Teacher’s Corner
The following are writing prompts and discussion topics you can use to help students think about relaxation.
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Think about 2 times recently when you felt very relaxed. What was that like?
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Thinking about times in your past that you felt relaxed, what conditions helped you relax? For example, were you in a quiet place, a favorite place, with certain people, etc.? What are two things you think you can do to help yourself relax. Make at least one of those things be something you can do at school.
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Do you believe people can “learn” to relax? Why or why not?
If you do believe people can learn to relax, you can try it out by spending the next two weeks practicing the things you mentioned in question #2. The first week, do one thing over and over again. Do another thing the second week. After the two weeks, think about how each thing worked for you.
Teachers, you can use this blog in classrooms. Here are two ideas about how.
- 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.
- 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.
Picture Book Parenting 