Teacher’s Corner

The following are writing prompts and discussion topics you can use to help students think about being at their best.

When you take care of yourself, you can take better care of a pet, help out a friend, do chores at home, or be a good student.

Think about the times it has been hard for you to do any of these things. Some of the things that might come to mind are 1) not getting enough sleep, 2) being sick, 3) wanting to be somewhere else or doing something else, 4) feeling unappreciated, 5) thinking you are being asked to do too much.

1. Which of these things do you think affects students your age?  

2. Is there something missing from the list that you think should be added?

3. Pick one thing from the list and describe  how you could correct that problem if you were experiencing it.

4. Pick one thing from the list that you would need help with in order to correct the problem. What kind of help would you need?

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.