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