Kids in the UK to learn mental telepathy.....

[Daniel]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6709493.stm

Seriously wtf?

People who suggest such rules as this should be shot 20 times, revived and then shot again another 20 times.

[Loobylou]

I've got to say that I'm not quite sure where you've pulled '...mental telepathy' from.

It's not mentioned anywhere in the article & it is clearly stated that the practise of asking children to put their hands up is not being banned. Merely that it is felt that some children may be over looked due to their nature if this is the only method of choosing a child to speak/answer a question.

Although the thought of teachers having the opportunity to coach small groups is laughable, you need more teachers & smaller classes for that to happen. Not something I foresee any time soon.

[Daniel]

It was a joke. Rather than be silly and say that the practice of putting hands up "hurts" shy children they should look at ways of helping with shy children. I've helped in a classroom and there is NO way of helping chy children other than having a helper in the classroom or neglecting the development of 30 other kids.

[Caroline]

Daft. Don't they think that teachers know which kids don't like putting their hands up to answer questions/offer information. There is more than one way to assess pupil's understanding!

Real issue to address is why are classes of 30+ acceptable in primary schools. When I put my hand up to ask that question the government doesn't seem to acknowledge me.

[Daniel]

Daft. Don't they think that teachers know which kids don't like putting their hands up to answer questions/offer information. There is more than one way to assess pupil's understanding!

Real issue to address is why are classes of 30+ acceptable in primary schools. When I put my hand up to ask that question the government doesn't seem to acknowledge me.

Don't do that! You might make shy teachers feel bad :p

[jim mcglinchey]

As usual there is nothing new here. Move along please as McC would say. My Dorris teaches in a girls primary and they knocked that hand -ups- malarkey on the head ages ago to to focus on the quieter kids.

[Daniel]

As usual there is nothing new here. Move along please as McC would say. My Dorris teaches in a girls primary and they knocked that hand -ups- malarkey on the head ages ago to to focus on the quieter kids.
Does she work in a private school? In a classroom with less pupils I can imagine this is possible but Caroline has over 30 little tur... errr I mean children and each needs attention so with limited help in the forum of classroom assistants I suspect it's not really doable for large class sizes. Any numpty who steps into a classroom can pick out the shy ones and give them extra attention. It's simply a matter of time and resources and 1 teacher and 30+ kids means that these kids are neglected through no fault of the classroom teacher.

[schmenke]

Am I the only one who worries about the kids of these parents... :erm:

"...Teachers are not sure why some children's academic development slows down after the age of seven, but some believe it may be because their parents ... have problems helping with homework when the subjects get harder."

:mark:

[Daniel]

Am I the only one who worries about the kids of these parents... :erm:

"...Teachers are not sure why some children's academic development slows down after the age of seven, but some believe it may be because their parents ... have problems helping with homework when the subjects get harder."

:mark:
Schmenke. Considering some of the knuckle draggers who I've seen who have managed to have a child around here I don't doubt those statements one bit.

Too much of the focus is on teachers and the school. While I agree teachers are important a good teacher just can't make up for 5 years of "abuse" (children sitting in front of the TV watching rubbish) before going to school and never being shown how to read or count and so on. I think there should be some kind of formal responsibility on the part of parents to give their children some kind of education prior to them going to school and also while they're out of school.

When I was a child I grew up watching nature programs and documentaries rather than stupid childrens TV shows. When I was only 6 I wrote a short story about a mouse in a Hunting Tiger (a german WW2 tank) and my teacher was so alarmed she had my parents in to talk about it. Why? Who the **** knows :crazy: One of my favourite kids in Caroline's class last year played a lot of WW2 games on his PC and watched documentaries on war and could have (for his age) educated discussion with me on WW2 small arms. I didn't feel threatened at all and I thought it was great that this 9 year old had a good memory and a passion for something at least :) I think that's dead cool :up: I think kids should be encouraged by their parents to take an interest in something rather than being bored out of their minds by a society that doesn't want to pressure them or make them feel bad.

[Drew]

Brilliant, if only they had brought it in when I was in school. No teacher would have complained when I never put my hand up.

[jim mcglinchey]

[quote="Daniel"]Does she work in a private school

Na, its a public school in one of the most deprived areas in western Europe! but she gave me a couple of tips for you Daniel. If you ask the class a question, tell the kids to smile if they know the answer rather than expect shy ones to put their hands up, or if you ask them a mental arithmatic question, go round the whole class and get their answers, but not saying anything else until the end, so as not to give anything away, then tell them the correct answer.

[Mark]

When I was a child I grew up watching nature programs and documentaries rather than stupid childrens TV shows.

I used to watch a lot of news, documentaries etc, mostly because I was watching the same as my Mum&Dad, I was surprised sometimes at school when I mentioned major news stories, e.g. fall of the berlin wall, gulf war, that some of them just didn't have any idea at all about what was going on in the world.

I remember the way the Gulf War started we were in registration at 1pm and the teacher decided that this day was so important that he would bring in the TV and we could watch the start of the news before going off to classes. Myself and one other sat watching the news, while everyone else continued to throw stuff at each other as usual :s

[Mark]

When I was only 6 I wrote a short story about a mouse in a Hunting Tiger (a german WW2 tank) and my teacher was so alarmed she had my parents in to talk about it..

I used to play a lot of Microprose simulation games, with aircraft and tanks, in those days PC games used to come with door stop sized manuals which not only told you how to play the game but also gave details of all the combat units, current combat tactics, history of engagements etc, when I was 10 I could give you chapter and verse on the planned strategy for a central european war between Nato and the Soviet Union!, and yes I did have friends! they were playing those games too :p

[Daniel]

Does she work in a private school

Na, its a public school in one of the most deprived areas in western Europe! but she gave me a couple of tips for you Daniel. If you ask the class a question, tell the kids to smile if they know the answer rather than expect shy ones to put their hands up, or if you ask them a mental arithmatic question, go round the whole class and get their answers, but not saying anything else until the end, so as not to give anything away, then tell them the correct answer.
Why don't you tell them to hop on their left foot while rubbing their stomach and singing "She'll be coming round the mountain when she comes" :crazy:

Kids don't need to be wrapped up in cotton wool. They need to know that if they're wrong they're wrong. They should know that being wrong is OK, but if they don't learn right and wrong then they'll go into the world and into employment thinking "It's Ok I can just be half-arsed and it'll be fine"

Mark :) I know how you feel. Most of the girls at my primary school were to busy watching Beverly Hillbillies 90210 to be interested in what was going on in the real world.

[jim mcglinchey]

Keerist. You try to help someone out and theres the thanks you get.

[Daniel]

Keerist. You try to help someone out and theres the thanks you get.
Just my PoV Jim that's all :)

[BDunnell]

I used to watch a lot of news, documentaries etc, mostly because I was watching the same as my Mum&Dad, I was surprised sometimes at school when I mentioned major news stories, e.g. fall of the berlin wall, gulf war, that some of them just didn't have any idea at all about what was going on in the world.

I remember the way the Gulf War started we were in registration at 1pm and the teacher decided that this day was so important that he would bring in the TV and we could watch the start of the news before going off to classes. Myself and one other sat watching the news, while everyone else continued to throw stuff at each other as usual :s

Excellent. Nowadays, this would probably be derided by many as an example of 'trendy teaching' getting in the way of more properly structured learning, but I'm all for it. However, having a day of lessons to watch the wedding of Prince Andrew and Fergie (which really irritated me then, and, with hindsight, was a waste of everybody's time including theirs) doesn't count.

I suppose I am looking at this through my own eyes only, as I was always enthusiastic about speaking in front of the class, answering questions, etc, but I can't help feeling that not enough has traditionally been done to combat 'shyness' in the classroom. In particular, I always found it rather sad to say the least that there were people at university who knew the answers but would never volunteer them in front of the group, because they were too timid to do so.