Tag Archives: education

Bullying, Causes and Friends, Using social media

Internet Safety Day

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Just in time for Safer Internet Day (February 8), NetSmartz is proud to announce the release of Cloud Quest- an interactive online safety adventure! Built as an e-learning module, this activity guides kids through each episode of season 1 of Into the Cloud with Clicky by their side acting as trusted adult and teacher to highlight important learning. Each video is accompanied by “Think About It” questions and fun activities like word searches, build-a-letter, picture puzzles, and more.

Clicky and the cast of season 1 of Into the Cloud lead students through:

  • What to do when dealing with cyberbullies
  • How to find trusted adults and helpers
  • How to protect online privacy
  • How to spot trustworthy information
  • What to do if you find something online that makes you sad, scared or confused, and
  • What to do if someone acts inappropriate online

Upon completion, students can print out or save a certificate of completion!

Don’t let Safer Internet Day go uncelebrated! Share Cloud Quest with your kids and grandkids today!

Classes and Courses, Learning, Substitute Teaching, Teaching

Here’s WHat I think!

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Well, some of it, anyway. It seemed appropriate to verbalize my teaching philosophy since I’ve been teaching for so many years!

“I write entirely to find out what I’m thinking, what I’m looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear.”

Joan Didion

It also occurred to me that some of my students might be interested in seeing something concrete. So after much thinking, consulting with a few respected colleagues in academia (Thanks Jack Falvey and Tony Russo!), I seem to have found out some of the important things I think and believe about teaching and learning. Here’s how it starts:

“When I challenged myself to describe my teaching philosophy, I remembered announcing that I was quitting teaching a few years ago. I knew I was on the right track when an adult student who’d just finished an advanced college degree announced at the beginning of our first class, “I’m tired of learning.” I honestly believed she was tired of being taught. I had to believe that. Learning is fun. Maybe if I quit teaching, she’d learn that.

Tony will, I hope, notice that I avoided dysentery of the keyboard. The entire thing is less than 500 words.!

Bullying, Classes and Courses, Learning, Mental Health, Mental Hygiene, Personal Growth, Small People, Substitute Teaching, Teaching

Was the Big Bad Wolf Bad?

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Sometimes I do suspect the planets align or karma does, in fact, exist. A recent conversation with an old high school chum ended with her announcing she was going to take her dog for an evening walk He is a bit territorial and was anxious to see if Mr. Fox was trespassing. She thought it might not end well.

This triggered a memory that was quickly followed by a seemingly unrelated quote posted on social media.

The memory was of a fun day substitute teaching “language arts” in a sixth-grade class. The assignment was to group read a book together and discuss it. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the title of the book. I’ve since found several versions based on the three little pigs, but this one was written about the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. It forced us to re-consider the tale from the wolf’s point of view. He narrated the story from his perspective with a plea for understanding.

We had a very intense and engaged discussion after finishing the book. The kids explored the wolf’s perspective with many admitting there were some things they hadn’t considered before. There were some friendly arguments, a few “hadn’t thought about that,” and 100% participation. (The objective of the activity was to encourage creative thinking and explore alternative viewpoints.)

After discussion, I decided to take a class vote. The question was, “How many of you now feel somewhat sorry for the wolf?” I don’t remember how many kids there were… probably around twenty. But I do remember the results of the vote.

One brave boy raised his hand indicating he thought differently about the wolf after reading the story and discussing it. The rest looked at him with what can best be described as incredulity and disbelief. Before concluding the activity was a failure, let me quickly add that no one attacked him or called him stupid. They understood he simply had a different viewpoint or perspective. They didn’t try to bully him into changing his mind. Another successful lesson.

But why did only one person change his perspective? I think the answer to that lies in this quote.

“The reason so many people misunderstand so many issues is not that these issues are so complex, but that people do not want a factual or analytical explanation that leaves them emotionally unsatisfied. They want villains to hate and heroes to cheer—and they don’t want explanations that fail to give them that.”

Thomas Soweit

Most of those kids simply did not want to give up the villain they had known since that story was read to them when they were little–he IS the big BAD wolf–that’s my story and I’m sticking to it! And I guess that’s okay because at least they had figured out that their classmate who thought differently wasn’t stupid. Some actually admitted they could see things differently but they just couldn’t change their opinion.

If the kids can get it, why do we adults have so much trouble?

Causes and Friends, Learning, Personal Growth, Small People, Teaching

More of Life’s Lessons

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Well, Anina is at it again. In her most recent email, she introduced her “Uncle Walter” and my recent post about her. She thinks it’s pretty cool that she’s been quoted but quickly adds, “I’m just a bit flattered. Mom said there is a Bible verse that says, ‘The meek shall inherit the earth.’ So I’m trying to be meek.”

We ought to consider following her example and work on trying to be meek. Our society would benefit immensely from a better balance between meekness and self-confidence. I think Anina is already learning that those two qualities are not mutually exclusive. That’s pretty good for someone who just turned four months old.

How are you doing with it?

I have some more good news about Anina. Her Mom is posting her emails as episodes on Kindle Vella. This is a fairly new platform that I won’t pretend to be intimately familiar with. (Does that qualify as being meek?) You can read Anina’s first four episodes (emails) for free, then you buy very affordable tokens to “unlock” the others. I suspect Anina might explain, “A girl’s gotta eat, you know.”

Episode One is “1st Days on Planet Earth,” And starts when she’s ten days old. She explains that she decided to keep a journal so she’d remember what it was like being an infant. When she arrives home (day 3), she realizes she’s been there before because she remembers hearing things but is seeing things for the first time. That results in another bit of Anina Wisdom.

The world is a slightly different place when you see it from the outside.

Anina Mary

We do learn a lot from her, including the derivation and correct pronunciation of her name. I also learned that we share several important opinions of the world.

So… remember that you can subscribe to receive Anina’s emails and catch up on the ones you’ve missed on Kindle Vella. Tell her Uncle Walter sent you. Anina recently learned that an educator is someone who “talks to us about things we don’t know anything about.” I wonder how long it will be before she realizes she is an educator.