Protecting Kids From Violence?

A thought-provoking quote from Time magazine's review of The Hunger Games (a popular dystopian young adult novel which I'm currently reading).

"The Hunger Games and Catching Fire expose children to exactly the kind of violence we usually shield them from. But that just goes to show how much adults forget about what it's like to be a child. Kids are physical creatures, and they're not stupid. They know all about violence and power and raw emotions. What's really scary is when adults pretend that such things don't exist."

Kids & Gadgets: Focus vs. Distraction

A must-read article from NY Times (Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction) about the effect of gadgets on learning. Great interviews with students, families, teachers and perspectives of neuroscientists.

The article caused me to reflect on a conversation with teachers at a recent professional development meeting. The discussion centered on the statement that students are growing up in the most stimulating age we've ever known. This article presents some of the obstacles students may face in the barrage of all of this gadgetry. Here's a quote from the article that really struck me:

..Major cross sections of the brain become surprisingly active during downtime. These brain studies suggest to researchers that periods of rest are critical in allowing the brain to synthesize information, make connections between ideas and even develop the sense of self.

Researchers say these studies have particular implications for young people, whose brains have more trouble focusing and setting priorities.

“Downtime is to the brain what sleep is to the body,” said Dr. Rich of Harvard Medical School. “But kids are in a constant mode of stimulation.”

Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html

First Day of School Warm-Up

1. Play this clip.
2. Afterward, explain that the girl was 13 years old when she made this speech.
3. Ask your students, "What should we do this year?"

Developing Problem-Solving Skills

Found this lesson plan about problem-solving skills on NY Times. It's a bit rigid, but seems like it could be modified to work for a variety of projects (not just fixing school problems). I'd like to see it modified for collaborative learning.

http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/25/no-quick-fix-developing-problem-solving-skills/#more-38009

Are You Divergent or Convergent?

Our director, Janie, shared this video with the staff this morning. It's an excerpt from a talk by Sir Ken Robinson about revolutionizing education by pursuing divergent thinking. Powerful stuff. We had a project tuning brainstorm directly after watching the video. I could feel us shifting paradigms in the midst of our conversations. Honey, if this video don't get you fired up about education, I don't know what will!

Bullying With Babies

An Amazing article (NY Times) about a program in schools that fights bullying with... babies. If there's any school in San Diego that can pull off a program like this, it's got to be High Tech. When can we start the bullying action group?

"Around babies, tough kids smile, disruptive kids focus, shy kids open up... Children learn strategies for comforting a crying baby. They learn that one must never shake a baby. They discover that everyone comes into the world with a different temperament, including themselves and their classmates. They see how hard it can be to be a parent, which helps them empathize with their own mothers and fathers. And they marvel at how capacity develops. Each month, the baby does something that it couldn’t do during its last visit: roll over, crawl, sit up, maybe even begin walking. Witnessing the baby’s triumphs – even something as small as picking up a rattle for the first time — the children will often cheer."

L I N K S :
Full NY Times article here.
Roots of Empathy Organization Website here.

Nation At The Crossroads

Azul Terronez spoke to me in his usual, hushed tone as we stood in the clamorous hallway, seconds before the start of 1st period. We were caught in the midst of one of our "sharing ideas for projects" brainstorms. "We're preparing students for jobs that have yet to be invented." He was talking about his latest idea to have students design apps for iPhones and Droids. His idea was to use our students' interest in social networking for the benefit of learning, rather than try to shut it out. Social networking is practically hard-wired into most of our middle schoolers' brains.

David Brooks writes an interesting editorial (NY Times) about what sort of country America will be in the coming century. It reminds me of what Azul was saying.

"In fact, the U.S. is well situated to be the crossroads nation. It is well situated to be the center of global networks and to nurture the right kinds of networks. Building that America means doing everything possible to thicken connections: finance research to attract scientists; improve infrastructure to ease travel; fix immigration to funnel talent; reform taxes to attract superstars; make study abroad a rite of passage for college students; take advantage of the millions of veterans who have served overseas.

The nation with the thickest and most expansive networks will define the age. There’s no reason to be pessimistic about that."