MindMake provides parents with tools to monitor and quantify their child's online activities and content consumption. Our mission is to empower parents to create a safe online environment for their family, and facilitate enriched development with personalized content recommendations
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Friday, April 29, 2016
The ‘Let Them Bleed’ Style Of Parenting
Scary Mommy – Heidi Chandler
On my way out of Target this morning, I passed a fellow mom and her 3-year-old daughter. The little girl attempted a jump over the parking curb and fell, catching herself with her hands. She looked up at her mother, waiting for the reaction.
“Oh my god!” the mother squealed. “Baby, are you OK? Did that hurt? What hurts, baby? What hurts?” The little girl commenced sobbing as what I deemed a nice save turned into a tragedy warranting a call to 911.
The woman swooped the little girl up into her arms, still blathering on about skinned knees and mommy kisses and taking all of her terrible, horrible pain away. As the duo headed into the store, the little girl and I locked eyes, and I used my mommy telepathy to read the child’s mind. I shivered at the words being shouted behind that precious child’s tears: “I own this bitch.”
Okay, perhaps that’s a bit harsh, but that little girl knew exactly what she was doing, and that mother played right into that child’s sticky little hands. I know, because my kids have done the exact same thing.
Today we live in a culture of fear—fear of pain, fear of loss, fear of strangers, fear of failure—and our children are the biggest victims. We want to protect them from everything, to keep them safe and happy and wonderful, but all that’s creating is a culture of helicopter parenting and a generation of children who can’t think for themselves.
I myself am a child of the ‘70s. I was born late enough to avoid disco but early enough to remember people smoking on airplanes. I grew up in the country, and by the time I was 6, I would spend hours exploring the woods behind my house, sometimes with my older brother, sometimes by myself. Yes, you heard that correctly: a 6-year-old girl, walking in the woods, by herself.
My parents were good parents, but by today’s standards they would have been arrested for child endangerment—numerous times. I’m not sure when we all became so scared, but I suspect it was around the time kids started getting trophies for wearing socks and the word “no” became outlawed from every American home. Since then, we’ve become a society of frothing watchdogs ready to pounce on the first parent who doesn’t want to ride in the helicopter.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
What Happens When Students Use Technology Better Than Teachers?
You know the content, you understand pedagogy, and you can navigate the minefield of diplomacy when dealing with parents, students, administrators, literacy coaches, and the local news station when they want to see the iPads glow on the students faces.
You know how to manage and coddle, inspire and organize, assess and deliver content.
But the technology is different. That part you do okay with, but, truth be told, the students are geniuses with technology. Born hackers. And of course they are, you tell yourself.
They’re digital natives.
You were born during a better time–more pure, full of John Milton, philosophy, and having to knock on doors or yell down the street to find your friends.
A time uncorrupted by facebook and cyberbullying.
So you’re doing the social media thing to make up for lost time. Got yourself a twitter and a blog. You even keep some of your curriculum on Dropbox, and sold enough brownies last year to buy three iPads–then went to a conference to learn how to teach with it.
But you hear how students talk about technology–what they’re able to do effortlessly–and it kind of intimidates you. And a tempting spot to retreat to is to say that learning doesn’t need technology. That it’s difficult enough without it. You can’t keep them in their seats without smartphones. Let them use them during class?
Have you seen the stuff they share? How hateful they can be? And Flappy Birds? This can’t be real life, can it?
It’s all enough to make you want to curl up on the couch under an afghan and watch Andy Griffith.
But what happens when the students can use technology better than their teachers?
Who does this discredit?
What processes and outcomes does this undermine?
How strong is our collective ability to rationalize away the impact?
Who benefits? Who suffers?
Who goes on together, and who stays behind alone?
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
Monday, April 18, 2016
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Kids Need to Waste Time
In this interesting and fact-packed Quartz article, “WhyAre Our Kids So Miserable?“, reporter Jenny Andersonlooks at a bunch of factors working against kid happiness. The biggest is the off-base belief that our kids are only learning when they are doing academic work:
According to Daphna Bassok, an assistant professor of education and public policy at the University of Virginia, in 1998, 30% of teachers believed that children should learn to read while in kindergarten. In 2010, that figure was at 80%.
Playing—unstructured time, with rules set by the kids (no adults acting as referee)—is how kids learn independence, problem-solving, social cues, and bravery. Now, parents jump in to to solve the playground kerfuffle, spot with eagle eyes the dangers of tall trees and steep hills, and fail to let kids have any independence for fear they will be abducted or hit by a car..“Where do children learn to control their own lives? When adults aren’t around to do it for you,” he said. “If you don’t have the opportunity to experience life on your own, to deal with the stressors of life, to learn in this context of play where you are free to fail, the world is a scary place,” he says.
And then Anderson endorses an idea I’ve started to push for, too:
If we want our kids to play and have some freedom, we have to plan how to do it (yes, it has come to that). Facilitating time and space has to be a pre-meditated act, like signing up for soccer…. It won’t be easy. But if we believe that our kids’ mental health is at stake, we should certainly give it a try.
It may be that more than mental health is at stake. I’m starting to think our culture needs kids who have had to rise to some unexpected, unscripted challenges, or we may end up with a population so scared of encountering problems that it demands more and more limitations and oversight. That’s not a dynamic vision.
Let’s make sure kids have ample opportunity to explore, screw up, make weird things (that’s my youth, right there) and “waste” time on their own.
It won’t be time wasted. – L
This article was originally posted and available at Free Range Kids
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Eight Technologies Changing Education
The Irish Times – Carl O’Brien
From real-time tracking systems that enable parents to follow their children’s progress in school to plagiarism alerts in universities, technology is changing how people learn and are taught
Whether in a preschool or in a university computer lab, technology is rapidly transforming the way teaching and learning takes place.
A baffling array of new tools is competing for the attention of students and teachers. They range from real-time updates on pupils’ progress in class to a new wave of “micro-degrees” that could upend traditional university qualifications.
Opinion is divided about the merits of this new frontier. Some fear students will become too dependent on technology; others insist it will free up time to develop sought-after skills such as critical thinking.
Whatever your view, teachers, students and academic institutions cannot afford to ignore these rapid developments. Here we look at eight of the most popular and how they changing the face of the modern classroom.
1 TRACK PROGRESS
Follow your child’s progress with real-time student information systems
It used to be that parents’ only exposure to their children’s progress at school was the annual parent-teacher meeting. Not any more. A growing number of schools have signed up to internet-based “student information systems”. These allow parents to check their children’s attendance for classes in real time, to keep tabs on test results, to peek at disciplinary records and to see what is on the daily timetable.
Parents can receive instant notifications on their smartphones, tablets or computers with updates on their child.
VSware (VS stands for “virtual school”), an Irish firm, is one of the biggest suppliers of this technology to Irish schools.
It might sound Big Brother-esque, but Patrick Barry, VSware’s chief executive, says this kind of information has been gathered by schools for years. The only change, he says, is that it is being opened up to parents rather than being kept in a dusty back-office computer.
About 450 schools are using the technology, which can also automate timetables and other administration.
“Previously, schools had separate contracts for administration systems, room booking, text messaging and so on,” says Barry. “With this system, schools save money because it’s all cloud-based and doesn’t require IT skills to maintain it.”
Similar forms of technology in creches and preschools, such as Little Vista and ChildPaths, allow parents to see what their children eat for lunch and how they sleep. vsware.ie
2 NO MORE COG NOTES
Cloud-based learning platforms for teachers and students
The end of cogging your classmates’ notes is nigh. Teachers, lectures and students are increasingly using online learning platforms to store class notes, research resources and assignments. Students can upload, share and edit documents, and teachers can comment on students’ work before it is turned in and can communicate easily with the class.
There are tons of options out there. Google Classroom is very popular at second level, whereas Moodle, Blackboard and Sakai are common at third level.
Pat Tighe, principal of Magh Éne secondary school in Co Donegal, says Google Classroom is particularly popular among staff and students.
The ability to store images, video and essays makes creating a portfolio of work – which will become a major feature of the reformed junior cycle – much easier.
It also allows for more project-based work. Instead of students being forced to listen quietly to a teacher at the top of the class, these systems allow pupils to learn and digest content at their own pace. classroom.google.com, moodle.org
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
Friday, April 15, 2016
One Easy Thing You Can Do to Improve Your Relationship with Your Kid
Common Sense Media – Sierra Filucci
If you own a smartphone, chances are, you love it. You take pictures of your kids, stay in touch with friends and family, keep up with the news, and text your spouse reminders to pick up milk. It’s likely never more than an arm’s reach away, and it probably even journeys into the bathroom with you. It’s 2016, and that’s totally normal.
But despite your love for your phone, you probably also feel guilty about using it around your kids too much. You’ve heard experts predict the end of human connection thanks to iPhones, and you don’t want to be lumped in with the parents whoignore their kids during dinner because they’re absorbed in Candy Crush. And while science hasn’t proven anything yet, it’s likely that today’s parents are a bit more distracted than they used to be.
So how can we embrace modern parenting, with the magic of technology at our fingertips, while still being responsible parents who aren’t too addicted to their little devices?
It’s all about taking control over your phone instead of letting it control you. In a nutshell: Put down your phone.
Set Boundaries
One of the benefits of modern technology is that you can be at your kid’s soccer game and respond to emails from the boss at the same time. But the experience is lost if you’re so distracted by work that you miss your kid score a goal. If your job is flexible enough, decide to only check email every 15 or 30 minutes. Your boss may even OK that hour off, since many companies are realizing that a good work-life balance results in employees who are happier, more loyal, and more productive.
Be Mindful
Phones have become so embedded in our lives that checking email or Twitter or baseball scores has become a habit. If you have any doubt about how addicted you are to your phone, try leaving it at home one day. You might be surprised at how often you reach for it (and then realize you actually can get along fine without it). To keep your phone use in check — especially around your kids — try creating new habits. First, disable all but the most crucial notifications that keep you constantly looking at your phone. And then, before you check your phone, ask yourself: Why am I checking my phone? If you don’t have a good reason, put it down.
Be a Role Model
Don’t you hate being ignored by someone who’s staring at their phone? It’s annoying, to say the least. And that’s just how your kids feel when they see you staring at your tiny screen when they’re trying to show you their new dance moves. Two tips: First, narrate what you’re doing on the phone. Kids might not be able to tell that you’re looking up directions to their friend’s birthday party unless you tell them. Second, if you really are ignoring them while you play Candy Crush Soda Saga or “research” old boyfriends on Facebook, it might be time to rethink when and where you use your phone. If you limit your extracurricular phone time, you’ll be better able to expect the same from your kids.
This article was originally posted and available at Common Sense Media
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
Thursday, April 14, 2016
Why Your Best Is Actually Good Enough
The Huffington Post – Michelle Zunter
So often parents stretch themselves to the point of exhaustion, frustration, and even sheer rage thinking they’re doing something wrong or that they somehow need to be better.
It’s never enough. I’m doing my best!
This is what many of us parents say, as if we’re defending our lives on the responsibilities and chores we think we’re supposed to be accomplishing with the expertise of a trained fighter.
But what if your best is actually good enough?
What is it parents worry about failing at the most? Not having well-behaved, intelligent children? Not being able to adequately Juggle jobs, care-taking duties, and relationships? Not keeping up with the laundry?
Do parents worry so much because they’re competing with other parents, or because they’re struggling to live up to their own standard of the kind of parent theythink they should be?
Granted, not all parents feel pressure from their parental peers or worry about how they’re parenting, but I would argue that a great handful of parents do feel it.
Otherwise there wouldn’t be so many blogs and articles on the internet letting parents know that being tired and fed up is okay. There wouldn’t be such a desire from parents to relate to one another. There wouldn’t be that comfort factor in knowing you’re not the only one who’s frustrated.
Parenting shouldn’t feel so arduous when it’s already something that consumes your entire being.
It’s enough that you gave life to your child or children, and spend each and every day worrying about, caring for, feeding, and clothing them. It really is. Beyond that, anything else you accomplish is a bonus.
And this is where I think the problem lies.
Do you remember when you were a kid in school and there were those students in the class (this may have been you) who were so good at everything that they got extra credit? Not only did these kids get 100% on everything but they somehow ended up with 110% due to bonus points for exceptional work.
I believe many of us parents feel we need to be that kid. The one that has so much extra credit racked up from bonus points that we outrank everyone else and are essentially winning at parenting.
But what’s so great about being up on that over-achieving pedestal? Frankly, if I feel exhausted just doing the basics of parenting (the kids are alive, relatively happy, fed, and clothed) then how must the “over-achiever” parents feel?
Where do they get energy for all those extra curricular activities, tournaments, sleepovers, play dates, camping trips, and PTA meetings? Have they tapped into some energy source I’m unaware of?
Maybe.
They definitely deserve a high-five, or at least a long nap. But doing those things is their choice. It’s not necessarily a standard for the rest of us.
My point is that any parent out there who is worried they aren’t “keeping up” is already doing their best. The fact that a parent worries about their child having enough friends, if they’re depressed, if they’re keeping up in class, or if they spend enough “quality time” is evidence of good work already being done. That parent is already on it.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Should There Be An FDA for Education?
Has American education research mostly languished in an echo chamber for much of the last half century?
Harvard’s Thomas Kane thinks so.
Why have the medical and pharmaceutical industries and Silicon Valley all created clear paths to turn top research into game-changing innovations, he asks, while education research mostly remains trapped in glossy journals?
Kane, a professor of education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, points out that there is no effective educational equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration, where medical research is rigorously vetted and translated into solutions. Maybe, he says, there should be.
It’s been 50 years since the publication of the highly influential “Equality of Educational Opportunity” study — better known as the Coleman Report, after its author, James Coleman. And after a half-century, Kane writes in a new article, we should have made much more progress toward closing the achievement gap: the educational equivalent of the fight against cancer.
Failure to do more, Kane argues, underscores the deep shortcomings of education research.
The Coleman Report drew national attention to chronic educational inequality and achievement gaps by race. And while scholarship and research since 1966 have challenged some of his conclusions as misleading, even wrong, many of the core problems he highlighted remain.
James Samuel Coleman, 1958.
JHU Sheridan Libraries/Gado/Getty
I spoke with Kane about this recently. Here’s a version of our conversation, edited for length:
Give us a snapshot of how important the Coleman Report was in terms of looking at the achievement gap.
The Coleman Report was extremely important. It was authorized as part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They were given two years to do a nationally representative study just documenting the magnitude of the achievement gap and differences in access to quality education.
As you can imagine, the technology for collecting and analyzing data back in 1964-65 was very different from what we have today, so it was a remarkable feat, and has a lasting legacy to this day.
The tools he had were limited; his methods and conclusions were flawed. But he was nonetheless on to something. Is that a fair characterization?
I would say my main complaint is not with what Coleman did, although, as you say, there are some weaknesses to it. My main complaint is what we’ve done since then.
We have spent the last 50 years essentially recapitulating the same descriptive work that Coleman and his colleagues did, and not finding solutions and spreading information about solutions.
The point of education research is to identify effective interventions for closing the achievement gaps that Coleman observed and ensuring that that information is usable.
And by that metric — by our ability to build consensus around a set of interventions that work for closing the achievement gap — I would have to say that the last 50 years have been a near complete failure.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Parenting is Weird!
After years of thinking really, really hard about it and years of really, really living it and years of really, really wondering about it, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve finally figured out the secret to this whole parenting thing.
You ready for it? Here it goes. [deep breath]
Parenting is super weird.
Hopefully you are nodding your head in agreement as some small child uses you as his or her own personal jungle gym. But just in case you need some convincing, allow me to present the following examples as proof:
It’s weird to hope and pray and wish for bedtime all day long, but then miss your little darlings the second they fall asleep.
It’s weird to think you have everything figured out, only to realize that your kids just pole-vaulted into the next stage of parenting and you’re screwed all over again.
It’s weird how your kids are both a part of you and so not at all like you.
It’s weird how in some ways, it feels like your parenting decisions are up for public discussion.
It’s weird how you can feel trapped but at the same time, know the roots that ground you are what’s most important anyways.
It’s weird to love and loathe something so completely at the same time.
It’s weird to go to sleep at night (for the 10 minutes the baby pretends to sleep, anyways) and think about having your kids all safe and sound and warm and snug under the same roof and feel this weird feeling, like your heart is going to explode but also break in half at the same time.
It’s weird that we go into the biggest job of our lives thinking we know so much when really our 10-years-later-parenting selves will just be like, “lolololololol.”
It’s weird that if we try to describe what we actually do in a day in detail, like wiping butts and sprinting through the grocery store before someone has a meltdown, it kind of sounds like torture, but yet when you put all the pieces together, it’s actually pretty perfect.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog