Monday, April 2, 2012

Writers On The Move: Young Adult Author Visits

Writers On The Move: Young Adult Author Visits: To foster instant creativity with the young adult age group you must give them activities that assure success without the pressure of judgme...

Saturday, March 31, 2012

FREE EARTH DAY CARDS for kids and adults!



With Earth Day Approaching on April 22nd it's time to focus on educating our children about conservation. Trouble on Earth Day would be a great resource for this purpose and a super addition to any school or home library.


Learning how each of us can take steps to protect our environment is important for children and adults alike. It will take all our efforts to help improve the environment for a healthier tomorrow. Trouble on Earth Day is a great start for children.




Earth Day Card for Kids


Earth Day Card for Adults
http://www.dkvwriting4u.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/EARTH-DAY-CARD-2.pdf



Celebrate Earth Day with Pictures First day of book tour for Trouble on Earth Day


Visit third day of Trouble on Earth Day Book Tour
Fourth day of Trouble on Earth Day Tour- Fun Squirrel Facts http://hookkidsonreading.blogspot.com/2012/03/it-is-my-great-pleasure-to-welcome.html
Fifth Day of Trouble on Earth Day Tour- Book Review


Sixth Day of Trouble on Earth Day Book Tour-book Review http://familiesmatter2us.blogspot.com/2012/03/book-review-trouble-on-earth-day.html

Seventh Day of Trouble on Earth Day Book Tour

FREE EARTH DAY CARD FOR KIDS
FREE EARTH DAY CARD FOR ADULTS
http://educationtipster.blogspot.com/2012/03/get-your-free-earth-day-card-for-kids.html

Moving Through all Seven Days link:http://www.lulu.com/content/e-book/moving-through-all-seven-days/7386965# http://www.helium.com/users/406242.html http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/237923/Kathy_stemke_dancekam.html Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/kathystemke Follow me on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6147172660&topic=4910#!/kathymarescomatthews.stemke?ref=profileKathy Stemke's websites: Helium Education Articles: http://www.helium.com/users/406242.html Education Articles: http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/237923/Kathy_stemke_dancekam.html Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/kathystemke Follow me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6147172660&topic=4910#!/kathymarescomatthews.stemke?ref=profile Follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/kathy-stemke/13/269/285

Thursday, February 2, 2012

20 Innovative Ways Schools Are Combating Bullying

February 1st, 2012 by Staff Writers at Online College Courses.


Bullying always has been a terrible problem plaguing schools in America and beyond, but it took a tragic epidemic of high-profile victim suicides for anyone to actually care about curbing the issue. Now that people are finally beginning to realize that treating one another like garbage over petty details might not be the best thing for students, parents and school districts alike are formulating various strategies to put an end to the madness. Some are actually incredibly innovative, although some of the more traditional methods boast their own benefits as well.

  1. Incorporating babies into the classroom

    Infants, come to find out, can be useful for reasons other than producing poo and barf seemingly on command. Toronto-based Roots of Empathy and similar organizations have started introducing babies into classroom settings with the hopes of encouraging students to build compassion. And so far, it's actually yielded results — participants tend to loosen up and pay closer attention to lessons and each other, lessening bullying instances in the process.
  2. Comic books

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Stop Bullying initiative printed up comic books to distribute to kids with the hopes of shedding light on a serious issue. Other schools have run with the concept by asking students to write and draw scenes or stories of their own. Visualizing the realities makes it easier for younger kids to recognize the problem and either intervene or fetch a caring adult.
  3. Film

    Similar to the comic book example, some schools have opted to show movies such as The Bullying Project and foster discussions between students, faculty, staff, and parents about the roots and solutions. More resourceful institutions might want to challenge kids — especially teens — to shoot short films of their own. Doing so will not only help bring forward real experiences and perceptions, but offer a sort of creative solace to bullying victims as well.
  4. Have students teach one another

    If babies are unavailable, try establishing (monitored!) programs where students sit down with one another and simply talk. Areas with very diverse demographics could especially benefit from such exchanges, because cultural misunderstandings and stereotypes do often feed into bullying situations. In addition, this structure can also be adapted into a peer counseling service, nurturing a sense of connection and community dissuading brutality.
  5. Bulletin boards

    Younger children with a preference for bright colors and engaging visuals might benefit greatly from learning about the bullying problem via bulletin boards. Kits are available through various vendors, or teachers can put their design skills to good use with something more original. Involving the students themselves in the creation process will only add to the education factor, encouraging them to speak up while speaking out.
  6. Apps

    iPhone users suffering beneath a bully's grip now have the free A Thin Line app at their disposal — and those who do not own the smartphone enjoy the same perks on the accompanying website. MTV sponsors this digital discussion by allowing kids and teens to share their own experiences with unwanted advances and harassment. For the adults, they post numerous resources and questions to help them combat the serious issue at the authority level.
  7. Puppet shows

    Pacer's KIDS AGAINST BULLYING program hosts puppet shows in schools as a means of teaching the younger set why bullying is unacceptable. Schools without the funding or resources to bring the initiative to their students can stage their very own performances using what's on hand — or task students with writing their own. Beyond puppetry, the same concept also works when presented as a skit or short play.
  8. Peer intervention

    Training students to serve as peer counselors and advocates bridges gaps with the faculty and promotes greater understanding in the classroom. Pacer and other anti-bullying organizations burst with excellent suggestions about the best ways to nurture leadership and empathy skills needed to reach out the bullies and the bullied alike. After all, as the next innovation reveals, sometimes the perpetrators need intervention for more than just their behavior problems.
  9. Therapy

    Many — not all — bullies lash out at their peers because of issues at home or within themselves, and the most effective schools realize they need as much (if not more) counseling than their victims. In Charleston, a partnership between Alice Birney Middle School and Medical University of South Carolina has started providing various psychological services for ill-behaved kids. When combined with a rigorous education regimen, their bullying rate decreased as more and more students received the mental help needed to be a more productive citizen.
  10. Coordinating with sexual assault awareness, prevention, and crisis organizations

    Another fruitful partnership that quelled the bullying issue understandably involves anti-violence shelters and schools themselves. In Austin, SafePlace, which serves as a shelter for victims of rape, sexual assault, and domestic abuse, and a half-dozen public elementary schools teamed up for a CDC- and University of Texas-sponsored program dubbed Expect Respect. Unlike many other initiatives, it focuses on bullying in its myriad forms, comparing and contrasting instances on and off campus.
Kathy Stemke's websites: Helium Education Articles: http://www.helium.com/users/406242.html Education Articles: http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/237923/Kathy_stemke_dancekam.html Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/kathystemke Follow me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6147172660&topic=4910#!/kathymarescomatthews.stemke?ref=profile Follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/kathy-stemke/13/269/285

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Waldorf Techniques for Mastering Math Facts with Body Movements that Anyone Can Use

by Kathy Stemke

Waldorf education’s interdisciplinary learning is based upon the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Since the first school opened its doors in 1919, this style of learning has concentrated on the role of imagination to integrate practical, creative and conceptual elements. In addition to the 994 independent Waldorf schools, there are many Waldorf-based public schools and homeschooling situations. In fact, most schools use some of the innovative Waldorf activities in their curriculum.

Because math concepts tend to be abstract in nature and the traditional methods of teaching math facts are boring and ineffective, introducing Waldorf interactive math activities into the classroom will increase the learning and retention of math facts. Students will be eager to participate in these fun-filled games and projects.

COUNTING GAME

A counting lesson might begin with a circle game similar to Duck-Duck-Goose. The students sit in a circle on the floor then one students stands behind a sitting classmate and begins counting each of their classmates in turn until they reach ten. All the students can assist in the counting. When the standing student reaches their tenth classmate the tenth classmates stands and chases the counting student around the circle attempting to tag them before they return to the place of the chasing student.

JELLYBEAN STORY

Students learn through exciting fairy tales and stories. Fun characters come to life for the students, bringing the numbers and math facts to the real world. The following tale is an example of the kind of story that can be used.

“It’s my job, said the jellybean queen, to divide the jellybeans equally among the subjects of Numeria. This bag of jellybeans is for you two girls. Be sure to share them equally.”

“But how can we be sure to share them equally between us?” Chali asked.

“Oh,” the kindly queen said, “That is easily accomplished. Watch. . . . There are six jellybeans in the sack . . . .here is one for you, Chali, and one for you Stephanie, another one for you Chali, and another one for you Stephanie, one more for you Chali, and one more for you Stephanie . . . as you see we now have two piles of jellybeans with 3 in each. It’s as simple as that!” The girls smiled at each other.

The queen was so busy she asked the girls to help her. For the rest of the day, Chali and Stephanie busily counted and divided jellybeans."

This story could easily be modified to teach subtraction. The students could take turns eating one or two jellybeans.

After illustrating this story on the chalkboard I went outside and hid several piles of "jellybeans" around the room. Whenever a pile is found, the student must divide them equally.

GUESS WHICH NUMBER

You can follow up this activity with a 100 board. Look for number patterns of odd and even. The students will discover that evens end with 2,4,6,8,0 and odds end with 1,3,5,7,9. Call out random numbers and the students can jump up and down for even numbers and hop on one foot for odd numbers.

NUMBER LINE GAME

Using a number line system of number place-mats across the floor, the team may deduct the answer by acting out the problem.

For example. 2 + 3 = 5

Team A organize themselves by standing on number mats on the floor. One stands on zero (0), while the rest stand in order from 1, 2, 3 4 and so on. For the problem 2+3, the person standing at zero may first take two steps on the first two mats and then jump another 3 mats indicating an increase of 3 in the problem to land at mat 5.

Waldorf-inspired teaching is designed to meet the needs of all learning styles, and is based on the best practices in education. It features an integration of storytelling, music, movement, art, drama, and poetry into the teaching of academic subjects.

Kathy Stemke's websites: Helium Education Articles: http://www.helium.com/users/406242.html Education Articles: http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/237923/Kathy_stemke_dancekam.html Follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/kathystemke Follow me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=6147172660&topic=4910#!/kathymarescomatthews.stemke?ref=profile Follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/kathy-stemke/13/269/285