Cognitive skills - one may be bad in one but it can improve if there is much practice.
Spell name backwards
Spell Colorado backwards
1. Attention - three kinds
- stay on task for a long time (to measure, use many of colored words of colors)
- selected attention (stay on one input and not distracted)( to measure, say the colors)
- multi- task( to measure, word, color, and alternate) (listen and take notes at the same time)
2. Working memory( short term memory for quick processing) (to measure, see if he can remember simple, short instruction. Can he add 23 to 58 in head)
3. Processing speed - how fast brain handles information. (to measure: does he transition from one task/thought to another well
4. Visual processing - (to measure. Can he draw backwards pictures or from back side of screen)
5. Auditory processing - hear the differences in sounds ( to measure, can he spell? Read?)
6. Logic reasoning - ( to measure, can he debate, manage projects or school work?)
7. Long term memory. Store and recall information. (to measure, can he remember things over time?)
Skills:
1. Reading fluidity - decode and understand what was read.
2. Attention , not just going through the motions
3. Visualize the story
4. Associate newly read to old memory
5. Vocabulary is important but less so than these other skills
Autistic children can not block out unnecessary information. They might get frustration and shutdown completely.
ADHD child may not rely on brain to control decisions. ADHD child often hooks on present, instant gratification and immediate feedback.
Brain helps working memory to decide what information to keep. Keeping all information will distract our focus. Working memory and long-term memory work together to block out needless information.
Long- term memory is enforced by
- emotion
- repetition (works at any age)
Dyslexia can be overcome by training and repeated practice .
Kids with poor comprehension can not form a picture in their mind while listening to a story. We should help them to visualize.
Next step: repetition.(or he will forget the new skills)
Drill:repetition of a single skill.
Sequence the activities. Kids can learn a lot.
Introduce distractions to train the brain to filter out unwanted inputs.
Goal is to build up kid's will to succeed.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Students are criminals?
Sometimes a school is thinking that all students are criminals and needed to be watched at all time's; this creates a lot of stress for the staff because they have to be on guard all the time. It is bad for the kids too because you treat the kids like criminals, they will behave like crooks.
Reward for learning?
Much of the education Of younger people that I've seen is done with coercion, tricking, or giving candy and things like that. As a result teaching them in high school is a problem if there is no reward or some kind of points. Some students will just sit there and do nothing.
This tactic wouldn't work in high school because students are old enough to know you're just saying it. You can't do anything about it if they just don't respond so should we continue with harsher methods? Should we start thinking, "well they're about to be adults, I need to switch tactics, i need to help them to see that learning is for their own good".
This tactic wouldn't work in high school because students are old enough to know you're just saying it. You can't do anything about it if they just don't respond so should we continue with harsher methods? Should we start thinking, "well they're about to be adults, I need to switch tactics, i need to help them to see that learning is for their own good".
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Education
A nation that destroys its systems of education, degrades its public information, guts its public libraries and turns its airwaves into vehicles for cheap, mindless amusement becomes deaf, dumb and blind. It prizes test scores above critical thinking and literacy. It celebrates rote vocational training and the singular, amoral skill of making money. It churns out stunted human products, lacking the capacity and vocabulary to challenge the assumptions and structures of the corporate state. It funnels them into a caste system of drones and systems managers. It transforms a democratic state into a feudal system of corporate masters and serfs.
Teachers, their unions under attack, are becoming as replaceable as minimum-wage employees at Burger King. We spurn real teachers—those with the capacity to inspire children to think, those who help the young discover their gifts and potential—and replace them with instructors who teach to narrow, standardized tests. These instructors obey. They teach children to obey. And that is the point. The No Child Left Behind program, modeled on the “Texas Miracle,” is a fraud. It worked no better than our deregulated financial system. But when you shut out debate these dead ideas are self-perpetuating.
Passing bubble tests celebrates and rewards a peculiar form of analytical intelligence. This kind of intelligence is prized by money managers and corporations. They don’t want employees to ask uncomfortable questions or examine existing structures and assumptions. They want them to serve the system. These tests produce men and women who are just literate and numerate enough to perform basic functions and service jobs. The tests elevate those with the financial means to prepare for them. They reward those who obey the rules, memorize the formulas and pay deference to authority. Rebels, artists, independent thinkers, eccentrics and iconoclasts—those who march to the beat of their own drum—are weeded out.
“Imagine,” said a public school teacher in New York City, who asked that I not use his name, “going to work each day knowing a great deal of what you are doing is fraudulent, knowing in no way are you preparing your students for life in an ever more brutal world, knowing that if you don’t continue along your scripted test prep course and indeed get better at it you will be out of a job. Up until very recently, the principal of a school was something like the conductor of an orchestra: a person who had deep experience and knowledge of the part and place of every member and every instrument. In the past 10 years we’ve had the emergence of both [Mayor] Mike Bloomberg’s Leadership Academy and Eli Broad’s Superintendents Academy, both created exclusively to produce instant principals and superintendents who model themselves after CEOs. How is this kind of thing even legal? How are such ‘academies’ accredited? What quality of leader needs a ‘leadership academy’? What kind of society would allow such people to run their children’s schools? The high-stakes tests may be worthless as pedagogy but they are a brilliant mechanism for undermining the school systems, instilling fear and creating a rationale for corporate takeover. There is something grotesque about the fact the education reform is being led not by educators but by financers and speculators and billionaires.”
Teachers, under assault from every direction, are fleeing the profession. Even before the “reform” blitzkrieg we were losing half of all teachers within five years after they started work—and these were people who spent years in school and many thousands of dollars to become teachers. How does the country expect to retain dignified, trained professionals under the hostility of current conditions? I suspect that the hedge fund managers behind our charter schools system—whose primary concern is certainly not with education—are delighted to replace real teachers with nonunionized, poorly trained instructors. To truly teach is to instill the values and knowledge which promote the common good and protect a society from the folly of historical amnesia. The utilitarian, corporate ideology embraced by the system of standardized tests and leadership academies has no time for the nuances and moral ambiguities inherent in a liberal arts education. Corporatism is about the cult of the self. It is about personal enrichment and profit as the sole aim of human existence. And those who do not conform are pushed aside.
Advertisement
“It is extremely dispiriting to realize that you are in effect lying to these kids by insinuating that this diet of corporate reading programs and standardized tests are preparing them for anything,” said this teacher, who feared he would suffer reprisals from school administrators if they knew he was speaking out. “It is even more dispiriting to know that your livelihood depends increasingly on maintaining this lie. You have to ask yourself why are hedge fund managers suddenly so interested in the education of the urban poor? The main purpose of the testing craze is not to grade the students but to grade the teacher.”
“I cannot say for certain—not with the certainty of a Bill Gates or a Mike Bloomberg who pontificate with utter certainty over a field in which they know absolutely nothing—but more and more I suspect that a major goal of the reform campaign is to make the work of a teacher so degrading and insulting that the dignified and the truly educated teachers will simply leave while they still retain a modicum of self-respect,” he added. “In less than a decade we been stripped of autonomy and are increasingly micromanaged. Students have been given the power to fire us by failing their tests. Teachers have been likened to pigs at a trough and blamed for the economic collapse of the United States. In New York, principals have been given every incentive, both financial and in terms of control, to replace experienced teachers with 22-year-old untenured rookies. They cost less. They know nothing. They are malleable and they are vulnerable to termination.”
Teachers, their unions under attack, are becoming as replaceable as minimum-wage employees at Burger King. We spurn real teachers—those with the capacity to inspire children to think, those who help the young discover their gifts and potential—and replace them with instructors who teach to narrow, standardized tests. These instructors obey. They teach children to obey. And that is the point. The No Child Left Behind program, modeled on the “Texas Miracle,” is a fraud. It worked no better than our deregulated financial system. But when you shut out debate these dead ideas are self-perpetuating.
Passing bubble tests celebrates and rewards a peculiar form of analytical intelligence. This kind of intelligence is prized by money managers and corporations. They don’t want employees to ask uncomfortable questions or examine existing structures and assumptions. They want them to serve the system. These tests produce men and women who are just literate and numerate enough to perform basic functions and service jobs. The tests elevate those with the financial means to prepare for them. They reward those who obey the rules, memorize the formulas and pay deference to authority. Rebels, artists, independent thinkers, eccentrics and iconoclasts—those who march to the beat of their own drum—are weeded out.
“Imagine,” said a public school teacher in New York City, who asked that I not use his name, “going to work each day knowing a great deal of what you are doing is fraudulent, knowing in no way are you preparing your students for life in an ever more brutal world, knowing that if you don’t continue along your scripted test prep course and indeed get better at it you will be out of a job. Up until very recently, the principal of a school was something like the conductor of an orchestra: a person who had deep experience and knowledge of the part and place of every member and every instrument. In the past 10 years we’ve had the emergence of both [Mayor] Mike Bloomberg’s Leadership Academy and Eli Broad’s Superintendents Academy, both created exclusively to produce instant principals and superintendents who model themselves after CEOs. How is this kind of thing even legal? How are such ‘academies’ accredited? What quality of leader needs a ‘leadership academy’? What kind of society would allow such people to run their children’s schools? The high-stakes tests may be worthless as pedagogy but they are a brilliant mechanism for undermining the school systems, instilling fear and creating a rationale for corporate takeover. There is something grotesque about the fact the education reform is being led not by educators but by financers and speculators and billionaires.”
Teachers, under assault from every direction, are fleeing the profession. Even before the “reform” blitzkrieg we were losing half of all teachers within five years after they started work—and these were people who spent years in school and many thousands of dollars to become teachers. How does the country expect to retain dignified, trained professionals under the hostility of current conditions? I suspect that the hedge fund managers behind our charter schools system—whose primary concern is certainly not with education—are delighted to replace real teachers with nonunionized, poorly trained instructors. To truly teach is to instill the values and knowledge which promote the common good and protect a society from the folly of historical amnesia. The utilitarian, corporate ideology embraced by the system of standardized tests and leadership academies has no time for the nuances and moral ambiguities inherent in a liberal arts education. Corporatism is about the cult of the self. It is about personal enrichment and profit as the sole aim of human existence. And those who do not conform are pushed aside.
Advertisement
“It is extremely dispiriting to realize that you are in effect lying to these kids by insinuating that this diet of corporate reading programs and standardized tests are preparing them for anything,” said this teacher, who feared he would suffer reprisals from school administrators if they knew he was speaking out. “It is even more dispiriting to know that your livelihood depends increasingly on maintaining this lie. You have to ask yourself why are hedge fund managers suddenly so interested in the education of the urban poor? The main purpose of the testing craze is not to grade the students but to grade the teacher.”
“I cannot say for certain—not with the certainty of a Bill Gates or a Mike Bloomberg who pontificate with utter certainty over a field in which they know absolutely nothing—but more and more I suspect that a major goal of the reform campaign is to make the work of a teacher so degrading and insulting that the dignified and the truly educated teachers will simply leave while they still retain a modicum of self-respect,” he added. “In less than a decade we been stripped of autonomy and are increasingly micromanaged. Students have been given the power to fire us by failing their tests. Teachers have been likened to pigs at a trough and blamed for the economic collapse of the United States. In New York, principals have been given every incentive, both financial and in terms of control, to replace experienced teachers with 22-year-old untenured rookies. They cost less. They know nothing. They are malleable and they are vulnerable to termination.”
Friday, October 16, 2009
Math acceleration
Acceleration sometimes means to either omit things should be taught or to rush through those things. These students generally become confused, afraid, and eventually hate mathematics. Parents with money or time can hire tutors to temporarily get the students "rescued". Students without these parents will not get the same help and will fall behind to cause an achievement gap.
Those students falling behind will quickly be lost forever in mathematics. These souls will suffer through many more years of (hard) mathematics. The students who are "rescued" may start feeling that mathematics is hard and not fun any more. Many of them will "hit a brick wall" right about when they start learning algebra2.
If no acceleration is practiced from grades 1 through 8, a student could take algebra1 in 9th, geometry in 10th, and algebra2 in 11th grade. These students will have a good foundation in mathematics to further their studies in the future.
Sometime, we should visit the issue of using calculators in ES and MS.
Those students falling behind will quickly be lost forever in mathematics. These souls will suffer through many more years of (hard) mathematics. The students who are "rescued" may start feeling that mathematics is hard and not fun any more. Many of them will "hit a brick wall" right about when they start learning algebra2.
If no acceleration is practiced from grades 1 through 8, a student could take algebra1 in 9th, geometry in 10th, and algebra2 in 11th grade. These students will have a good foundation in mathematics to further their studies in the future.
Sometime, we should visit the issue of using calculators in ES and MS.
Eight years of teaching
As soon as I started teaching at MCPS, I noticed that minority students tend to be in regular and below-level classes. Most of these students were smart but they were not interested in learning mathematics.Gradually, I started to hear and read about the achievement gap and higher dropout rates amongst minority students especially boys.
One day, I read that "most students who are not doing well do not have even one connected adult in the school that they can attending". Further readings helped me to identify ways of connecting to students who need an adult. After that, I have gone out of my way to connect to "lost" minority students, especially boys. I usually find them from my classes or identify them from previous classes. I would ask them to see me in the mornings and I would encourage them to "go to all classes. work, and respect the teachers". The results have been overwhelmingly positive.
During the past few years, I have become more culturally competent. After reading, learning, and meaningful discussions, I have acquired much knowledge about different culture, groups, and means of operation of them. This knowledge has given me tremendous amount of help in helping students.
I have also learned and practiced "differentiated lnstructions" since more and more classes are going to be heterogeneously grouped in the future. The label of "GY" may not exist in the near future. A successful teacher needs to be able to differentiate in all his classes.
I have been happy to be able to connect to students than "just being a math teacher". I have learned more about their lives and the things they experience on a daily basis.
Much of teaching minority students is to give them hope. We need to tell them that if they make a little positive difference every day, their lives will be much better after five years.
One day, I read that "most students who are not doing well do not have even one connected adult in the school that they can attending". Further readings helped me to identify ways of connecting to students who need an adult. After that, I have gone out of my way to connect to "lost" minority students, especially boys. I usually find them from my classes or identify them from previous classes. I would ask them to see me in the mornings and I would encourage them to "go to all classes. work, and respect the teachers". The results have been overwhelmingly positive.
During the past few years, I have become more culturally competent. After reading, learning, and meaningful discussions, I have acquired much knowledge about different culture, groups, and means of operation of them. This knowledge has given me tremendous amount of help in helping students.
I have also learned and practiced "differentiated lnstructions" since more and more classes are going to be heterogeneously grouped in the future. The label of "GY" may not exist in the near future. A successful teacher needs to be able to differentiate in all his classes.
I have been happy to be able to connect to students than "just being a math teacher". I have learned more about their lives and the things they experience on a daily basis.
Much of teaching minority students is to give them hope. We need to tell them that if they make a little positive difference every day, their lives will be much better after five years.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Some quick ways to mess up your children' lives
Get them addicted to snacks and sweet drinks early.
Convince them that it is a big bad world out there.
Jam learning into their throat before they are ready.
Force them to learn things they do not like (piano, sports,...)
Use TV, Nintendo, Technologies (TNT) to be baby sitters.
Let them use calculators for mathematics.
Let them bring cell phones to schools. (Sorry my students :)
Do not allow them to take up responsibilities. View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C5Rnb7J3sU
Convince them that it is a big bad world out there.
Jam learning into their throat before they are ready.
Force them to learn things they do not like (piano, sports,...)
Use TV, Nintendo, Technologies (TNT) to be baby sitters.
Let them use calculators for mathematics.
Let them bring cell phones to schools. (Sorry my students :)
Do not allow them to take up responsibilities. View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C5Rnb7J3sU
Sunday, October 11, 2009
資優的跳級生
人生的風景何必急著壓縮 （家有資優的跳級生）
昨天應邀去上「今晚哪裡有問題」節目當特別來賓，當集的節目主題是「跳級生」。
主角人物是兩個跳級生的家長：蔡爸爸與蔡媽媽，我和另外一位媒體人、還有在建中任教超過三十年的陳美儒 老師，則是搭配的來賓。
整場錄影，簡直是讓我有「傻眼」的感覺。
蔡爸爸與蔡媽媽本身都是相當高水準的知識份子，蔡爸爸是光武工專電機助教、留美高材生，蔡媽媽本身是家管，師範大學公民教育系畢業。
三個孩子中，老大佩真今年以十六歲的年紀，拿下大學指考第四高分，錄取台大電機系，在就學過程中，她兩度跳級，國小跳一次、國中跳一次。老二也是跳級生。
蔡爸爸、蔡媽媽與大家分享他的「學齡前教育法」。
他們說，兩個大的一出生，24小時內就抱回來餵母乳，還未滿月前，她就開始「字卡教學」。
蔡媽媽手繪各式各樣字卡，還有由圓點點組成的「數目圖卡」，從1到99，在每次餵奶前，寶寶哭鬧、最有精神時，在寶寶眼前晃過卡片，告訴寶寶相關的字、數目，然後再餵奶。
蔡爸爸說，三歲前的寶寶有大腦有百分之七十的未開發區域，先給予字卡再給予喝奶，就是教導他「學習」跟給予「獎勵」。接下來，寶寶還未學會走路，家中牆壁就貼滿了數字、九九乘法表，以及國小國語課本裡的課文。
家中所有的家具都貼上中英文字卡，隨時隨地不忘教學。
因此，在蔡媽媽的耐心教育下，蔡佩真一歲就已經識得數字及國字，會用手指出正確位置，兩歲會說話時，就已經會背完九九乘法表，三歲已經可以自行閱讀中英文故事，並在鄰居教導下，學會基礎日文。
她中班以前已經把小學一、二年級的課程上完。
於是，她小學二年級就隨著媽媽到師院附小上六年級的數學課，四年級時跳級至五年級。
國二下再跳國三下，隨即考上北一女中。
蔡爸爸並分享孩子們生活的點滴，包括喜歡打球、打撲克牌，以及他自創的「十分鐘預習法」及一些聯想記憶術等等。
節目結束後，他並送我一張他個人印製的「學齡前教育」的演講DVD。
我當場只能不停的搖頭讚嘆。
我看到的是，一個優秀的媽媽，將所有的精力都放在兒女的教育上，將所有自我的成就都擺在成就兒女上。
但是，我也看到，蔡家父母將所有的心力放在智育的教育下，三個孩子在優秀課業表現的同時，顯然在人際關係上都有極大的問題 不斷的跳級，導致的是在學校裡的寂寞，沒有朋友，還有，人生閱歷顯然較同年紀的孩子貧乏 陳美儒 老師對於這樣的教育行徑十分不贊同，在錄影現場就不停的開砲，導致對方有點小尷尬，因此我的角色其實比較像潤滑劑一般，偶爾開個玩笑，嘲笑自己很懶，沒有辦法這樣教小孩。不過，私底下，我很認同美儒老師的看法。
美儒老師在建中任教三十年，得天下英才而教之，她說了一個故事我覺得很有趣。
她說，有一年建中將所有數理資優的孩子集中在一個班上，那年，那個班上考上了六個台大醫科，十幾個台大電機。
其中有一個「考壞」了的孩子，考上台北醫學院醫學系，放榜當天人就消失不見，大家嚇壞了，後來陳 老師在碧潭橋畔找到了他。
她想說的是，一路順遂、超人一等、資賦優異的孩子，並不見得是快樂的孩子大家在一味追求學業的資賦優異過程中，不該忽略的是孩子的體能教育、品格教育、愛情教育、財物教育、人際關係、以及各種各樣生活中的歷練。
最好笑的，是二十年後， 陳 老師去參加這班同學的喜酒。
在喜宴兼同學會上，眼看當年資賦優異、人人稱頌的這一群大男孩，分坐了兩桌，變成醫生、工程師，並為人夫、為人父，喜酒的菜一上，大家不約而同，紛紛低頭不停的剝蝦。
其中最優秀的那一個男生，自顧自的吃蝦，結果被老婆狠狠的踢了一腳之後，也開始低頭幫孩子剝蝦殼！
哈哈！我在一旁，忍不住大笑！
陳 老師的意思是，「資優又SOWHAT？20年後，他跟一般頭腦普通的男人，並沒有兩樣！
他仍然要在社會上生存，跟家人相處，結婚生子、養兒育女。」
今天我去上MOMO親子台時，忍不住跟現場兒童心理師分享昨天的錄影經過。
他說了一句話我覺得超棒！
他說：「人生的風景有多少？值得我們慢慢享用，何必急著把它壓縮著過完？」
沒錯啊！就是這種感覺！
我並不否定蔡爸爸、蔡媽媽的心血，也認為他們全心為兒女的付出非常值得讚美，但我相信，以他們夫妻倆資質的優秀，即使不在寶寶滿月前就開使用「閃卡」、「字卡」，奮力的教學，他們的孩子一定也可以順利考上北一女、台大電機！我相信，優秀的父母培育出的孩子，在學業上絕對不會差到哪裡去！只是或許多用了一、兩年的時光。
但是，童年的時光何其珍貴？
與其辛辛苦苦的製作閃卡、字卡、數目圖卡，為何不用這樣的時間多跟孩子去溪邊散散步、看看美好的晨光？
與其花費時間教他「媽媽起床、爸爸讀報」的國語課文，為何不多講幾個好聽的故事、讀幾篇優美的詩歌？
與其花時間背九九乘法表，為何不帶孩子看一場好看的電影，看一齣有趣的話劇？
與其讓孩子先讀他還不需要知道的知識，何不帶孩子一起粉刷油漆、擦地洗碗、種花除草，
或是去一趟育幼院、幫忙照顧其他失去父母的幼兒，讓他懂得關心這個社會？
與其在十五歲時就在大學選修課程，為何不鼓勵她多交幾個閨中好友，去逛個街、打個工，讓她培養正常的社交關係？
在全力追求智育的時刻，我看不到的是強調孩子品格的教育、藝文的欣賞與正常的社交培養。
最重要的並且是：生活的歷練缺乏一個十六歲的女孩，正是最甜美的時刻，她應該要有她這個年齡所該有的青春、愛情，擁有運動與社交、懂得追求自己所愛，享有秘密與夢想。
我期望我的女兒十六歲時，除了唸書之外，看到人會主動的打招呼、微笑，對於長輩展現出應有的禮貌，進退得宜，而不是當別人向妳問好時，只知道直楞楞的瞪視對方、沒有任何反應。
我希望我的兒子十四歲時，對於沒看過的環境充滿好奇，到了攝影棚會問東問西，而不是呆若木雞。
我希望我的孩子能夠爬山涉水，懂得探詢世界，求知慾不僅僅限於學業。
我希望她在苦讀ABC時，除了用來看TIME雜誌，更能領略毛姆、莫伯桑筆下的人生縮影。是的，生命何其珍貴？求知何其快樂？我並不急得他們跳躍度過，也不在意是否速成有效，我只希望他們慢慢享受、領略其中美的世界。
看信的好處是可以『增廣見聞』，穫取您平凡的生活不會去想的東西。
如果您收到別人分享給您的好文章，不要吝嗇，您也可以繼續分享給好友，請別忘記我這一份喔 ! !
當我們用心對人時，有心人將以熱情回報您，希望我們都是用心的人，也是有心的人。
昨天應邀去上「今晚哪裡有問題」節目當特別來賓，當集的節目主題是「跳級生」。
主角人物是兩個跳級生的家長：蔡爸爸與蔡媽媽，我和另外一位媒體人、還有在建中任教超過三十年的陳美儒 老師，則是搭配的來賓。
整場錄影，簡直是讓我有「傻眼」的感覺。
蔡爸爸與蔡媽媽本身都是相當高水準的知識份子，蔡爸爸是光武工專電機助教、留美高材生，蔡媽媽本身是家管，師範大學公民教育系畢業。
三個孩子中，老大佩真今年以十六歲的年紀，拿下大學指考第四高分，錄取台大電機系，在就學過程中，她兩度跳級，國小跳一次、國中跳一次。老二也是跳級生。
蔡爸爸、蔡媽媽與大家分享他的「學齡前教育法」。
他們說，兩個大的一出生，24小時內就抱回來餵母乳，還未滿月前，她就開始「字卡教學」。
蔡媽媽手繪各式各樣字卡，還有由圓點點組成的「數目圖卡」，從1到99，在每次餵奶前，寶寶哭鬧、最有精神時，在寶寶眼前晃過卡片，告訴寶寶相關的字、數目，然後再餵奶。
蔡爸爸說，三歲前的寶寶有大腦有百分之七十的未開發區域，先給予字卡再給予喝奶，就是教導他「學習」跟給予「獎勵」。接下來，寶寶還未學會走路，家中牆壁就貼滿了數字、九九乘法表，以及國小國語課本裡的課文。
家中所有的家具都貼上中英文字卡，隨時隨地不忘教學。
因此，在蔡媽媽的耐心教育下，蔡佩真一歲就已經識得數字及國字，會用手指出正確位置，兩歲會說話時，就已經會背完九九乘法表，三歲已經可以自行閱讀中英文故事，並在鄰居教導下，學會基礎日文。
她中班以前已經把小學一、二年級的課程上完。
於是，她小學二年級就隨著媽媽到師院附小上六年級的數學課，四年級時跳級至五年級。
國二下再跳國三下，隨即考上北一女中。
蔡爸爸並分享孩子們生活的點滴，包括喜歡打球、打撲克牌，以及他自創的「十分鐘預習法」及一些聯想記憶術等等。
節目結束後，他並送我一張他個人印製的「學齡前教育」的演講DVD。
我當場只能不停的搖頭讚嘆。
我看到的是，一個優秀的媽媽，將所有的精力都放在兒女的教育上，將所有自我的成就都擺在成就兒女上。
但是，我也看到，蔡家父母將所有的心力放在智育的教育下，三個孩子在優秀課業表現的同時，顯然在人際關係上都有極大的問題 不斷的跳級，導致的是在學校裡的寂寞，沒有朋友，還有，人生閱歷顯然較同年紀的孩子貧乏 陳美儒 老師對於這樣的教育行徑十分不贊同，在錄影現場就不停的開砲，導致對方有點小尷尬，因此我的角色其實比較像潤滑劑一般，偶爾開個玩笑，嘲笑自己很懶，沒有辦法這樣教小孩。不過，私底下，我很認同美儒老師的看法。
美儒老師在建中任教三十年，得天下英才而教之，她說了一個故事我覺得很有趣。
她說，有一年建中將所有數理資優的孩子集中在一個班上，那年，那個班上考上了六個台大醫科，十幾個台大電機。
其中有一個「考壞」了的孩子，考上台北醫學院醫學系，放榜當天人就消失不見，大家嚇壞了，後來陳 老師在碧潭橋畔找到了他。
她想說的是，一路順遂、超人一等、資賦優異的孩子，並不見得是快樂的孩子大家在一味追求學業的資賦優異過程中，不該忽略的是孩子的體能教育、品格教育、愛情教育、財物教育、人際關係、以及各種各樣生活中的歷練。
最好笑的，是二十年後， 陳 老師去參加這班同學的喜酒。
在喜宴兼同學會上，眼看當年資賦優異、人人稱頌的這一群大男孩，分坐了兩桌，變成醫生、工程師，並為人夫、為人父，喜酒的菜一上，大家不約而同，紛紛低頭不停的剝蝦。
其中最優秀的那一個男生，自顧自的吃蝦，結果被老婆狠狠的踢了一腳之後，也開始低頭幫孩子剝蝦殼！
哈哈！我在一旁，忍不住大笑！
陳 老師的意思是，「資優又SOWHAT？20年後，他跟一般頭腦普通的男人，並沒有兩樣！
他仍然要在社會上生存，跟家人相處，結婚生子、養兒育女。」
今天我去上MOMO親子台時，忍不住跟現場兒童心理師分享昨天的錄影經過。
他說了一句話我覺得超棒！
他說：「人生的風景有多少？值得我們慢慢享用，何必急著把它壓縮著過完？」
沒錯啊！就是這種感覺！
我並不否定蔡爸爸、蔡媽媽的心血，也認為他們全心為兒女的付出非常值得讚美，但我相信，以他們夫妻倆資質的優秀，即使不在寶寶滿月前就開使用「閃卡」、「字卡」，奮力的教學，他們的孩子一定也可以順利考上北一女、台大電機！我相信，優秀的父母培育出的孩子，在學業上絕對不會差到哪裡去！只是或許多用了一、兩年的時光。
但是，童年的時光何其珍貴？
與其辛辛苦苦的製作閃卡、字卡、數目圖卡，為何不用這樣的時間多跟孩子去溪邊散散步、看看美好的晨光？
與其花費時間教他「媽媽起床、爸爸讀報」的國語課文，為何不多講幾個好聽的故事、讀幾篇優美的詩歌？
與其花時間背九九乘法表，為何不帶孩子看一場好看的電影，看一齣有趣的話劇？
與其讓孩子先讀他還不需要知道的知識，何不帶孩子一起粉刷油漆、擦地洗碗、種花除草，
或是去一趟育幼院、幫忙照顧其他失去父母的幼兒，讓他懂得關心這個社會？
與其在十五歲時就在大學選修課程，為何不鼓勵她多交幾個閨中好友，去逛個街、打個工，讓她培養正常的社交關係？
在全力追求智育的時刻，我看不到的是強調孩子品格的教育、藝文的欣賞與正常的社交培養。
最重要的並且是：生活的歷練缺乏一個十六歲的女孩，正是最甜美的時刻，她應該要有她這個年齡所該有的青春、愛情，擁有運動與社交、懂得追求自己所愛，享有秘密與夢想。
我期望我的女兒十六歲時，除了唸書之外，看到人會主動的打招呼、微笑，對於長輩展現出應有的禮貌，進退得宜，而不是當別人向妳問好時，只知道直楞楞的瞪視對方、沒有任何反應。
我希望我的兒子十四歲時，對於沒看過的環境充滿好奇，到了攝影棚會問東問西，而不是呆若木雞。
我希望我的孩子能夠爬山涉水，懂得探詢世界，求知慾不僅僅限於學業。
我希望她在苦讀ABC時，除了用來看TIME雜誌，更能領略毛姆、莫伯桑筆下的人生縮影。是的，生命何其珍貴？求知何其快樂？我並不急得他們跳躍度過，也不在意是否速成有效，我只希望他們慢慢享受、領略其中美的世界。
看信的好處是可以『增廣見聞』，穫取您平凡的生活不會去想的東西。
如果您收到別人分享給您的好文章，不要吝嗇，您也可以繼續分享給好友，請別忘記我這一份喔 ! !
當我們用心對人時，有心人將以熱情回報您，希望我們都是用心的人，也是有心的人。
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Learn for?
High School
It’s hazy and foggy. The rain and condensation upon the windows almost captures the atmosphere of the classroom. Each student’s face is masked with daze as our teacher displays a profound lack of leadership. I do not like it here. I do not like being confined to a lesson plan while the world outside is just waiting to be pursued. The entire universe is changing rapidly with the exception of this classroom. Day in and day out it is the same thing. Day in and day out I'm imprisoned and acutely aware of my inability to fit in with the rest of the inmates. Do I even want to fit in? I feel the moment I begin to fit in is the moment I regress. My peers, however, do sometimes make me feel as though I'm at fault for wanting something better. One day, though, I will be known for my extraordinary contributions and my peers will understand why I was so different. But for now, it's procedures and multiple-choice. Nothing is innovative, nothing is going to change the world, and nothing is going to revolutionize our society. It is ironic and sad that this place is designed for learning. We are not taught how to put thought into action nor are we taught how to apply the concepts we have memorized. All we hope for is to remember what bubble to fill in come Friday’s test. I do not waste my time studying the formula for triangles divided by squares. No, I study my teacher's mannerisms as the spit accumulates to the left corner of his mouth and I begin wonder how I can turn this into a prose poem.
It’s hazy and foggy. The rain and condensation upon the windows almost captures the atmosphere of the classroom. Each student’s face is masked with daze as our teacher displays a profound lack of leadership. I do not like it here. I do not like being confined to a lesson plan while the world outside is just waiting to be pursued. The entire universe is changing rapidly with the exception of this classroom. Day in and day out it is the same thing. Day in and day out I'm imprisoned and acutely aware of my inability to fit in with the rest of the inmates. Do I even want to fit in? I feel the moment I begin to fit in is the moment I regress. My peers, however, do sometimes make me feel as though I'm at fault for wanting something better. One day, though, I will be known for my extraordinary contributions and my peers will understand why I was so different. But for now, it's procedures and multiple-choice. Nothing is innovative, nothing is going to change the world, and nothing is going to revolutionize our society. It is ironic and sad that this place is designed for learning. We are not taught how to put thought into action nor are we taught how to apply the concepts we have memorized. All we hope for is to remember what bubble to fill in come Friday’s test. I do not waste my time studying the formula for triangles divided by squares. No, I study my teacher's mannerisms as the spit accumulates to the left corner of his mouth and I begin wonder how I can turn this into a prose poem.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
李躍兒
Parents usually love their babies since babies are so cute. As babies grow, babies start having own thoughts and ways of doing things. Some parents start worrying and become control-freaks.
Many parents do not understand their children but are telling children what to do. This causes problems. Parents need to observe and offer appropriate assistance. (also mentioned in "The Road Less Traveled")
"High-Pressure" parenting will always create problematic children.(now or later)
Simply speaking, there are two parts of a child. The life with characters, then the body that learns. The first part is most important, like the foundation of a good house.
Children should not be learning math or other subjects prior to 6 years old. They should be allowed to play and get a feel of the world, friends, surroundings, and what they are good for.
All learning should be somehow related to life (to avoid being boring).
Parents should allow children learn from making mistakes. We should realize that we all make mistakes everyday.
It seems to me parents who know education and are involved should yield good students. Parents know nothing about education and are not involved might do fine with children because children are left alone to learn. Parents who know nothing about education but get too involved with children will make bad students.
April 20th , 1999 (４２０寧夏擊警案) occurred and suspects came from strict families with frequent physical and mental punishment. Physical punishment will cause many problems later on.
There is creativity in all people, a good teacher can make it work and show. Let's say we are teaching young children how to draw. If we start teaching right away, they will "learn" our way and "creativity is suppressed". For example, if children as asked to draw fish, the pictures are all different. If I show them what a fish looks like, all fish drawn by these children will be similar. (Creativity destroyed)
Many parents do not understand their children but are telling children what to do. This causes problems. Parents need to observe and offer appropriate assistance. (also mentioned in "The Road Less Traveled")
"High-Pressure" parenting will always create problematic children.(now or later)
Simply speaking, there are two parts of a child. The life with characters, then the body that learns. The first part is most important, like the foundation of a good house.
Children should not be learning math or other subjects prior to 6 years old. They should be allowed to play and get a feel of the world, friends, surroundings, and what they are good for.
All learning should be somehow related to life (to avoid being boring).
Parents should allow children learn from making mistakes. We should realize that we all make mistakes everyday.
It seems to me parents who know education and are involved should yield good students. Parents know nothing about education and are not involved might do fine with children because children are left alone to learn. Parents who know nothing about education but get too involved with children will make bad students.
April 20th , 1999 (４２０寧夏擊警案) occurred and suspects came from strict families with frequent physical and mental punishment. Physical punishment will cause many problems later on.
There is creativity in all people, a good teacher can make it work and show. Let's say we are teaching young children how to draw. If we start teaching right away, they will "learn" our way and "creativity is suppressed". For example, if children as asked to draw fish, the pictures are all different. If I show them what a fish looks like, all fish drawn by these children will be similar. (Creativity destroyed)
Friday, August 7, 2009
Young Learners
Young people are texting many people at a time but task is short. Is this the best way they learn? Should classrooms be structured like it?
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Differentiated room
. each child is approached as an individual
. teacher teaches the whole child
. teacher continues to develop expertise
. teacher links students and ideas
. teachers strives for joyful learning
. teacher offers high expectations and lots of ladders
. teacher helps students make their own sense of ideas
. teacher shares teaching with students
. teacher strives for student independence
. teacher uses positive energy and humor
. "discipline" is more covert than overt
. teacher teaches the whole child
. teacher continues to develop expertise
. teacher links students and ideas
. teachers strives for joyful learning
. teacher offers high expectations and lots of ladders
. teacher helps students make their own sense of ideas
. teacher shares teaching with students
. teacher strives for student independence
. teacher uses positive energy and humor
. "discipline" is more covert than overt
Helthy Classroom - content
. is relevant to students; it seems personal, familiar, connected to the world they know.
. helps students understand themselves and their lives more fully now, and will continue to do so as they grow up.
. is authentic, offering "real" history of math or art, not just exercises about the subject.
. can be used immediately for something that matters to the students.
. makes students more powerful in the present and in the future.
. helps students understand themselves and their lives more fully now, and will continue to do so as they grow up.
. is authentic, offering "real" history of math or art, not just exercises about the subject.
. can be used immediately for something that matters to the students.
. makes students more powerful in the present and in the future.
Kids in a healthy classroom
Each kid likes all others and different from all others.
Kids need unconditional acceptance as human beings.
Kids need to believe that they can become better than they are.
Kids need help in living up to their dreams.
Kids have to make their own sense of things.
Kids often make their own sense of things more effectively and coherently when adults colaborate with them.
Kids need action, joy, and peace.
Kids need power over their lives and learning.
Kids need help developing that power and use it wicely.
Kids need to be secure in a larger world.
Kids need unconditional acceptance as human beings.
Kids need to believe that they can become better than they are.
Kids need help in living up to their dreams.
Kids have to make their own sense of things.
Kids often make their own sense of things more effectively and coherently when adults colaborate with them.
Kids need action, joy, and peace.
Kids need power over their lives and learning.
Kids need help developing that power and use it wicely.
Kids need to be secure in a larger world.
Students vary in experience, readiness, interest, intellegences, language, culture, gender and mode of learning.
To maximize the potential of each student, a teacher needs to meet each student at hi starting point.
Teachers need to make modifications for students rather than assuming that students will modify themselves to fit the teachers.
Teaching efforts should be based on what "keeps students wanting to learn".
To maximize the potential of each student, a teacher needs to meet each student at hi starting point.
Teachers need to make modifications for students rather than assuming that students will modify themselves to fit the teachers.
Teaching efforts should be based on what "keeps students wanting to learn".
Differentiated classroom, instructions
Assessment is on-going and diagnostic. Teachers need a day-to-day understanding of where students are.
Teacher modifies content, process, and product.
. make up gaps
. change pace
. skip learned stuff
Teacher modifies content, process, and product.
. make up gaps
. change pace
. skip learned stuff
Differentiated Classroom Basics
A teacher begins where the students are, not the front of a curriculum guide. They accept and build upon the premise that the learners differ in many ways.
Different modalities.
Appealing to different interests.
varied rates of instruction.
varied degrees of complexity.
a student competes against himself only.
Different modalities.
Appealing to different interests.
varied rates of instruction.
varied degrees of complexity.
a student competes against himself only.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Innovative interventions
Scannella and McCarthy
1. Educators cry for our own frustrations. Sometimes, we cry for those children who are not realizing their greatness.
Education is not about punishment; rather, it is about education, feedback, and self-control.
Self-control is worth ten times as self-esteem.
Students have the resources they need to change.
There is no such thing as failure, only feedback.
If something does not work, do something else.
2. Students usually see too many things at home and at school. They have learned from it.
There is no such thing as a resistant student. Teacher has not figured out what to do yet.
Adults speak like adults.
The student makes new choices.
Do not get mad, get curious.
3. Rapport
People like people who like themselves.
Relationships are all there is.
4. Why do children need to explain to adults all the time?
Meet students in their models of the world.
What motivates people?
How is personality connected to student behavior and motivation?
5. What you see depends on what you thought before you looked.
Believes drive behavior.
You can not solve a problem on the level it appears.
Confusion precedes clarity.
Trick students to give up believing below.
I am not very smart.
I see school useless.
I can not figure out how to study.
I have failed many tests.
I have no place to study.
6. Look at anything from a different point of view.
stubborn vs. determined.
7. How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.
Work hard, do well, be smart.
Shape behavior instead of modifying behavior.
Praise efforts, not intelligence.
Focus on self-control, not self-esteem.
1. Educators cry for our own frustrations. Sometimes, we cry for those children who are not realizing their greatness.
Education is not about punishment; rather, it is about education, feedback, and self-control.
Self-control is worth ten times as self-esteem.
Students have the resources they need to change.
There is no such thing as failure, only feedback.
If something does not work, do something else.
2. Students usually see too many things at home and at school. They have learned from it.
There is no such thing as a resistant student. Teacher has not figured out what to do yet.
Adults speak like adults.
The student makes new choices.
Do not get mad, get curious.
3. Rapport
People like people who like themselves.
Relationships are all there is.
4. Why do children need to explain to adults all the time?
Meet students in their models of the world.
What motivates people?
How is personality connected to student behavior and motivation?
5. What you see depends on what you thought before you looked.
Believes drive behavior.
You can not solve a problem on the level it appears.
Confusion precedes clarity.
Trick students to give up believing below.
I am not very smart.
I see school useless.
I can not figure out how to study.
I have failed many tests.
I have no place to study.
6. Look at anything from a different point of view.
stubborn vs. determined.
7. How we spend our days is how we spend our lives.
Work hard, do well, be smart.
Shape behavior instead of modifying behavior.
Praise efforts, not intelligence.
Focus on self-control, not self-esteem.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Black Masculinity in Teaching and Learning
(Taken from book, Diversity and Education" by H. Richard Milner
Black males are not likely to admire high achieving black males. Black males students are less understood by teachers so they are suspended more and put on lower tracks frequently.
Intervention strategies for black males:
1. Recruit successful black males to mentor black boys. Show successful blacks as role models.
2. Parent/guardian contract. Make these adults responsible as "academic guardian".
3. Create school or after school programs for blacks to participate. Drama, music, art, sports, technology.
4. Make sure teachers are familiar with "black male experience".
5. Teachers should teach blacks where they are then guide students to where these students have never dreamed of going.
6. Teachers should be trained on cultural awareness.
7. Revamp the special education referral process.
8. Train teachers on recognizing "giftedness" in minority students.
9. Recruit and support male teachers.
10. High expectations for black male students.
Black males are not likely to admire high achieving black males. Black males students are less understood by teachers so they are suspended more and put on lower tracks frequently.
Intervention strategies for black males:
1. Recruit successful black males to mentor black boys. Show successful blacks as role models.
2. Parent/guardian contract. Make these adults responsible as "academic guardian".
3. Create school or after school programs for blacks to participate. Drama, music, art, sports, technology.
4. Make sure teachers are familiar with "black male experience".
5. Teachers should teach blacks where they are then guide students to where these students have never dreamed of going.
6. Teachers should be trained on cultural awareness.
7. Revamp the special education referral process.
8. Train teachers on recognizing "giftedness" in minority students.
9. Recruit and support male teachers.
10. High expectations for black male students.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
