Teacher’s Corner

A message for teachers and all those who work with children in schools:

• What would life be like for you, if you truly believed that when you think for yourself and even get angry at times, your colleague will stick with you?  If you deeply believed that being an independent thinker at school won’t also mean losing the respect and friendship of colleagues?

• What if these beliefs stuck with you and would show up every time you are faced with solving a difficult problem at school?

• What if these beliefs helped you teach your students how to say no or be angry without hurting themselves or others?

WOW!

For your students: writing prompts and discussion topics about thinking for oneself

1. What are some things that a teacher can say or do that would help students your age think it is OK to have their own ideas, even if they are different from those of others?

2. What are some things that students get angry about at school? What can students say or do to let teachers know that they need help when they are angry?

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.