When is the Kindle going to come to schools?

See below...
Those large backpacks are hurting kids backs.
The luggage style backpack, while better on the back, is seen as "uncool" by the typical teenager.



MRIs Show the Effects of Heavy Backpacks on Kids’ Bodies: "

We've heard about the problem of heavy backpacks. Kids today are often burdened by having to carry too many books, and may even experience back pain.

Now, a new study using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans shows that typical backpack loads can indeed put significant stress on kids' spines. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego imaged the spines of kids while they wore 9, 18, and 26 pound bags (one at a time, of course). The scans showed that the heavier the bags, the more there was compression of the discs in the spine. Heavier bags also caused increased curvature of the lower spine in kids. (For the study, researchers measured the kids as they carried the bags using both straps; but the researchers point out that in reality, kids usually sling backpacks over one shoulder, making the strain on their backs that much worse.)

While most early-grade school age kids don't have the carry the load that say, middle-school and upper-school kids usually have to do, parents can make sure they take steps now to prevent problems as kids get more books in their bags. Check out these tips for preventing backpack injuries in kids. And if your child complains that his backpack is too heavy, take it seriously.

"

Are little hunt and gatherers struggle with school...

Sitting, reading, PE taken away and 80+ minutes of math is tough for our little guys. Truth be told, it is tough for the little girls as well. However as we become more "corporate like" it does challenge the predisposed to be active boys even more. See Ms. Jacob's comments below:

The boy gap: "

My column on The Boy Gap is up on Pajamas Media. I look at two new books that ask why so many boys are doing poorly in school.

As reading and writing are pushed down to earlier ages, boys are struggling harder to meet higher expectations, writes Richard Whitmire, a former USA Today reporter, in Why Boys Fail.

“Each year since 1988 the gap between boys’ and girls’ reading skills has widened a bit more,” Whitmire writes. Boys aren’t wired for early verbal skills — and teachers aren’t trained in “boy-friendly” techniques to help them catch up.

Boys are asked to do too much too soon — and labeled hyperactive or bipolar or autistic if they act like little boys, writes psychologist Anthony Rao in The Way of Boys. “Girls use more words; they cooperate with others; they use social skills effectively. A boy’s brain by contrast, is working on other tasks that are equally important but not always valued as highly in schools, such as learning through touching and exploration, developing motor skills and engaging in spatial tasks. Boys also engage in normal aggression, and they have a healthy interest in challenging rules to test the limits of their power.”

Boy-friendly schools need not be hostile to girls. Teaching phonics and intervening to help kids with reading problems turns out to help boys quite a bit.

"

Florida Girl, 6, Handcuffed After Temper Tantrum at School ---A sign of "privatized" education?

Florida Girl, 6, Handcuffed After Temper Tantrum at School - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com

This is obviously a sad & extreme situation. However I wonder how children like this will be handled if we move to the teacher pay incentive based purely on test performances? Let's face it, if your child begins acting abnormal they will "literally" be taking money out of a teacher's paycheck, because every minute the teacher deals with your child, they are not teaching the other 31 students.

In a privatized environment that that they are pushing education to become more similar to...you can "lay off" employees that do not have self-motivation or are not great performers. The cream will rise to the top AND the low performers will be weeded out as to not take away from the rising cream. At least in a K-8 environment this type of get rid of the 20% every school year simply not realistic. So what does this newly "privatized" teacher do so he/she can help create an environment where all the cream is rising tot he top?

Since lay offs of 8 years aren't going to happen, then drastic manners where the student must immediately leave the class/school will begin happening. Quite simply, non scholastic behaviors will not be tolerated since from a time investment it will not pay off in improving my overall test scores. Twenty minutes lost on a behavior issue will be twenty minutes I could have been helping a child(ren) learn something that may show up on the test.

Also I wonder if teacher really buys into this "gotz to get paid" mentality if you start assessing students early in the year and see where the largest "upside" to my time investment will lie? That kid may have little upside or way too much baggage, I may have to count him/her as a loss and spend my time towards more students with "testing" upside or room for improvement.

The Science of the Hot Streak « The Talent Code

The Science of the Hot Streak « The Talent Code

1) Super-high goals, from the start. On his first day, to the open-mouthed disbelief of media and fans alike, new Jets coach Rex Ryan talked about how the team would be visiting the White House after winning the Super Bowl. The West 56th St. writers set their goals even higher. As Mel Brooks said, “It wasn’t only a competition to be funnier. I had to get to the ultimate punch line. I was immensely ambitious. It was like I was screaming at the universe, like I had to make God laugh.”

2) Strong shared identity. It’s no coincidence that Coach Ryan and Sid Caesar resemble each other in personality; or that they have created teams in the images of themselves — tough, sharp, provocative, funny as hell. Because they’re not just building a team — they’re creating a story.

3) Early failure is not a verdict, but a navigation point for better work. The Jets went through a tough patch early in the season, much like the Monday-Tuesday doldrums on West 56th. The bad days weren’t the end; they turned out to be stepping stones.

The setting of goals is important. However I really love the #2 and #3. The idea of building a narrative or "shared identity." I know this was also important during my time managing at Franklin Templeton. The shared narrative almost becomes your 'mission statement' since you want to actualize or personify that story.
With point #3, I keep thinking about to the Bill Walsh book that I read recently and how he would retell some of the lowest points of his career and then reply "and here is what I learned from this." It was like Walsh almost seemed grateful for these stomach punches since it gave him an opportunity to learn or grow.

The bus driver had it all wrong..he should have asked for his $$

Police, school squelch child's $10K giveaway | thestarpress.com | The Star Press

Apparently the bus driver, I'm assuming he/she is the only adult on a school bus, became suspicious.

Too bad :)

Alternative Free RSS Reading Tools: feedly (for FireFox) and MobileRSS for iPhone

This takes some time to read through..but I can NOT live without my googe reader.....

Alternative Free RSS Reading Tools: feedly (for FireFox) and MobileRSS for iPhone: "

I read 99% of my news these days from my subscriptions in Google Reader. For me, the printed newspaper primarily has value in helping get fires going in our living room fireplace. (I actually have to get them from my in-laws, incidentally, who are still devoted newspaper subscribers.) In this post I’ll discuss my impressions of two free news reading applications (feedly and MobileRSS for the iPhone) which integrate well with Google Reader and offer features not available in the standard, “Google version” of Reader.

While I perceive most digitally-connected adults today to still be “email people” and most seem to prefer the printed to the digital word, I’m comfortable predicting this will continue to change over time. I’ve noticed with interest my wife and son shift their reading preferences further toward digital texts in the past few months, especially after my wife obtained a Kindle earlier in the fall and my son discovered the site FanFiction.

In February 2009, PEW research revealed Twitter users are far more likely to read their news on digital and mobile platforms. This should come as no surprise: Until recently, most folks “on Twitter” were early adopters of technology and those adoption behaviors extend far beyond microblogging.

As a very active Twitter user, I find myself reading at least 90% of my news on my iPhone using the Google Reader Mobile Edition web app. The “share” option within Google Reader is very important to me, so any computer-based or mobile RSS reading solution needs to not only integrate with Google Reader but also support article sharing. With these criteria in mind, I’ve been exploring two new tools for RSS reading lately, feedly (a free, cross-platform extension for FireFox) and MobileRSS (a free iPhone app which offers offline RSS reading as well as sharing / starring.) James Deaton introduced me to feedly months ago, but I never developed a habit of using it. After reinstalling it recently, this evening it reveals the following post statistics waiting for me in my “feedly dashboard:”

52 categories. 825 sources. 22,127 unread articles

Talk about TMI.

I really like the color coding of feeds in feedly’s dashboard, providing insights like this one:

The light red background means that you have not read any articles from that source for the last 30 days and that it has more than 250 unread articles

Hmmm, I have a few of these. Perhaps time to unsubscribe from those feeds?

Another great feature of the feedly Dashboard is how it permits users to drag-and-drop feeds to which you’ve subscribed into different categories. As far as I know, you can’t do this in Google Reader, although you certainly CAN change subscription options using the drop down menus for different feeds. This drag-and-drop functionality seems to be faster, and it also is wonderful since it provides a visual, “big picture” view of your feeds and categories. The feedly dashboard makes it easy to identify feeds to which you may be subscribed more than once, as well as feeds which don’t have any posts. This feature enabled me to discover Richard Florida’s blog (to which I’d subscribed when it was still hosted as a subdomain on typepad) has now moved to www.creativeclass.com. Without this visual interface, I might have missed this blog source change, and therefore missed out on information shared there.

I also like the subscription interface for feedly. Don’t get me wrong, Google Reader’s default subscription format works well too, but somehow it strikes me as positive to view these available categories (which probably do need to be cut down) in feedly’s format rather than simply Google Reader’s drop down menus.

I also like how feedly supports blog feed “favorites,” in a way I don’t think Google Reader does. When you view your “digest” view in feedly instead of the “cover” version, feeds you have marked as “favorites” show up prominently so you can focus on those information sources. I’ve dabbled with this option a bit, but haven’t invested LOTS of time in it. (In other words, my list in the image below is far from complete.)

If you haven’t given feedly a try, I encourage you to check it out. The price is right (free) and it works as an extension in FireFox so you can use it on any computer platform you happen to be using.

A second alternative RSS reading tool to the standard Google Reader website or mobile-optimized site I’ll address in this post is MobileRSS.

There is a $3 paid version, but the free version has ads that are barely noticeable and seems to work great. It is fully integrated with Google Reader, like feedly, but has the HUGE benefit of permitting OFFLINE blog post reading as well as sharing, starring, etc. Any “interaction” you have with post content is uploaded / synced the next time you are connected to the Internet. I’m eager to give this a try on my next airline flight.

You’ll note at the bottom of the screenshot above, the app syncs your subscription list. This can take awhile if you have LOTS of subscriptions, so this provides more incentive to “clean up” old/expired subscriptions or subscriptions you don’t read much. As I mentioned earlier, feedly can be a great help in that regard.

I’ve briefly tried other iPhone RSS reader applications which integrate partially with Google Reader, like NetNewsWire for iPhone and FluentNews, but neither of those options seemed to support “sharing” via Google Reader. NNW 2.0 does support “starring.”

FluentNews is a mobile-friendly website, and displays its mobile version in standard web browsers. Check it out at www.fluentnews.com.

A few months back I tried USA Today’s iPhone app, but didn’t like the fact I couldn’t SHARE what I was reading in my Google Reader feed. I do like the new $3 CNN iPhone app, for the way it permits customized news feeds, but mainly for the iReporter features. I’ll write a separate post about that functionality sometime soon.

What are your favorite RSS reading options?

ADDITION: If you are a Google Chrome user, note that Google today announced several new extensions with specific support for Google Reader. Not sure any of these can beat feedly, however!

Technorati Tags:

google, iphone, mobile, reader, rss

"

2009 Parade....

Me and My Little Boy enjoying the parade.

Game Theorist: The class matching problem

Game Theorist: The class matching problem

http://www.slate.com/id/2227233/

Two different perspectives on requesting classes and how this affects the class receiving your child and the class losing your child.

I like the principal in Southern California that makes a parent spend a day observing a desired teacher prior to requesting him/her.

I also think there should be some factoring in of prior relationships between teacher and the family. Both when positive or negative because this is a collaborative effort between family, student and teacher.

I think schools in general should offer parents a way to make an informed request (i.e. the idea above) since this is your child that you are talking about. However these request need to come in prior to the classes being created because once they are created they are pretty much balanced with equal amounts of chemistry, learning levels and behavioral "challenges."

Of course, I say the above paragraph however students that move into the school's area over the summer just gets put into the class with the lowest amount of students or whoever is "next in line" to receive a student. This is often since it is challenging to do your due diligence when receiving a new student over the summer.

Baby Einstein is Dead! Long Live Baby Einstein! - NurtureShock Blog - Newsweek.com

Baby Einstein is Dead! Long Live Baby Einstein! - NurtureShock Blog - Newsweek.com

An interesting read...basically they were able to discover that Baby Einstein has lessoned, greatly lessoned, their claims about the power of their music since originally rolling out their product.

I will do my best to withhold any commentary on the G.W. analysis.

A good night’s sleep improves productivity

A good night’s sleep improves productivity: "

Failure to get a good night’s sleep can significantly alter your abilities to be productive, handle stress, and live an uncluttered life. I’m currently experiencing this phenomenon first hand since my son started teething. I have never in my life been this tired for such a continued amount of time, and I’m envious of parents whose children are seemingly unaffected by the teething process.

Actually, I’m envious of anyone who gets sleep, irrespective of if they have children. I may even be thinking mean thoughts about all of you and your well-rested state of being right now …

Where was I?

Oh yes, sleep deprivation.

We’ve talked in the past about how it is important to keep a sleep journal to determine the number of sleep hours you need to function at your best. Too little sleep and too much sleep can influence your behavior, so it’s best to know how much sleep you need. If you don’t know how to interpret the data you collect in your sleep journal, I recommend checking out the article “How Much Sleep Do We Really Need?” by the National Sleep Foundation.

Missing out on sleep affects motor skills, cognitive abilities, and other brain functions. Also, and this is the part that is most disturbing to me, being suddenly woken up (say, like by a crying baby) can have the same effects as sleep deprivation. A study by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder found that sleep inertia (being jarred awake) is the same as being deprived of sleep for 24 hours.

From an article about the study on Medical News Today:

The study showed test subjects had diminished short-term memory, counting skills and cognitive abilities during the groggy period upon awakening known as sleep inertia, said CU-Boulder Assistant Professor Kenneth Wright, lead study author. The new study has implications for medical, safety and transportation workers who are often called upon to perform critical tasks immediately after waking, since cognitive deficiencies following 24 hours of sleep deprivation have previously been shown to be comparable to the effects of alcohol intoxication, he said.

In addition to tracking your sleep patterns, you might also want to try different methods of waking up. A blaring alarm clock might not be the safest way to wake you up from your beautiful, relaxing, glorious night of sleep.

"

How to Discuss Popular Music (Rerun)

How to Discuss Popular Music (Rerun): "

"

“Data-Driven” Versus “Data-Informed” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

“Data-Driven” Versus “Data-Informed” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

I love this part from the article:

If schools are data-driven, they might make decisions like keeping students who are “borderline” between algebra and a higher-level of math in algebra so that they do well in the algebra state test. Or, in English, teachers might focus a lot of energy on teaching a “strand” that is heavy on the tests — even though it might not help the student become a life-long reader. In other words, the school can tend to focus on its institutional self-interest instead of what’s best for the students.

"Our Parents Don't Like Us to Talk About Our Skin'' — Big Think

"Our Parents Don't Like Us to Talk About Our Skin'' — Big Think

More information related to the recent Newsweek article about talking and acknowledging our differences rather than pretending they don't exist is actually healthy for our children.

Are we finally starting to give a darn about the crap we serve children?

Stars Are Aligning Over School Lunch Programs - NYTimes.com

So much for my high fives..

Schools Ban Touching To Fight H1N1: "

Story: Hands-Off Plan: Schools Ban Touching To Fight H1N1

What better way to greet all your friends after a long summer break than by awkwardly standing in front of them and saying 'hi.' The school thinks that after every high-five and handshake, students will immediately begin licking their fingers and spreading the swine flu. Correct me if I am wrong, but can't viruses spread airborne? Good luck trying to ban coughing and sneezing next!

"

Seven of 10 parents: I'd like my child to become a teacher. - Yahoo! News

Seven of 10 parents: I'd like my child to become a teacher. - Yahoo! News

I like the idea that many people are becoming open to charter schools. I would assume that a school(s) would be a reflection of the best efforts and cultures of each community. So every school should teach the state standards but clearly be a reflection of that communities peoples and families. Rather than the push for every school to look like a cookie cutter Houghton Mifflin program.

10 Fresh Lunchbox Ideas - Parenting.com

10 Fresh Lunchbox Ideas - Parenting.com

Please don't tell my mom, but the use of guilt may actually be a helpful thing

Findings - Guilt and Atonement on the Path to Adulthood - NYTimes.com

.

Social Media Is Important, The Video - John Battelle's Searchblog

Social Media Is Important, The Video - John Battelle's Searchblog

Who knows what things will be like for our 10/11 year olds when they graduate H.S. and move onto college in 7 years?

Bullies can be stopped, but it takes a village. - By Alan E. Kazdin and Carlo Rotella - Slate Magazine

Bullies can be stopped, but it takes a village. - By Alan E. Kazdin and Carlo Rotella - Slate Magazine

As we return to school, we all unfortunetly must deal with students not committed to being great community members.

This article is interesting however it makes it seem like a parent needs to pull in our Secretary of State to make it work.