Teacher’s Corner

Five Things to Know about Students Becoming Stars

1. As teachers you can help each student know the star he is and the star he can become.

2. All students, no matter what their circumstances or performance, need to know they are stars – that they are important.

3. Students need to know they are important just because they are who they are – that’s one kind of star.

4. Students need to know they are important because they do many things well – that’s another kind of star.

5. Teachers can find ways to show students that they are both kinds of stars.

Writing Prompts and Discussion Topics 

The following are based on the blog, “Your Child Is a Star!”

1. Imagine you are a teacher and that you want to show your students that they are important. Describe how you would do that and why you think your approach is a good one.

2. “People are important just because they are who they are,”  What do you think that sentence means? Do you agree or disagree with it?

3. “People are important because they do many thing well.”  What do you think that sentence means? Do you agree or disagree with it?

Teachers, you can use this blog in classrooms. Here are two ideas about how.

1. For middle or high school parenting or child development courses:

• Use the blog for discussion topics

• Require students to research the topics and agree or disagree with what the blog is suggesting.

2.  For all courses, especially English Language Arts:

• Use the blog for writing prompts for paragraphs, theme papers, journal entries, class starters, etc. Have students read the blog and respond to:

  • Do you agree with what is being said about kids? Do kids really act, think or feel that way?

  • Do you agree with what is being said about parents, grandparents, teachers and child caregivers? Do or should they act, think or feel that way?

  • What would be your advice on this topic?

  • What was left out of this article?

  • If you were a parent, would you use any of this information? How?

Why can this blog be a useful teaching tool?

• Students that see connections between their coursework and their lives do better in school.

• Most students will either be parents one day or have children in their lives that they care about, so the topical information can help them build their knowledge about children and parenting and develop a positive image of the type of parenting they want to do.

• The new core literacy standards adopted by most states call for frequent writing in all courses.

• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can think critically. These prompts help students practice critical thinking.

• Newly developed end-of-course assessments to be used by many states will require that students demonstrate that they can analyze what they read. These prompts help students practice analysis.