spotlighting the increasing number of apps meant for individuals with special needs with a featured special education section in its App Store. The section titled Special Education launched late last week and includes 72 applications for the iPhone and 13 applications for the iPad in 10 categories ranging from communication to emotional development and life skills, according to Trudy Muller, an Apple spokeswoman.

These apps can be used on all Apple products including the iPad which is increasingly being used in the school setting. These applications in conjunction with the devices themselves increase student’s abilities to communicate and access the curriculum and make the meaningful progress intended by IDEA.

(via Special Education Law Blog)

"The word “incentives” comes from incendere, which means “to kindle.” The dictionary says that “to..."

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:50:31 -0400

“The word “incentives” comes from incendere, which means “to kindle.” The dictionary says that “to kindle” means “to start a fire burning.” The idea is not to tell students that they will die from the cold or from being eaten by wolves if they do not start a fire right now and right here and in this way. Nor is the idea to say that, if they do what we tell them, they will get an extra bag of marshmallows to toast. Instead, the goal can be to find out where they want to set their fire and why, and perhaps help them learn how to use matches or a flint, and give them advice on the best place to find some dry wood.”

- Helping students motivate themselves - The Washington Post

Instructors can reduce cheating by being clear, researcher says

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:44:34 -0400

Instructors can reduce cheating by being clear, researcher says:

A new University of Missouri study says that the reasons students give for cheating are rational, and that stricter punishments won’t solve the problem. Instead, teachers should communicate clear standards and provide consistent enforcement to reduce instances of cheating.

Mechanism of long-term memory identified

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:40:00 -0400

Mechanism of long-term memory identified:

Using advanced imaging technology, scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a change in chemical influx into a specific set of neurons in the common fruit fly that is fundamental to long-term memory.

To measure the changes in the Drosophila neurons, Davis and his colleagues used functional optical imaging, an advanced technology that his laboratory helped pioneer for the study of learning and memory. Using protein sensors that become fluorescent when calcium levels are increased, the team was able to highlight changes in the levels of calcium influx into the mushroom body neurons in response to odor learning. These observed memory traces occur in parallel with behavioral changes.

Interestingly, these memory traces occur only with spaced conditioning — where the insects receive multiple episodes of learning but with periods of rest between each episode. Spaced conditioning is required for long-term memories to form.

“The phenomenon of spaced conditioning is conserved across all species,” Davis said. “No one really knows why it’s important to long-term memory formation but there appears to be something magical about that rest period during learning.”

Man Without Legs Hopes to Inspire Students as Physical Education...

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:37:00 -0400

Man Without Legs Hopes to Inspire Students as Physical Education Teacher

Born with a rare condition called sacral agenesis, Doug Forbis had his legs removed at the age of 2. He’s now 24 and studying to teach physical education to kids with special needs.
“It’s so rare for kids with special needs to have a teacher with special needs — that almost never happens,” he said. “I think it would help a lot for these special need kids to say, ‘Look, Mr. Forbis is a teacher, I can do that, too. He lives by himself, gets around town, goes shopping, I can do that, too.’ A lot of kids don’t know that’s an option. They just depend on the system their whole lives.”

(via aolnews)

The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric People who...

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:25:55 -0400

The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric

People who are highly creative often have odd thoughts and behaviors—and vice versa.
Both creativity and eccentricity may be the result of genetic variations that increase cognitive disinhibition—the brain’s failure to filter out extraneous information.
When unfiltered information reaches conscious awareness in the brains of people who are highly intelligent and can process this information without being overwhelmed, it may lead to exceptional insights and sensations.

(via Scientific American)

"Joshua Greene and his colleagues suggest that when people are faced with moral dilemmas, there are..."

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:22:00 -0400

“Joshua Greene and his colleagues suggest that when people are faced with moral dilemmas, there are two different reasoning systems that influence your decisions about what to do. One is a fast-acting emotion-based system that provides a gut reaction about how to act. In many cases that have a moral dimension, this system favors actions that fit with your responsibilities in the moment. The other is a slower reasoning system that allows you to take broader societal good into account.”

- You can talk yourself into anything with time | Psychology Today

Parents’ Ums And Uhs Can Help Toddlers Learn Language...

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 08:20:00 -0400

Parents’ Ums And Uhs Can Help Toddlers Learn Language

Most parents try their best to speak clearly and fluently to their toddlers, but they shouldn’t sweat it if an occasional “um” or “uh” shows up in their speech.

In fact, a study just published in the journal Developmental Science suggests this kind of verbal fumbling, called disfluency, can actually help young children learn language.

“In order to understand speech, babies (and adults, too) are constantly generating predictions of what the next word is going to be,” explains Richard Aslin, one of the study’s authors and a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. “Toddlers have learned that when adults have disfluencies it is usually followed by an unusual word.”

(via NPR)

Teaching Little Fingers New Math Tricks

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:43:46 -0400

Teaching Little Fingers New Math Tricks:

Coaches from Erikson, a graduate school and research institute that focuses on early-childhood education, have been sharing the math teaching techniques with 60 to 80 preschool and kindergarten-level Chicago Public School teachers since 2007. In September, the program will expand to include all preschool through third-grade teachers at eight public schools.

Teachers unaware of growing gender gaps in classrooms, US study finds

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:40:12 -0400

Teachers unaware of growing gender gaps in classrooms, US study finds:

A gap in reading and math scores still exists in lower grades, with boys continuing to outpace girls in math, and girls ahead of boys in reading, two University of Illinois education professors say.