Category Archives: Resources

New Study: Stress Disrupts Human Thinking

A new neuroimaging study on stressed-out students suggests that male humans, like male rats, don’t do their most agile thinking under stress. The findings, published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, show that 20 male M.D. candidates in the middle of preparing for their board exams had a harder timeContinue reading “New Study: Stress Disrupts Human Thinking”

New Study Shows Importance of Recess

While any reader of this blog knows the importance of recess, it’s always nice to read a new study that backs that claim. The study, “School Recess and Group Classroom Behavior,” which was just released on January 26 and published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, “suggests that recess may playContinue reading “New Study Shows Importance of Recess”

Good News to Start off 2009–Private School Changes Homework Policy after Talk by Alfie Kohn

I recently heard from Alfie Kohn that he spoke to teachers, administrators, and parents at an independent school in the Northwest. After that visit, the lower school division director wrote to the parents: As a result of Kohn’s visit and our discussions, and after I did even more research from other books and articles fromContinue reading “Good News to Start off 2009–Private School Changes Homework Policy after Talk by Alfie Kohn”

Where are all the Children in the Parks?

I have an opinion piece posted on the National Wildlife Federation’s Green Hour Blog: Do you ever take a walk in the park and wonder where all the school-age children are? Do you walk by playgrounds in your neighborhood and notice that there aren’t any school-age children there either? I do and it breaks myContinue reading “Where are all the Children in the Parks?”

Australian School Includes an “Opt-out” Clause in its Homework Policy

Here’s a good homework policy from a newly opened school in Australia. The policy includes an “opt-out” clause, a clause I think all policies should contain. It states, “In recognition of other demands on our students, we support individual students, with parent support, formally ‘opting out’ of the set homework.”

What to Do with Those Pesky “Contracts” from the Teacher

Last night, my daughter brought home a “contract” titled “Classroom Rules” from her 9th grade French teacher. The contract was to be signed by both the student and the parent/guardian. According to the Rules, “If [a student] chooses to break a rule [s/he] earns a zero for the day.” As readers of this blog know,Continue reading “What to Do with Those Pesky “Contracts” from the Teacher”

Get A DVD of the Stressed Out Students’ Conference

I just watched the DVD of the Fall, 2008, Stressed Out Students conference, with keynote speeches by David Elkind, author of The Hurried Child and The Power of Play, Dr. Ken Ginsburg, author of A Parent’s Guide to Building Resilience in Children and Teens, Dr. Madeline Levine, author of The Price of Privilege, and DeniseContinue reading “Get A DVD of the Stressed Out Students’ Conference”

In Reading, One Size Does Not Fit All

This is not the first time I’m linking to one of my favorite education bloggers, Donalyn Miller. Her most recent column One Size Does Not Fit All: Ways to Make Reading Assignments More Engaging for All Levels of Students addresses the problems of English classes assigning the same novel to the whole class. One SizeContinue reading “In Reading, One Size Does Not Fit All”