Useful tools and techniques to integrate technology in classroom

Integrating technology in classroom is only possible when teachers are well trained to adopt tech ideas and well informed about technology integrating techniques. 'Web Tech Vision' was an educational technology company offering Tools for TEKS:Integrating Technology in the Classroom'. Company is owned by Wesley Fryer who is still engaged in sharing information for

This website is now maintained for K-16 educators interested in the effective use of technology in the classroom.

Go to archive page directly to select the pages or tutorials you are interested in.

Other pages of the site:

* Tools

* 'Tools and techniques' covers all the topics which a teacher may need to learn for technology integration ie: Basics, Sample Lessons, Locating Websites, Multimedia, Print Publication, Creating Websites, Data Management, Computer Classroom, Administrative Resources, Intellectual Property, Good Websites, Internet Safety, Other Tech Tools, Handhelds in the Classroom, 1 to 1 Computing etc.

* Successful and Safe Educational Blogging

'"Moving at the speed of creativity" is Wesley Fryer's blog. He uses this site to digitally document his own journey of learning and collaborate with other educators and lifelong learners around the globe.

The blog focuses primarily on issues related to engaged learning, web 2.0 technologies, digital storytelling, educational leadership, literacy, blended learning, creativity, appropriate uses of educational technologies, digital citizenship, and educational transformation.

Use kids search engines to find child safe sites

Either you are a teacher, parent or student and scouring the internet for any kind of information, better to start searching at 'Kids Search Engines' which provide child safe and family friendly links. Kids or students are also advised to use these safe search engines for search purposes.

• Smart Zone:  These Web sites have been specifically selected for educational use by EdView.  
• 'KidsClick' :  Excellent site created by librarians with a search engine of appropriate educational sites for students.
• K-12 INFOMINE Search Screen:  This is a searchable collection of instructional web sites
• Berit's Best Sites for Children: Search page:  Seach Berit's Best Sites.
  
• Education Planet - The Education Web Guide:  This is a searchable collection of educational web sites.
  
 
• Education World:  Large web site of educational links and a search engine feature to search these links.

• SuperKids SuperSearch:  This is a collection of educational web sites with a search feature as well as categories.
• K-12 World! SecureSearch™ :  A SecureSearch is safer for students and other users because it does not search the entire Internet, only those sites that have been approved for educational use.
  
• Schoolwork.org:  This is a searchable site of educational web sites.
  
• Awesome Library - Education Search Engine:  Database of 110,000+ sites related to educational topics.
  
• Awesome Library - K-12 Education Directory for Kids:  Search engine with a kids category. (limited results)
  
• Blue Web'n Refined Search :  Search engine of good educational sites, with ratings and grade levels. However, this is a fairly small database, so use one or two keywords only.
  
• StudyWeb:  Doesn't give descriptions with first search results and some terms were hard to guess at the relevance. But the next level gives good descriptions of sites with ratings and approximate grade level provided.
  
• ThinkQuest:  This is a collection of educational sites created by middle and high school students for the ThinkQuest Contest.
  
• LookSmart: Exploring World - Reference & Education k-12 - For Teachers - curriculum content:  This is a search engine that searches educational curriculum content information gathered by educational sites.
  
• LookSmart: Exploring World - Reference & Education k-12 - For Teachers - Lesson Plans:  This is a search engine that searches lesson plans gathered by a number of educational sites.
• The WWW Virtual Library:  Searchable collection - may not be just geared to kids
  

Source: 'Educational Search Engines'

Useful links:
* 'Kids search engines and directories

* 'Ivy's Kids Search Engine Resources

* 'Child-Safe Search Engines and Educational Directories'

* A List of Education Search Engines

Parents can help their kids be more creative

Creativity is one of those human skills which can be developed with simple techniques. Parents and teachers can play an important role for development of creativity among kids. As kids stay with parents for long hours, parents can help their kids become creative.

The following are some positive ways parents can foster and nurture the growth of creativity:

* Encourage curiosity, exploration, experimentation, fantasy, questioning, testing, and the development of creative talents.

* Provide opportunities for creative expression, creative problem-solving, and constructive response to change and stress.

* Prepare children for new experiences, and help develop creative ways of coping with them.

* Find ways of changing destructive behavior into constructive, productive behavior rather than relying on punitive methods of control.

* Find creative ways of resolving conflicts between individual family members' needs and the needs of the other family members.

* Make sure that every member of the family receives individual attention and respect and is given opportunities to make significant, creative contributions to the welfare of the family as a whole.

* Use what the school provides imaginatively, and supplement the school's efforts.

* Give the family purpose, commitment, and courage.

How Adults "Kill" Creativity:

* Insisting that children do things the "right way." Teaching a child to think that there is just one right way to do things kills the urge to try new ways.

* Pressuring children to be realistic, to stop imagining. When we label a child's flights of fantasy as "silly," we bring the child down to earth with a thud, causing the inventive urge to curl up and die.

* Making comparisons with other children. This is a subtle pressure on a child to conform; yet the essence of creativity is freedom to conform or not to conform.

* Discouraging children curiosity. One of the surest indicators of creativity is curiosity; yet we often brush questions aside because we are too busy for "silly" questions. Children questions deserve respect.

Creative Behavior of Young Children

Young children are naturally curious. They wonder about people and the world. By the time they enter preschool, they already have a variety of learning skills acquired through questioning, inquiring, searching, manipulating, experimenting, and playing. They are content to watch from a distance at first; however, this does not satisfy their curiosity. Children need opportunities for a closer look; they need to touch; they need time for the creative encounter.

We place many restrictions on child's desire to explore the world. We discourage them by saying "Curiosity killed the cat." If we were honest, we would admit that curiosity makes a good cat and that cats are extremely skilled in testing the limits and determining what is safe and what is dangerous. Apparently children, as well as cats, have an irresistible tendency to explore objects, and this very tendency seems to be the basis for the curiosity and inventiveness of adults. Even in testing situations, children who do the most manipulating of objects produce the most ideas and the largest number of original ideas.

Source: Fostering Academic Creativity in Gifted Students

Search engines for educational, academic and scholar research

Internet is a powerful tool for students, researchers, scholars and academics offering easy access to a wealth of information. But at first attempt it is really time consuming to look only for academic resources or educational stuff as search engines grab hundreds or thousands results which include relevant but paid search results which may not fulfill your needs.

All search engines do not search the same material. Some search engines are more useful to students and researchers because they search pre-screened material, including scholarly databases and government documents. Using academic quality search engines is important because not all information published on the Internet is authoritative and accurate. Collaborative websites, such as Wikipedia, can be edited by anyone and often are not reviewed by experts. Websites may be published online without an external review for reliability.

Many sites do not include information on their authors, which makes it difficult to assess the writer’s qualifications in the field. Some links returned by search engines lead to spam sites that contain off-topic or unhelpful information or advertising links.

Academic and educational search engines and web directories provide research-quality content from websites that are screened by educators and experts in a particular field. These search tools also search the “invisible web”, which is material not available through general search engines. The invisible web contains information included in search able databases and archives. By using these search engines and web directories, students and teachers can obtain research quality information without the difficult task of weeding out non-authoritative and spam sites. Users can be sure that these search engines will not return the spam sites, junk sites, or sites of dubious quality and research value that broader search engines may return.

• Google Scholar: For broad searches of scholarly material. Returns journal article and book citations to point researchers to useful material. Users can set Google Scholar’s library preferences to include material from their institution.
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• Microsoft Academic Search: Allows users to search scholarly papers, journals, and conference proceedings. Also allows searches by author. Includes links to download full-text articles when available.
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• Internet Public Library: Resources reviewed by professional librarians. Search-able and organized by subject.
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• Infomine: Search university-level scholarly information including biological and medical sciences, business and economics, the physical sciences and engineering, government information, electronic journals, and the social sciences and humanities.
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• Intute: Search material evaluated by specialists in the subject.
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• Scirus: Research the content of scientific journals, patent information, and scientist’s websites.
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• Scitopia: Search online libraries of leading science societies, scientific journals, and conference proceedings.
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• GPO Access: Search United States government documents.
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• RefSeek: Subject directory and search engine, includes results from reference material. Allows users to search the web or documents.
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• Academic Index: Search within subject areas. Searches databases of research-quality material reviewed by educators and librarians.
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• The Infography: Search material reviewed by professors and librarians. Provides recommendations by specialists for further reading in a subject.
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• Directory of Open Access Journals: Search peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly journals.
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• Virtual Library: This search engine’s database is reviewed by subject experts.

Source: 'Start local' - Australian Business Directory & Local Business Search Engine

* Top 100 Alternative Search Engines list!

* SearchEdu.com – one of the best and largest educational and academic search sites

How search engines work and how to find specific information from search engines

To enter the world wide web you need to open a page first and enter the text or keyword to search for the stuff.  Search engines are meant to provides results within seconds but you should learn how search engines work and how you can find the specific information around the net without wasting your time.  You should also have a knowledge of topic based search engines because when you search for specific topics based information, it is advised to look for the search engines specifically dealing in those topics. If you need to search for educational links, 'Google' is always a best choice to look for any kind of information or links but if you want to omit unnecessary or prfessional links then better to go for educational search engines. At the end of this post you may check useful links section.

How Search Engines work?

 

Search engines look for your search term within the web pages they've collected and indexed. The results reflect the search engine's determination of how relevant the site's content is to your inquiry. But some search engines will rank sites higher in your results if the site pays a fee, regardless of its relevance to your terms. FTC officials say it's a savvy surfer who knows how search results are sorted and ranked. It can make a difference in which search engines you choose to use and how you interpret the results.

 

If you use Internet search engines, the FTC(Federal Trade Commission) wants you to know that:

• Some search engines have programs for paid placement and paid inclusion. 
• Paid placement means websites or URLs pay search engines for higher rankings or more prominent placements in search results.
• Paid inclusion means websites or URLs pay to be included in a search engine's pool of results available for display, but not to be more prominent.
• Sometimes, third-party partners, like other search engines or guide sites, provide listings to search engines. If a partner has its own payment arrangements with a website, it could affect the results on the search engine you use.
• Many sites indicate whether a placement is paid for. If the search engine separates some search results as "Sponsored Listings," they may be paid for placement. But keep in mind that results may be grouped under other labels. Look for terms like "featured listings," "recommended sites," "search partner" or "products and services." If those sites are ranked higher than others or placed in a more prominent location than others, it could be a tip-off that the search engine uses a paid placement program.
• You may find an explanation of the type of paid placement or paid inclusion program the search engine uses. If such a program is in use, the explanations should be easy to find and understand. If they're not and the omission bothers you, let the search engine know.
• Paid inclusion programs do not guarantee higher rankings for listings and may provide features that are useful. For example, paid inclusion programs may provide consumers with better choices if the programs allow search engines to review URLs more quickly or review websites more deeply than they would otherwise.
• You have a choice. Before you decide which search engine to use, consider whether the use of payment programs for placement or inclusion is important to you.

Download pdf version of this report: Being Frank about Search Engine Rank

 

These facts and tips are provided by ftc.gov (Federal Trade Commision) for the benefits of consumers, so you can judge how search engines work and to what extent you can trust at their results.

Useful links and resources:

* All of these links lead to sites that contain specific information that may not turn up when you do a general search of the Web using Altavista, Yahoo, and other search engines and directories. 'Specialized Search Engines and Directories'

* You can find catagorized list of search engines at: 'Search Engine Guide'

* 'Virtula Sites' presents : Education search engines

A site for histroy enthusiastics - Random History

Learning about history or historical facts may seem a boring topic but it is true that ------

- 'History Helps Us Understand People and Societies'
- 'History Helps Us Understand Change and How the Society We Live in Came to Be'

'Random History' is a site which provides a selection of history facts on random topics.

What they say about them?

'We believe in advancing the place of history on the Internet and strive to fulfill this purpose. Each of our professionally trained writers and editors holds a Bachelor's degree in at least one of the following fields: history, English, or journalism. Many of them have even earned advanced degrees. Every history is carefully evaluated for accuracy and veracity and contains proper citations and references.'

Many histories and random facts available can be searched from top menu at home page. These facts and historical events are interesting and fun to read and learn like:

* Sharks have been called “swimming noses” because their sense of smell is so good (they smell with their nostrils but don’t breath through them). Some sharks can smell one part of blood in 100 million parts of water and can tell which direction that smell is coming from.

* Few Fast Food facts:

- In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food. In 2006, the spending rose to nearly $142 billion.e
- During the early 1900s, the hamburger was thought to be polluted, unsafe to eat, and food for the poor. Street carts, not restaurants, typically served them.e
- Proportionally, hash browns have more fat and calories than a cheeseburger or Big Mac.b
- At some fast food chains, both in U.S. and in other countries, managers are rewarded bonuses when they reduce employee wages to save money.g

Useful links:

* Why study History? An article from 'American Historical Association' explaining the importanc of this subject.

Learn about the world around us from - How Stuff Works?

Learning about the world around us never ends, as our world is full of lessons for us, mysteries to solve, facts to discover and lot more. Net offers millions of sites with free information about the facts around us. People who are always curious about the things around us, how they work? would love to browse the site 'How stuff works?'

“How Stuff Works” is one of those sites which is equally iformative and useful for parents, teachers, students and those who are curious to learn about the things around us.

'How Stuff Works', a wholly owned subsidiary of Discovery Communications, is the award-winning source of credible, unbiased, and easy-to-understand explanations of how the world actually works.This site was founded by North Carolina State University Professor Marshall Brain in 1998.
Mission:“Demystify the world and do it in a simple, clear-cut way that anyone can understand. “

What you get from this FREE resource?

From car engines to search engines, from cell phones to stem cells, and thousands of subjects in between, HowStuffWorks has answered it. You can find comprehensive articles, helpful graphics and informative videos on every topic. On HowStuffWorks, you can also find consumer opinions and exclusive access to independent expert ratings and reviews from the trusted editors at Consumer Guide — all of the information you need to make a purchasing decisions ¬in just a few clicks.

Achievements:

HowStuffWorks has won multiple Webby awards, was among Time Magazine’s “25 Web Sites We Can’t Live Without” in 2006 and 2007, and has been one of PC Magazine’s “Top 100 Web Sites” four times, including in 2007.

Recently, HowStuffWorks became part of the Discovery Communications family, in a merger that will make HowStuffWorks the cornerstone of Discovery’s digital platform and ultimately create a fully multimedia version of an encyclopedia, with content and video that will answer virtually any question an Internet user might have. A HowStuffWorks program on the Discovery Channel is currently in the works.

To get newsletter from the site:Link to subscribe

Use 'clusty' for better search results

In my previous posts I have reviewed and discussed about many child safe and family friendly search engines. Narrowing your search with the help of these specific search engines ensures fast and specific response to your keywords. We prefer to save our time and get only the best links within few facing pages for the relevant information. 'Clusty' is a new search engine babased on the idea of presenting group results into topics or clusters for better search.

'Clusty' queries several top search engines, combines the results, and generates an ordered list based on comparative ranking. This "metasearch" approach helps raise the best results to the top and push search engine spam to the bottom.

How it works?

Instead of delivering millions of search results in one long list, our search engine groups similar results together into clusters. Clusters help you see your search results by topic so you can zero in on exactly what you’re looking for or discover unexpected relationships between items. Rather than scrolling through page after page, the clusters help you find results you may have missed or that were buried deep in the ranked list.

You get the best results from your online search because 'Clusty' retrieves results from Ask, Open Directory, Gigablast and others. To see which search engines returned results for your query, click on the “Details” link at the top of the search results list.

Story telling for creative teachig and learning

For creative teaching and learning, storytelling can be an effective tool. It is about enabling children and young people to become good listeners, storytellers and story-makers. Most of us will agree that learning is more fun when stories are part of training. You would realize that story telling is an effective way to strengthen motivation, memory, inclusion and build community.

Storytelling is such a multi-purpose tool that it can be used with children and young people at all levels, from nursery to S6. From the youngest age, babies and toddlers enjoy listening to voices, exploring the sounds and patterns of language and communicating through eye-to-eye contact with parents and carers.

Storytelling is as old as mankind. It comes from man's need to communicate and connect.The oldest recorded storytelling (35,000 years old) was found in paintings on a cave wall in France. Storytellers of old entertained, shaped religions as well as whole cultures, and passed along the wisdom of the time. In short, they were teachers.

Digital storytelling expands on traditional storytelling by combining the art and lessons of story with a wide range of modern multimedia tools. This powerful combination excites the interest of the student and feeds the creativity of their souls.

Mario Rinvolucri explores a range of story telling techniques that he uses in the classroom and gives some insights into why these techniques are effective.
Link to the post: Story telling: the language teacher's oldest technique

* Read the post 'How to Use Story maps When Learning Both Oral and Written Stories' at: 'Creative Keys.net'
If you sign up for their FREE eclectic e-newsletter, "Portfolio Potpourri", you would get the "10 Tips of Ways to Develop Your Personal and Professional STYLE."

- Many free articles at 'Creative Keys'

Useful sites and resources:

* Many tips and ideas from: 'The scottish Story telling centre'

* 'Story telling in the classroom'

* How to Use Digital Storytelling in Your Classroom

Story telling and skill development

Story telling is another skill development tool which teachers or parents can use effectively. Active learning and creativity are at the core of storytelling. It is about enabling children and young people to become good listeners, storytellers and storymakers. Storytelling is fun and stimulates the imagination.

Storytelling is engaging and motivates children to learn, as well as stimulating an interest and skills in writing and reading. Using stories of increasing complexity and length from a range of story genres encourages progressive learning through and between levels.

Storytelling and storymaking help teachers to meet the Listening and talking experiences and outcomes of Literacy across learning, Literacy and English and Health and Wellbeing across learning. They can also be used as tools for supporting learning in numeracy, science and other areas, and can lead to cross-curricular and inter-departmental collaborations.

Many storytellers, educators and researchers advocate that storytelling can contribute significantly to early literacy development.

Developing Literacy Skills Through Storytelling

Development of Imagination: When children listen to stories, they respond by creating images of the characters and places described by the words. This process of developing internal images and meaning in response to words is the basis of imagination. Researchers who study brain and behavioral development have identified imagination, not only as the essence of creativity, but as the basis for all higher order thinking.

Improvement of Reading, Writing , and Speaking Skills: Children who listen to stories are exposed to many new words. Storytelling can be used in a myriad of ways to improve students' oral communication skills. Once they have heard a story, children are usually anxious to discuss their understanding of the story and relate it their own experiences.

Strengthening of Critical Thinking Skills: A close look at traditional stories from any culture reveals stories dealing with death, loss, separation, abandonment, fear, and anger. The stories also show that love, compassion, understanding, and courage can be a part of stories as well. Students grapple with painful realities of life: parental divorce, poverty, substance abuse, the violent deaths of close friends--and stories can help them negotiate these difficulties of life and can be of inestimable value.

Stories are also effective in increasing tolerance and understanding of people from other cultures. Through the medium of story, the listener can safely explore what all human beings have in common as well as how they differ from each other.

Stories are not just incidental to the development of literacy in young people--they are essential. They are a powerful and indispensable tool to teaching literacy and critical thinking skills to students.

More at: 'National service resource.org'

* Storytelling also enhances comprehension skills.

* "When storytelling is combined with judicious questioning and retelling strategies, comprehension skills at the literal, inferential and critical levels can be developed

Useful links:

* 'Story Arts Online' says: As a learning tool, storytelling can encourage students to explore their unique expressiveness and can heighten a student's ability to communicate thoughts and feelings in an articulate, lucid manner.

* SHARING STORIES: A Storyteller’s Approach to Oral History

* The Role of Storytelling in Early Literacy Development

* The Development of Children's Story Telling Skills. Download PDF report

Story telling session with Shamim Azad

Last month a 3 day session of training with poet and story teller Mrs. Shamim Azad was held at our school. I really enjoyed the session at Play and Nursery class as it was really interactive and very useful for teachers as well. After that session I realized that 'Good storytelling can be powerful, transporting, and magical'. It was a live performance as she was not reading from a book A session with early year teachers was also very helpful and full of interactive tips/ideas.

I remember the time when my grandmother use to tell stories at bed time. I was a book worm from the very early age but I should admit that story listening was more attractive and more effective than reading from books.

Story telling:

"It is entertainment, a way of passing on a culture's history, or a way of teaching to both the young and the old. It is something that must be experienced and tried before you can fully understand it. More than anything else, storytelling is an art. An art that anyone can participate in. We all are storytellers, whether we realize it or not."

More about Shamim Azad:

She has published 7 books including novels, collections of short stories, essays and poems in Bangla. Sheffield’s Off the Shelf Festival of writing and reading 2003 described Azad as " one of Britain's best-known Bangladeshi writers in Britain".

Her profile as a poet at:  'Priyo People'
Her storytelling samples are embed at her blog at: 'My Space'

Why learning of story telling skill is useful for classrooms?

There are many good and strong reasons to learn the art of storytelling for a better classroom and few of those reasons are:

* It is empowering for a child to be able to express his or her thoughts and feelings articulately through oral language.

* The art of storytelling can be an enjoyable tool for practicing both listening skills and verbal expression.

* Teachers can effectively model interesting, expressive language for students to emulate.

* New vocabulary can be introduced and easily comprehended within a story's context.

* Diverse ways in which language is used can be depicted in folktales, including instructions, recipes, secrets, riddles, warnings, questions, and explanations.

* People learn new skills when they are interested in the topic or when it is useful to them. Finding folktales to tell can stimulate reading and research interest. Folktale collections can be found in the 398.2 section of library.

* Storytelling is a way to emphasize the uniqueness of each person's imagination.

* Imagination can generate language.

* Comprehension, or the ability to make sense of a story's plot, is facilitated by being able to mentally map the story's main events.

Online Story telling resources:

* A site from "Tim Sheppard" with articles, links and information about ancient art of story telling.

* 'Story Center.org'

Check more resources and information in my next post!

'Spark Notes' -helping students in school work

The best way of helping students in school work is to get guides, helping notes, extra study material, flash cards, and quiz questions to check the knowledge about specific topic.

For school and college going students, 'Spark Notes' is an awesome home work help site. They help the students understand books, write papers, and study for tests.

Mission: (In their own words)
"To help you make sense of confusing schoolwork. We are well qualified to lend a hand: we're graduates of top schools, we have advanced degrees galore, we've taught undergraduate and graduate classes, and we've edited books on Shakespeare, The Scarlet Letter, and the SAT. We work with experts to create books, blogs, quizzes, and flashcards that will help you master hard material."

What they offer:

- More than 500 guides for English literature and Shakespeare, and a vast number of guides for history, math, biology, and other subjects. These guides include quick quizzes, so you can test your retention before the test.

- No Fear Shakespeare: No Fear Shakespeare provides side-by-side translations of Shakespeare into plain English. No Fear Shakespeare is available online and in book form.

- Test Prep: We provide books and online content to prepare you for the SAT, ACT, AP Subject Tests, and GRE.

- Flashcards: These online flashcards will help you study for biology, history, literature, and SAT and ACT vocabulary.

- Miss Marm: Miss Marm, our writing expert, answers your questions, hosts fiction contests, and explains tricky grammar rules on her blog. She also tweets writing tips and news MissMarm.

- SparkTests: Learn amazing facts about yourself with their collection of SparkTests.

- SparkLife: Their blog, SparkLife, helps explain school and life with posts about homecoming, lunch, teachers, and procrastinating techniques; thoughtful advice on stupid boy/girlfriends; quizzes and polls; original articles from high school students; and blogs on Twilight, Lord of the Flies, and other popular books.

TV watching and young children

TV has become an essential part of our homes and this media is the most popular form of entertainment. Young children also become addict of tv watching as they grow. But are we neglecting the bad effects of tv watching by not monitoring the schedule of our kids sitting in front of tv?

Not only that there are many harmful effects of tv watching, it is proved by research that tv watching may cause or trigger the cause of autism among young children.

A study at Cornell University performed in 2006 showed that a statistically significant relationship exists between autism rates and television habits of children under three. Other evidence showed that the more time toddlers spent watching television the more likely they were to develop autism-related symptoms. The correlation seemed to coincide with the increased prevalence of cable television and VCR availability in homes during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

It was concluded that nearly 40 percent of autism diagnoses in the three states studied is the result of television watching." Thus the study has two separate findings: that having cable television in the home increased autism rates in California and Pennsylvania somewhat, and that more hours of actually watching television increased autism in California, Oregon, and Washington by a lot.

This is not to say that the researchers found a direct correlation between television and autism, only that there is a relationship. The researchers do not claim television to be a "cause" of autism, only that television may "trigger" symptoms. There is also no indication as to how television may be a factor so there is a lot of objection to the validity of the findings. One such retort is the possibility that indoor air quality may be a bigger factor in triggering autistic symptoms than television.

Unfortunately the researches made a pretty hefty leap of faith in their testing. Their conclusions are based on data collected in areas with high rates of precipitation. They assumed that on rainy days children spent more time inside and thus watched television during that time. This led to evidence that these areas had greater instances of autism which could lead some to argue that rain has just as much causality as television when it comes to autism.

In 2003, a survey by the U.S. Department of Education found that autism rates were higher in northern, less sunny states while southern, sunnier states had lower autism cases. This led them to wonder if the issue was more with vitamin D deficiency rather than indoor air quality, rainy weather, or television.

Despite these conclusions and the lack of any follow up studies, looking at how television affects us on a biological level as a whole is well worth investigating. Psychologist Dr. Aric Sigman analyzed 35 different scientific studies and found that television is harmful in many different ways, including the following:

• Television has been linked to eyesight damage.

• Television disrupts sleep patterns.

• Television disrupts your attention span.

• Television plays a large role in obesity and type 2 diabetes.

• Television may play a role in the development of Alzheimer's.

• Television suppresses the production of melatonin which can lead to cancerous cell mutations. Lower melatonin levels may also be a factor in why girls are reaching puberty at a much earlier age than in the 1950s.

• Brain scans show that within 30 seconds of starting to watch television, a critical part of your thinking brain shuts down.

On top of all this, a study by the American Heart Association found that watching television is as bad for your heart as smoking or high cholesterol. The numbers are staggering. For ever hour spent watching television, your risk of death increases by nearly 11 percent. Four hours in front of the television increases your risk of heart attack by 80 percent.

Related links:
* 'Does Watching TV Cause Autism?'

* 'TV Really Might Cause Autism'

* 'Cornell University research report'

* 'Children and the Media: Control the Effects of Television Watching with Literacy Programs'

* How addiction of Watching TV is affecting our lives?
* TV watching may cause psychological distress among children

Discover interesting facts around the world

There are many family friendly sites with amazing or interesting facts around the world. As internet has become an ultimate source of information, we usually find it easy to browse through the net world.

You would amazed to read or browse through these weird, amazing, interesting and fun facts like:

# No piece of normal-size paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.
# Blueberry juice boosts memory
# When cats are happy or pleased, they sqeeze their eyes shut
# Buttermilk does not contain any butter
# Before toilet paper was invented, French royalty wiped their bottoms with fine linen
# The earth is about 6,588,000,000,000,000,000 tons in weight
# A goldfish has a memory span of about 3 seconds
# There are 86,400 seconds in day
# The parachute was invented by DiVinci in 1515
# Ants never sleep
# The human brain is 80% water

Sites with interesting and fun facts

* 'Interesting facts' says about itself: 'Something similar to Wikipedia, but offering "QUALITY" interesting facts about anything that could tickle your brain. There are many facts in this world that should be known by everyone. We are trying spread the word about all the good and bad things that might interest you.'

'World Interesting Facts' give You a broad range of interesting facts around our world. You can find Animal, Plant, Human, and other Interesting Facts Around Our Life. Each category has many posts relating to that specific topic.

Few popular post titles are:

1. 10 Most Unique Plants
2. 5 Most Poisonous Plants in The World
3. Top 10 Most Expensive Comics in the World
4. 7 most terrifying roller coaster in the world
5. 5 most Cruel Animal's Mom
6. 10 Most Anticipated Amazing Games in 2010
7. 10 Most Expensive Toys in the World

You can get the updates of the site by getting free subscription to their newsletter.

Related useful links:
* 'General interesting facts'

* '40 interesting facts' at 'davesdaily'

* 'Interesting fun facts' at 'munising'

* Interesting Facts about Earth / World

Raising awareness about Autism and Asperger Syndrome among children

Shah Rukh Khan's block buster movie 'My Name Is Khan' is a theme based love story about a child with 'Asperger syndrome'. These kind of movies help raising awareness about the kids around our society with special needs. Media is playing an important role about spreading information about kids showing abnormal behaviors.

Hollywood movies about these topics are:

o Rain Man: (1988 Golden Globe Winner for Best Film) a story of Raymond Babbitt, an autistic savant, who is being cared for by his younger brother played by actor Tom Cruise.
o Mozart and the Whale: Starring Josh Hartnett and Radha Mitchell, Mozart and the Whale is a story of two individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome who develop a romantic relationship after meeting at an autism support group. Mozart and the Whale, released in 2005, has drawn praise by many in the autism community for showing that individuals on the autism spectrum can and do have happy, loving relationships.
o Snow Cake: Released in 2006, Snow Cake stars Golden Globe winner Sigourney Weaver playing the role of Linda Freeman. Freeman is a high-functioning autistic who gets entwined with an ex-convict and her small town’s harlot.
o Autism the Musical: It is a documentary that follows the lives of five children with autism that write and produce their own musical. According to Blockbuster Online, “at a time when one in 150 children born in the United States is diagnosed with autism, filmmaker Tricia Regan takes an optimistic approach to this troubling trend.”

According to the Autism Research Institute, an "autistic savant refers to individuals with autism who have extraordinary skills not exhibited by most persons.”

One in every 110 children born in the Unites States will display some form of autism spectrum disorder, making it the fastest growing developmental disability.

Asperger syndrome is a developmental disorder and one type of autism spectrum disorder. Asperger syndrome develops in childhood and can impact a child's ability to socialize and communicate normally. The difference between the two disorders is that people with Asperger syndrome develop and can use language skills, while people with autism disorder have severe delays in developing language skills as a child and often lose what they have learned as they grow.

Parents should be vigilant about monitoring all aspects of their child's development and mental health. Teachers at school can also play an important role by keeping a note of kid's mental development record to identify any kind of symptoms of disability in learning.

Symptoms of ADHD: The predominant symptoms or behaviors of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. These behaviors result in further symptoms, including difficulties with concentration, controlling behavior, and remaining focused on a task or activity. People with ADHD may also experience hyperactivity or over-activity.
More at:'Introduction to ADHD'

Symptoms of Autism: Problems with both verbal and non-verbal communication, trouble sharing emotions, lack of understanding of how others think and feel, or repetitive behaviors such as repeating words or actions and playing in repetitive ways.

o Impaired social interaction
o Not responding to name
o Not look at people
o Not smiling - note that normal newborns do not smile for several weeks
o Avoid eye contact

More at: 'Autism'

Related useful links:

* Autism Research Institute: 'Autism'

* Top 10 Health Resources on Autism Videos
* 'Top 10 Health Resources on ADHD Videos and compiled helpful research notes'
* ADHD and Autism- Is There a Connection?
* A recent 'Science Daily' report: 'Autism Problems Explained In New Research'

Letter writing and our digital age

Being in digital age, we rely on computers, laptops, PDA's and hand held devices for communication purposes. Email is the alternative way of snail mail or regular mail system. Correspondence is the way of exchanging thoughts, and delivering messages can be done electronically very fast and with ease. Letter writing is a matter of touching the keyboard but still there are many of us who love to read or write letters (hand written). This post contains some sayings or proverbs about 'letters' and there are some links to the posts or sites with love letters, funny letters, famous letters or fascinating letters.

'Letters'

- Letter writing is the only device for combining solitude with good company.
Send quote to a friend
Lord Byron (1788-1824) British poet.


- A letter is an unannounced visit, the postman the agent of rude surprises. One ought to reserve an hour a week for receiving letters and afterwards take a bath.
Send quote to a friend
Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) German-Swiss philosopher and writer.

- The word that is heard perishes, but the letter that is written remains. (Proverb)

- Letters are among the most significant memorial a person can leave behind them.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749-1832) German poet, novelist and dramatist.

- “What a lot we lost when we stopped writing letters. You can't reread a phone call.”

- A letter is an unannounced visit, the postman the agent of rude surprises. One ought to reserve an hour a week for receiving letters and afterwords take a bath.
Friedrich Nietzsche

- Letters are above all useful as a means of expressing the ideal self; and no other method of communication is quite so good for this purpose. In letters we can reform without practice, beg without humiliation, snip and shape embarrassing experiences to the measure of our own desires...
Elizabeth Hardwick

- To send a letter is a good way to go somewhere without moving anything but your heart. ~Phyllis Theroux

Read more at: 'Quote Garden'

Useful link:
'Letters of of note' is a blog offering fascinating letters, postcards, telegrams, faxes and memos. It is from 'Shaun Usher' who is a freelance writer, and blogger.

Related posts and links:

* Peruse Famous and Fascinating Letters

* 5 Fascinating Letters from the Past

* Some of the most famous love letters of all times from celebrities of their time. 'Romantic love letters'

* 'Love letters' at 'links 2love'

* Funny Letters from Famous People

* An awesome post about 'letters' at 'I, Me and Myself' blog.

* 'The Letters You Keep' is an announcement from 'Crane' saying that 'To celebrate the tradition of letter writing, we welcome you to share a treasured letter that you've received and kept. One winner will be awarded a Crane stationery wardrobe for all of his or her correspondence needs, valued at $500. Crane will award $250 worth of Crane stationery to three runners up.'

Can food choices make your kids more intelligent or smart?

Food can help you become intelligent or smart. As a parent we know that our food should have some important elements such as it should contain protein, carbohydrate, minerals and vitamins and we try to make our food menus rich and fulfilling our daily needs. Our kids are getting sufficient supply of nutritious food and sometimes very rich food which is making our new generation fatter. This article is about tips which can help you determine and check your food menu if your kids are getting the perfect food helping them become smarter and intelligent. As these foods may trigger the brain cells as well.

Foods enhancing brain workout:

Proteins

Protein is the best way to get amino acids which are essential to brain health that the body cannot synthesize itself. A high-protein diet is usually recommended to athletes as it helps to build strong muscles, so give that brain a workout with protein-rich foods!

Spinach: Along with other leafy vegetables, spinach is a good dietary source of protein. An added benefit to spinach is that it contains anti-oxidants that can dispose of free radicals.

Nuts and Seeds: Another great source of protein. Easy to snack on and readily available, nuts/seeds/whole grain foods make for a great way to easily improve your brain power.

Eggs: Not only do they contain a large amount of protein for your brain, but they also carry a great deal of choline, a member of the B-Vitamin group and responsible for maintaining the health of neurotransmitters in the brain.

Fats

We often hear that we need more “omega-3” or that a food is rich in “omega-3”, so when you hear this, know that they’re referring to a type of fatty acid which is usually considered as being food for the brain as well as having the added benefit of reducing heart disease, amongst other things.

Seeds and Nuts: Returning again, seeds and nuts are a fantastic source of fatty acids, including the omega-3 variety of fatty acid. Prime examples of nuts or seeds will include almonds and pumpkin seeds.

Fish and Shellfish: Rich in fatty acids and omega-3, fish truly is food for thought. You’ll often find that people will claim fish is the number one food to make you more intelligent. Anything Oily: Except maybe for people, you’ll find that anything that’s vaguely oily (fish, flaxseed, soya oil, virgin olive oil) will be high in fatty acids and a lot of them will also contain decent amounts of omega-3 for added brain-boosting power.

Carbohydrates

When people think of carbohydrates, they might think of the “carbs” which are bad for them because they induce weight gain. But the truth is that carbohydrates are the main source of fuel for metabolism, the body breaks down carbohydrates and is in return supplied with energy to keep going, thus keeping your brain alert and active. The problem is knowing how much to have, for having too much can indeed lead to weight gain (as can too much of anything) and a high blood/sugar level, but can be partially countered with non-starchy vegetables like broccoli, for example.

Starch-Rich Vegetables: Pastas, corn, carrots and potatoes are all high in carbohydrates and starch, providing the body (and therefore the brain) with an abundant energy source.

Whole Grain Foods: Another supply of energy can be found in common whole grain foods such as breads and cereals, things we commonly have for breakfast to give ourselves that much-needed wake-up boost in the mornings.

Minerals and Vitamins

Vitamins and minerals also contribute to the fight against harmful free radicals, as well as being full of anti-oxidants and other beneficial nutrients, they generally keep the body at its healthiest, maintaining the status quo, as it were. The building blocks of a healthy mind and body. Fruit and Vegetables: The most common and plentiful supplies of vitamins and minerals can be found in such everyday items as small portions of the most common fruits (apples, bananas, oranges, etc) and stir-fried/raw vegetables.

Vitamin Supplements: Supplements shouldn’t be frowned upon for any reason just because they come in little labeled boxes and containers. They can be an incredibly important and beneficial source of health for a person, however, it is important to stress the fact that one cannot live on supplements alone. Think of them as a booster to a well-balanced diet, greatly enhancing the effects of the nutrients contained within normal food.

Ref: 'Teaching tips'

Joy Bauer who is a registered dietitian and the author of several best-selling books, suggests:

When it comes to overall brain health, encourage kids to exercise, eat berries, and increase their intake of foods rich in omega-3 fats and folic acid. Exercise is important because it improves circulation, which increases oxygen flow to the brain.

Blueberries and other berries are powerhouses for young noggins. They’re among the best sources of anthocyanins and flavanols—chemicals that have been shown to increase connections between brain cells, enhancing learning ability and memory. Blueberries also are rich in antioxidants.

Numerous studies on omega-3s have shown that these essential fatty acids help fuel brain power and may be effective in reducing the risk of attention-deficit disorder and dyslexia. Omega-3 fats are especially abundant in salmon, sardines, fortified eggs, ground flax seeds, and walnuts.

Folic acid, a.k.a. folate, is a B vitamin that helps keep your memory sharp by lowering levels of homocysteine, a substance that can damage blood vessels and impede blood flow to the brain. Serve up an Ivy League-inspiring bowl of hearty soup brimming with lentils, beans, and broccoli, and you’ve hit the folic-acid trifecta.

Full article: 'Food to Make Kids Smart'

Related posts around the net:

* What Makes Kids Intelligent?

* 10 Bad Habits that Destruct Brain,Love your Brain

Best educational and free sites for K12 students

During my browsing for educational and resources sites, I was amazed to see so many blogs with a lot of useful information which were otherwise difficult to search around the net. 'Learning reviews' is one of those sites which is mainly a free resource site with reviews.

Site author 'Heidi Reina' is a parent, teacher, technology integrator and webmaster. She has more than 20 years of experience as a computer guru and fifteen years experience as a tutor and elementary school teacher.

Her blog 'Best Kids Educational Websites' is a source of free information and reviews for kids, parents and teachers.

Her site "Learning reviews" is a directory of educational web sites. The site helps K-12 students, teachers and parents to find worthwhile educational content appropriate to their grade levels. If offers listing of more than 2,100 mostly free educational sites.

LearningReviews.com provides a forum for reviews and ratings from you. Is the content of the educational website worthwhile? Is it easy to navigate? How did you use it in the classroom or at home?

What you can get at the site?

For Kids - Interactive learning tools in all subjects, including research paper help.
For Parents - Websites for learning support, homeschooling information & parenting skills.
For Teachers - Lesson resources from elementary school math lesson plans to high school writing

Another video sharing site for educators and students

'Teacher Tube' and 'Teachers tv' are the best video sharing sites and millions of people around the world use these kind of video sharing sites.

Now its time for 'School Tube' which is for K-12 schools and where Videos and pictures are student produced and moderator approved, The result is an appropriate site for school use.

For a teacher, it helps to see what other schools are doing.
For students it provides the opportunity to easily view work produced by other students from all across the world.

How the media is uploaded on the site?

The SchoolTube platform allows students to upload media.
An email is sent to a moderator informing them that the media is available to be viewed for approval. Only after the media has been approved by the moderator is it available for viewing on the site.

SchoolTube can be used by students, teachers, administrators, and school-related associations.

How students can use 'School tube'?

Students can use it to share media from school, about school, just for fun, or just to showcase academic, sports, and club events to family, friends, and the world!

Teachers can use it to share media right from their classroom, to integrate technology into their curriculum, to learn from recognized educational leaders, to share concepts, ideas, and lesson plans with other teachers,

SchoolTube is for principals:

who want to support their teachers, students, and community. interested in utilizing safe, moderated media onto the school's website. who want to keep up with national educational organizations and activities. to post welcome videos or pictures from their building administrators for parents and students.

Parents can help their child encourage to share media via this platform.

'School Tube' is FREE.

Videos on SchoolTube show the possibilities of what can be done in the classroom, and are a great learning and motivation tool for your entire student body. From sports to drama, assemblies to clubs, and academics to activities, you are sure to find an assortment of new student and teacher created content on it daily,

Link: 'School Tube'

Tips and useful links to help integrate technology in classroom

One of my colleagues asked me to provide links to the site which can help educators integrate Information technology in classroom. This post is written to compile the tips and useful links for all teachers/educators who are new to this topic or want to get in touch with best resources around the net. I hope that this post would help you.

* 'Free Technology for teachers' offers free technology resources and how teachers can use them also ideas for technology integration i education.

* David Andrade is the tech guy behind this awesome blog 'Educational Technology Guy' where you can find the information on topics like as: educational technology, educational theory, educational pedagogy, as well as exploring free educational technology resources, ways to integrate technology into the classroom, professional development, project based learning, and tips and resources for new teachers.

* 'Ed tech power'

* 'U tech tips' is a blog full of tech tips and fun stuff from a technology teacher.

'Subscribe' for the weekly newsletter which would provide information about U Tech Tips.

Useful posts:

* A valuable post from 'Education World': 'Get Ready to Integrate Technology-Ten Tips'

* 'Top 10 Technology Tips for New Teachers'

* iLearn Technology provides this post: 'Top 10 Technology Tips for New Teachers'

* 'Marilyn Western's' Technology Tips for Classroom Teachers

* A blog from an educator, consultant and presenter 'The Thinking Stick'

Have fun learning maths with 'math mom'

Math is really fun when you really enjoy learning it. I can feel it while doing activities at reception stages (nursery classes). These activities help children learn maths and prepare them for next levels for mental maths. Numeracy strategy has made the maths very easy and fun for young age kids because it really helps them learn maths with playful activities. I am here with a review about a blog and the person behind it 'Maria Lando' who is a math lover. I have copied many words which she said at her blog because I want the readers of this post to check the site themselves. I am sure you would be loving 'math' while having fun learning math with 'math mom'

Maria Lando is the name behind 'The math mom'. She is a working mom who loves humor and maths.

'It has been my drug, my meditation, my weapon and my best friend. It fed and dressed me, led to travel, men, lavish parties and even Cuban cigars. It has placed my name on a movie screen, put my work in museums and allowed me to manipulate things deep inside the human brain. It is called Math.

I believe that math is like reading - simple and regular daily activity guiding us on every step of our way, providing directions, bringing pleasure when encountering a masterpiece, or joy of observing a clever unexpected use. We all are much better at math that we think. And it is about time to adjust our math attitude. Math is not only for geek men in plaid shirts with thick glasses that we stereotype loosing their minds in the hands of beautiful wives and daughters. Math can be everything we make it to be: cool, hip, fun. You can use math to find a real anti-salt solution, to create treasure hunt for you kid birthday party, to check whether 30% off after 50% discount is the same as 80% off (it is not), or to justify not organizing your closet. I believe we pass math attitude the same way we pass language and traditions through generations. By finding our own peace with math, we won't be transferring our math fears down to our kids.'

Liked it?

Then read the full story yourself: 'Love, life and math'

She says: 'Math can be our friend, our tool and our weapon. We all are much better at it than we think. By finding our own peace with math we won't be transferring our math fears over to our kids. Math is for everyone to enjoy. Come play along and become a Math Mom!'

*'Math mom' at news: 'Meet the Math Mom'

Search for places to spend time with your kids

It is a good idea to plan for outdoors with your family and if you want to spend time with your kids then you need to search for the places near you. You also need to know the things or activities to do with your kid, so that well planned weekends or holidays bring real pleasure for whole family.

'Spend Day With Kids' is a site which can help you guide in this regard.

Mission: 'This web site is dedicated to help you find fun things to do and places to go with kids'

* It helps you find places to go with children in the area near you (around 100 km - 60 miles)
You can find them in two ways:

* In the search box, (for the best results) enter the city name and click the 'Show Me' button.
* Or click the 'All Attractions' and browse attractions by country

* Results will be displayed in the list and on the map provided at the site.

At the site you can find different type of children activities that are educational, cheap, fun or even free for the kids of all ages - from toddlers to teenagers.

They have large list of fun places like theme parks, family parks, water parks, zoos, nature parks, farms and other attractions through out the USA and UK.

* They have plan to include other countries from the Europe as well.

Importance of body language in teaching

One of my teaching assistant was once praising another teacher while commenting on her body language. Body language is an important tool which can help you to be a good teacher, friend or a popular confident personality. In our teaching profession we are given many trainings or participate in workshops to make our teaching more effective, techniques to make use of our body language can trigger our success as a teacher and I also believe that skill development should be a continuous process.

Free Powerpoint presentation tutorials for educational puropose

Microsoft office users know that 'PowerPoint' can be very effectively used for any kind of presentation including pictures, text, charts, graphs, sound effects and videos.
Teachers can use this software for educational purposes like as delivering classroom lessons, parent group meetings, trainings, teachers seminars, or sharing any kind of information.

PowerPoint in the classroom offers eight-unit tutorial for K-12 teachers 'how to use PowerPoint to present many different forms of information'.

Teachers can learn the basics on using PowerPoint's toolbars, laying out information, saving, moving your information to the place you'll be presenting it - and much more.

This tutorial is provided free of charge by ACT360 Media Ltd.

* You can get a print out of this tutorial for free from 'this link'

Activities and crafts for preschool kids

Art and crafts is always a favourite time pass for me and for my nursery class kids. I usually search for crafts ideas at the net and participate at many parents, teachers or craft, drawing related online communities. I just pick up some ideas or project instructions, just follow it or create similar or different activities for my students. There are many sites around which offer crafts or art activities for toddlers or preschool kids and most of those sites provide free access for that stuff.

"Pre school learning and crafts" is created by former teacher who describes the purpose of creating this site:

'Using toddler and preschool learning activities, crafts, games, and songs in your everyday busy life can help your child (and you) in so many ways. As a former teacher and current stay-at-home mom, I have noticed that many of the activities for preschoolers I find online don't actually work with my kids. I have to modify them to avoid having to do most of the project myself!'

She has explained it in details at 'about me' page.

She is a stay-at-home mom of three young kids ages 1, 3, and 6.

The easy and fun learning activities and crafts on this site have all been tested by her children and friends. These activities on Preschool-Learning-and-Crafts.com are age appropriate (moms won't have to do them for their kids), have easy to follow directions.

Each month you can receive the "Craft Your Kids Smart newsletter" directly to your email. Each issue will be full of learning ideas, games, crafts, and songs around a preschool theme (Valentine's Day, Animals, Dinosaurs, Weather, etc.)
All of the preschool activities will have easy to follow directions and supply lists.

Subscribe for the newsletter at 'this link'

The site owner has account at 'facebook' and if you are interested to get updated news about her crafts then go directly to her account 'here'

Community place for teachers

Online forums and communities are a good place to get tips, ideas, and news about specific topics. Like bloggers have many forums from which they can get useful information while getting a chance to discuss or share their own experiences. There is a lot of learn at these social community places.

'The apple' is for teachers, which is itself created by a teacher. It brings members of the education community together to support and advance the profession.

You get news, search for lesson plans and read articles written by experts, as well as getting career based posts.
Membership is free for all.

Few post links are given to show the content you can read at the site:

- Classroom Discipline Tips: Dealing with Difficult Students & Parents

- Top 10 Technology Tips for New Teachers

How teachers can learn the use of internet effectively?

It seems very easy to say that we are good in surfing the net or know a lot about 'internet' world. But being an internet surfer and user for more than 6 years, I feel that I am still an infant at the world wide web. There is a lot to learn at it and most important thing is that you need to learn the effective use of it. Now internet has opened doors for students and parents as well. Teachers can easily learn the effective use of internet for their schools or classrooms.

'Internet for classrooms' is created to offer free internet resouces to use in classroom. It is used by teachers, parents and students of all ages. internet4classrooms.com has a huge collection of educational links: free worksheet sites, free software, interactive activities and much more. They answer requests for help, concerns, or anything you want to write about.

They also offer online tutorials for teachers to help them integrate technology in classrooms.

Site link: internet4classrooms.com

Create online stories and art with 'scratch'

There are many graphics softwares which can help you create a lot of art or other interactive stuff. But if you want to teach children with those softwares, you need to simplify it. 'Scratch' makes it easier for young children to learn art and other stuff for free online. You need to download the software programme from the site which your child can use offline as well.


What is 'Scratch'?

It is a programming language for children. You can create interactive stories, games, music and art - and share them online.

According to 'Wikipedia':

'Scratch is a computer application aimed primarily at children that allows them to explore and experiment with the concepts of computer programming by using the simple graphical interface. It was proposed and developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab by a team led by Mitchel Resnick and first appeared in the summer of 2007.

Scratch,which is available free, can be installed on any Windows or Mac OS X computer with various installation options for computers running Linux .'

Site link: 'Scratch'

How to help our kids use digital technology wisely

Internet provides a lot of learning opportunities while surfing at the net but still we need to learn about downloading music, movies and copying computer software and games as there are some ethics which we should follow, learn and teach to our younger generation. We can help our kids use digital technology wisely by providing useful information to our kids.

'Peers2Peers' is a program of 'Wired Kids', devoted to making sure that all young people have a safe, valuable and private surfing experience and that all children have access.

Peer 2 peers.org teaches kids and teens how to help each other surf responsibly. It develops new educational and awareness programs for kids and teens about important issues affecting kids and teens.

They say: 'We think that when it comes to setting the rules for what you should and shouldn't be doing online, you should be involved.'

The public service announcements and animations have been designed by real teens and preteens to help others realize the consequences of movie and copyright piracy online.

Safe and family friendly media usage

As a parent and teacher I am always concerned about the media exposure for kids. It is our duty to think and take steps towards safe and family friendly media usage.
I believe that we need trustworthy information to guide the new generation. Media has become an important part of our lives and the best way to get most and healthy outcome from it to train our kids. We cannot cover their eyes but we can teach them to see.

If you want to be a well informed parent or teacher then MPPA Motion Picture Association of America is the first place to check for useful issues, classification or ratings about the films.
* Check the 'Parental Resources' section.

More useful sites and links:

1- Common sense media

Mission: (In their own words)

'Common Sense Media is dedicated to improving the media and entertainment lives of kids and families.

We exist because media and entertainment profoundly impact the social, emotional, and physical development of our nation's children. As a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization, we provide trustworthy information and tools, as well as an independent forum, so that families can have a choice and a voice about the media they consume.'

By signing up for the site you get the stuff in your inbox:
- Age-appropriate best bets for your kids
- Weekly email alert with the latest picks, reviews & advice
You can Post your own reviews and share them with friends.

They believe that "Parents need to know about media content and need to manage media use."

2- www.kids-in-mind.com enables adults to determine whether a movie is appropriate for them or their children, according to their own criteria.

3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE & PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10. We also explain in detail why a film rates high or low in a specific category, and we include instances of SUBSTANCE USE, a list of DISCUSSION TOPICS that may elicit questions from kids and MESSAGES the film conveys.

They do not "condemn," "critique" or "criticize" movies. And they don't "praise" or "recommend" movies either, so you are free to make your choice.


3- Rotten Tomatoes offers a fun and informative way to discover the critical reaction on movies neatly summarized via the Tomatometer.

Over 7 million readers each month use RT as a dependable, objective resource for coverage of movies and DVD. It offers more than 250,000 titles and 850,000 review links

Help your child in developing problem solving skills

Problem solving skill can lead to success in practical life where we need problem solving and creativity in each and every step. As parents and teachers we can help in developing problem solving skills among our kids/children. Normally every child is born with this skill but with proper encouragement and taking few practical but simple steps can help develop this skill very easily.

All parents and teachers have seen the unique ability of toddlers to use toys and materials in unexpected ways. One child may turn a cup into a hammer or a basket into a hat. Another toddler may stand on a riding truck to try to reach a toy or pull over a chair to climb onto a bookshelf. Observant adults recognize these innovations as signs that children are learning to use their thinking skills to solve problems.

Experiences in problem solving help children develop curiosity and patience, along with thinking skills such as flexibility, and understanding of cause and effect. They learn to work toward achieving a goal, and gain confidence in their ability to reach a solution. Even very young children make discoveries on their own. An
infant who accidentally creates a noise with a rattle may then make the sound again and again on purpose. An older infant discovers that by looking under a blanket, he can find a hidden toy. A toddler who cannot pull a wagon up a hill by herself learns that she and a friend can push it up from behind.

By not rushing in and rescuing young children who are facing minor everyday problems, adults can help infants and toddlers develop confidence and increase their thinking abilities.

It's also helpful for parents and teachers to provide materials that encourage children to explore. Some toys, such as jack-in-the-boxes and busy boxes, provide opportunities to explore simple cause-and-effect relationships. Other common materials like empty cardboard boxes, plastic bowls, or scarves can provide open-ended experiences through which toddlers can make choices and decisions, and
find different ways to manipulate the materials.

Other activities can involve materials such as clear plastic tubing (such as the tubing used for aquariums) which children can fill with bright materials, and watch the materials move as they shake the tubes. If you provide inclines or ramps of wooden blocks, a toddler can watch what happens as objects roll down inside the tubes. She may discover that some objects roll faster than others. He may learn about
actions and reactions when he sets plastic bottles at the bottom of the ramp to create a unique bowling game.
(Whatever materials you provide to help children experiment with problem solving, remember to be very careful about choking hazards.)

These everyday materials are fun, and can hold children interest for long periods. They also help children experiment with cause and effect and with gravity and physics. In addition to supporting cognitive development, problem-solving activities help in the social arena as well. Groups of children engaged in these activities negotiate with their friends and learn how to solve interpersonal problems.\

By providing interesting materials and enthusiastically reinforcing children attempts to explore and solve problems, parents and teachers can stimulate children development, promote advanced critical thinking, and help children take pride in their own abilities to find out more about how their world works.

Excerpted from "Using Everyday Materials to Promote Problem
Solving in Toddlers" by Laura Segatti, Judy Brown-DuPaul, and Tracy L.
Keyes - an article in the NAEYC journal.
Link: Helping toddlers become problem solvers

TV watching may cause psychological distress among children

Watching tv for long hours regularly may cause behaviour problems among children and according to a new research study, it may increase psychological distress in young children.

'Higher levels of television and screen entertainment time and low physical activity levels interact to increase psychological distress in young children.'

Most of you probably saw a wave of news media reports about a recent study showing that television exposure in infancy and early childhood may lead to a delay in language development. In a recent study also published in Pediatrics, a group of researchers from the University college London in the UK examined the effects of television viewing and physical activity on psychological distress among children of various ages. This study is very interesting, not only because of the provocative findings, but because it opens the door for a discussion of the concept of “Prodrome.”

The authors examined data from the Scottish Health Survey, a nationally representative study of multiple psychosocial factors. The data for this analysis included 1,486 Children age 4 to 12 with a mean age of 8.5, who were assessed in 2003. The Strengths and Difficulties questionnaire was used to assess for psychological distress. Specifically, the total difficulties score incorporates responses to sub scales that examine hyperactivity, emotional distress, conduct problems, and peer problems. The authors also obtained the parents’ reports of the kids’ total weekly hours of television viewing, and the frequency of sports or active play during the week. The authors were primarily interested in exploring whether TV viewing and/or activity level were associated with psychological distress.

The results:

1. On average, kids watched a total of 2.4 hours of television per day
2. Television viewing was associated with sports activity in that those who watched most television were also those with the lowest level of sports activity.
3. Those with the highest levels of television viewing also had the lowest level of fruit intake, and the highest levels of sweets and sugar drink intake.
4. High levels of Television viewing and low levels of physical were both independently associated with psychological distress.
5. An additive effect was found in that the combination of high television viewing and low physical activity was associated with the highest levels of psychological distress.

We can write entire books and a year worth of blog posts discussing the many possible explanations for these findings. The most salient, but not necessarily correct, is that television viewing likely limits other behaviors that are associated with psychological well-being, and that physical activity also promotes psychological well-being directly (physiologically) and indirectly (through the effects on the kid’s social development). Yet, it is possible that these two findings do not cause distress, but are a reflection of distress. For example, relatively recently, researchers have began to extend the concept of prodrome from general medicine to psychiatric disorders. Prodrome refers to a conglomeration of symptoms that reflect the disease process at an early stage, usually before it displays the symptoms that we usually associate with the disease. A prodrome is not a symptom that leads to the disease. The prodrome is the disease itself already evolving.

I’m currently working with Dr. Maria Kovacs on a upcoming invited theoretical paper on prodromes in child depression, and during the writing process I’ve been considering the implications of prodromes to past longitudinal and cross-sectional “predictive” research. That is, how many of the factors that have been found to predict a condition are actually not predictors (causes) of the condition but the condition itself?

Back to the TV viewing/physical activity study; the authors found significantly elevated levels of psychological distress in 4% of the sample. Yet these were not clinical cases with specific diagnoses. It is possible then that the authors were tapping at a subgroup of kids with specific psychiatric problems at the prodrome level (depression for example) which would result in increased levels of anhedonia and reduced motor mobility. This would in turn lead to more ‘just laying on the couch staring at the TV’ and reduced interest in outside sporting events.

Related posts:

ESDAY, June 2 (HealthDay News) -- Television reduces verbal interaction between parents and infants, which could delay children's language development, says a U.S. study that challenges claims that certain infant-targeted DVDs actually benefit youngsters.
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The researchers studied 329 children, aged 2 months to 48 months, and found that for each additional hour of television exposure, there was a decrease of 770 words (7 percent) heard from an adult by the children. The study also found that the more hours spent watching television, the fewer vocalizations infants made when adults talked to them.

"Some of these reductions are likely due to children being left alone in front of the television screen, but others likely reflect situations in which adults, though present, are distracted by the screen and not interacting with their infant in a discernible manner," wrote Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis, of Seattle Children Hospital, and colleagues.

"At first blush, these findings may seem entirely intuitive. However, these findings must be interpreted in light of the fact that purveyors of infant DVDs claim that their products are designed to give parents and children a chance to interact with one another, an assertion that lacks empirical evidence," they noted.

The researchers added that their results may help explain previous findings of a link between television viewing and delayed language development.

"Given the critical role that adult caregivers play in children's linguistic development, whether they talk to their child while the screen is on may be critical and explain the effects that are attributed to content or even amount of television watched," the team wrote. "That is, whether parents talk less (or not at all) during some types of programs or at some times of the day may be as important in this age group as what is being watched."

The study appears in the June issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

link: TV Interferes With Infants' Language Development

Link: Television viewing, psychological distress and thoughts on Prodromes

More links:

* Source link: TV viewing associated with psychological distress

* How addiction of Watching TV is affecting our lives?

Safe internet use for your child

Internet is a world of interactive and informative sites but it is our responsibility to teach our child 'safe use of internet'. These tips would help the parents and teachers for the safe and wise use of internet.

1. Be aware and involved. It's up to us to teach kids how to use the Internet — and all media — safely and responsibly. Just as we teach them how to eat properly and drive safely, we must teach them how to be safe, responsible and respectful on the Internet.

2. Do your homework. Check out sites, investigate ratings, explore safety and privacy tools, and parental control features. Don't be intimidated by the Internet.

3. Talk to your kids. Ask them questions about where they're going online and who their buddies are.

4. Teach safety. Make sure your kids know how to avoid dangers. No party postings, no personal information, no meeting strangers — ever.

5. Set rules. Time limits, place limits, codes of conduct. Try to keep computers with Internet access in a central room in your house if younger kids are online.

6. Report suspicious activity to your Internet service provider or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

7. Help kids view online information with a critical eye. Not everything that appears on the Web is true. Teach them to be savvy consumers of Internet information.

8. View your own online habits with a critical eye. Our kids watch everything we do.
If you don't want your kid doing what you're doing online you might want to think twice about your own habits.

9. Embrace their world. Download music, IM your kids, play an online game, visit MySpace. Not only will your kids appreciate it, you'll know what you're dealing with!
Remember, the Internet is here to stay. It's our job to help our kids be Internet safe and Internet smart.

By: Common Sense Media