Mom thrown in jail for letting kids play outside

Exploring the creek (Photo credit: Jeremy Cusker)

Mom thrown in jail for letting kids play outside on their front lawn–while she was out there with them!

This is why we have  what’s being called “Nature Deficit Disorder.”

We need to let kids –of all ages–get out and play in nature.

Related articles

• Nature Deficit Disorder | Education.com (education.com)
• Does Your Child Have Nature Deficit Disorder? (emancipationofageneration.com)
• Author says technology, fear, keeping kids indoors (ctvnews.ca)
• The Outdoor Classroom – reconnecting children and their environment (environmentaleducationuk.wordpress.com)

Fight Student Debt’s Infographic

According to this Washington Post article dated an hour or so ago, it looks like Senate leaders have come to an agreement about freezing the interest rates on student loans.

While this is better than the rates increasing as threatened, as you can see from this infographic, something is going to have to give.

The current system is clearly unsustainable.

Seth Godin’s “Stop Stealing Dreams”–a manifesto about education

 

Ever since it came out in March, I’ve been meaning to blog about Seth Godin’s manifesto on education, Stop Stealing Dreams.

But I’ve been too busy teaching. And learning how to be a better teacher to write about why it is so important to read that I gave a copy of the following highlights to my spring classes, and I’m assigning it to my summer classes!

It’s a quick read and you can download it for free. Or you can just read the following excerpts and tuck his ideas away for a later perusal…

If you’re more the video type, check out this TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson: “Do schools kill creativity?”

From section 16:

What is school for?

Here’s a hint: learning is not done to you. Learning is something you choose to do.

Sir Ken Robinson: Changing Educational Paradigms

After a brief break, it is time for summer school. I am teaching two sections of English at Ventura College, one from 10:30-1:20 and the second from 1:30-4:20.

We’re starting out thinking about education, about learning and literacy. We’ll be discussing Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” and Seth Godin’s “Stop Stealing Dreams.”

And I’ll probably show this video on changing educational paradigms by Sir Ken Robinson.

I loves how he describes one  of my favorite topics in pedagogy: aesthetic and anaesthetic education–learning that enlivens versus learning that deadens.