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National Sexuality Education Standards

Jennifer Wagaman — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:24:48 +0000

Three groups got together some time ago, (Advocates for Youth, Answer, and the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States) and, hoping that federal funding for abstinance only sexual education would soon be eliminated, began to form standards across all grade levels – starting as young as 5 years old.

Reading this should cause a variety of conflicting emotions – first, a bit of outrage at how young they’re starting, a bit more outrage at the fact that they are hoping the abstinance education be eliminated, and a final bit of outrage at the parents who are not teaching their children and instead are leaving it up to the teachers.

Second, a bit of relief, knowing that children will actually be taught about their bodies, something that is ironically lacking in today’s society. Girls in particular are growing up either unfamiliar with their bodies and too scared or embarrassed to find out, or are finding out too much too soon, even before leaving elementary school in some cases.

First it is important to note that the standards for our youngest children (k-2) are simple and basic – the ability to use proper terms for body parts, understand that all living things reproduce, be able to identify differences between boys and girls and be able to identify the different make up of various family structures. (Well, I guess that’s important in our “anything goes” society) They also will learn what bullying is and understand they have the right to tell anyone to not touch them in any way that makes them uncomfortable. (yeah… this goes back to abstinence but come on, shouldn’t we also be teaching to not touch others?? Seems the onus always has to be on the victim there, huh?)

Now the Education Week article I read that discussed this had a link to a study on abstinence education that was fascinating to me – in fact, there seems to be no impact on children’s behavior when taking one of these classes, so the point there is why spend money on them if they are not working? Take a quick second to just scroll through it to look at the graphs – the control groups are almost identical.

Want more info on the standards? You might if you care what your child knows about sexual orientation by the end of 5th grade. I suppose the easy way to sum up the new standards is this: by the time all students enter high school, after going through each standard, they will know everything about everything… I guess the question left is will the kids be allowed to eat the banana after the lesson is over?

Bad thing? maybe not but if you care about what your kids are taught in reference to, well, who, where, when, why, or how… you best be on top of it at home because teachers are going to cover all that too, not just the what anymore.

Dress code for Parents?

Jennifer Wagaman — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 16:56:36 +0000

I am sure many teachers have had issues with students breaking the school’s dress code, but what about parents? One school on a military base had such a problem with parents dress when dropping students, they had to ban pajamas.

Yes, you read that right, parents dropping kids off in pajamas. Honestly I am not entirely sure what that means and would love to sit out side the school to see what these parents sleep in that is such a problem. Honestly, most of the time my “pajamas” would pass as ok to shop in or drop kids off outside a school, so either someone was tired of seeing wrinkled shirts and yoga pants or parents think it’s ok to go out in public in little nighties.

So ok, lets just say parents please dress in a way that you could stroll through a grocery store or stand outside at a gas pump, when you drop your kids off at school, ok?

Not sure which is worse – the fact that parents of young children are wearing inappropriate nightwear in public, or the fact that the school is imposing a dress code on parents outside their building.

What is the value in teaching?

Jennifer Wagaman — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 15:48:17 +0000

Ask any random person on the street and I bet the general consensus about teacher salaries is NOT that they need to make more money. Either teachers make too much already or make “enough”. Some people see value in the teaching profession, but most of those are teachers or have teachers in their family.

So what is the value in teaching? For those who think teachers make enough money (or make too much money), the issue is likely two-fold. First, published “averages” include the income that the board of education people make. These people make tons of money and sit around doing nothing all day (no offence but paperwork, buerocratic non-sense and other human resources type things don’t compare to the work teachers do.) This likely takes care of those who think that teachers “make enough”.

Second, the perception of what teachers do all day lessens the value of the job in the eyes of the public. Preschool and early childhood teachers “play” all day, right? Elementary school teachers color and make fun crafts all day. Middle school teachers police raging hormones and highschool teachers try to keep kids from taking drugs. Not to mention the 6-7 hour work day and summers off! My goodness, teachers make too much money!

So what do teachers do?

Teachers…

Parent 15-40 students (more and more each year with raising class sizes). This includes teaching morals, ethics, discipline and love.

Plan detailed lessons designed to maximize learning time despite multiple interruptions, breaks and shortened school days.

Teach an average of 30 students, reaching three learning styles and as many of the multiple intelligences as possible during each lesson.

Give individual attention as much as possible to each student in the class while at the same time keeping the other 30 students on task with meaningful work.

Manage a wide range of discipline problems, often without any support from support staff (Sorry principals, I’ve heard too many horror stories to believe that every school has a great support staff) and most definitely not any support from home (public school is free daycare, didn’t you hear?).

Attempt to get students to meet federal and state standards before testing time with little to no resources, help or time.

Grade every paper turned in with thoughtful and fair comments.

Attempt to get parents involved in their kids’ education (or life, in some cases).

To do these things, the percentage of teachers who take work home is astronomical – hours of work go home each day for most teachers. Likewise, teachers spend their own money, hundreds of dollars of it, each year to make their classroom and lessons motivating and to keep kids supplied with pencils, paper and other supplies. The government realizes this because it gives a tax credit for teachers each year for the supplies purchased. I’d love to know how many teachers spend more than the measly $200 they get back in taxes.

Parents complain about how much they have to buy now for back to school, but that’s not the teacher’s fault, that’s administration having their hands tied because they don’t have the funds to supply those things anymore because, um, well, teachers make too much money.

So where is the value in teaching? Probably administration, because the teachers certainly aren’t valuable… the losers there are the kids.

How to Make Recycled Paper

Jennifer Wagaman — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:27:07 +0000

April 22 is Earth Day, and making recycled paper is a great way to teach students about recycling. Likewise this can be a great lesson anytime of the year when the science focus is on recycling or preserving the earth. The nice thing is that this activity can be used with young and older students, the difficulty modified for the varying age groups.

Materials needed to make Recycled Paper:

A metal coat hanger (one per student)

A pair of old pantyhose (one per student)

A blender or food processer (a heavy duty one is best, if not, be aware that the process of blending the paper and water might render the machine unusable for food)

White glue

Water

Sink or a large container that is able to hold a few inches of water

Scrap paper

Iron (optional)

Tips for Teachers Making Recycled Paper in Class:

A week or so before you plan on making recycled paper in class, send a note home to parents explaining the project and asking for them to send in an old metal coat hanger and pair of pantyhose. Parents need to be aware that they will not be receiving them back. This will give you an idea of how many coat hangers and pantyhose you need to purchase yourself, and remember that it is prudent to have several extra on hand just in case.

How to Make Recycled Paper

Step One: Rip up scrap paper into small strips or small pieces.

Step Two: Bend the metal coat hanger into a square. This will be the frame for the new piece of paper.

Step Three: Add ripped up paper pieces and some water into the blender and blend on high. This will produce a mushy glob of blended paper and water.

Step Four: Pour the mushy glob of paper and water into the sink or tub (this should have a couple of inches of water in it already).

Step Five: Add two tablespoons of white glue to the blended paper and water.

Step Six: Mix the glue and paper mixture together. This is a great job for the student to do!

Step Seven: Stretch one leg of a pair of pantyhose over the coat hanger paper frame.

Step Eight: Place the coat hanger frame at the bottom of the sink or tub and slowly (counting to 20 while you lift) lift the frame out. This will catch all the mushy paper bits on the pantyhose inside of the frame.

Step Nine: Allow the frame to drip for a moment to eliminate excess water.

Step Ten: Hang the hanger frame up to dry.

Step Eleven: Peel the paper off of the frame after it is completely dry.

Step Twelve (optional): Iron the paper flat

A great way to finish the lesson on making recycled paper is to have the students write the basic steps for making the paper on their own piece of recycled paper.

Note for student teachers: this makes a great lesson for inclusion in a professional portfolio. The activity involves contacting all the parents, provides good opportunities for taking pictures of students and usually at least one student is willing to donate their recycled paper for you to keep.

Learn More about Earth Day.

Back to School List for Teachers

Jennifer Wagaman — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 14:03:39 +0000

Introduce yourself to parents and students

New Teacher Introductions to Parents

Back to School Night

First Day of School activities

10 Things to Remember for the First Day of School

How to Get Ready for the First Day of School

First week of lesson plans

Making a Curriculum Map

Lesson Planning Mistakes for New Teachers to Avoid

Prepare the classroom

Preparing for the First Day of School Important for New Teachers

Preparing Your Classroom For the Start of School

Prepare a routine

Teacher’s To Do List for Friday

Organization and Time Management for Teachers

Determine classroom management plan

Classroom Management Tools for New Teachers

Five Common Classroom Management Myths

Prepare Classroom Library

Books for a New Teacher’s Classroom Library

Creating a Classroom Library

Purchase necessary supplies

Necessary Supplies for the New Classroom Teacher

Make a Word Wall

The Basics of a Word Wall

How to Make an Interactive Word Wall

How to Teach the Alphabet

Jennifer Wagaman — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:54:12 +0000

Children are taught how to identify the letters of the alphabet in preschool – and they then move onto the sounds of the letters which transitions into learning to read. Sometimes the preschool curriculum does not cover each letter individually or a teacher or parent might want more ideas on how to teach a letter. Here is a collection of articles – one per letter, that gives a variety of ideas on how to teach that individual letter of the alphabet to preschool age children.

Collection of articles on teaching the Alphabet!

How to teach each of the Letters of the Alphabet, including snack and craft ideas:

F
G

J
K
L

N
O
P
Q

Review of all the Letters

Have any more great ideas? Share with us!

The Public School Debate

Jennifer Wagaman — Tue, 18 May 2010 11:38:49 +0000

I was going to title this the homeschool debate, then realized it’s not about homeschooling, its about public schools. The alternative is not just homeschooling, but private schools too. Homeschooling gets a bad rap for pulling kid out of the public school system, but people say they don’t have the money for private schooling and leave it at that. In reality, parents who choose to homeschool are the same as parents who choose the private schools. In the end, it’s the public schools they are avoiding.

There is a lot of debate about how to improve the public school system. In fact, public school teachers are often offended when kids are pulled – only when pulled for homeschooling though, ironically. It is a well known fact in the public school system that a private school student will be ahead of all public school students. Homeschool kids on the other hand? They are rebels who aren’t being educated, or have parents who think they can do a better job than a certified teacher.

Well actually, some parents can do better than a certified teacher – if a teacher at a private school can do better (based on test scores) than a teacher at a public school, why can’t a parent do better? I think it’s not a matter of who does a better job, it’s a matter of parents taking control of their child’s education. Some parents choose to educate at home, some choose to lobby for better public schools and some parents choose to pay for private school.

Why should we criticize any parent for being involved enough in their child’s education to make a tough decision? Homeschooling is not an easy choice, just ask one of the thousands of homeschoolers who give up their time each and every day to ensure their children have a good education. Private school is not an easy choice, just as the thousands of parents who give up their hard earned money to pay 15,000-20,000 or more a year on top of taxes for public schools. Public school is the easy answer, unless you want a good education for your child, then it is a hard choice too – just ask the few parents who put the time and effort into working with teachers and schools and spending the time working with their child to ensure a good education.

The parent who sends a child to the public school system blindly, expecting a well educated child after high school graduation with no effort on their part, is the parent who should be criticized.

In the end, a good education is the goal, and reaching the goal is difficult no matter which path you choose to take. So public school teachers, back off of homeschool families, the effort of a good education for an individual child takes time and effort and money on the part of the parent, regardless of the direction they steer.

Looking for more information on homeschooling? Check out My Homeschool Guide

How to Read with Children: Secrets From a Tutor

Jennifer Wagaman — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:50:50 +0000

Reading with children is a simple task, right? Sit down together, open book, read words. Here are a few secrets that can help anyone sit down with a child turn a reading time into a rich learning time.

Talk about the pictures. Ask the child questions about what is going on in the pictures. Young children (preschool age) can be asked to point to various objects in the picture to increase vocabulary. Ask questions about non-verbal communication happening in pictures.
Ask Questions. Ask simple to complex comprehension questions about the story based on the ability level of the child. Questions can include who, what, where, when why and how. Try to ask one question per page.
Emphasize Inflection. When reading to young children, parents are often overheard making silly voices and being overly dramatic to keep the child’s attention. When the child gets older, parents should not lose this inflection. While the silly voices may disappear , the emotion in the book needs to remain in order to teach children how to read with inflection.

While these tips will help enrich reading time, the simple act of reading to your children is important and can make a huge difference in your child’s education.

Mom, Sit Here!

Jennifer Wagaman — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:55:11 +0000

With the weather warming up, parents should be making a point to get children outside every day. The fresh air and sunshine are invaluable to keeping children healthy. In fact, time spent outside has even been shown to improve ADHD symptoms!

It is important to remind parents not only of the importance of outside playtime, but of the time spent with their children as well. While working in the yard today, my daughter called me over to sit by her and we watched earth worms wiggling about in the dirt together.

Spending time with our children is even more important than spending time outside, so send your kids out to play, and dedicate some play time of your own to spend with them.

Firing Entire Staff of Teachers?

Jennifer Wagaman — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:28:26 +0000

Would a district desperate to improve test scores ever decide to simply fire every teacher on staff at one school and start fresh? The implications of a decision like this are huge, yet one Rhode Island school district has decided to do just that.

In Providence, Rhode Island, Central Falls district has made the striking decision to fire every teacher on staff at Central Falls High School. In all, 93 were fired, including teachers, principal, guidance counselors, reading specialists, 3 vice principals, school psychologist, and physical education teachers.

This was one option available to the school officials who were required to take drastic measures to turn around what was labeled as a chronically low-preforming school. The preferred method of extreme reform failed as the union and school officials were unable to come to an agreement. The school officials were asking teachers to take on additional tasks for no or little pay. Now, instead, all the teachers will be fired.

The school is allowed to hire back no more than 50% of those teachers fired, so all is not lost for every employee let go. Teachers from across the state, parents and students all gathered in support of the fired teachers, but Secretary Duncan said, “when schools continue to struggle we have a collective obligation to take action.”