Eye check up session for school children

It is necessary for everyone to have regular eye examinations as it is related to the most important sense of sight or vision and early diagnose of any related issue is better as it can be treated soon.
School going children need to have eye exam or eye checkup on regular bases because if a child can’t see or read clearly, that prevents him/her from achieving full potential, which makes early detection and treatment of any vision problems really critical.

A Medical Team from "Dhaka Eye Care Hospital" conducted a day long Free Eye Check Up Program' for the students of 'Premier School Dhaka, Malibagh branch. The event was conducted to raise awareness among parents about the importance of eyes health and early diagnosis of any vision related problems. For example refractive error (eye power problem) in children between 5 to 15 years of age is an important public health problem in Bangladesh. According to WHO global statistics, it is estimated that there are approximately 1.3 million children having visual impairment due to refractive error in Bangladesh.

Spring vegetable show and mini master chef competition

Cooking is a development and learning tool adopted by many schools in the world. The best way of learning is by touching, tasting, feeling, smelling, and listening and cooking offers use of all these senses. Children love activities relating to cooking because they can use all their senses.

Our 'Spring vegetable show and mini master chef Plan' was made few days ago, and we decided to add more activities for this evnet. Cooking and baking is part of our curriculum at our school so learning objectives were to teach kids about local and seasonal vegetables, few spices, variety of eggs and then making omelet with these ingredients.

March 3rd, Thursday was not a very bot day but as we arranged all the activities at outdoor, sunlight became uncomfortable after 10 am. Still all kids, few parents and teachers were excited to participate in activities.
In the ground we set up the tables with vegetables, few fruits, different kind of eggs, spices for omelet making, coriander leaves, mint leaves, soy sauce, tomato sauce.

Importance of an educational psychologist in a school

According to a report from NCLD (National Center for Learning Disabilities) 'Today 57% of students with disabilities spend more than 80% of their day in general education classrooms, yet general education teachers consistently report that they do not have the skills they need to effectively instruct diverse learners, including students with disabilities.
So general education teachers must understand how to work with a growing population of diverse students. As students with learning disabilities are often overlooked or misunderstood. Understanding the implications of learning disabilities, preparing to teach students with diverse characteristics, and learning to accommodate students with learning disabilities are essential for general teachers.

A field trip to dentist

Monday, 10th of November, our field trip to dentist started at around 9.30 am in the morning showing a Sesame Street video to children about oral/ dental health at school. They also watched the rhyme 'Every day I brush my teeth'.

Before starting our field trip to dentist, we learned about oral health or role of a dentist.

We knew what 'dentist' do. "Dentists are doctors who specialize in oral health/hygiene."
Oral hygiene is the practice of keeping the mouth and teeth clean to prevent dental problems, most commonly, dental cavities, gingivitis, and bad breath.
The responsibilities of a dentist include:

• Diagnosing oral diseases. 
• Promoting oral health and disease prevention. 
• Creating treatment plans to maintain or restore the oral health of their patients. 
• Monitoring growth and development of the teeth and jaws. 
• Performing surgical procedures on the teeth, bone and soft tissues of the oral cavity.

What are the warning signs that your child is being bullied?

Unless your child tells you about bullying or has visible bruises or injuries it is difficult to know if your kid is being bullied. Many children, particularly boys and older children, do not tell their parents or adults at school about being bullied. Parents might notice kids acting differently or seeming anxious, or not eating, sleeping well, or doing the things they usually enjoy. There are more warning signs which parents and teachers need to check.
First let's learn what kind of bullying your child can face at school?

Bullying can take many forms, such as ---

1. Hitting and/or punching (physical bullying)
2. Teasing or name-calling (verbal bullying) 
3. Intimidation using gestures or social exclusion (nonverbal bullying or emotional bullying); and 
4. Sending insulting messages by phone or computer e-mail (cyber bullying)

Parents might notice kids acting differently or seeming anxious, or not eating, sleeping well, or doing the things they usually enjoy. When kids seem moodier or more easily upset than usual, or when they start avoiding certain situations, like taking the bus to school, it might be because of a bully.
When kids seem moodier or more easily upset than usual, or when they start avoiding certain situations, like taking the bus to school, it might be because of a bully.

Warning signs which tell that a child is being bullied:

• Sudden loss of interest in school and school work.
• Frequently complains of physical ailments such as headaches and stomach aches.
• Begins having unexplained nightmares or experiences troubling going to sleep.
• Comes home appearing depressed, moody, sad or teary eyed without provocation.
• Has scratches, bruises, cuts or scrapes that can’t be explained.
• Appears afraid to go to school.
• Sudden loss of appetite with bouts of anxiety.
• Has torn or damaged clothes or missing belongings.
• Has few or no friends. 
• Unexplained injuries
• Lost or destroyed clothing, books, electronics, or jewelry
• Frequent headaches or stomach aches, feeling sick or faking illness
• Changes in eating habits, like suddenly skipping meals or binge eating. Kids may come home from school hungry because they did not eat lunch.
• Difficulty sleeping or frequent nightmares
• Declining grades, loss of interest in schoolwork, or not wanting to go to school
• Sudden loss of friends or avoidance of social situations
• Feelings of helplessness or decreased self esteem
• Self-destructive behaviors such as running away from home, harming themselves, or talking about suicide

Any combination of these warning signs may almost be a definite indication that your child is or has been bullied. However, the best course of action is to talk to your child. You can start with some indirect questions that are more like a conversation than anything.
If you suspect bullying but your child is reluctant to open up, find opportunities to bring up the issue in a more roundabout way. For instance, you might see a situation on a TV show and use it as a conversation starter, asking "What do you think of this?" or "What do you think that person should have done?" This might lead to questions like: "Have you ever seen this happen?" or "Have you ever experienced this?" You might want to talk about any experiences you or another family member had at that age.

Let your kids know that if they're being bullied or see it happening to someone else it's important to talk to someone about it, whether it's you, another adult (a teacher, school counselor, or family friend), or a sibling.

Reference and more information: http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/warning-signs/index.html


Related articles
Warning Signs Your Child is Being Bullied and Help (auctionshunter.wordpress.com)
Bullying (maycares.wordpress.com)

What are the situations when parents start annoying teachers?

I am a parent plus teacher and I can judge the situation when parents are not co-operative and make situation annoying for teachers. Parents can help teacheres following the rules and regulation established by the school authorities, as most of the conflicts happen because parents don't care about following it.

These are situations when parents start annoying teachers and they wished parents wouldn't do:
Bring their kids to school late
"When a child is late every day by more than 15 minutes, it takes them out of the routine and ritual of the morning," says Otis Kriegel, a veteran New York City teacher and founder of theK5.com, a website that provides tips for parents of elementary-school-age kids.
"If a child is struggling in class, either academically or emotionally, this is more detrimental to their success."
It's also not OK for kids to miss important school days — state tests, curriculum-related field trips and the like, Kriegel says. Also, please get your child back to school when classes resume after vacation (if you have to miss a day, he says, miss the last day before break).
Fail to stay on top of homework and class communications
Katje Lehrman, a kindergarten teacher in Los Angeles, urges parents to check their kids' backpacks every day. "Children often use their backpacks the way homeless people use shopping carts," she says. Chances are very good they contain notices, incomplete homework, toys that should stay at home, and other things. I've even found fruit decomposing in a backpack when it started to leak in the closet.
Have a 'Goldilocks' problem with homework — be too much or too little involved
Phillip Done, a teacher and the author of "Close Encounters of the Third-Grade Kind," says homework that's full of mistakes is OK. "If you do it for them and it comes back perfect, the teacher doesn't know what to work on," he says. "Better full of mistakes than perfect."
Just as you don't want to do your kid's homework, make sure you also encourage and monitor it, says Candice Broom, who's both a parent and a substitute teacher at an international school in Laos. And please, don't ask a teacher to assign more homework. That's just weird (and yes, parents do it).
Expect the teacher to do more than teach
Teachers are responsible for a lot of students. They are not responsible for, say, your child's jacket. "I often have parents e-mail or call and ask me to go to the lost and found to find their child's clothing," says Courtney Graham, a San Francisco-area teacher. "I even had a parent leave a message one morning right after school started to ask me to check to be sure her child's shoes weren't too tight, and if they were, to go down to the lost and found and find him a bigger pair to 'borrow.'"
Abuse e-mail or phone calls
Phillip Done knows a teacher who received more than 200 e-mails from a parent. Other teachers talk about receiving updates on, say, how many pieces of toast Elmer ate in the morning, and his resulting energy level — that sort of thing. E-mail is for letting the teacher know your child has a doctor's appointment, or that his lunch is in the office, Done says. If you want to talk about concerns you have with your child, make an appointment instead. (And yes, you can use e-mail for that.) Also, new technologies like Facebook are fun, but please don't "friend" the teacher.
* At our school we teachers offer a consult timing at late evening to discuss learning related matters but it is a very common practice that many parents call us just to know if tomorrow shool is closed or not? (They often don't check the diaries, notices or holiday routines)
Hijack the morning or afternoon
Teachers don't have free time right before and after school. They're readying the classroom, planning lessons and doing other vital things. That's not a good time to chat with a teacher about anything. If you need a meeting, or want to talk about something, arrange an appointment.
Behave badly at birthdays
Though most parents know not to celebrate their own birthdays in school, sometimes they throw parties for their kids that are disruptive. Julie Rebboah, a former teacher and president of Lightning Bug Learning, wishes parents wouldn't send cakes that need cutting, or jugs of juice that need to be poured. Presents and balloons are for the party at home. "And please don't be mad at me when we can't have a full birthday party at school," she says. "My job is to teach, and the kids are at school to learn."
Wait until the last minute to ask for assistance
If your child needs individual tutoring before a test, or has an academic problem that needs to be solved, don't wait until the last minute. Dr. Richard E. Bavaria, Sylvan Learning's senior vice president for education outreach, cringes when he sees that happen. "Any time adults wait to alleviate an academic problem, the child is ill-served," he says. "When you suspect a child is having a problem, get help right away before the child's learning and confidence are affected."
Believe the worst about a teacher or school
In his 40 years as an educator, Bavaria has heard his share of crazy rumors — that there's a suspension quota a principal has to fill, or the biology teacher makes kids dissect live frogs. He and other teachers urge parents to assume good intentions on the part of the school.
Forget who the teacher is serving
Some parents devour the teacher's time and energy not because their student is in need, but because the parents feel in need of TLC. As warm and wonderful as many teachers are, they are not a parent's support system.
Putting yourself in teacher's shoes would bring solution to these annoying situations.
Fortunately, most parents are considerate and understand that teachers are juggling a lot, several teachers told me. In case you've been accidentally annoying, don't fret. You can make up for it.
 
Sources (with the courtesy of): By 'Martha Brockenbrough'-10 Things Parents Do to Annoy Teachers -MSN 's 'Moms Home Room'

How we can successfully recycle at school?

How can we recycle and save our money, resources and environment?
Teachers can teach their children to reduce resource consumption, reuse where it is possible and utimate result is that there is less wastage and rubbish. We can learn to recycle objects near and around our classroom, and school.

 

Recycling is only one of the things we can do about waste. It is about the 3Rs -

1. reduce resource consumption
2. maximise resource reuse
3. increase the percentage of waste they recycle

How we can successfully recycle at school:

 

Reduce

• Rather than asking pupils to start a new page for each piece of work, get them to rule off below previous work and continue on the same page.
• Develop strategies that encourage your children not to throw written work away as soon as they make a mistake.
• Cut the amount of paper used by your school through greater use of I.C.T., both in lessons and for administration.
• Cut down on photocopying. Ask yourself whether it is the best way of presenting the information to your class. Would using Powerpoint or an OHP be better? If you do need to photocopy, do it double-sided whenever practical.
• Is it necessary to print everything that's done in the I.C.T. room out onto paper? And if so, could it be printed double sided?
• When sending home letters, combine information into one letter rather than sending three separate letters. Ensure that families only get sent one copy and consider whether it is feasible to send information by other means e.g. e-mail.
• About one fifth by weight of most schools' waste consists of food. If your school has a lot of food waste, could this be because pupils are being given portions that are too big or that they are being given things that they don't want to eat?
• Talk to the people who do the catering for your school about buying food with less packaging on.
• Aim towards 'waste-free lunches' for those who bring a packed lunch. Encourage children not to bring more food than they can eat and to use reusable bottles and flasks for drinks instead of individual cartons or cans. They could also be asked to use reusable airtight containers for snacks and packed lunches instead of disposable wrappers.
• Give careful thought to what is sold in your school tuck shop, both in terms of healthy eating and the amount of waste produced. Reduce the number of crisp packets in your school bin by having crisp-free days and generally limiting the number of packets eaten per child, promoting fruit as a healthier alternative.
• For parties at Christmas and the end of term, use washable plates and cups instead of disposable ones made from paper and plastic.
• Save money by sharing infrequently used resources with other nearby schools.

Reuse

• Always use both sides of a piece of paper, before you recycle it or throw it away. Make sure that every classroom has a 'scrap' paper tray and put paper that has only been used on one side into this, rather than putting it straight in the bin or sending it off for recycling. The paper can then be used for 'rough work' or at wet playtimes. Another good place for one of these scrap trays is by the photocopier!
• Reuse items of waste in art work, and use plastic pots for growing seeds, etc. Reuse old paper which cannot be written on any more to make papier mache models or your own recycled paper.
• Provide children with reusable 'sports bottles' that can be cleaned out and refilled every day.
• Ask your office staff to reuse envelopes by sticking a label over the old address. This will save money as well as reduce the number of envelopes thrown away.
• Collect in photocopied worksheets and store them so that they can be used again in subsequent years. This will save you work too!
• Hold a bring and buy sale to raise money for your school to which people can bring old clothes, toys or books for someone else to buy and reuse.
• Request that teachers reuse paper when changing classroom displays
• Make use of rechargeable batteries and refillable print cartridges.
• More than 80 scrapstores exist throughout the UK to take in scrap materials to be used in work with children. Join your local scrapstore and persuade your 'after school club' to do the same.
• Don't just throw old school furniture in a skip. Find out if anyone else can make use of it first. Many projects exist to pass unwanted furniture to voluntary groups and people in need and there are also similar schemes for computers.
• Give old tools from the school workshops to Tools for Self Reliance who can refurbish these before sending them on to developing countries.

Recycle

• Not surprisingly, the main material thrown away by schools is paper, which makes up at least quarter of their waste. Contact the recycling officer at your local council and ask them to provide your school with a paper recycling bin or equivalent. Then, set up a system of paper collection from each classroom which can be taken to the main recycling bin at the end of each day or week. Also ask them if they are running a Yellow Woods Challenge so that you can recycle Yellow Pages directories.
• Set up a composting scheme or a worm composter for food & green waste, including all the staff's tea bags and fruit scraps. Again your local council's recycling officer may be able to help here. In some cases, compost bins can be provided to schools free of charge.
• If your school has a drinks vending machine, put a bin next to it to collect up old cans for recycling. You can even join schemes which will enable you to make money from these for your school. For more information on these, see 'What your school can do about waste' on the Waste on the Web page of this site.
• Cardboard milk cartons can also be recycled. Wash them out after use and store them for collection.
• Encourage your school to buy and use recycled paper and other recycled products. Doing so may mean that in the short term you pay higher prices for some goods but in the long term it will increase demand and lower prices. A number of websites containing information about recycled products are listed on the Waste on the Web page of this site.
• So remember to reduce, reuse and recycle your waste. It is much better to reduce waste in the first place as then there is less to deal with. Reusing things is the second best option as it saves you buying new things. After you have reduced and reused as much as you can, recycle.

The last thing that should cross your mind is to throw it in the bin!

 

Useful links:

 

* 'Online resources for recycling'

 

* 'Recycle Zone' a site for schools, children and teachers to help them learn about recycling. It is part of Waste Watch website, located at : www.wastewatch.org.uk

"The Kid;s Garden"- Helping Kids Enjoy Creative Gardening

"The Kid's Garden" is an interesting site for parents and teachers who want to teach their kids "Gardening". The articles about gardening are written well but for small children it is better to read them the information or get idea how to talk or provide relevant information about the topic. Site provides interesting features and practical advice on this subject.

'The Kid's Garden' was formed to offer a unique reference point on creative gardening for children.

This site introduces your child to the wonders of nature through gardening. With a range of scents and colours, your kids can create a place of discovery.

Check the 'site map' page to go to the different sections of the site. Topics include, Around the Garden, Ask the expert, Garden activities, learning, safety, at school, planting. For every topic there are many useful articles.

'At school' page offers few interesting articles for the teachers. Article topics are:

- Garden Recycling, Get Your School Growing, How Does the Weather Effect the Garden?, Introducing Kids To Organic Gardening, Stimulating Kids Imagination Through Gardening, Strange and Funny Plants.

Related posts:

* Gardening for kids

* Benefits of Gardening

Learn how to create a school web site- FREE at "Wiggle Bits"

Internet provides many free opportunities to build up your own web site or blog, but most of the time, tutorials are short and most of the time you need an easy way to create a web site or blog.

"Wanda Wigglebits" provides this opportunity for teachers and kids atWiggle Bits to learn how to create or build a web site.

It is a 'learn-as-you-go' project, because you are learning to do it yourself. So for teachers it is a must visit site, where you can allow your students to learn and take their assessment on the basis of what they learned from the site.

Acheienements: Site is featured at many places as an online resource in school, education and technology catagory.
More at Awards and comments link.

At many links provided by "Wanda", there are lessons to act. She says:
"If you can follow a recipe, you can build a Web site. And when you're done, you'll be on the Web not only as a surfer but as a CREATOR!"

Lessons are easy to follow, and you can not only use it to learn to create web site for school, but for yourself or small business purpose, this tutorial can help you a lot.
Get Started link