Prison Limits
Really?
The Study Ball is absurd. It’s basically a 20 lb prison style ball and chain to keep a kid from wandering about during homework (or presumably) any time. It comes with a programmable clock (you can punch in anywhere from five minutes to four hours, and the shackle won’t come off until then (supposedly). I’m as distractable as the next student, but come on. Sure there’s facebook, and cell phones, and a host of other average everyday distractions, but this is just unnecessary. Besides, facebook and cell phones are probably staring you straight in the face from the desk you’re being forced to sit at anyway.
Lets be realistic, close the door, set limits, work in the kitchen, there’s a hundred other ways you can force a kid to study without chaining them up. Have a discussion. How about threatening to take that distracting facebook away. Maybe you’re lucky, the kid’s bored cause they’re not being challenged enough. Maybe the Study Ball is a statement to teachers everywhere, when something like this shows up on the market maybe it’s time to reexamine your own styles and efforts in the classroom. Learning can, and is, boring sometimes, does it have to be? Lets just say, on a positive note, as a Halloween or April Fools joke, this baby takes the cake.
Summer School
I for one get enough class time five days a week and enough homework that spare time for online courses is not really available (or a priority). But that doesn’t mean I can’t recognize a good learning tool when I see one.
Academicearth.org is the next step in intellectual growth at our fingertips. Like iTunes U the site provides taped lectures free to the masses. These aren’t just any schools either, but lectures from the likes of Stanford and Yale. I can’t attest to the quality of one lecturer over another myself, but the big school names are likely to get people in the door.
It’s never to late to learn (in life, or in the day) and it’s always nice when you can work for pure interest instead of a grade and extra homework.
Organize your PTA sign-ups and more with Center’d
Center’d is everything you need to plan your next school book fair, lunch helpers or class party.
Coordinate with their easy-to-use templates or customize your own to avoid all those endless chains of emails where someone inevitably falls out of the loop.
See who has signed up for what and what still needs to be done all in one place. Also, include event descriptions, maps and contact info.
They have templates for field trips, preschool class parent sign-ups, book fairs and more. You can save your contact lists, too.
Finally, you can work smart, not hard. I’m definitely sharing this with my son’s preschool.
Found via Cool Mom Picks
Book Glutton takes reading online
If you aren’t ready for Amazon’s Kindle, but you want to see what online book reading is all about try out Book Glutton. (Found via Geek Sugar)
Now, in some ways there is no comparison as Kindle is its own dedicated device, but the Book Glutton site is an interesting option for those who don’t want to carry books or additional equipment with them.
You can read public-domain works (like all the classics and thousands of other things) via their reader. In addition, you can comment and read what others are saying page by page. If you have your own group, you can have a “virtual book club.” If you prefer, you can also read in private.
The site is currently in beta with additional features and more contemporary works in the plans. For now, it is a nice way to find public-domain works in a readable format. It also could work well for your kids who are online anyway so they could at least be reading a good book! Many English teacher favorites are on the site. You might recommend it to your child’s English teacher as an alternative to the “reader-response” notebooks we are all so found of assigning. Integrating technology in the classroom is a great way to get kids engaged.
Digital Flash Cards?
Reading my local paper last week, I noticed a new toy/tool from Leapfrog to help kids study on the go. It’s called the Crammer Study and Sound System, and it is a digital flash card machine and music player.
Designed for kids ages 8 to 14, the handheld device lets you download flashcards to the device or choose from 16,000 quiz questions to help you study. It also has 1G of memory so you can study along to your own soundtrack of downloaded tunes. You can also buy silicone skins to customize your game.
As a parent you can also keep up with what your kids are learning by connecting the device to the computer and accessing LeapFrog Learning Path, an online tool that lets you see what skill areas your child has downloaded and how much time he or she is spending on each. You can also get email updates and insights into helping your child with his or her learning.
The Crammer has a click-screen and sells for about $60. A $5 off coupon is available if you sign up at Leapfrog.com, and it’s on sale at Amazon for $49.99.
Back to School Week: Stop Thief!
With so much information at our fingertips, it is easy for kids to unintentionally steal ideas or even blatently plagiarize from Internet sources. As a parent, you can help teach your kid right from wrong on this and save them, and you, some headaches.
As a former teacher, I know how common essay theft is. Sometimes it’s just a case of not knowing any better. Other times kids know exactly what they are doing. I know teachers who have begun designing assignments just to avoid getting a stack of copied papers. Let’s face it–everything that probably can be said about The Scarlet Letter has been, but that doesn’t mean your child should steal those ideas. I’ve worked with literary contests where even elementary students have passed off poems from the Internet as their own.
As parents there is something you can do.
1) Be involved in your child’s academic life–but not over-involved. Don’t do work for them, which furthers the idea that it’s ok to turn in something they didn’t actually do. Be supportive of them, be available to help them work out challenges and point them in the direction of resources, but don’t take the challenge itself away.
2) Teach your child proper citation rules. Unfortunately many kids won’t learn this from their teachers until high school, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t important. If they plan to go to college, it is essential to know how to do this properly. Failure to do so may mean getting expelled due to university honor policies. It’s just too important to leave to chance.
3) Monitor the computer. It goes without saying that the computer can be a dangerous place to leave a child to wander. It is your responsiblity as a parent to make sure they are safe. Check your kid’s bookmarks or history–are there cheating sites or essay-redistributors? If you find something questionable, have a conversation with your child about it. Keep the computer in a family area so it is easier to keep up with what they are doing.
4) When in doubt, Google it. If you read a child’s paper, poem or story and something sounds familiar or exceptionally well-written, especially for his or her age, Google a phrase or sentence from it. If it is from the Internet, it will quickly appear and you will be able to point your child in the right direction for original work.
Cheating and plagiarism really is on the rise in our schools. According to one site, 75 to 98 percent of all college students have cheated. Of course there are many ways to cheat, but hopefully these tips will help parents take control of one.
Music Class
It’s almost back to school time and it seems some kids in the UK won’t have to worry about boredom as much as the rest of us.
As simple as its become to sneak music into the classroom it looks like Marks and Spencer is making it even easier with ipod enabled jackets. Sure we’ve seen clothing specially designed with ipod pockets before, but not in school uniform style. The jackets claim to “securely contain ipods and neatly conceal wires for music on the move” or music in class.
I like the jackets, uniforms are definitely an untapped market where tech is concerned. I just don’t know how many educators are going to appreciate the promotion of “concealed wires” in a specified school setting.
Some Summer Silliness
It’s barely August and my new view of the school year has already made me nostalgic for the summer that’s not over just yet. So in the spirit of being prepared during a summer not over just yet, I give you the following:
What defines summer as much as an action filled blockbuster? Why s’mores of course! Who doesn’t like roasting a marshmallow over an open flame (whether a candle, campfire, or grill) and matching a perfectly browned marshmallow (after 100 tries) with a slab of chocolate and a graham cracker? But what happens when the fun fades and school begins? How do you make a s’more when it’s snowing?
Well, apparently you can make s’mores in the microwave. I’m not talking about melting a marshmallow all by itself, but creating the sandwich all at once. That’s the idea behind the Progressive International Microwavable S’mores maker. It only takes thirty seconds to make two treats that supposedly heat evenly. Now s’mores are safe for college dorms.
I don’t know how necessary the S’mores maker is. Take away the fire, the sticks, the bad chocolate and mess and the s’mores aren’t quite as delicious I’d guess. But hey, if s’mores are your number one treat of choice maybe the microwavable version won’t bother you so much. At least the idea of wanting a chocolate and graham sandwich bad enough to need the microwave makes me smile.
