tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5121182924830657972024-03-10T03:45:33.090+01:00The Learning CraftYour Nigerian education blogspot.The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.comBlogger141125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-47842999605007749542015-06-06T15:42:00.001+01:002015-06-06T15:42:34.441+01:00We Have Moved! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTg_GdzMKSZlTlACO5EXJR6D5iphcDUhJahpCkzEy2AAN2p5RaOknBl4PgppU98Om2_-h17sf3CHZPyCZffd9Qy_iDbcwWCk8qKzaoimRnYUo3oL1rHNehrOB5cCLMF1ES575bVyYZg00/s1600/IMG-20150606-WA0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTg_GdzMKSZlTlACO5EXJR6D5iphcDUhJahpCkzEy2AAN2p5RaOknBl4PgppU98Om2_-h17sf3CHZPyCZffd9Qy_iDbcwWCk8qKzaoimRnYUo3oL1rHNehrOB5cCLMF1ES575bVyYZg00/s320/IMG-20150606-WA0004.jpg" width="189" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Yes, we have moved our blog to <a href="http://www.blog.thelearningcraft.com/">www.blog.thelearningcraft.com</a>. We remain the same; bringing you suggestions and contributions that affect education as a whole in Nigeria.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">As we move, The Learning Craft is organising a programme titled 'All Children Can Learn.'</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">It is a program best suited for all education stakeholders - parents, teachers, school heads, education administrators and advocates. See e-flyer for more infomation.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Thank you for reading and do join us at the new blog address, sign up for our newsletter to read up on more and to catch up with all our upcoming activities. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">See you there.</span></div>
The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-77758291915766915422015-05-05T22:29:00.001+01:002015-05-06T07:22:11.424+01:00How Teachers Can Help Slower-Paced Learners<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Teachers tend to give accolade or attach more importance to faster-paced learners in their classrooms. Certainly, they should not take for granted the importance of celebrating faster learners, but they must be mindful of their ultimate task which is to ensure that all learners are dutifully carried along and classes are always beneficial to all. It is often said that a great teacher's success is measured by the growth of their slower-paced learners.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">There are some important simple steps that can be followed in order for teachers to ensure that they do not lose track of their main goals. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">1. Teachers should always go to slower-paced children to personally ask them whether they have understood the lesson.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> A teacher’s listening and asking approach matters a whole lot. It should be polite (not harsh or rude), of a listening nature and caring. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">2. Teachers should not for sake of wanting to cover all content within the curriculum, end up giving too many lessons too quickly (even though many school administrators keep teachers on their toes for this). The onus lies on the teacher to deliver good results. Teachers should always take an average of their class after each lesson to identify progress. If the scorecard is below 70% passmark of the entire number of learners taught after teaching/reteaching, we say.....change your approach and reteach once again. After which consistent practice must be given until expected skill outcome is mostly perfected.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">3. Slower-paced learning also comes as a result of learners forgetting what they've learnt for various reasons. That’s why such learner loses confidence and may start differentiating themself from faster learners. The teacher’s duty here is to carefully give learners tips on how to recall what to do and how to work them out systematically. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">4. Spend ample time thinking about your student. If teachers can get into deeper thoughts on their students in trying to identify problem areas, they would most likely discover ways to help the student/s or identify who/what best to help them e.g using psychologists, counsellors, special needs tutors, mentors, therapists; especially if the situation goes beyond the make up of the classroom.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">5. Teachers can often develop Individual education plans (IEPs) for slower-paced learners to help them complete achievable tasks while discovering the possibility of grasping a wider knowledge on a given topic or concept. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">6. Teachers should embrace assigning group work. Allow faster students to help slower ones. It is often said also that children learn best from each other. Teachers should apply 'project based learning method'. Have students suggest problems they'd like to see solved and guide them to find the solutions themselves. Again, people learn best by doing.......doing so consistently!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Finally teachers must embrace patience and consistency are their guiding paths. Consistent teachers achieve results.</span></div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-23358297020189921412015-04-14T05:31:00.003+01:002015-04-14T05:37:51.400+01:00Chibok Girls: One Year Gone! #NeverToBeForgotten<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFb-dXiVLYSIV765355RWbEcCmRQJSCetLQrXc5KtTTYMQ27Bmes-z-oUL2K3bGQlYwxSnSfL1eEshCz4ueDjDst2iX1-VRXGbUc3Xlhvykxo7_MDlv8AvuL7eiIb-i6TaqJrDgIMdimg/s1600/1428983806982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFb-dXiVLYSIV765355RWbEcCmRQJSCetLQrXc5KtTTYMQ27Bmes-z-oUL2K3bGQlYwxSnSfL1eEshCz4ueDjDst2iX1-VRXGbUc3Xlhvykxo7_MDlv8AvuL7eiIb-i6TaqJrDgIMdimg/s1600/1428983806982.jpg" height="320" width="226" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">All they did was to go to school. Many of them loved to read. Many had bright hopes for their future and for their immediate families. That night of horror in the Chibok village! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">How do they feel wherever they are? Can we imagine their grief? How are their families coping? Where are they? Can they be rescued? Are they all alive? Is the trauma ever going to fade away? Will they ever be reunited with their families? What can we do to help them? Do we feel helpless at this point? Can we keep hope alive? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">So, so, so many unanswered questions yet. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">One year! An average of 12 monthly menstrual cycles! Hearts, souls, minds and bodies possibly tortured but keeping hope alive; praying that they may be rescued someday....somehow!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">All of you will never be forgotten! We feel so much pain....so much pain.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">#BringBackOurGirls</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">#NowAndHopefullyAlive</span></div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-17171861685555152312015-03-06T17:57:00.003+01:002015-03-06T18:00:17.370+01:00The Power of Poetry in Primary Classrooms <div style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I found this eye opening piece on edutopia.org and I knew it was just right to share.</i></div>
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There are many modern poets saying valid and beautiful things about the world, but few people are buying their books. Walk around any book shop and you might struggle to find the typically tiny poetry section. The art of poetry remains something literary, academic, and removed from ordinary reading habits. Yet poets go to great lengths to demonstrate that poetry is diverse, accessible, and relevant. After all, song and rap lyrics are widely-loved forms of poetry. There is also poetry, as they rightly point out, in text and Twitter feeds.</div>
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<b style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Beyond Forced Rhyme</b></div>
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However, if you ask most teaching colleagues and parents to share memories of learning about poetry, they recall, often with pained expressions, intensely studying a small number of poets in high school, where they had to analyze poems word by word. They will also talk about the type of rhyming poetry learned in elementary school.</div>
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Rhyme is an excellent way for young children to develop an awareness of language, phonic patterns, and rhythms. The problem is that children's experience of poetry is so dominated by rhyme that when they come to write, they are distracted by the need to create rhyming couplets. It comes as a surprise to them that poetry does not have to rhyme.</div>
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Despite poetry being a required writing form in most curriculums, it is often rushed and sometimes abandoned altogether due to inevitable pressure on the timetable. This is a tragic shame given the many benefits of teaching poetry. Here are my top five:</div>
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Poetry broadens reading choices, as there are numerous excellent poetic picture books and poetry collections.</div>
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This distilled form of writing naturally focuses on sentence-level skills with its purposeful selection of adjectives, adverbs, powerful verbs, specific nouns, etc.</div>
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This makes poetry a perfect writing form to study immediately after holiday breaks when students typically show regression in the quality of written and spoken communication.</div>
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Being such a small amount of writing, poetry is less intimidating for writers new to English. Along with storytelling, it has given my English as an additional language (EAL) students their first opportunity to write English and orally share their writing.</div>
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Poetry can be written about any subject, imaginary or factual; about personal experiences or concepts; about emotions or facts.</div>
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<b style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10 Poetic Days</b></div>
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My poetry units typically take around two weeks of daily, hour-long poetry lessons. I teach free or blank verse forms that have no rhyming patterns and no special rules about numbers of lines or line breaks. My focus is on language choice and authentic, personal expression. I would break those two weeks down into the following flexible sections:</div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Days 1-2</b>: Immerse students in studying model poetry texts. Children borrow poetry texts for home reading during the whole unit.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Day 3:</b> Identify the writing skills to focus on (for example) similes, alliteration, imagery, etc. Begin practicing these skills with language games.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Days 4-5</b>: Plan for this section by gathering ideas from around the world. Share work in progress with peers and with teacher-student conferencing throughout.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Days 6-7</b>: Model how to develop the ideas into quality sentences with well-chosen language.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Days 8-9</b>: Model forming the finished verses, thinking about line breaks, and reading with expression, while editing along the way.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Day 10:</b> Share and celebrate with an outside audience, such as other classes and parents.</span></div>
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By<a href="https://www.edutopia.org/users/matthew-james-friday" target="_blank"> Matthew James Friday</a></div>
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Matthew is an classroom teacher and literacy manager working in an International school in China.</div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-42370028658604748172015-02-20T20:54:00.000+01:002015-02-21T13:01:09.126+01:00Should Etiquette Be Taught in Schools?<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Interestingly, this is always a good conversation starter among teachers and parents with both sides disagreeing to agree and finally coming to a conclusion that connects us all. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">An opinion goes, "Yes, etiquette should be taught in school. Parents obviously see no importance anymore in teaching their children how to be polite in social and domestic ways. So, its up to the schools to teach them." </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">One opinion goes, "School is where you learn to do Math, English, Science etc. You should learn at school and be taught etiquette at home."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Another opinion goes, </span><span style="color: #38761d;">"Etiquette should be taught in schools. The nuclear family continues to deteriorate and children are raised not knowing the proper etiquette for many of the social situations they may be faced with throughout their lives.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">While I believe it's ultimately the parents responsibility to ensure that their kids learn proper etiquette, in reality, children just aren't learning these skills at home. Schools can play a major role in building these very special skills.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Etiquette is a code of polite conduct. If you practice proper etiquette, you are less likely to offend or annoy people - and you may even charm them. Etiquette is basically behaviour that is polite and gracious in social situations.<br />
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Since the goal of education is to prepare an individual to be well adjusted for future life, it may be important to introduce weekly etiquette classes to growing children so they can learn to build proper behaviour.<br />
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Even though most people believe that etiquette and good manners are essential to any civilization, there is so little done to help children acquire these skills. We think that schools are an important place to teach etiquette because schools are the center space of learning for children. They are places where students share space, commonalities and differences as people, which makes for a wholesome learning experience. It also makes it easier for direct application of etiquettes learnt.</span><span style="color: #38761d;">And let's face it! There are some etiquettes kids can't learn from home e.g. dance and dating etiquettes, - things they are most likely to participate in as they get older. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Things like boys would hold doors for girls, boys would allow girls to eat first if there was food in class, boys would offer to take a girl's bag before she sat down and boys would offer to seat the girl at her desk. Things as these can be taught and applied in the class everyday.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Of course, the girls may also choose to decline.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Things like girls must speak softly, walk in a certain manner and sit with legs closed or crossed depending on the situation etc. And these are to mention a few in the very broad topic - Etiquette.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">There are many types of etiquettes. Family, social, professional, office and social media etiquettes. Let's share some.</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">Your child's school may not teach it as most do not in Nigeria, but you could try to help your children grow into enviable individuals. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">A great place to start with however is at home. Here are some family etiquette you could teach at home. They include;</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Respect each other’s personal space.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Respect each other’s belongings.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Don’t interrupt when someone else is talking.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Be on time for dinner.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Say “Please” and “Thank you.”</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Don’t text or talk on your mobile phone during a family meal.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Chew with your mouth closed.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Don’t yell or call each other names.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Pick up after yourself so someone else doesn’t have to do it.</span></li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Listen to Mom and Dad and do what they say</span></li>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">In raising a generation of young Nigerians...where social media and communication technology is tending towards making students less people-oriented but more gadget-oriented, </span><span style="color: #38761d;">teaching etiquettes in school will allow us to do the needful. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">More examples of teachable etiquettes to come soon. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><b><i>P.S</i></b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><b><i>We are moving our blog to a new site soon. We remain the same. We only want to be able to do more for/with you. Look out for the special giveaway season that comes with our movement. Thank you</i></b></span></div>
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</span>The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-66109451005004621382015-02-14T13:54:00.001+01:002015-02-14T13:54:23.207+01:00Happy Valentine's Day - We are moving!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl85Nf8yTLAJavQuDHo8qvo5WjcEf51aGAIhrzqFAjWLbPpniDw3AsKXeFFM8u1T2NdPtz4G415gezNWgNsjno_beFZy5vlnXnY3BMU5jypovqzyUOj2JeafHt2EoVhx9YIpDte5kkBLU/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl85Nf8yTLAJavQuDHo8qvo5WjcEf51aGAIhrzqFAjWLbPpniDw3AsKXeFFM8u1T2NdPtz4G415gezNWgNsjno_beFZy5vlnXnY3BMU5jypovqzyUOj2JeafHt2EoVhx9YIpDte5kkBLU/s1600/download.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy Valentine's Day to all our readers. We hope this day brings you just what you want it to. Thanks for being the loyal readers you are. We love you. Cheers to a Valentine's Day filled with good wine, good food and good friends like you. I hope you feel loved and appreciated today - because you are. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A big announcement from us today. The Learning Craft blog is moving....yay! We are excited about making this move because we'd like that our blogging experience with you is more engaging. Details will be given shortly.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get ready to participate and win in the special giveaway that comes with our movement.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We remain the same but with the intent to bring you more. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Enjoy your Valentine's Day! Share love with your loved ones. Make it a special one that is dedicated to family. I've planned to do the same!</span></div>
The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-68284778555190929872015-02-01T13:31:00.000+01:002015-02-01T13:50:40.471+01:00Why We Need Employer-Sponsored Child Care Centers at Work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8u-N0CP68s7SccfwVnHoAAjXJar2dFM1Ljg_h03_DBpppv2iIZVKsKdc4y29oN8hVVNenBdqjt5mD9S2hBp2fwVyvU2PRmAWZPFKAk7LoVVsQFLRAsRTr4K0a48GU1YyaHEn0nQ0JWyQ/s1600/20140506_104645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8u-N0CP68s7SccfwVnHoAAjXJar2dFM1Ljg_h03_DBpppv2iIZVKsKdc4y29oN8hVVNenBdqjt5mD9S2hBp2fwVyvU2PRmAWZPFKAk7LoVVsQFLRAsRTr4K0a48GU1YyaHEn0nQ0JWyQ/s1600/20140506_104645.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Employer-Sponsored child care centers are centers provided within the work environment to cater for very young children of staff members, relieving them of worries and costs of a safe place to keep their young kids as during work hours. Ultimately, these centres are developed to solve employees child care challenges.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Providing high quality, affordable, and conveniently located care enables employers to eliminate a significant source of worry, stress and distraction from their employees which helps them to benefit from engaged and committed workers who are in return, willing and able to put in their best performances.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's look at some interesting data gathered a few years ago by the <a href="http://www.brighthorizons.com/" target="_blank">Bright Horizons</a> team. It highlights the broad impact child care centers have on employers and their organizations.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>ON PRODUCTIVITY</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 95% of respondents say employer-sponsored child care enables them concentrate on the job</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 93% say it enables them to meet job expectations</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 87% of respondents say access to child care enhances their productivity</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 79% say it enables them to volunteer for things not formally required of their job</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>ON RETENTION</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 92% of respondents say that employer-sponsored childcare would be important in considering a job change.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 90% of respondents indicate that it makes them more likely to continue to work for their organisation</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 88% of respondents indicate that it was important in their decision to return to work after child birth or adoption</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 82% of male respondents note the center's importance in their return to work</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>ON RECRUITMENT</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 84% of respondents who had children when they started at their organization say their employer-sponsored child care was important in their decision to join the company.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● More than half of respondents who did not have children when they started at their organization say the availability of child care was important in their decision to join the company</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 96% of respondents are likely to recommend their employers to other working parents</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>ON WELL-BEING & STRESS</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 95% of respondents say employer sponsored child care positively impacts their ability to balance their work and family responsibilities</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 92% of respondents agree that it positively impacts their overall well-being</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 91% agree that it helps them to manage their stress levels</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>ON JOB SATISFACTION & ENGAGEMENT</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 95% of respondents say employer-sponsored childcare provides them with added flexibility at work</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 85% say it is important to their job satisfaction</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● 76% rank it as the best or among the best employer benefit (excluding health care )</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">☆☆☆☆☆ 93% of respondents agree that access to employer-sponsored childcare makes their employer an "Employer of Choice"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>THE BOTTOM LINE</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A good number of people were able to view the video that went viral a couple of months ago; one that captured a caregiver abusing a child to near death. Sadly, this happens to be the case in similar ways; in many homes. The memories of that video will forever stay in the thoughts of the people who saw it. Unfortunately, we cannot share this video here.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">About one-third of parents with children under 6 have childcare arrangements that fall apart within an average of 6 months. The method of availing oneself with a good caregiver in Nigeria is neither convenient nor dependable especially as their aren't available systems that offer specific training for such jobs. Home-based caregivers are largely recruited under a guised system that is now known to cause more harm than good to our young children.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An employer-sponsored child care centre offers massive economic benefits to any country because it promotes higher productivity at work which brings about increased financial rewards. According to a study in Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to work for, organisations that offer such efforts have been known to have an average rise in their stock value of 37%, versus an average rise of 25% for the general stock market.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The truth is that the turnover of absenteeism has a direct cost to businesses. Savings that are attributed to employer-sponsored childcare are realised in reduced cost of recruitment and derived from improved work performance.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>The Learning Craft offers consultancy on the development of Employer-Sponsored Child Care Centers. <a href="http://thelearningcraft.blogspot.com/p/contact-me.html?m=0" target="_blank">Contact Us</a> for more. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Follow and Tweet at us - <a href="http://www.twitter.com/learningcraftng" target="_blank">@learningcraftng</a></i></span><br />
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-63790351991429900062015-01-22T18:56:00.004+01:002015-01-22T18:56:54.679+01:00Why Teachers Should Be Readers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipK1JAttagCpluZr0DTnmvX4FgYEHbpwO51JoYxKN4I8qAW6GHLCox9gzb17oiMZzpoiC9uI6eYZ-gREZfUCnzf2CavQnFoRDuRR7Pdf6G-35aWZO7HQvPcq8Xy7ueTfc6CB_EW_2n4so/s1600/tumblr_inline_mzxc0fxzhM1ri33kd.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipK1JAttagCpluZr0DTnmvX4FgYEHbpwO51JoYxKN4I8qAW6GHLCox9gzb17oiMZzpoiC9uI6eYZ-gREZfUCnzf2CavQnFoRDuRR7Pdf6G-35aWZO7HQvPcq8Xy7ueTfc6CB_EW_2n4so/s1600/tumblr_inline_mzxc0fxzhM1ri33kd.gif" height="216" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A discerning parent once said..."any teacher who does not practice a personal culture of 'reading' may never be able to leave a lasting impact on my child." Do you agree?</span></div>
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I think that teacher trainees should be encouraged to read for pleasure as part of their personal development. A research project found that teachers who read for pleasure have better book knowledge and feel more confident, calm and stress-free in the classroom. </div>
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I also think that teachers who read themselves and share their love of books in the primary classroom will eventually encourage children to read more.</div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Such teachers not only have a wealth of ideas to give their students as examples during investigation of a new topic, they are able to also light the fire of imagination and wonder, taking their students to world's unknown in a vivid manner; because they have become so knowledgeable.....many thanks to their reading habits! Teachers who read have the added advantage of a really wide vocabulary; and are not easily bamboozled by newly found words. Hence, they are able to use them appropriately and maximise their potential use for clarity of any topic taught.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Great ideas are borne everyday, many of them come from written texts.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The mark of a great teacher lies in the impact felt by their student now and in many years to come. </span></div>
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I know for certain that teaching is a stressful occupation. More research has highlighted that reading for pleasure can remove stress. Helping teachers escape into the pages of a book at the end of a busy, stressful day, can help and support teachers. Making them look forward to another day of joy with their students! </div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-11546042088809401992015-01-17T13:49:00.002+01:002015-01-17T15:06:56.400+01:00What Discourages Kids From Helping Around The Home<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Our lives as parents are increasingly busy these days and sometimes it's hard to find time to accomplish everything around the house. As work-home flow of activities become more challenging, one way to balance work and playtime is to combine them and involve the whole family in doing household chores.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">If we understand what gets in the way and what may help when it comes to doing chores, then we can have a better chance of having children be participating family members.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>What Discourages Children from Helping?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>Unclear expectations</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Children need to understand what the chore is and what we expect of them. Be clear about what is considered a job well done - doing the dishes or simply a "good try"? Be clear about everyone's job expectation, the results expected to be achieved.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>Inconsistency</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">When it comes to chores, any previous effort to establish expectations can get derailed by inconsistency. Think carefully before saying, "I guess you can skip feeding washing the dishes this morning - I'll do it." And if parents or caregivers don't agree on what is expected of children, when to make exceptions, or aren't equally adept at refusing to give in to child procrastination or defiance, children usually figure out how to divide and conquer.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><b>Time</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">It takes time to teach children how to do chores and to establish expectations. Busy parents and children can easily use lack of time as a rationale for either adults doing the chore or leaving it undone.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Siblings. Siblings can become really good at subverting parent expectations. "It's not fair" can become a mantra of older siblings when expectations for them increase with their growing competence. Try to set clear expectations that are appropriate and fair for each child. Discussing the chore plan as a family can give children an opportunity to voice concerns and help set a plan that works for everyone. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">You can inspire your kids by even twisting the language used to jeer them up. How about saying, "let's do our daily shares"... not chores! </span><span style="color: #38761d;">Cheers to beautiful beginnings!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: xx-small;">Source:<a href="http://www.brighthorizons.com/" target="_blank"> brighthorizons.com</a></span><br />
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Follow us on Twitter <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/learningcraftng" target="_blank">@learningcraftng</a></div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-78451783307680240952015-01-08T21:52:00.000+01:002015-01-17T15:08:37.485+01:005 Powerful Questions Teachers Should Ask at Every Class<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfa9iajHbW2CdmHA7Z8QRXOHGanEBndahtKjPhZMT1ttYOOSVHx-ueFUOsiDjxZ_HhxTM2AZQznHYDEGtQlzVnDqth3pEKO8m68t_sSL2xnxxHL-QycnOlYVrgmH_BT7w-w57xOsvwuY/s1600/Question-People.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfa9iajHbW2CdmHA7Z8QRXOHGanEBndahtKjPhZMT1ttYOOSVHx-ueFUOsiDjxZ_HhxTM2AZQznHYDEGtQlzVnDqth3pEKO8m68t_sSL2xnxxHL-QycnOlYVrgmH_BT7w-w57xOsvwuY/s1600/Question-People.jpg" height="297" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">Many times, teachers find themselves answering most of the questions they ask their students. They do this of course with good intentions especially to help students get to the hook as quickly as possible. The down side to this is that the teacher does most of the talking possibly with little engagement of the students. The importance of student engagement is that it helps the teacher discover what, where and how to help in cases of need. It also creates a connected classroom that is fun filled and socio-emotionally connected.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">Here are powerful questions that teachers could ask to get themselves engaged and connected to their students.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">By <a href="https://www.edutopia.org/users/rebecca-alber">Rebecca Alber</a> @ <a href="http://edutopia.org/">edutopia.org</a></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">#1. <b>What do you think?</b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">This question interrupts us from telling too much. There is a place for direct instruction where we give students information yet we need to always strive to balance this with plenty of opportunities for students to make sense of and apply that new information using their schemata and understanding.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">#2.<b> Why do you think that?</b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">After students share what they think, this follow-up question pushes them to provide reasoning for their thinking.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">#3. <b>How do you know this?</b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">When this question is asked, students can make connections to their ideas and thoughts with things they've experienced, read, and have seen.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">#4. <b>Can you tell me more?</b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">This question can inspire students to extend their thinking and share further evidence for their ideas.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">#5. <b>What questions do you still have?</b></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;">This allows students to offer up questions they have about the information, ideas or the evidence.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">In addition to routinely and relentlessly asking your students questions, be sure to provide time for them to think. What's best here, three seconds, five, or seven? Depending on their age, the depth of the material, and their comfort level, this think time will vary. Just push yourself to stay silent and wait for those hands to go up.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">Also be sure to vary your tone so it genuinely sounds like a question and not a statement. When we say something in a declarative way, it is often with one tone and flat sounding. On the other hand, there is a lift in our voice when we are inquiring and questioning.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;">To help student feel more comfortable and confident with answering questions and asking ones of their own, you can use this scaffold: Ask a question, pause, and then invite students to "turn and talk" with a neighbor first before sharing out with the whole group. This allows all to have their voices heard and also gives them a chance to practice their responses before sharing in front of the whole class.</span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /><i><br />I have had my moments with this especially as a new teacher many years ago - quite quick to tell all in the class. Please share your thoughts and experiences on this and your strategies in the comment section below.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><i>Follow us on Twitter <a href="https://mobile.twitter.com/learningcraftng" target="_blank">@learningcraftng</a></i></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span>The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-13067938878923267902015-01-01T00:08:00.001+01:002015-01-01T22:12:52.265+01:00Happy New Year dear TLC Readers - Join us in the Save-a-Classroom® Project<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwb4Q3GJvJ8r0ClzmIT-WgMi7w-RQZEHcCccwt8oI_3w-WeidvUMe0X4sXptkua-t0Ypg6SZsp_uJ-YL0iRR4QslXrEqalurSpnrk-ooXMaEv5gacfv0ijIqjYlwQqDBK9E2yGSYb7AI/s1600/img1420023018502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwb4Q3GJvJ8r0ClzmIT-WgMi7w-RQZEHcCccwt8oI_3w-WeidvUMe0X4sXptkua-t0Ypg6SZsp_uJ-YL0iRR4QslXrEqalurSpnrk-ooXMaEv5gacfv0ijIqjYlwQqDBK9E2yGSYb7AI/s1600/img1420023018502.jpg" height="208" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzYtQGKQM5sejYMoUcWX_LZl0eAxHpoAv28OGynov3axDcdoueXvd96yJxWIYTItzkE6BHPblmyCNkHg7M-T3h9u4cLJYuhPUbFBLnZEjDKYr0dVMpPpCspAEUBgi2iI31Dnj5hljwVxQ/s1600/education-004-610x457.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzYtQGKQM5sejYMoUcWX_LZl0eAxHpoAv28OGynov3axDcdoueXvd96yJxWIYTItzkE6BHPblmyCNkHg7M-T3h9u4cLJYuhPUbFBLnZEjDKYr0dVMpPpCspAEUBgi2iI31Dnj5hljwVxQ/s1600/education-004-610x457.jpg" height="239" style="text-align: justify;" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of my passions is beautifying classrooms. A beautiful classroom tells a thousand stories. It builds dreams, it adorns the future in colors of possibilities, and brings the entire world into one room. Most importantly, it incites a deeper love for lifelong learning. There! That is how powerful a beautiful classroom is!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">True! Every classroom should be beautiful. Whether your school is in an old Victorian mansion or along a hidden community market or in the living room of a home, the environment should create a simple harmony. Uncluttered and well-maintained, the environment should reflect peace and tranquility. The environment should invite the learner to come in and explore. This atmosphere is easily seen in the attitude of those working there, both the child and adult...an atmosphere of inspiration.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sadly, in many of our schools, more can be done and help is needed. Just recently, the Nov/Dec WAEC results were released and under 30% of the students passed with 5 credits including Math and English Language. It is rather unsettling that this is the case.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is a direct relationship between the way a classroom looks and the grades that come out of it. There are many educators who understand the impact a beautiful classroom has on a child's school work and life. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The traditional notion of a classroom is any space where one learns something or gains experience. In gaining experience, or taking a child from a place of wonder to possibilities, it is of great importance to present all of the possibilities in visual forms.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are some important facts to note. Research has shown that;</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• An instructor or teacher generally says 100-200 words in a minute and a student only hears 50-100....half!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Students <b><u>retain</u></b> about 70% of what they hear in the first 10 minutes of class and 20% during the last 10 minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• In a typical class lecture, students are attentive to just 40% of the time.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Adding visual aids increases <b><u>retention</u></b> from 14% to 38%.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we speak about visual aids, we mean any and every thing a learner sees and touches that should be connected to the learning process within the classroom. When we speak about auditory and kinesthetic aids, we mean anything a child hears and feels or does in terms of movement within the classroom.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A very big part of the task of beautifying a classroom rests on the visual displays around it. Usually, it is expected that all teaching aids needed during classes will make up 90% of it for usefulness. The aim is to help learners use and familiarize themselves with the sort of language and ability needed to learn something or anything; and open their awareness to multiple ways of applying them.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.5px; text-align: start;">A disorganized, unkempt, or clutter-filled classroom sends the message to your students that poor behavior and middling work habits is acceptable—regardless of how often or how forcefully you say otherwise. </span><span style="line-height: 22.5px; text-align: start;">An attractive classroom draws students in and</span> makes them want to be part of what is going on inside.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 22.5px; text-align: start;">Every classroom environment has such a strong bearing on how learners perceive themselves and the expectations the society has for them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another part of beautifying the classroom is in the comfort and convenience of the learning environment. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are far too many kids learning in poorly ventilated classrooms, using under-equipped laboratories, working under leaking roofs, using near empty or nonexistent libraries, broken blackboards, rough flooring etc....and the list goes on. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We could go on about what the government needs to do to help save our children's education OR we could play a part by giving back to our immediate communities. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Save-a-Classroom®</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> project is a call for everyone to help increase the number of literate and hopeful young Nigerians by supporting some children around you through their classrooms. How about actively joining to support your old school associations to redecorate classrooms, donate furniture and provide teaching aids for teachers. We can do it! </span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What about gathering a forum targeted at building better classrooms while providing school administrators many options to aid their sustainability? These sort of activities are bound to keep many hopes and dreams alive!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As more children learn in comfortable classrooms, we know that there will be an increased level of literacy and a broader sense of responsibility among young Nigerians. When students have an exciting place to call their learning home, they always return....and guess what...the number of school dropouts will potentially reduce.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Save a classroom, inspire a child! Let's kick off the year to a great start. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">HAPPY NEW YEAR! HERE'S TO A YEAR FILLED WITH OPPORTUNITIES! :)</span></div>
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<span style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilAjQXozQUEc8fIYkCj0q77N34x41Bd0EEAKxmzIvOq4HGDPHl6DCQrKi5i1Wzo_hi2AzJlznxPKp-yWmQgVNtzVRZLmfw7WW_jLC4g0FI0Gr9Xyo-fSn7BdEnsBM3kmvSIFLPlOQhFI0/s1600/kids-social-media-pitfalls+(1).png" height="320" width="257" /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">As the year comes to an end, and your kids get older, some of you may have kids who are beginning to ask for your permission to get on social media. So, this calls for careful decision making in the right balance. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">How old your kid should be before he or she starts using social media with your permission is really up to you. However, most social media websites and apps require that kids be 13 to sign up. Despite what many people think, the reason isn't to limit kids' exposure to inappropriate content but because of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA</span><span style="color: #38761d;">), which prevents companies from collecting certain information from kids under age 13. Rather than create an environment that protects kids from data tracking, Facebook and some other websites/apps choose to restrict access to those under 13.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Besides this, 13 is generally the age when kids start developing a broader understanding of the world around them which includes the possibility of learning proper decision making. Along with that, they are also developing a better sense of what's appropriate to share online with your help. As young teens, kids also are developing a desire to control more of their activities as well as the maturity to handle that control.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If your kid is expressing interest in joining a social network, discuss the pros and cons. Do your own research so you fully understand the implications of joining a particular network. If you want your kid to wait to sign up, consider pointing him or her toward more age-appropriate sites such as:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><b>♡ <a href="http://www.yoursphere.com/" target="_blank">Yoursphere</a> - </b></i>a social network that authentically represents the voice, interests, talents and aspirations of young people, and provides a positive alternative to social networks that were created for adults.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><b><i>♡ <a href="http://www.kuddle.com/" target="_blank">Kuddle</a></i></b> is also a quality Instagram substitute. It is a new photo-sharing social media app geared towards children and adolescent teens. It aims to create a safer digital environment where they can learn about and explore the ever expanding world of social media.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">You could possibly rally your kids' friends' parents to restrict their kids from Facebook, so you won't get that <b>"but everyone is on it!</b>" argument. Always put up the argument about the age limit and why it is totally inappropriate to lie about their ages only to have a presence on social media. Explain in detail why it is not advisable. Tell that a good parent should stay with the rules as often demanded from kids.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If your kid does end up joining a social network -- whether they're 10 or 16 -- here are some ground rules that work for many parents:</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Use privacy settings</b>. </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Privacy settings aren't foolproof, but they can be helpful. Take the time to learn how privacy settings work on your kids' favorite sites and apps, and teach your kids how to control the information they make public or private. Encourage them to check privacy settings regularly, since sites' policies often change.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: bold;">Tell your kids to think before they post</b><b>. </b></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Remind them that everything can be seen by a vast, invisible audience (otherwise known as friends-of-friends-of-friends), and, once something's online, it's hard to take back.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Each family will have different rules, but, especially for younger kids, it's a good idea for parents to have access to their kids' pages, at least at first, to be sure that what's being posted is appropriate. Parents can help keep their children from doing something they'll regret later.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Don't share your home address or other sensitive information online.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kids may use social media to act out because they feel anonymous and that their actions are consequence-free. Make sure they understand that the Internet is a giant community that works best when everyone respects each other.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: xx-small;">Visit <a href="http://www.commonsensemedia.org./">www.commonsensemedia.org.</a> for much more.</span></span></div>
The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-50628869416832736532014-12-25T00:40:00.003+01:002014-12-25T00:40:25.313+01:00Merry Christmas to you, TLC readers!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Merry Christmas to all our esteemed readers! The Learning Craft (TLC) wishes you a fulfilled holiday in this period of merrymaking. Let the joy of the season stay with you and your entire family now and always!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you for reading and stay glued for our special give away as the new year approaches! </span></div>
The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-52851575593055138272014-12-03T16:37:00.003+01:002014-12-03T16:37:58.606+01:00Celebrate: International Day of Persons with Disability<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, we mark the International Day for Persons with Disbility. We like to view them not with a disability but people with some ability, hence we say 'This Ability'. The world has become digital such that almost all that concerns humans are driven largely by technology.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ICTs have indeed changed the way people live, work and play. However, not all people benefit from the advances of technology and the higher standards of living. This is mainly because not all people have access to new technologies and not all people can afford them.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, there are over 1 billion people living in the world with some form of disability. Around the world, persons with disabilities not only face physical barriers but also social, economic and attitudinal barriers and this further contributes to increased poverty levels.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A major focus of the Day is a practical action to highlight how technology can impact the inclusion and contribution of persons with disabilities in social life and development on the basis of equality. To highlight best practices, innovative technological solutions for the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in their societies.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The International Day of Persons with Disabilities can be used to draw attention to the available technologies and measures that can be adopted to create school environments that are open, inclusive and accessible to allow persons with disabilities to fully participate and develop themselves in the future. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We look forward to seeing more inclusive schools. It is the right of every child to have access to schooling regardless of their 'ability'.</span></span></div>
The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-72915478561928768702014-11-28T10:49:00.001+01:002014-11-29T14:35:47.567+01:00What to do when your child is fixated on TV - It can be harmful<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Studies have found that violent and obscene programming, including cartoons, have a significant negative impact upon children especially those with violence and indecency. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Violent ones can:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Make your child become insensitize towards violent acts.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Create nightmares and increase a child's fearfulness.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Encourage aggressive behavior.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Undermine imaginative and cooperative play with peers.</span></div>
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5. Encourage the acceptance of gang behavior.</div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Obscene ones can make your child easily prone to developing unwanted sexual pleasures beginning from an early age.</span></div>
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We know that watching TV is not entirely bad for your kids because there are a wide range of good programs that not only broaden children's use of vocabulary but exposes them to a wider world of creativity. However, those can be learnt from watching specific TV programs. </div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, what steps should you take to protect your child? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Be a positive example. Let your children see you watching informative, non provacative, educative and entertaining programmes. Take away obscene and violent programmes from your TV timeline.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Check your child’s developmental level and encourage the selection of worthwhile programs. Decide with them which programs to watch.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Always be apt to comment when you agree or disagree with the values portrayed by the actors.</span></div>
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4. Watch television with your child. Explain the difference between fact and fiction. If any violence or obscenity occurs, comment that although the actors are pretending to be hurt and/or derive unusual pleasure, such violent and obscene acts in real life result in pain, immorality and suffering. Discuss ways to deal with problems other than by hurting people.</div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Turn the television and other objectionable media off when the material is contradictory to your family values. Explain to your child why you disapprove. Consider using a television lockout device to prevent exposure to “adult” programming. If possible, play soft music or practice silence during family meals that contribute to friendly conversation. Furnish a calm place where your child can relax or read.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. I insist that you should resist the temptation to put a television in your child’s room. Instead locate it where viewing can be monitored. If your family is on the internet, keep the computer in a central location.</span></div>
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7. Encourage your child to become involved in activities. Foster participation in hobbies, imaginative play, music, art, crafts, gardening, household tasks, yard work, cooking, and other worthwhile projects. Invite your child’s friends to play at your home or apartment. Do more reading, walking, talking, listening, and playing together. Get your child involved in programs that promote healthy development like sports, scouts, clubs, dance, camps, and/or religious groups.</div>
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8. Be an advocate for quality television programming. Join forces with other parents and teachers to set television viewing guidelines.</div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Thanks to <a href="http://www.kellybear.com/" target="_blank">Leah Davies</a> for giving us permission to publish and for being friends with us here at The Learning Craft</i></span></div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-21859187263160043042014-11-20T05:21:00.005+01:002014-11-20T05:37:57.278+01:0015 Reasons Why Children Steal & How You Can Help<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From my last blog post, here are some insights into why children steal and what parents, teachers and caregivers can do to help.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By <a href="https://touch.www.linkedin.com/?groupId=3784534&postId=g-3784534-S-5937337306389172228&sessionid=2308129211547648&trk=eml-b2_anet_digest-hero-9-hero-disc-0&midToken=AQF5BxI3wZTDNQ&rs=false&native_launcher=1&memberId=199541488&dl=no#profile/37868642/name:TiYS" target="_blank">Leah Davies</a>, M.Ed.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stealing is taking things that belong to others without their permission. The act is common in young children because they tend to be self-centered and feel that it is all right to take what they want from others. A child’s true understanding of the concept of stealing usually occurs between the ages of five and seven. By this time, children can understand the idea of ownership and realize that taking things that belong to others is wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Motives for stealing can differ from child to child, and any one child can steal for a variety of reasons. Children may steal because:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. They have poor impulse control and want instant gratification.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. They want an adult’s attention.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. They have not been taught that stealing is wrong.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. They have observed the adults in their life take and keep things that did not belong to them -- for example, dad bringing home office supplies or mom keeping incorrect change when the store clerk made a mistake.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. They lack family closeness and feel neglected; a stolen object might serve as a substitute for love.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. They are suffering a form of abuse and need help.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7. They are expressing displaced feelings of anxiety, anger, or alienation resulting from a major life change such as parental divorce, moving to a new school, or being rejected by peers.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">8. They want revenge for the pain they feel others have inflicted on them so they steal to get even or to hurt someone.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">9. They crave what others have but they cannot buy -- for example: food treats, popular name-brand clothing or electronic equipment.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">10. They want to appear tough, bold, and important.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">11. They desire to fit in with a peer group that steals.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">12. They like the thrill that comes from stealing.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">13. They think they can get away with it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">14. They are rebelling against authority.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">15. They need money to buy drugs.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Children who frequently steal tend to exhibit the following characteristics: impulsivity, loneliness, detachment, insensitivity, boredom, anger and low self-esteem. They often have difficulty trusting others and forming close relationships. When school personnel demonstrate regard for all students and provide a mutually supportive school environment, theft is less likely to occur.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What can teachers do?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Explain that stealing means taking something that belongs to someone else and that it is wrong, unacceptable and dishonest. Clarify that when an individual takes something without asking or paying for it, someone will be hurt. For example, if a child takes someone¹s pencil, he will be unable to do his work. If girl’s bracelet is stolen, she might get in trouble at home.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Teach the concept of ownership and how it makes others feel to have something stolen from them. Use examples and ask children questions like, "How would you feel if someone liked your new coat, took it, and said it was his?"</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Compliment and reinforce honest behavior in students.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Ask the guidance counselor to teach lessons on honesty.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Invite a police officer as a guest speaker to explain the ramifications of theft.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When a child is caught stealing, an adult’s reaction should depend on whether it is the first time or if there is a pattern of stealing. When it is the first time, the focus should be on the reason for the theft rather than on the deed itself.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How to Handle a Stealing Situation for First Offenders</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Remain calm. Deal with the situation in a straightforward manner. Show your disapproval, but do not interrogate, lecture or humiliate the child.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. If you are sure who took an item, talk to the child privately. Do not ask, “Did you take the money?” Instead say something like, “I know you took the money. I am disappointed because I thought I could trust you.” Then you might ask, “Is there a reason you needed the money?” Then listen and try to understand the problems the child may be having.</span></div>
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<i><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One teacher reported that she talks discreetly with a child who has been caught stealing. She said that she points out that as a class everyone depends on everyone else. She said that she tells the student that he or she is a fine person and if he takes things from others, they won`t know just how great he is. Then she expresses confidence that the student will not steal again. The teacher also makes it a policy at an unrelated time to put the child in the role of being responsible so that she can compliment him in front of his peers.</span></i></i></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Students who steal need to experience a consequence such as apologizing, returning or replacing the item or making restitution in some other way, as well as losing a privilege. You need to decide what will happen if the child steals again and let him or her know what the consequence will be.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. If you are not sure who took an item, provide an opportunity for the “taker” to return it and save face. For example say, “Whoever found Adam’s hat needs to return it.” Or say, “Everyone look in your backpack to see if Adam¹s hat was accidentally put in it.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Do not label the child “bad” or a “thief.” Let the child experience a “clean slate.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. Take time to ask yourself why the behavior occurred:</span></div>
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<b><b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What personal problems could the child be having?</span></b></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is the child stealing to call attention to him or herself?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Which of the reasons listed above fit this child?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then decide on a way to get to know the child better. Examples are eating lunch with him or her and one or two other children, talking with the child on the playground, or meeting with him or her before or after school.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7. Limit the opportunity for theft to occur by locking up valuable items and by closely observing the child.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What if the above methods are ineffective, and the student does not express remorse, continues to steal, or has other behavioral problems?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Follow the school guidelines.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Contact the school administrator.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Make sure the parent is aware of the concern.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">• Involve the school counselor or school psychologist who can help the child learn appropriate ways of behaving.. An evaluation by a child psychiatrist may be necessary.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Habitual stealing in children and youth is a major social problem because it can lead to other unlawful behaviors. However, if the underlying problems of frequent offenders can be addressed at an early age, further anti-social behaviors will be less likely to occur. Teachers have a responsibility to deal constructively with the child who steals, to follow the school rules regarding theft, and to seek assistance from other professionals when considered necessary.</span></div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-83317424556763100692014-11-13T17:37:00.000+01:002014-11-13T17:37:47.510+01:00Why do children steal?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/346/6/8/no_stealing_his_chocolate__by_tajapoke-d5nsovh.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/346/6/8/no_stealing_his_chocolate__by_tajapoke-d5nsovh.png" height="256" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Children develop stealing habits from a pretty young age. Their little fingers tend to be sticky, allowing foreign objects to mysteriously find their way into their little pockets. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Within the school, a lot of teachers have many personal encounters with children who exhibit stealing habits as it does happen frequently.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before complaining that you are harboring a little thief in your house, take a moment to tell us why you think children steal. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">....and together we will discover how to handle this common problem. Yes, it is common! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's talk.....</span></div>
The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-4707476982305258832014-11-08T06:56:00.000+01:002014-11-08T11:23:02.334+01:00How to Help Your Child Build Strong Comprehension Skills - Parents<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjzSB4VkDzSjSh9X7UkNt6JqAsgK8yWvqS_JdYkEfnldA0ZmXkVORogecUYlRmmw7Wy_EabkfQqJYp8zeZghS3jRS42usoR24eleYE7VIuEY7M5DcGHCBlUmz7b00Hmb_qQufuc7lpbM/s1600/comp.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRjzSB4VkDzSjSh9X7UkNt6JqAsgK8yWvqS_JdYkEfnldA0ZmXkVORogecUYlRmmw7Wy_EabkfQqJYp8zeZghS3jRS42usoR24eleYE7VIuEY7M5DcGHCBlUmz7b00Hmb_qQufuc7lpbM/s1600/comp.png" height="199" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Comprehension is the ability to understand and interprete what is read. For your child to be able to accurately understand written material, he/she needs to be able to:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">a. decode what they read</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">b. make connections between what they read and what they already know; and</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">c. think deeply about what they have read.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">d. draw reasonable inferences and facts from the text.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 18.9540004730225px;">A sizable part of comprehension is having a sufficient vocabulary, or knowing the meanings of enough words (which can be developed too).</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Readers who have strong comprehension skills are able to draw conclusions about what they have read. They can identify:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● what is important</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● what is a fact</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● what caused an event to happen</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● which characters are funny.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● what the moral of the story is if any</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, comprehension involves combining reading with thinking and reasoning.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here are some tips to help you identify that your child is having difficulty in comprehension. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 32.5549621582031px;">● N</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2;">ot able to summarize a passage or a book.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● They might be able to tell you what happened in a story, but can't explain why events went the way they did.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● Can't explain what a character's thoughts or feelings might have been.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">● He/She doesn't link events in a book to similar events from another book or from real life.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">★ Hold a conversation and discuss what your child has read. Ask your child probing questions about the book and connect the events to his or her own life. For example, say "I wonder why that girl did that?" or "How do you think he felt? Why?" and "So, what lesson can we learn here?".</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">★ Help your child make connections between what he or she reads and similar experiences he has felt, saw in a movie, or read in another book.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">★ Help your child monitor his or her understanding. Teach her to continually ask herself whether she understands what she's reading.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px;">Take a moment to read the text in the picture to help with an important skill in comprehension - identifying the main idea. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwNFX5ex7T-BiPAjum6ZFjBtQGDr1Su6W2FZo9zRcrwOTCHvXjqXDxZeIPuMWid-fijMPrUUsUcYoAKrC6CHzStYpPb5sswFSavkvTpnYLnONQiKUWgla1r7GBEq6iUPK0JUrlQ9iruEQ/s1600/7067P-The-main-idea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwNFX5ex7T-BiPAjum6ZFjBtQGDr1Su6W2FZo9zRcrwOTCHvXjqXDxZeIPuMWid-fijMPrUUsUcYoAKrC6CHzStYpPb5sswFSavkvTpnYLnONQiKUWgla1r7GBEq6iUPK0JUrlQ9iruEQ/s1600/7067P-The-main-idea.jpg" height="400" width="284" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.2;">★ Help your child go back to the text to support his or her answers.</span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">★ Discuss the meanings of unknown words, both those he reads and those he hears. To help them make meaning of more words or increase vocabulary, use those words in your regular discusions outside school work too. Another helpful activity is to make them read a lot...books of their own interests. </span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">★ Read material in short sections, making sure your child understands each step of the way.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 1.2;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">★ Discuss what your child has learned from reading informational text such as a science or social studies book.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 32.0779647827148px;">Find a schedule that works for you and your child and regularly practice all the above and more.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 45.9359588623047px;">For more engaging reading tips and resources, visit <a href="http://www.readingrockets.org/helping/target" target="_blank">www.readingrockets.org </a></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><i>Credits- readingrockets.org</i></span></div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-60612869110149857942014-11-01T10:49:00.002+01:002014-11-02T14:29:33.643+01:00#Ebola Free as Literacy Saves the Day<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What does it mean to be literate today? Today, literacy includes developing the skills to navigate digital media, exploring ideas from global sources, searching for answers using information given by experts and the ability to sift through many streams of information to suit one's purpose whether social, cultural or academic. The </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">primary sense of '</span><b style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>literacy</u></b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">' represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning and critical interpretation of a written, printed or electronic text.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'd like you to be aware that the Ebola virus was contracted by people who were literate. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I have listened and read in earnest</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, the many theories postulated as to how Nigeria was able to control and/or contain the #EbolaVirus. It continues to be surprising, how the most important factor/s that influenced our 'success', mostly never gets mentioned on tables of discussions globally.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This text gives some insight - <i>'<b>Nigeria has more doctors and hospitals per person than most African countries. It also has teams in place to investigate outbreaks of diseases like cholera and Lassa fever. These tools were simply redirected. A command centre financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fight polio was used to co-ordinate the Ebola response. Experts from America’s Centres for Disease Control (CDC) were already training 100 Nigerian doctors in epidemiology, so 40 of them led the process of tracing Sawyer’s contacts. The government worked with airlines to find people whom he could have infected. Then health workers repeatedly took the temperature of nearly 900 possible contacts, paying them more than 18,500 visits in total.' </b></i>Read more <a href="http://jimidisu.com/?p=12469" target="_blank">here</a> .</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My surprise lies mostly in how little, people know about our systems and cultural inclinations, in spite of the numerous findings and research done in this case. Most fail to dissect the importance of our sociocultural 'goings-on' in controlling the spread of the virus vis-a-vis the vast number of '<b><u>literate</u></b>' people surrounding the part of Nigeria (Lagos state) where the index #Ebola case was recorded. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's explain.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Ebola came into Lagos state, the state with the highest number of <b>literate</b> people in Nigeria, a multicultural and diverse state with a high number of upwardly mobile people. If </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">by some streak of bad luck, the virus began to spread in one of our remote villages in Nigeria, I'm afraid the story would be markedly different today. Certainly, before any information gets to authorities, the virus might have spread beyond some control. Simply because, there would have been a great sense of denial about the viciousness of the virus as seen in other countries, somewhat due to the apparent little knowledge about its deadly and highly infectious nature in those remote areas.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">2. We have a culture of respect for authority. In most situations, many will give up some human right to adhere to instructions given as it comes from either traditional, religious or governmental authorities. So when the government demanded for a certain number of people to stay quarantined at home, it is common knowledge that most would have adhered. Yet, we recorded a few people who escaped surveillance as in the case Mr Olu-Ibukun Koye, the man who fled to Port Harcourt to seek help from an assuming Dr. Samuel Enemuo..(read about it </span><a href="http://saharareporters.com/2014/08/30/late-port-harcourt-doctor-knew-diplomat-had-ebola-virus-%E2%80%93rivers-state-government" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">here</span></a><span style="color: #38761d;">). </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In all this, because we were dealing with '<b><u>literate'</u></b> #ebola victims in Nigeria, again we were able to save the day. The seeming culture of respect for authority would have brought little results if it were not for these <b><u>literate</u></b> individuals. Yet, our sociocultural convictions thrived as m</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ost people did their best to adhere to the state government's instructions that were widely publicized; while many included some disturbing actions that were not from the authorities e.g. the '<i>hot salt-water bath'. </i>One wonders!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">The global call for every country to do more to increase the level of literacy in our communities, villages, towns, cities and all over the country is a duty all must share in.... (click </span><a href="http://thelearningcraft.blogspot.com/2014/09/today-is-international-literacy-day.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: red;">International Literacy Day</span></a><span style="color: #38761d;"> to read more).</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The day was saved with #Ebola and we are free for now. Will the day be saved for our large number of unskilled and illiterate hands, which by default makes up Nigeria? Time to think global, but act local.</span></span></div>
The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-9149563178413459312014-10-17T04:37:00.001+01:002014-11-01T07:19:00.721+01:0011 Reasons Not to Ban Chewing Gum From Your Class (Hint: It's an Awesome Tool for Exploration!)<div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I read this and immediately thought to share with you. What a fun and interesting use of one of the things teachers mostly dislike seeing with their students. I love it!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/118355980414765594198/?rel=author">Erin Bittman</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Explore bubble-gum blowing by tying it in with academic subject areas!</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Graphing</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Create a graph that shows how many students can blow bubbles vs. how many students cannot. Students who know how to blow bubbles can write a how-to to help peers learn the skill of bubble making. Students who have difficulty can write about how they think a bubble is made.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Geometry/3-D Solids </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Students examine the shape of the gum out of the wrapper (cylinder or rectangular prism, depending on the brand). They compare the shape of the gum pre-chewed to making a bubble (sphere).</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Measuring</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Instruct students to measure the length of the gum before and after being chewed. Have kids stretch their chewed gum out as far as they can and lay it on a piece of wax paper (make sure they have clean hands!). How long can they stretch it? Then, have each student blow a bubble and measure the diameter of it. Once they find the diameter, have them figure out the circumference of their bubbles.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mean, Median, Mode and Range</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">List the students' circumference measurements on the board and have them figure out the mean, median, mode and range using the numbers listed.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">States of Matter</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">solid - gum out of wrapper</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">liquid - saliva when chewed</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">gas - blowing a bubble</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">solid - chewed gum</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ask kids if they think the gum underwent a physical or chemical change. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Answer: There was a physical change. Nothing new was created. Matter wasn't destroyed.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next, have them write about how their gum physically changed (density, color and temperature). </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What made the gum get soft? Was it the saliva? Have kids place their chewed gum in ice water (or take a drink of ice water). They will notice that the gum will get hard. Does temperature play a role? </span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mass</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Predict: Will unchewed, chewed and chewed gum exposed to water have the same mass?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lay the gum on a square of wax paper and compare it to a piece of unchewed gum. Then, weigh the gum that has been chewed and exposed to cold water. Did they all weigh the same?</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Figurative Language</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have students describe bubble gum by using a simile or a metaphor.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Writing</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have kids invent a new flavor of gum! Then, have them write a recipe for their bubble gum. What will they call their gum?</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Design</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have students design a three-dimensional shape for the gum. Can they figure out the volume? Have the students design a logo and packaging. What is the area and perimeter of their gum's wrapper? How many pieces of gum does their main packaging hold? Where can you buy it? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Economics</b> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How much will their bubble gum cost? Have the students create math problems, using the cost of their gum, to figure out how much money they would make depending on how many packs are sold.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>History</b> - Extra Credit </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Students who research who invented gum and the art of bubble making get extra credit points!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thank you Erin! {}</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Erin Bittman is a student at the University of Cincinnati. She will be a student teacher in a multi-grade classroom in the fall (second and third grades). Check out her blog</i> <a href="http://eisforexplore.blogspot.com/">E Is for Explore!</a></span><br />
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-77181123562857172572014-10-05T08:28:00.000+01:002014-11-01T07:23:43.324+01:00Celebrate! World Teachers' Day 2014 : Invest in the Future, Invest in Teachers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Today, the world celebrates teachers as the <b><u>future</u></b> <b><u>investment</u></b>. In our usual manner, we dedicate a poem to all teachers around the world; especially to those in Nigeria working in conflict areas and most who are working with very limited resources. We celebrate you.</span></div>
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<b>If I could teach you, Teacher</b></b></span></div>
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If I could teach you, teacher,</div>
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I'd teach you how much more you have accomplished than you think you have.</div>
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I'd show you the seeds you planted years ago</div>
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that are now coming into bloom.</div>
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I'd reveal to you the young minds that have expanded under your care,</div>
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the hearts that are serving others because they had you as a role model.</div>
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If I could teach you, teacher,</div>
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I'd show you the positive effect you have had on me and my life.</div>
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Your homework is to know your value to the world,</div>
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to acknowledge it, to believe it.</div>
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Thank you, teacher.</div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By Joanna Fuchs</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">From <a href="http://unesco.org/">unesco.org</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teachers are an investment for the future of countries. What today’s children will face in adult life cannot be predicted and so the teachers of today and tomorrow need the skills, knowledge and support that will enable them to meet the diverse learning needs of every girl and boy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year on 5 October , we celebrate the 20th anniversary of World Teachers’ Day. The day commemorates the adoption of the ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the status of teachers in 1966. This recommendation is morally binding for all countries.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In many countries, the quality of education is undermined by a deficit of teachers. 1.4 million teachers are missing in classrooms – and they are needed to achieve universal primary education (UPE) by 2015, according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics.</span></div>
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Added to the challenge of numbers is one of quality: all too often, teachers work without resources or proper training. The stakes are high, because we face today a global learning crisis, with 250 million children not acquiring basic skills of reading and writing.</div>
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As countries accelerate towards 2015 and the new development agenda is shaped, it is essential that teachers remain a priority.</div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-81162193519746615482014-10-01T09:17:00.001+01:002014-10-01T11:14:06.309+01:00HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! Nigeria: Through the Lens of the School Teacher<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Happy Independence Day to every Nigerian from The Learning Craft. My thoughts today are focused on what our future is looking like and I'd like to view it from the lens of our teachers. It is my hope that we can truly attain sustainable educational growth in a short time to come.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"The figure of the school teacher may well be taken as a central symbol in any modern society"</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> - Richard Hofstadter</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many decades ago, the average public school male teacher was easily recognised by his very well tailored, crisp and gatored pair of shorts matched with a glistening white shirt. The female teacher obviously cleaned up nicely in smart flowy gowns and skirts; suffice to say that they were usually very well spoken. They almost mirrored what the economy looked like in those times, full of milk and honey, bustling with hope and fruitful prospects.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Teachers, to some extent are always conceived by others, by expectations and fantasies of students and demands of parents, administrators, policy makers, politicians and to all of whom we all are as the "other". But we quickly forget that we are formed as well by their and our own internalized histories. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rolling forward the decades to today's Nigeria, that very image or figure of the school teacher is very different. Teachers are largely unexpected to earn a decent living, ride in comfortable vehicles, live in decent homes and possibly unexpected to even speak our official language (English) impeccably! But, does that not also mirror what our economy now looks like? Today, many still do not expect that our schools can become better....yes, I hear that a lot!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We are certainly quick to also forget that teachers can become witnesses to the notion that intelligence and learning can lead to other worlds and not just the successful exploitation of ours. And what better place to begin than promoting a process of empowering the country's teachers! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet, so much is expected from teachers! The pressure upon them is enormous to effectively do their jobs against all apparent odds - financial, societal, economical, cultural and political. A job they most likely would record low successes. A case in mind is the last results of WAEC where to my surprise most people blamed the teachers for the poor results without associating their so called 'lack of performance' to the system that has retained them in the midst of institutional loopholes.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While we wait for new and well-regulated reforms to be made across all the states of the Federation; what we see in our public school teachers, and I mean in the larger part of Nigeria, is a snippet of what our country was, what it is, and hopefully what is to come! </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I believe that we have a better tomorrow because we are better poised to bring about a much needed change in the midst of a multitude of support from international agencies/institutions around the world. And...yes, we can!</span></div>
The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-65329959057792039172014-09-08T10:54:00.000+01:002014-11-01T10:45:06.962+01:00Today is International Literacy Day!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The theme of this year's celebration is "Literacy for All."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Literacy is a human right and the basis for lifelong learning. It empowers individuals, families and communities and improves their quality of life. Because of its “multiplier effect”, literacy helps eradicate poverty, reduce child mortality, curb population growth, achieve gender equality and ensure sustainable development, peace and democracy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In today’s rapidly-changing, knowledge based societies where social and political participation takes place both physically and virtually, acquisition of basic literacy skills and the advancement and application of such skills throughout life is crucial.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Promote this day on all your social media links. Use the hashtag #ILD2014. Say something about this important day. It is our responsibility.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Follow us on twitter : @learningcraftNG</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like our facebook page : www.fb.com/thelearningcraft<br /><br />- See more at www.unesco.org</span></div>
The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-23512477534922225512014-08-28T11:22:00.001+01:002014-08-28T12:11:33.353+01:00What To Do As School Resumption Dates Are Postponed!<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Due to the importance of the need to contain the spread of the dreaded #EbolaVirus, the federal government has moved the resumption date for all private and public schools to the 13th of October, 2014. This further extends the holiday time for all children, to an average of 3-6 weeks. The news has obviously come with mixed feelings.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some parents are excited that they get to spend more time with their kids and do not have to begin the process of 'school runs' or just excited to be able to add more time to their holidays away from home. On the other side of the divide, is another group of people who are wondering how they would be able to manage the additionally enforced holidays effectively. It is a situation that was just unplanned for. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One thing that all parents must do therefore is to awaken time management. Kids do get bored easily and it would be absolutely important for parents to figure out engaging activities to occupy this period of time. At this time, kids know they should have begun school and are beginning to get into the groove of learning. So, here are some tips you should try.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Discuss the reasons why they have to be home explaining the importance of the federal government's decision. What a great way of getting children to learn strategies of decision making on a national level!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Talk extensively on why this time was designed for learning and should be used for that specifically. Here, you are teaching responsibility.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Act like a teacher! (It doesn't seem to me that you have a choice in this time anyway). Create a time table of key concepts or topics to be practiced on a daily basis especially for subjects like Math, Language and Sciences. It could include topics learnt in the last school year that needs to be reinforced. Practice makes perfect! For those who can get into their natural born teacher instincts, this will be fun! Be careful to do this in age appropriateness by assuming some limits. Remind your child to show dedication and responsibility. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Reward good behaviour always - not in monetary terms but with frequent hugs and positive comments. You could take a nice walk - a phenomena most people do not get to share with their kids in #Nigeria. Talk about climate change (google it if you need to know more about it), and identify things in the environment during your walk that could help you make up a great conversation with your child. Do this within your neighbourhood for safety.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. Talk about their dreams! Ask them what their dreams are. No child is too young to dream. Discuss what the possibilities are in positive ways. This is a good time for you to find out a lot more about your child's interests. Ask them to write about it and when you get back from work, review it with them. For kids within the early childhood stage, they could be made to express theirs in drawing and colouring their pictures. This makes a good strategy to help them build essay writing skills. You are helping with corrections where necessary and appreciating their work all the time. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">6. Ask your kids to redecorate. It could be their room, your room or the living room. Ask them to come up with ideas of what can be done and how to go about it. If plans fall within budget for you to buy anything, go ahead and have fun with them. If not, then have them rearrange existing stuff or recreate with available materials. Remember, this is age restrictive but all kids can participate fully in their own little ways.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">7. Create time for indoor sports and games too. Depending on the age group, it could be simple tasks such as asking them to try bouncing a ball 20 - 200 times, skipping with a jump rope or building castles with cardboards...yes, it's doable!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These are to mention a few. All of the above and more could make up your daily time table. Get into your creative juice! You will definitely find many more great ideas.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like our Facebook page @ www.fb.com/thelearningcraft</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Follow me on twitter @learningcraftNG</span></div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-512118292483065797.post-77915062330942470602014-08-05T17:55:00.000+01:002014-08-05T17:55:26.090+01:00Zero-Tolerance Policies Don't Make Schools Safer<div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">I would support zero-tolerance policies in schools only if they properly serve as a deterrent to an infectious spread of misdemeanour. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">A zero-tolerance policy in schools is a policy that punishes any infraction of a rule, regardless of accidental mistakes, ignorance, or extenuating circumstances. Common zero-tolerance policies concern possession or use of illicit drugs or weapons, stealing, use of verbal and physical abuse, examination malpractice, smoking, discrimination and harassment, derogatory remarks and disrespectful gestures. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">These policies are promoted in order to prevent drug abuse and many forms of violence in schools.<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, 'Nimbus Sans L', Arial, 'Liberation Sans', sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 26.399999618530273px;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">What we know for a fact is that it is equally important for those policies to be supported with </span><span style="color: #38761d;">effective counselling and rehabilitation programmes</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> for affected persons.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Below is an excerpt from Mark Phillips, a teacher and education journalist (on a myth busting journey) that sheds light on zero-tolerance policies in schools. He basically busted the myth that suggests that zero tolerance policies make schools safer. It would be useful for school administrators to embrace these ideologies.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">Read >>></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><b>"This strikes me as one of the most colossally wrong-headed and destructive of the myths. Berliner and Glass describe numerous examples of this policy being implemented destructively, including one in which two students were suspended because one shared her inhaler with a friend who was having an asthma attack. Most importantly, there is no evidence that zero tolerance policies decrease school violence. To the contrary, the authors note that "suspensions and expulsions have far-reaching implications for a student's academics and can set them up for failure in their personal lives." Zero tolerance policies have resulted in school officials routing record numbers of students through the juvenile justice system, students who are then more likely to also end up in an adult prison later on. And, not surprisingly, all of the unintended effects associated with zero-tolerance policies in schools are multiplied for non-whites.</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><b>The authors also give examples of some schools that are learning from this research. As one example, after the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, teachers, parents, and administrators are focused on crisis preparedness and the politics of the gun debate, not on stricter policing of students."</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">It is my hope that we can all learn from history and experience. For more busted myths, click <a href="http://www.edutopia.org/blog/myths-that-undermine-educational-effectiveness-mark-phillips" target="_blank">Edutopia</a>.</span></div>
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The Learning Crafthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14516036868919799713noreply@blogger.com0