October is National Anti-Bullying Month - Did you know?

Today while reading over Angela Maiers blog posting, Stop the Cyber Bully - A Conversation with the Experts  It reminded me of the blog post I wrote last year around this same time about bullying and cyberbullying.   Take a look and please join the conversation.  Try to discuss this with your students and your children.  Let them know what a serious issue this is and the many unfortunate results it can have. 

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Bullying - What can we do about it?

According to Inside the School - Bullying by the Numbers - 

In the classroom, so much of the bullying happens covertly and is tough to see -

• According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2007), about one-third of middle and high school students reported that they’d been bullied in the last six months.
• The American Medical Association estimates that two-thirds of students think that schools don’t respond well to bullying. That same study found that 25% of teachers think that bullying is normal behavior and just 4% intervene on behalf of students.
• Bullying victims are sick more often. They suffer from the common cold, from stomach cramps, headaches, sore throats, and sleep problems (Journal of the American Medical Association)
• Bullying victims miss school. According to the National Education Association, 160,000 students stay home every day because they’re too afraid to come to class.
• Students who bully in elementary school keep the bullying pattern throughout their school years. (Scientific American Special Edition)
• Bullies don’t suffer from low self-esteem. They’re usually dominant kids and pretty popular, too. They rise to the top of the social order by picking on others. (Scientific American Special Edition)

Bullying hurts.  Bullying can take many forms.  We all need to do our part to watch for it and stop it at all costs.  This is a very important part of our digital citizenship lessons we teach our students.   Our kids are connected and using technology more than ever.  Children today are now able to bully each other through many online technologies.  Whether it is through a text message, an email, an instant message, a comment on a social networking site or another medium, the ease of cyber bullying is scary.  There are no face to face interactions between the children, so it is so easy to gang up on other students.   It is a lot easier to tease someone or send nasty messages when you do not have to see the other persons reaction.

I encourage you all to please have these conversations with your students, your own children if you have them.  Let them know it is OK to tell an adult, a teacher, or a trusted friend.  It is nothing to be ashamed of.  These children should not have to live with this burden.

Educate them.  Tell the kids in your lives that it is not OK to call people names, send inappropriate messages, forward inappropriate messages, taunt someone, gang up on another child, etc.  There should be serious consequences for these behaviors.

Read this interesting interview with Jodee Blanco who was bullied her entire life and decided after Columbine, she would become an anti-bullying activist. 

We can make a difference - one child at a time.

Watch this powerful public service announcement - found on Teacher Tube about bullying  -

Sir Ken Robinson Is At it Again!

Some interesting thoughts here. What do you think?

Passion... Something you really love.. What is it?

This evening, I was reading over some blog posts and I came across Angela Maiers most recent posting of the TedxRedmond Ted-event run entirely by children. How inspiring! As a middle school teacher myself, I really am interested in figuring out how to connect with my students and nurture their inner interests.  I then saw that one of the children presenting was Bob Sprankle's daughter Zoe.  I follow Bob Sprankle through my PLN as well as Angela.   Not to mention, Bob is right in my back yard in Maine.  Ok, not exactly since I live in southern NH, but close enough!  I found them through the class I now teach for PSU, Teaching and Learning in a Networked Classroom, which was originally taught by my guru Jeff Utecht.

So, where am I going with this?  Well, I watched the video of 12 year old Zoe.  All I can say is Wow!  Wow, what a well spoken, brave, passionate, smart, driven, compassionate, talented little girl.  Seeing a live performance of one of her favorite musicals Rent led her to write the cast a letter to let them know just how much it meant to her to see them act and perform.  She was heard, she had "impact", she made a small difference that day in the lives of the actors and actresses who may not hear how appreciated they are by the audiences who come to see them.  One little girl, one big impression!  Watch for yourself and you decide.

How can we foster this passion, this drive, the love for anything in our own children and the children we teach? I will keep trying!   Oh.. and I can't wait to show this to my own students as a way to let them know they too can do something this amazing!

Love this Quote...

"At the end of the day, the biggest disruption brought on by technology has nothing to do with the youth themselves, but with the way in which it forces us to reconsider our position of power as adults. We cannot simply tell it like it is; we need to re-learn how to learn and how to evolve with the changes all around us. " - Dana Boyd -"Living and Learning with Social Media"

This is where I want to go.....

This morning, while reading over my Google BUZZ updates, I came across a posting from Darren Draper, who linked a post from Wesley Fryer about Passion-based learning in action.  (Side note, Wesley Fryer will be one of the keynote speakers at the upcoming 2010 Christa McAuliffe technology conference )   I am currently working on a course with over 30 teachers from my school, and we have been talking about standards, unpacking them, and not narrowing the curriculum for the tests sake.  What a better way to show real, authentic learning experiences, with any population of students. Anything is possible.  We know poverty exists, we know some of our students are underachievers, we know some of our students have family problems, yes.. we know.. now what?

I watch this video and say YES!  I say YES Brian Crosby, you are amazing and inspirational!   This is what I see.  This is the futre I want for my students at my school. This is real, this is now, this is amazing and so very, very authentic.  I am sure you will agree.

Please be open minded when viewing, as there are always many barriers as to why things like this may not work in your school or your classroom.  Starting small - a blog, a wiki, a skype, connecting with other teachers / students is just one way to begin your amazing journey with technology.  I encourage you to just try.  Baby steps.  The more comfortable you feel, the braver you become.  I know I feel really brave today after watching this, how about you?

I'm Here

Please click here to read more...

Thank you to Ryan Bretag for sharing this video on his blog - Metanoia.

"This short film, based on an original story and art by Peter H. Reynolds and produced by FableVision, movingly conveys the loneliness a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder often experiences, and the life-changing effect each of us can have in breaking through that solitude. FableVision created the film for SARRC (Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center).


FableVision CEO Peter H. Reynolds, NY Times best-selling children's author/illustrator, illustrated the film. The film includes a powerful musical score by Ruth Mendelson. "I'm Here" is the precursor to the film and book "Wings of EPOH." Both products are co-published by FableVision and SARRC." From Youtube

What Motivates Us? How about in school?

The notion of motivation for individuals in the work place was always thought to be monetary. Not so true according to Daniel Pink.  According to the latest research, money is not the end all be all we once thought it was.  Watch this video to see what really motivates us.  Do you think this can work in education?



Amazing stop motion video! Really keeps your attention and engaged! Kudos to the artist!

Cute Video - Based on Black Eyed Peas Song and dance from Oprah Show

Found this video today when reading Lisa Thumann's blog. So cute! Gotta Keep Reading!

It's About The LEARNING!

Wiki Skills
Originally uploaded by langwitches
I found this great blog post today through my Tech & Learning weekly update. It was written by Silvia Tolisano and also cross posted to her Langwitches blog - It's not about the Tools. It's about the Skills.  If I could shout this from the rooftops of every school building I came across, I would!  I know all of this web2.o and technology is intimidating to people who have never experienced working with it.  I get that.  I get that it is scary and could be viewed as "bells and whistles" when it comes to bringing these tools into the classroom.  How does this contribute to the learning environment?  How can we encourage the use of these tools to make sure the "goals, objectives, targets" are being met?  What if anything, will the students get out of the use of these tools?  I understand how these questions arise.

Please take a moment to read over the blog post linked that Silvia wrote.  I agree it is skill building.  I look at skills in a different light a bit, though.  I look at skills being concrete things like changing margins, adding tables to a document, etc.  Skills mentioned here are a much broader definition of the word skill.  Using these tools does teach the skill of each of the programs.  What I see as being the "outcome" if you will of all of the tools is;  learning, literacy enhancement, collaboration, engagement, as well as core curricular goals.

I really love the little posters for each type of tool.  Very creative and very visual for people like me!

If there is a learning outcome, I would never feel my time was wasted in the classroom.  It may take a lot longer to teach the tool along with the lesson, but in the long run, the kids are excited, engaged, having meaningful conversations with each other, sharing tricks they have learned, and being genuine with their learning experience.

In this day and age of the 24/7 connectedness of our youth, why would we hold them back?  Why would we want anything less for them.  Everything changes, some things faster than others, so why not be open to change?