Children and Personal Safety: My Passion

I have been teaching martial arts to children for years. At one time, I felt compelled to write an article titled, “Girls do Ballet and Boys do Karate” because of my frustration with the stereotype pervading children’s activities. Both girls and boys need self-defense skills. The reality is, however, that martial arts and self-defense are still not given enough credence by the general population. Martial arts schools continually lose students to other sports (or video games).

Then there are those that believe you can take a one night workshop and learn to defend yourself. All those quickie courses do is give people a false sense of security. It takes practice and repetition to learn self-defense well enough to use it in an attack.

Both my children took martial arts from Kindergarten through High School. They weren’t given another option. I realize that they could still get attacked, but I know that as their mother, I did the best that I could to make sure they had self-defense skills, understood what message body language sends to others and know all that you say in the video above. I pray they never need to use those skills, but I know they have them just in case.

A colleague of mine, Robert Siciliano, speaks with passion about a
topic I, also, am passionate about.

THE GARBLED GRAMMARIAN SAYS …

On-Screen Timer to Keep Kids on Track!

During a recent seminar, Brenda expressed a need for an on-screen timer; something that she could put on the desktop to “signal students that their time is up.” We did a little research and found a solution that help you too!

TimeLeft is a free desktop utility that can be used for a variety of clock and timer applications. The main feature of TimeLeft includes a powerful customizable reminder, which can show a message, play a sound file (many formats, including mp3), open a link or program, or even turn off your monitor or shutdown your pc.

A Resource for New Teachers

Starting a new school year is scary enough for veteran educators, but it can be terrifying for new teachers. Julia G. Thompson’s book, The First Year Teacher’s Survival Guide, “gives new teachers a wide variety of tested strategies, activities, and tools for creating a positive and dynamic learning environment while meeting the challenges of each school day.” This book is currently getting rave reviews at Amazon.com and is full of useful strategies for everything from connecting with students to classroom management. Check it out today!

Teach Children the Importance of Proper Nutrition

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 has more than doubled in the past 20 years, from 6.5% in 1980 to 17.0% in 2006. The rate among adolescents aged 12 to 19 more than tripled, increasing from 5% to 17.6%. Helping children understand the importance of diet and exercise now can reduce their risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke, Read the rest of this entry »

Duringe a recent round of seminars, a couple of participants left me with some ideas for keeping things organized in their classrooms. Olivia Valencic uses a small tackle box to store markers, highlighters, sticky notes, etc. Just put it on the table and everything is right where students can find it and keep it organized.

Nancy Gallaher uses Wikki Stix in her Read the rest of this entry »

Tough Times for Teachers

As we continue to face issues with today’s economy, school’s and teachers in some parts of the country are feeling the crunch. I’ve recommended Teachers.net before, and even published articles in their gazette. Now its time to point you to some other important resources.

• This March’s gazette has an article on Economic Relief for Teachers.
• The Job Center offers a current listing of job openings sorted by state.
• The Tutors Chatboard offers information and ideas about how to increase your income by tutoring in your spare time.

Here’s an opportunity that I feel worth passing on to you:

4 Day Storytelling Course with Judith Blackin the seaport town of Marblehead, MA 01945 June 22, 24, 25,  2009

Read the rest of this entry »

Money Comics

Our students, even those as young as elementary age, are aware that our country’s economy is facing some important issues. The Federal Reserve is offering free comics to teachers (up to 35
copies per teacher) to help students understand economics, money and banking, and the importance of saving.

There are 12 different Read the rest of this entry »

Moving beyond the success of his own life, Josh Waitzkin, eight-time national chess champion, world champion martial artist, and subject of the film Searching for Bobby Fischer, has written a book detailing his experiences on the road to mastery.

Part autobiography, part self-help guide, The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance explains Waitzkin’s principles for improving performance in any field. In talking about the book, Waitzkin’s says, “If I have learned anything in a lifetime of world-class competition, it is that learners and Read the rest of this entry »