Strollerderby : teaching

Let Them Chew Gum: It Makes Them Smarter!

JeanneSager — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:04:00 GMT

It's about time I track down my old high school teachers (maybe they're on Facebook) and get them this new information. A study has found kids who chew gum score higher on math tests because "Teachers observed that those who chewed gum seemed to require fewer breaks, sustain attention longer and remain quieter."

Take that Mrs. Peake - who used to hand out detentions to gum chewers in her classroom.

The study out of the Baylor College of Medicine is small - not just in the sample size but in how much of a difference in scores between chewers and non-chewers (the latter had scores that were lower by three percent), but the crux of the findings make a lot of sense.

Much in the way that smokers say they use cigarettes for stress reduction (not advocating for smoking, just saying), a lot of former smokers say chewing gum helped bridge the gap as they weaned themselves off the smokes. Part of that? The rhythmic chewing helped reduced stress. And kids with less stress perform better on tests.

Baylor's scientists say the chewing may also enhance blood flow to the brain, although how that's linked to academic performance (if at all) has not been determined.

So next time your kid gets written up for chewing gum in class, how about sending this blog post in to his teacher as an excuse?

Image: SundayObserver

Bag of Feces Sent Home in Kid's Backpack

JeanneSager — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:05:00 GMT

As Madeline pointed out yesterday, the word "panties," is shudder-tastic. I've found three worse words - at least used in succession, and when referring to the contents of a little kid's backpack.

Bag of feces.

Yup, a kindergartner came home from school this week with a big ol' bag of dung in his backpack.

Inside, his dad says, was a note from the teacher that read "This little turd was on the floor in my room."

What??? This child is five and apparently had an accident in the classroom. I repeat, this child is five. Accidents happen (come on parents, sing the Elmo's Potty Time song). For a teacher to make an issue of it to begin with shows she does not belong in a kindergarten classroom (or, perhaps, any classroom). Kids need to realize there's no shame in accidents and taught that they can always ask the teacher to use the bathroom. If this was a habit, the teacher might even be wise to talk to the school psychologist about the incidents, as elementary age kids whose potty training regresses are often displaying signs of stress, illness or even abuse.

Bagging it up and sending it home is particularly heinous because, let's face it, this is POOP we're talking about. Human waste. Excrement. Should I continue? The school says they're "looking into it," but I'd say they need to look at flushing this teacher out of their system.

What do you say, Babble readers?

Image: PoopReport

Teacher Fired for Letting Kids Play Gay

JeanneSager — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 13:24:00 GMT

Note to all teachers with small-minded administrators - don't bother trying to teach your kids about history. At least not homosexual history.

A teacher in a rural Oklahoma town has been fired by administrators after trying to teach the story of gay college student Matthew Shepard's murder by assigning students parts in The Laramie Project, a play based on the hate crime inflicted on the young homosexual man a decade ago.

Of course, officials say it isn't the play itself that prompted the firing. Debra Taylor dared let her students voice their opinions about the school's decision to CANCEL the play that earned her a place on the chopping block.

When her principal told her the play - which he'd previously given permission to Taylor to put on - had to be stopped, she let her kids spend twenty minutes in a local park, writing their feelings on helium balloons and releasing them (not enviro-friendly, but at the very least offering some catharsis). Taylor says she never asked the kids to change their minds about homosexuality, just to be tolerant.

The park stunt is what administrators say was Taylor's undoing. What about it was wrong, they won't say. Perhaps that she let kids voice dissent? That she voiced dissent? That she did something else that might, possibly, maybe make the kids think again about tolerance and respecting others?

Because cancellation of the play to begin with was inappropriate, but it might have had a very positive affect on the kids. Suddenly, they saw it was like to be discriminated against. After several weeks of hard work put into practicing for their production, they had the rug swept out from under them by school officials - and for no reason.

And how's this for irony? The school punished Debra Taylor, but her job loss makes her a role model for kids. Kind of what we always hope our kids' teachers will be.

Image: USA Today

School Yanks Teachers' Coffee Pots to Save Money

JeanneSager — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:31:00 GMT

As a mom who has pondered the feasilibity of a caffeine drip to keep going all day, I feel for the teachers of the Glendale School District.

Administrators of the California school system have told teachers they're taking their coffee pots to save the district money. Gone too are microwaves and refrigerators, a move that could save the district as much as $60,000.

Meanwhile, sleepy teachers across the district are wondering how they can keep up with children with boundless energy. As I sit yawning at my own desk, with a cold bottle of soda beside me, I can't help but agree.

Glendale isn't the first district to make this change. Some have banned appliances while others have set up a fee structure, charging teachers as much as $40 a year to keep a fridge in the classroom. There's still a communal refrigerator, coffee pot and microwave in the teacher's lounge at Glendale. But as many teachers have pointed out, that requires hoofing it across campus at lunchtime, a time when they often find themselves allowing a student to come into their classroom for extra help. Not to mention the lack of breaks during the day to shoot down to the lounge for a cup of coffee to keep them going.

Caffeine addiction may not be the healthiest thing, but it keeps plenty of Americans going - including teachers who stay up late grading papers. Be it the cup of coffee or the cold soda, most of workers in a white collar setting have immediate access. And I think you'd be hard pressed to find any old break room fridge with an Energy Star label.

As a taxpayer in a state where education costs laid on the taxpayers' shoulders long ago spiraled out of control, I'm all for districts saving a buck or two. I'm also not a big fan of the teachers unions or of coddling teachers. Educators need to educate - and if they're not doing so, we've got a problem.

But numerous studies have shown the comfort of the workers is linked directly to the workforce productivity. In the case of teaching, that productivity means a better education for our kids. This seems to be a place where administrators are cutting costs along with their nose to spite their faces. Leave appliances in the classroom and let teachers stay in the room to tutor a kid at lunchtime or during their free period. Let them suck down coffee all day so they can stay alert and on top of the curriculum.

Find someplace else to cut . . . like, I don't know. . . administrators' salaries?

Image: LA Times

Teacher Taped Kids Mouths Shut

JeanneSager — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 13:26:00 GMT

A teacher from Tennessee really wanted the eight-year-olds in his mouth class to be quiet.

Did he prod them to raise their hands? Haul out the old "zipper your upper lipper" from days gone by? Start sending kids to the office?

None of the above. First-year teacher Kevin Ray has been accused of taping the kids' mouths shut. If it's true, I've got to ask. What the heck was this guy thinking when he got into teaching?

A self-described devout Christian who enjoys reading the Bible, Ray apparently skipped the part about "do unto others." He allegedly slapped the tape on the mouths of three of his charges, including one eight-year-old who sat through an hour-long class with his mouth clamped shut. Another child was allegedly tied to a chair.

Teachers have a rough row to hoe these days, I'll grant you. There's the No Child Left Untested Act, there's the lack of training for teachers who are now heading up classrooms of mainstreamed special needs kids, there are more discipline problems and more helicopter parents. There are also some fantastic, dedicated and talented teachers out there.

Still, I have never been able to fathom the excuse of the teachers who say "my job is tough, so . . . " It's a tough job, but you signed up for it - with full knowledge of what makes it so difficult to be a teacher. And part of that is dealing with mouthy kids.

If you can't hack it as a teacher, my response is the same as those who can't hack it as a writer or a fry cook. Get another job. Because if you can't handle kids being kids, you can't be head of a classroom.

Image/Source: MSNBC

Pardon Me, I Think you Dropped an Apostrophe

JeanneSager — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 19:02:00 GMT

If you're a stickler for sentence structure, steer clear of Birmingham. The second-largest city in England has opted to drop all apostrophes from its street signs, citing the hooks in the air as "confusing and old-fashioned."

So what are Birmingham's primary school teachers to do from now on? Allow their charges to make "its" stand in for "it is" on a moment's notice?

Yes, I'm one of those sticklers, one who is appalled that her daughter will soon be learning to read and write in a world that's gotten lax on language. Do you know why the apostrophe is confusing in Birmingham? I would hazard a guess that it's due to a lack of education in the schools and a lack of sticklers on the streets. Because the best way to make punction confusing is to ignore it.

How am I supposed to teach my daughter to spell when every closing sign says they're open "'til midnite" and the post office posts a notice warning you not to "loose your keys"? I'm not sure if I should tell her we're eating at Joe's (denoting there is one owner, a guy named Joe) or Joes' (where there are two proprietors with a common moniker).

We all make mistakes - especially now that fast fingers over the keyboard have taken much of the thought out of the process. But if the signmakers, who are paid to put their focus on proper sign making, are too confused, so are the people reading them!

Want to make it all less confusing? Keep putting your pressure on the public - and the schools - to keep punctuating. Or perhaps they'd prefer we check out Birminghams' business center rather than Birmingham's?

Image/Source: MSNBC

Teacher Wants to Drop Huck Finn, To Kill a Mockingbird "for Obama"

JeanneSager — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:37:00 GMT

Now that we have a black president, ~~an Oregon~~ a Washington teacher says he's ready to stop teaching about the days when the "n-word" was acceptable - and he's willing to say bye-bye to some of the most acclaimed books of school curricula to do it.

John Foley says he's sick of having to explain the usage of the "n-word" in Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn and Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to his students.

Sure, in the end the authors stood as beacons of light in their time for writing books that decried racism, but Foley doesn't think kids (or "an angry African American mom") have the wherewithal to stick with it to the end of the books.

OK, let's back up here. He's decrying racism and a lack of education with . . . racism and a refusal to educate?

Foley wrote a guest editorial in a recent issue of the Seattle Post Intelligencer, noting he's sick of having to explain to those African American mothers why he has students read books that portray blacks as inarticulate and uneducated. He's weary of having black students sit in class uncomfortable when the "n-word" is read out in class. What's more - he says the kids find the books "dull and plodding," and they never get past the usage of the racist word.

And lest you think he's being satirical, Foley told the Los Angeles Times he was "bemused" by the people who came to his quasi-defense in the name of satire.

To be fair, Foley does not want to ban these books. He wants to update the curriculum, replacing what he sees as poor black role models with more empowering examples for his students. I certainly support him on that. So add a few in there, beef up the reading list. But does that have to be at the loss of literative examples of the racial struggles that led up to Obama's victory? However corny, the George Santayana quote comes to mind: "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Dropping the Huck Finns of literature from our kids' reading lists is akin to whitewashing those struggles out of our history books. Where else do these children learn what the times in which the n-word" was acceptable were like? Where else will they learn that, yes, the black men depicted in these books were indeed uneducated and inarticulate - not because of stupidity but because of oppression?

As a white teacher, I can also appreciate that Foley faces a daunting task. A close friend is white and teaches at a racially diverse school in the south, where she has been called out time and again by over-sensitive parents of other ethnicities for perceived slights. I am not saying all white teachers are innocent; but unwarranted accusations can be tough on a teacher - my friend is currently seeking a move out of the classroom. Perhaps I am reading too much into his words, but it sounds like Foley has experienced having to rationalize a misperceived support of the n-word to an African American mother who has only been told by her child that the teacher used the n-word (without providing the context of the book).

He's tired. And maybe he's tired of teaching too. Because the saddest comment of all is what Foley has taken out of a classroom after all of these years teaching literature. "You have to remember, it's hard to sell kids these days on books," he told the Times. "I write young adult novels, and sometimes I wonder, why bother? You're writing for three girls who like to read."

Kids can wear teachers down, especially the kids who just don't care. But when a teacher begins to blame the kids for just not getting it or just not being able to get past a stumbling block, perhaps he needs to examine not the book and the history lesson but his method of "inspiring" young minds.

These kids need someone to tell them "that was then, and this is now." Can John Foley still do that?

Image: Amazon

School Has Autistic Child Arrested

Parents Criticize Schools for Celebrating Inauguration

Entire School Board Recalled By Angry Students

JeanneSager — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:15:00 GMT

Note to boards of education: listen to your students, you're there for them. Or maybe you're not?

A collection of angry students at one California high school organized a recall election that might well be the first ever in the state to unseat an entire school board. The kids and their adult supporters collected enough signatures to authorize a recall vote on all five members of the board of education at the Big Oak Flat-Groveland Unified School District.

What made the kids this angry? The board fired a popular math teacher. Yes, a math teacher, not a football coach (although he is a former professional football player) or a gym teacher. A guy who teaches one of the core subjects. To be fair, he was also coaching baseball - but that wasn't at the heart of the kids' arguments.

The board released Ryan Dutton from his job teaching math at Tioga High in September over an allegation of plagiarism. Working toward his teaching credentials at Cal State Fresno, Dutton was accused in March 2008 of copying another student's homework. He denied the charge, and the university eventually found it was unfounded. Still, members of the school board say they're standing behind THEIR source, and they've refused to rehire Dutton. Nor have they revealed their sources.

Students have appealed to the board to no avail. So civics teacher Tim King helped them organize a civics project instead: collecting the necessary nine hundred ten signatures per school board member necessary to put the recall on the ballot. They got them. . . and more.

There's scuttlebutt, according to the Los Angeles Times, that these kids are being used to settle old scores in a fractious community. And while I'm often cautious about putting kids on the front lines of these kinds of arguments, I've seen what they can do. As a community reporter, I followed the case of a school librarian cut because of budget constraints, and the students who worked to have her reinstated. The kids were brushed aside by a school board that did not realize the gem they had in their midst - kids who cared enough about a librarian, with no ties to the sports community. They held lengthy executive sessions while the teenagers sat in the high school library, waiting patiently to have someone simply listen to their pleas. Never was there an explanation issued of the way budgeting works, of the intricacies of tenure. Nor was a thank you issued to the kids for their hard work.

Teachers can't always be reinstated simply because the kids care about them. But without the children, there is no school community, no school board. Not listening to them, at least providing some feedback and a "hey, you tried, but. . ." is tantamount to telling them you're not there FOR them.

Image: Los Angeles Times

School to Parents: Donate Toilet Paper

Having a Kid Alone? Don't Tell Me Why I Have it Better

Kids Can Build Habitat Houses Without Lifting a Hammer

Should Homeschooling Parents Be Certified?

Brett Singer — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:00:00 GMT

Over at Mixx (one of the seemingly hundreds of promote-your-webpage sites) there is a poll asking the following question:

Should parents need teaching credentials to home-school their children

It's worth noting that the poll doesn't have a question mark at the end of it, which it should, and that one of the two comments is, shall we say, in need of an English teacher ("No. There is plenty of Homeschool programs that don't require it."; thanks to Shannon for noticing that.)

So far 44% say that parents "absolutely" need teaching credentials in order to homeschool their kids.

But what does that mean exactly? In some places (New York, for example) only Public School teachers are required to be certified by the State. That means that the expensive private school you send your child to may have teachers that are not, in fact, state certified. Does that make them unqualified to teach? Clearly a large number of parents don't think so, or they wouldn't send their kids there (at least, I hope they wouldn't).

It seems like a fair question, however. To me, the thing that homeschooled children miss out on is the social part of the school experience. Of course, that social experience can be torture, so maybe missing that is a good thing.

Over in the Babble Playground, one mother asked about others' homeschooling experience. Of the folks who responded to her query, some gave pretty specific reasons for why they went this route:

"My middle son was a slow learner when it came to reading and fast with math. His teacher kept embarrassing him and making him feel stupid in front of his class, so in turn he started being made fun of."

And, from another parent:

"Everyday was a heartbreak. I took him out and within a couple of months he was back to the happy, positive child he had been pre-kindergarten."

The question of certification doesn't come up, mostly because nobody asked. It's not something I've ever thought about either.

Amy's post about the rise of homeschooling has a lot of comments, some pro and some con. This one, from Kyle, relates to my question here: "You are fooling yourself (and that is fine) if you think you can provide a complete education for your child simply because you are an adult. I certainly wouldn't take my kids to my neighbor to have a cavity looked at or try to fill their prescriptions myself. I am of the opinion that teachers are trained professionals and offer my children a service for which I am grateful." I generally agree. But considering that in my own school experience, I had one teacher who slammed the classroom door on my leg (which happened to already be in a full cast, and I was on crutches), and another who literally had a nervous breakdown during class, screaming at us and telling us that we should be grateful that she even bothered to show up (that was in 4th grade – fun stuff), I think it's fair to say that just because someone is a teacher, that doesn't mean that they are good at what they do. If your dentist botches a bad root canal, you can go somewhere else. With a teacher and/or school, it's not always that easy.

So I'll put the question to the class (and by "the class" I mean "anyone reading this who would like to share their thoughts on this issue"): should parents who homeschool be required to have some form of teaching certification and/or training?

Image: Amazon.com

Number of Homeschoolers Grows

The Obama Kids First Day Of School

Who Buys The Baby Products In Your House?

Working Parents Smackdown Part 2 – Dads With Jobs vs Moms With Jobs

A Quiverfull Of Kids

Teacher In Mexico Ties Up Student for Hours

SunnyChanel — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:45:00 GMT

Note to self, when it’s time to look for schools for my daughter, don't enroll her in a school in the city of Cuernavaca, Mexico. Fortunately, I live thousands of miles away from there. But for those who live there, you might want to move, home school or start escorting your child to school, and staying there the entire time. The reason? According to the AP, a human rights watchdog has claimed that a teacher, who has been on strike, tied up an 11-year old 5th grader for hours. His parents believe it wasn’t for something trivial, like say throwing spit balls or giving another kid a wedgie. Rather they are under the assumption that the teacher was “retaliating against them for joining a movement against the strike.”

The reason there was a strike in the first place? Because there was a nationwide reform that “prohibits educators from inheriting their jobs from relatives.” Hmmm, sounds like this might be part of the problem. Maybe the teacher is really a ranchero and should actually be tying up cattle than teaching kids.

Via Salon/AP

October: It's Not Just for Halloween Anymore--Teacher Week

Shannon LC Cate — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

After a miserable winter last year, summer just seemed too short here in the Midwest. To combat the cold dreariness of the past few days, I decided to go holiday-hunting. I found a few great reasons to celebrate. First up: National Classroom Teacher Week! (I teach online, so I guess this is not my week.)

I'm celebrating by remembering Mrs. Lynn of my fifth grade year. Mrs. Lynn was warm, funny and didn't play favorites. We were all her pets. In fact, the whole school was her pet. Mrs. Lynn taught English too, and if you memorized her list of prepositions--which we chanted daily right after the class announcements, Hail Marys and Our Fathers (Catholic school!)--she'd give you a tootsie roll for reciting them. You could come back in the sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, high school, college. You could bring your first-born for a visit to Mrs. Lynn's classroom. As long as you could still list the prepositions, you got a tootsie roll. As a result, folks were constantly visiting our classroom and catching up with Mrs. Lynn. It made her seem like a celebrity and those of us in her class felt a special glow of privilege to be able to say we belonged to her.

It was also Mrs. Lynn who taught me that "only turkeys are done, people, unless they're being roasted are FINISHED" and it's one of my pet grammar peeves to this day.

Mrs. Lynn addressed a bad case of bullying from my soccer team in my fifth grade year as well. She might have looked the other way as most teachers did in these situations, but as soon as she found out about it, she became my champion. Her moral authority alone made the other girls back off for the remainder of that year.

So, tell us about a special teacher in your life: yours, your kids', a friend, neighbor or relative who teaches, a community hero. Let's celebrate!

Image: earthinpictures.com

Posts by this Writer on Education:

Extending the Privilege of Preschool

Let There Be Science in Science Class

LGBT Magnet Schools: Hurt or Help?

They Say: To Teach Teens, You Really Have to Scare Them

JeanneSager — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:57:00 GMT

Think you're smarter than a fifth grader? At the very least, you learn differently. Scientists in the Netherlands have published a study that proves the brain is yet another part of the body that experiences significant changes during the tween years.

Published in the Journal of Neuroscience this month, the study by developmental psychologist Dr Eveline Crone and colleagues from the Leiden Brain and Cognition Lab shows a positive attitude helps younger kids cotton onto concepts. But around 12, the brain starts to develop the ability to learn from mistakes. So being presented with the words, "no, you're wrong," is actually better for teens than a slap on the back. No wonder - it's what they'll be telling their parents for the next eight years.

The study was one of the first to split its subjects into three different age groups rather than the traditional split of "children" and "adults." Kids eight and nine were lumped together, as were kids 11 and 12. The adults represented were aged 18 to 25. The result puts into question the age-old practice of punishing our younger kids for their misdeeds to make them straighten up and fly right and the habit of trying to win our teens' affection back.

Apparently, we've got it backward - so let's start spanking the teenagers! Only kidding (sort of). But while I'm still going to follow through with time outs for my pre-schooler, I have to remember to put even more of an emphasis on congratulating her for each and every job well done. As for those of you with teens, here's permission from brain docs (just as smart as brain surgeons, we'd imagine) to scare 'em straight.

Image: University of Leiden

Social Networking, the Next Hurdle to Getting Them Into College?

Mom Bites Kid, Mom Goes to Jail

Interview: Larry Martinek of Mathnasium - Part 1

Brett Singer — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 18:30:00 GMT

The Mathnasium Philosophy:
Children don't hate math
They hate being confused and intimidated by math
With understanding comes passion.
And with passion comes growth - a treasure is unlocked.
(Source: mathnasium.com)

Do your kids hate math? Well, they don't. They may think they do, but what they really hate is "being confused and intimated by math."

That's what Larry Martinek (pictured at right, teaching), the creator of the Mathnasium Method, believes, and after talking to him, I'm inclined to believe it as well. Larry was a math teacher for 30 years, so he knows quite a bit about how difficult it can be to get kids to learn even the most basic mathematical concepts. At one point in his career, he decided to start doing things differently: teach math so that it makes sense to the students, rather than to the teachers. Radical idea, right? It's so basic, but somehow not obvious at all. He starts with skills as basic as counting, and uses seemingly simple concepts to show children how they can start solving math problems on their own. Even calculus is just an advanced form of counting. (As someone is something other than a math person, I'm going to take his word for it.)

Peter Markovitz and David Ullendorff had an idea for a chain of math centers, but they were businessmen, not teachers. Larry had become known in Los Angeles as "The Math Guy", so the pair approached him. At first they were skeptical, but after watching him work with students and seeing the incredible results, they committed wholeheartedly to what is now called the Mathnasium Method.

At Mathnasium centers worldwide, students are able to "drop in" whenever they like, although the sessions are usually an hour or more. The company must be doing something right, because there are now over 200 locations, not only in the United States but as far away as Thailand. (For locations, visit mathnasium.com.) I spoke to Larry about Mathnasium and his philosophies about how children learn math. Here is part one of excerpts from our conversation; part two will be posted next week.

Brett Singer: Tell me a little about your background
Larry Martinek: I've been a mathematics teacher in the LA area for the last 34 years. I started teaching inner city middle school in 1974 [and I] made a transition because I realized most of the kids I was working with were significantly behind grade level and the work that I was doing with them was all catch up work, trying to fix them instead of teaching them grade-level material. So I got involved in teaching teachers how to get kids off to a good start so by the time they got to middle school they were actually ready for middle school work. That work became so successful that I spent the better part of the last 18 years as a teacher trainer, and as a crisis teacher – I go into situations that are very difficult [and] straighten them out.

B: Why do you think the kids were not working at their grade level?
L: There are a number of reasons [for that]. Probably the most significant is that most elementary teachers were liberal arts major and were not math or science majors in college and there are very few classes in college on how to teach math. So when kids get into the classroom, the teachers work pretty much directly from the book...if the kids have difficulty, the teachers don't have the techniques [to] get them up to speed in a hurry. That is, during the school year that they're in. So if they leave a particular grade with gaps, say, a third grader, the fourth grade teacher has got to teach fourth grade curriculum and typically doesn't have time to go back and [repeat] the third grade material. That happens all the way up and down the line, and as a result the kids end up getting into middle school with significant gaps in their knowledge.

B: Are there classes in how to teach topics other than math?
L: There are definitely extensive classes in the teaching of reading. But since most teachers have a degree in liberal arts, they pretty well cover their liberal arts subjects in their other courses, if not directly how to teach them, in the content of the courses, whereas they did not take nearly as many courses in the content of math or the teaching of math. This is true also by the way of science; science teachers have a similar complaint. Science teachers lack a deep background of knowledge in the elementary years; they know what science [the students] are capable of learning but the system doesn't prepare them to deliver it.

B: How long has Mathnasium been around?
L: I met the two partners in April of 2002. We opened the first Mathnasium in October 1st of 2002. I ran that for 14 months and in January of 2004 we started franchising. We just opened our 200th franchise worldwide. We have about 140 domestic franchises and about 60 international. Because I discovered that my kids were so far behind in those early years, I started writing my own material. Being in middle school, we didn't have material for my seventh graders, [who] were really developmentally third and fourth graders. And what they needed was material that reflected where they were so that I could bridge the gap. If I taught them strictly seventh grade material but they were only fourth grade in maturity, there's little chance they're going to understand what's going on. Since '74, I haven't stopped creating material and that is the body of material that we use at Mathnasium.
In the middle of all that I became a father and at about age 4 it became obvious that my son was logically precocious and by 5 it was obvious that he was going to be a very strong math student. He started asking me things at age 5 and 6 that were way beyond his years, so I had to come up with different ways to explain things and in the process of doing that I created an entire new generation of material that took the standard math ideas and rephrased them in ways that make sense to kids. In fact that gave rise to what is now Mathasium's corporate mission statement, which is "To teach children math in a way that makes sense to them". That phrase "to them" is so important. For many, many years my son and I wrote material to the point where we had about 6,000 pages of curriculum that started Mathnasium, and we've added several thousand more in the years since we've been open. We have this very substantial library of material that we use to help kids, kids that need to get caught up, some kids that need to keep up, and some kids that want to get ahead. And we have the material to help all of them.
The Mathnasium method...requires that our instructors have multiple ways of explaining things, so that if the child doesn't get something one way, we can explain it to them a different way until we can hit on something that triggers something in the kid, so we can know that we've actually transmitted the information.

B: Who goes to Mathnasium?
L: Our core program is from second grade to SAT I, which would be roughly 10th or 11th grade depending on the student. We always have a pre-K through first grade program, and also a higher math program, which is algebra II, trig and pre-calculus. (Note: the grade level for these courses varies, but is typically 11th or 12th grade.) The main body of our enrollment is between 3rd grade and 8th grade, those very critical early and middle years. For so many kids, that's the make or break time...if they learn the foundations of math well at that point, they're going to find that math is actually fun as they move through the years, instead of growing up to be one of the people who go off and say "I hate math".

B: If a kid says to you, I hate math, what would you say to them?
L: As they say very boldly on our web site, it turns out that kids and adults really don't hate math. What they hate is the frustration, the intimidation, the embarrassment that is associated with not being able to do the math. If a kid says they hate math, I'm not going to tell them something. What I'm going to do is sit down and teach them something. In the Mathnasium process we do a very in depth assessment of kids, and from that assessment we're able to figure out exactly what the kid needs next. If I can teach that student the next thing they need to learn, the universal response is "Wow. That's cool." Because for many kids this will be the first time in years that they've actually understood what's going on in a math situation. Think about it: a kid who is two or three years behind has not experienced success in the classroom in many, many years. And when you give them that initial success, it turns out within the first two or three visits that almost every kid who comes in with that "I hate math" attitude, that all dissolves when we give them that feeling of success that comes from actually accomplishing the next thing they need to learn. It's really quite an amazing process. We get phone calls from teachers, parents, saying, "What did you do to my kid?" All of a sudden their attitude has changed, and the reason their attitude has changed is that they've been experiencing, finally, success. Once the kid emotionally buys into the process, we have a great chance of succeeding and getting the kid caught up to where they should be.

B: So there is an element of this that can breed confidence?
L: Absolutely. Success breeds confidence. The kids don't feel confident because they haven't been successful. That's the most common experience I've had with kids.

B: Is there spillover into other areas of academics?
L: Absolutely. All the way back in Plato's time, Plato said, "Did you ever notice that those that are quick with computation tend to pick up everything else quickly?" When the kids get the confidence, they get this can-do attitude, they benefit more from their time in their math class, and it definitely spills over into their other classes. For some kids, all of a sudden, they really feel they can do it.

Next week, more from the interview, including how No Child Left Behind may not be the best thing for kids, how a recent government study recommended methods very similar to Mathnasium's, and how math is important to many professions, such as carpenters and plumbers.

image: Mathnasium

The Best Way to Educate: Separate the Boys From the Girls?

Jen Chaney — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:04:00 GMT

Do boys and girls learn differently? Some say yes, which is why several public schools -- including a few described in this Washington Post articl e -- are trying same-sex classes.

Some of the teachers quoted in this story report they are seeing positive results for the boys, who seem to benefit from classroom settings that allow them the freedom to move around, as well as the girls, who, in one case, thrive in a dimly lit classroom with lots of flowers on the windowsills.

Of course, there are those who find this segregation-by-sex unhealthy and believe it fosters gender discrimination and a lack of preparedness for a co-ed world.

While I encourage unconventional approaches to educating our kids, it seems like this walks a fine line between playing to our children's strengths and reinforcing stereotypes about what girls and boys are "supposed" to be. If both grades and interest in learning improves, though, it's kind of hard to argue with that.

But what do you think? Would you want your son or daughter to be taught in a same-sex situation?

Photo: Dailymail.com

Teacher Says Obama is Bad Man

Jen Chaney — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:33:00 GMT

I didn't major in elementary education. But I do know the following three tenets of teaching kids:

1. Don't share personal political opinions with them.

2. Don't tell them that certain political leaders are "scary."

3. Don't say that those political leaders are "scary" because they are Muslim, especially if they are not Muslim.

Apparently a fifth grade teacher in Delaware did not get that memo. She came under fire recently for telling her class of 10-year-olds that she would not vote for Barack Obama because he is a Muslim and "is scary." Now, if the recent Rev. Wright/Obama flap has taught us anything, it's that the Senator from Illinois is Christian. But that aside, let's get two things straight. Muslims are not, as a rule, scary. Consequently, Obama isn't scary, unless being intelligent, articulate and charismatic is frightening. If that's the case, then someone should put him in the next "Saw" movie ASAP.

The teacher has apologized to a Muslim student and her mother, who originally filed a complaint about the incident. According to this story from Fox News, reports that Delaware's Human Relations Commission is investigating the matter are untrue.

Whether you buy into Obama's politics or not, surely most parents agree that this sort of language should never be used in a classroom setting. And the hate-filled rhetoric about believers of Islam has got to stop. Just look at the comments on the Delaware News Journal's story about this very subject, including the one that says, "He makes a big effort to hide the fact that he is Muslim and tries to say he's a Christian, but we all know the truth. No Muslim should ever be President."

Really. How can we expect to teach our children tolerance and respect for others when so many adults can't even screw their heads on straight?

Babble.com File Photo

Gifted Kids Left Behind in Schools

Karen Murphy — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 16:07:00 GMT

Just at a time when I'm considering taking my kids from the Waldorf school they've always attended to go to the nearest public school instead comes this news: gifted kids aren't being supported or challenged, and in fact are rather being neglected in today's post "No Child Left Behind" public school scenario.

I was a so-called gifted kid. In my California school, that meant a three-week stint in the 4th grade where some of us got to skip classes and instead sit around with the cool Gifted Teacher Guy and discuss The Hobbit and think up ways to protect a raw egg from being thrown off the school's roof in the exciting culmination of our three-week vacation (the winner got to keep the rat we were studying).

And apparently, gifted programs across the U.S. haven't improved much since then.

With so much teacher resource and energy, not to mention the all-important funding, being spent to raise standards for the lowest of the educational bell curve, the kids at the higher end are being neglected. In fact, about 5% of gifted students leave school early, about the same rate as nongifted kids. $8 BILLION is being spent annually to help delayed kids, yet only $800 million is thrown at the gifted ones. Having at least one of kid who falls in each of those two categories, it's a bit of a quandary. Certainly disabled and delayed kids need the help they're getting (unless we're talking about teaching to the tests, and I think we are but that's a different matter), but don't we as a society value the smart kids as well? Aren't they part of our future? According to my dad, who values academia highly, they ARE our future, and he may be right.

What do you think? Has this issue touched your family? Short of letting more gifted kids skip grades (which may not entirely solve the problem, believe me), what else can be done to support these kids?

Teacher Who Threw Feces At Boy May Keep Job

MetroDad — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 13:04:00 GMT

The idea of corporal punishment in schools drives me totally insane. The idea of having teachers discipline kids by spanking them or rapping their knuckles with a ruler seems contrary to the important life lessons that we expect teachers to impart on our children. Sure, I know teaching is a rough job. My mom was a public school teacher for 20 years and she'd often share with me her frustrations in dealing with kids who were disruptively rowdy in her classes.

However, Maria Pantalone, a Toronto high school principal, seems to have gone a little overboard. According to news reports, Pantalone confessed to throwing human poop at a 12-year-old boy. Not only that but it seems that the court is ruling that she can get her job back! The circumstances of the incident have been sealed by the court because the victim is a minor. But in the principal's defense, the judge seems to think the circumstances were exceptional, and according to Pantalone, "I couldn't take it anymore. It was total, total frustration."

Yeah, I get it. Some kid was a brat and you lost your shit. Then, you threw it at him. But does that mean you deserve to get your job back? I don't think so. Do you?

School Segregates Students to Teach the Test

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 18:03:00 GMT

The No Child Left Behind Act has schools freaked. That's the only explanation I can take from this: Mount Diablo High School in Northern California has taken to separating students based on race to give them assembly pep talks about improving their test scores.

The principal said, "Blah blah blah -- I'm not racist, I swear." While parents and students said the alarming policy smacks of modern-day segregation. "Teaching the test" is bad enough -- it robs students of the fundamental building blocks that teach how to learn, not what to learn.

But segregating students and shouting slogans like "What up white people!" is beyond the pale. If this is just one whack-job school having fun at the expense of students, fine -- fire the morons in charge and move on. But if this is just an example of the lengths schools feel they must go to in order to not get left behind, add this to the long list of reasons I can't wait for 2008.

Kids Learn Better When They Do it Themselves, Study Says

Karen Murphy — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:15:00 GMT

So my dad was right all these years (I sort of hate that). He was a hands-off sort of dad, saying frequently that you couldn't learn anything by someone telling you about it, you had to figure it out for yourself. This usually manifested in me, say, looking up words he used that I didn't know in the dictionary rather than him simply telling me what they meant. It used to infuriate me, but it turns out? He was right.

You know how I know? First, there's my own kids and my observations of them. And then there's me. I think clearly that if someone struggles with a concept and then masters it themselves, it will stick far better than if they simply had heard someone describe it. But now? A new study supports this idea. Word-learning strategies of a hundred toddlers were studied, and they found that the kids learned best by building on what they already knew when presented with a new concept. Which completely blows the whole teaching model we've been using of sitting through a boring lecture, being "instructed", totally out of the water. But my dad could have told you that.

Longer School Days, Better Grades?

JasonAvant — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 13:16:00 GMT

Ferris Bueller's worst nightmare might be the answer to bad grades and dismal test scores. CNN highlights a new trend - extending the length of the school day. The article reports that on average, students in the U.S. spend less time in the classroom than their counterparts in many other industrialized countries. Programs in Massachusetts and other states increase the number of hours per day that students spend in class, as well as the number of days - some programs have kids in school on Saturdays, and may have their summer vacations shortened. In some cases, students end up spending 50% more time in school than they would in traditional programs.

The argument that giving students more time to study will yield positive results is compelling, but let's face it - not a lot of kids are going to be excited about tacking on another two hours' worth of lectures about the Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act. And extending the hours spent in the classroom could cut into after-school sports programs as well as daylight hours that kids could be spending outside at play - an important consideration, considering all of the talk about childhood obesity these days. To combat student boredom and lethargy, schools that extend their hours are offering a variety of non-traditional classes to keep kids engaged. This includes classes that incorporate physical activity, and adding on additional recess time.

I'll admit that I'm on the fence here; as a grown-up, I'm a big fan of work/life balance, and despite the positives, I wonder if longer school days are really a good thing. Yes, getting an education is important, but so too is having some free time. After all, kids will have about 40 to 50 years of sitting behind a desk for 8 hours a day to look forward to after graduation.

Getting Your Kids to Clean Up

Sarah, Goon Squad Sarah — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 10:16:00 GMT

There are a multitude of things that have taken me off guard about parenting. The one that is bothering me today is how difficult it is to teach your children how to clean. I'm not talking about mopping or cleaning the toilet or making a bed with hospital corners. I just mean teaching a two year old (or in my case two two year olds) how to pick up their own toys.

When I was younger I always figured that the parents that cleaned up after their children were the good parents and my mom was so lazy that she made me clean up my own room. Boy, was I wrong. I could clean my living room in about 10 minutes and it would look decent. If I try to get my kids to pick up their block and put their shoes in the closet it will probably take me about 45 minutes, and that doesn't even cover half of the mess.

I am so tired of fighting with my children every single day about picking up toys. I am looking for motivation. So far I have used threats and flat out bribery and neither are working all that well. Does anyone have any suggestions?