Education weekly wrap up

Education and youth finds

Here are soem things I found interesting last week

Schools given help to cut carbon footprint

Do you know how to Glog? Creativity in the classroom: Glogster Tutorial

Quick step to ‘better behaviour’

Schools ‘need business managers’

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How Schools need to change

How Education is failing our children

As many of you know I am passionate about our education changing to be more in line with how modern day youth thinks and acts. One of my objectives is to create a “youth friendly policy” for schools. I was laughing out loud last night when I watched the news and heard the Head Teachers association saying how “un-fair” it was their schools are to be given grades, saying this would not show the full picture as things are much more complication. They can say this and continue to test our children and give them grades – seems hypocritical to me. one rule for one and another for someone else.

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UK university drop-out rate rises

There has been a rise in the drop-out rate at UK universities, figures show.

The most common reasons cited for dropping out are uninspiring teachers, financial worries and feeling poorly equipped for studying at higher education level. With the controversial Education Maintenance Allowance it appears that the government are going to do all they can to keep young people in education.

However, I wonder if they are missing the point; does it matter how much we pay students to stay in education if what they are studying is uninspiring and of no interest to them? Perhaps a better way to solve this problem would be to look at how the decisions are made in the first place – why young people choose a certain course. If we can get students to choose subjects that they are interested in and naturally good at, are their chances of staying in higher education not better?

There are two things I know about success and young people and these are, a) identify and articulate their natural talents and, b) place them in a situation where they can use them.

Most decisions about college are made by some combination of exam results, teacher’s recommendations, family expectation and the reputation of the college. These are all outside factors, not accounting for what lies on the inside. No consideration is given to how the young person learns best, what environment is most supportive to them, what their naturally abilities, their interests and their goals are. The most important information that schools and students can be given is an assessment of their natural talents and abilities.

So come on, lets get with it and start teaching teenagers to make decisions on who they are and how they operate. Lets stop wasting money on keeping them in uninspiring courses that are not a good fit for them. Lets give them real and practical information on which to plan the rest of their lives.

U.K. university drop-out rate rises

Education News weekly wrap up

Some very interesting stuff coming out in the news this week.

Schools should teach Twitter

Schools need to wake up to social networking

still not sure schools need to embrace social networking?

Report: kids’ use of tech growing exponentially

And just because they have to have a say

Tories propose school test reform

Weekly Eduction News wrap up

Education and Youth

Appears that education has hit the headlines a lot this week here is a wrap up of stuff that has grabbed my attention

‘Privatise’ top UK universities

The UK’s top universities should be privatised to allow them to compete on the global stage, it is claimed. Sir Roy said England’s leading research universities should not be subject to the “fads and fashions” of the Higher Education Funding Council for England…

Degrees maintain job market value

The significant increase in students going to university in the past two decades has not damaged graduates’ earning power, suggests research.

Top universities failing to attract state school pupils

Leading universities have failed to attract students from state schools and poor backgrounds despite billions being spent on increasing the social range of entrants. Latest figures indicate that the proportion of undergraduates from working-class backgrounds has fallen.

( I have to say this does not surprise me at all. The class divide and its cultural roots are ingrained in our society. They would be better off spending the money on having the country challenge its cultural heritage  without this I believe this will never change. As a working class northern girl Cambridge and all it stands for turns my stomach and that is more then just what I think it is ingrained in my DNA. Malcom Gladwell in the outliers says that we must challenge this as part of nay road to success – money been spent in the wrong direction yet again)

Research habits of Generation Y

This time last year, research commissioned by the British Library and Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) into the Google generation – those born in the 1990s and brought up in the digital age – debunked the most common assumptions and stereotypes about this section of the population.

A must read for any educator

Education and Exercise

Get your students moving

I do believe that a lot of current schooling is failing our young people. It feels, in some cases, that schools have gone backwards in their approach to young people and that despite lots of innovations in education, it feels as if we are no further forward in our approach to education.

As I sit here looking at my bookshelf I am reminded of two books that I really must read, Spark and Brain Rules, which both talk about the effect of exercise on learning. Currently, in the UK, most schools are cutting down on exercise in the curriculum and exercise; it appears to be of secondary importance to results and achievement. And then we wonder why we have an obesity problem among our children. However, there are pockets of amazing things happening, like one school in America that ensures every student has PE each day and has including PE-ready sessions before remedial Maths and English, with incredible results.

Here is why exercise needs to be incorporated into education, study plans and anything to do with learning.

1. Aerobic exercise produces new cells
2. Exercise produces a hormone that is like Miracle Grow for the brain
3. Exercise produces serotonin which helps with memory
4. Exercise produces dopamine that makes us feel happier
5. Exercise produces a hormone that helps with energy
6. The hormones released by exercise are the chemicals that are contained in drugs given to students with ADD.
7. Exercise helps the mood and cognitive ability of students
8. 20 minutes is the maximum one should be sitting still, focused on one thing. This should be followed by a 10-minute exercise break
10. Exercise improves self-esteem
11. Having children exercise before exams can improve their results by 20%

4 tips Schools can give to Parents

Getting your Teen Exercising

1. Have your child walk to school or exercise before school if possible
2. Make sure their breakfast is one that produces glucose
3. Have them exercise before doing homework and take a brain break every 20 minutes
4. Study plans to include exercise and diet as part of the process.

What can schools do to get children moving?

Watch this video and get this book or also listen to this podcast

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