Every year has its share of stories that profoundly impact us. And stories about our schools and our children particularly touch our emotions.
With a new administration in Washington, a global economic recession and the increasing influence of technology in our society, 2009 was bound to have more than its fair share of stories that would impact our schools.
Here are 10 we believe most profoundly impacted the education world in 2009.
Although forest kindergartens—kindergartens that require students to spend several hours outdoors each day—are common in Austria, Germany and Scandinavia, the concept is a new one in the United States.
The Waldorf School, a private school in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., has taken the concept to heart, and opened a forest kindergarten in September. According to Liz Leyden, writing for The New York Times, the school requires students to spend three hours outside every day and focuses on nature-based, outdoor education. Students plant gardens, study animals and insects, and enjoy the fresh air. Sigrid D’Aleo, a teacher at the school, says the students have improved their motor skill development and social skills through “more imaginative play,” Leyden reports.
Play-Based Learning
Play-based learning has been implemented in Norway, Scotland and Australia. The concept makes environmentalism accessible to toddlers, while giving their brains a break from the rigors and monotony of the classroom. Play-based learning also incorporates aspects of the “green” trend. School gardens, for example, give students playtime outdoors, and provide lessons in horticulture and environmentalism.
Outdoor Playtime in Danger
Forest kindergarten is in stark contrast to research reported in May 2008 that showed that U.S. day care programs were not letting children play outside for surprising reasons. The research added to concerns over childhood obesity and inactivity. Researchers from the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center found that children are kept indoors if they are wearing flip flops instead of sneakers, or are not wearing the appropriate clothing or coat for outdoor play.
Rather than merely watching media or reading information on the Web, kids today want to interact with media and information—and create their own. Fortunately, the scope and quality of Web sites that provide a forum for child-generated content has never been better. Are you looking for kid-friendly sites that are both educational and entertaining? Read on to find sites that provide a portal for content created by kids that will keep them engaged while they learn.
Civic Involvement and Social Networks
PBS’ Speak Out Web site, which launched during the 2008 presidential election, “is a youth collaborative project to create a digital open letter to our presidential administration.” The site encourages 6 to 12-year-olds to share their ideas on how President Obama should deal with important issues, such as health care and education. Ideas are voted on, and those receiving the highest number of votes are then “featured on pbs.org/speakout in the form of a message to our President.”
Think social networking is only for adults? Not anymore. The My LEGO Network is a social networking portal for children that allows them to “create and control” their own Web pages. “You can collect, build, and trade with virtual items. You mail with your friends, and show off your creativity to the whole wide world!” the site explains. Users can also compose music and make stickers or virtual LEGO structures.
Documentary and Photography
BYkids encourages kids to create socially conscious films. Five kids per year are paired with “master filmmakers” that act as mentors in the making of “short documentaries that educate Americans about globally relevant issues.” Kids aged 8-21 are selected from around the world to participate in the month-long projects. Film subjects are decided on by “UNICEF and a group of nationally-recognized journalists, filmmakers, teens and non-profit leaders,” according to the nonprofit organization’s Web site. Once completed, the films are distributed at film festivals, for TV broadcast and “DVD distribution, school programs and web downloads,” targeting at least two million viewers.
The nonprofit organization Kids with Cameras “teaches the art of photography to marginalized children in communities around the world.” There are many benefits of photography, including empowering children by building their confidence and self-esteem, and giving them a sense of hope for the future by tapping into their imaginations, the organization’s Web site suggests. Kids with Cameras shares children’s photos in “exhibitions, books, websites and film,” and works to improve children’s communities by partnering with “local organizations” and donating print sales.
When Wolfram|Alpha announced its first-ever Homework Day, we took notice.
Homework Day is a live, interactive Web event that will feature step-by-step tutorials showing educators how to use Wolfram|Alpha in the classroom. It will also present panel discussions on the future of education. The event takes place tomorrow, Wednesday, Oct. 21, starting at noon CDT.
What is Wolfram|Alpha, you ask? That’s the best part: Rather than a search engine, it calls itself a “computational knowledge engine” that makes “it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything.” By collecting and curating objective data, models, methods and algorithms, the site aims to provide “definitive answers to factual queries” in the areas of math, physics, chemistry, geology, geography and even history. Simply enter your “completely free-form input” and the site promises to deliver “powerful results … with maximum clarity.”
The news media loves to ponder whether Bing or anyone else can ever dislodge Google as the top commercial search engine. But as Wolfram Alpha’s promise of “definitive answers to factual queries” shows, while Google may forever be the best search engine to use in most cases, there are a number of specialty search engines that will almost always produce better search results than Google in particular cases.
That’s why we created SweetSearch. It’s a more selective search engine that was built with students and academic research in mind. All of the 35,000 Web sites included in SweetSearch have been evaluated for content, quality and reliability. By combining human insight with search engine technology, SweetSearch excludes distracting clutter. It allows students to focus on determining which results are most relevant to their research, rather than waste time evaluating sites that are not worth their consideration. Due to the fact that SweetSearch only searches a small slice of the Web, sometimes a broader search engine will be a better place to start a search. But for research queries, SweetSearch will often display on the first page a “Eureka” result that may be buried many pages deep in a broad search engine.
Now educators and students have two tools to add to their online research arsenal, for times when a broad, commercial search engine doesn’t quite get the job done: Wolfram|Alpha for computations and SweetSearch for information.
On March 11, 1977, Hamaas Abdul Khaalis, leader of the Nation of Islam splinter group Hanafi Movement, ended a three-day siege of three buildings in Washington, D.C. Twelve Hanafi gunmen had taken 149 people hostage, two of whom were killed.
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On March 10, 1949, a jury found U.S.-born Nazi propagandist Mildred E. Gillars, the radio broadcaster known as “Axis Sally,” guilty of treason.
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With Facebook supplanting grief counselors as an outlet for grieving teens, schools need to participate in the process.
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More colleges are adopting need-blind admissions policies, but many still take financial needs into consideration, emphasizing the importance of a streamlined financial aid process.
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Many people are rediscovering the benefits of board games, while teachers are incorporating board games into lesson plans.
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With many kids witnessing adults losing jobs and families losing homes, now is an opportune time to teach kids smart money management skills.
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During the 1950s and ‘60s, African-Americans campaigned for an end to racial discrimination through a series of non-violent protests and marches. The Civil Rights Movement culminated with the passage of federal laws banning discrimination in voting, employment, housing and other sectors of American society.
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At some point in their academic careers, all students will be required to write a biography. In this guide, learn how to write a biography with tips for every phase of the process, from planning to research and writing. And because a biography is only as good as the author’s research, find links below to the best sources of biographical information on the Web, including interviews and obituaries.
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Rupert Murdoch and his conglomerate News Corporation own divisions in every form of today’s media: book publishing, newspapers, television and the online social networking venture MySpace. Whether fan or detractor, few can dispute the power that Murdoch holds in the industry.
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Violinist Pablo Sarasate is a figure of tremendous national and international regard. The distinctly Spanish flavor of his compositions, combined with his masterful technique and elaborate musical arrangements, have earned him a well-deserved place in the classical music hall of fame.
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It's been more than 50 years since the blond-haired, blue-eyed, impossibly proportioned Barbie doll hit the market. She's held many jobs, lived in many homes, driven several cars and weathered her share of criticism, but she remains an extremely popular toy.
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When he became the first man to orbit the Earth in 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin took the lead in the space race, shocking Americans, and making Russians proud. Years later, the world learned how dangerous his mission really was.
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