Page 15 - BackToSchool2018

Monday, August 6, 2018 EL DORADO NEWS-TIMES — 15C
Organized lockers keep students on track
School is often a student's home away from home. Spending an average of six hours per day and five days a week, 10 months a year in the classroom or on campus, students may feel as though they spend more time roaming school grounds than they do relaxing at home.
Lockers can be havens for students, giving them a place to store supplies and personal items and meet up with friends each day. Organized lockers may help students handle all of their responsibilities more capably.
Developing organizational habits early on is a worthwhile lesson for students, helping them avoid tardiness and keep their assignments in order.
Students typically keep a num- ber of items in relatively small lockers, which only makes it more challenging to stay orga-
nized. The following tips can help students stay organized this school year.
· Make the most of lock- er space. Space is limited, but with some additions, lockers can be that much more func- tional. Insert a removable shelf to double the space available. Metal shelves are preferable, but adjustable plastic ones can be effective if they aren't over- loaded.
Install adhesive hooks on the door or an inside wall of the locker to hang clothing, bags and more. Invest in hooks that can hold a lot of weight.
· Organize books by class. Keep books organized by class schedule so that books can be grabbed quickly during period changes. Put folders and note- books with the textbooks so that all related items will be
together.
· Add some personality. The Container Store suggests adding color and function with magnetic accessories to liven up the space. Dry-erase calen- dars, pencil/pen containers, a mirror, cubbies for notes and other tools, and magnetic pic- ture frames are some ideas.
· Keep on top of trash. Routinely clean out the locker if things become unruly. Tucking a small waste pail in the bot- tom of the locker can be handy for taming garbage. Otherwise, periodically clean your locker during after-school hours, emp- tying it of old assignments and taking clothes home for laun- dering.
more research is needed to see if stereotypes directly caused this gap in interests).
Types: Continued from Page 12C
super smart, but 66 percent of boys selected boys.
In other words, these young children overall held positive beliefs about their gender. But boys were less certain about their gender getting good grades and girls were less certain about their gender being super smart.
largely unnoticed.
gaps, but they certainly Data on boys’
Other research has
found that, by fifth grade, Despite their advantage
doubt their gender can be brilliant, girls might then avoid “super smart” activities like advanced math summer camps and then not develop precocious mathematics talent. In other words, stereotypes and reality couldmutuallystrengthen each other.
also matter. For instance,
teachers’ beliefs that girls
are better readers predict
declines from grade five
to grade six in boys’ –
but not girls’ – confidence
in their reading skills.
Researchers also find Both sets of findings
both boys and girls say that girls work harder at school, want to learn more, listen better, follow instructions better, are more polite and – perhaps as a result – perform better in school.
Reality of gender achievement gaps
in grades and degree
attainment, girls are
underrepresented
among the highest
scorers on standardized
mathematics and science
tests. For instance, boys
typically outnumber girls
by between two and four
to one among the top 1 Consistent with these
that teachers often view boys as “lazy, disruptive, unfocused, and lacking motivation.” This stereotype about troublesome boys could negatively bias teachers’ perceptions of boys’ learning, one experiment found.
are important. However, people often appear much less concerned with stereotypes negatively affecting boys than those affecting girls. For instance, several tweets about this new study described its results about brilliance as “sad” and “depressing,” but its results about grades went
Children’s stereotypes
reflect reality to an
extent. For instance,
girls have gotten better
school grades in all Children’s views
really smart” (though
stereotypes contribute
subject areas for nearly
B2S: Continued from Page 12C
children and adults can benefit from the various SEL programs.
They differ in some ways, but when distilled down, SEL programs share three common elements: self-awareness, talking or putting your thoughts and feelings into words, and providing some structure or a “holding” environment. These elements help reduce “emotional hijacking.”
Any student who is identified as lacking some element of an SEL competency, for instance, self-awareness, self- management, social awareness, relationship skills and responsible decision-making can benefit. These SEL competencies make reading, writing and arithmetic easier as a student’s emotional world is validated.
If a child’s social and emotional world
is left unattended to, he or she can be driven to distraction, acting out, and various unregulated emotional states.
How you can support the transition
Back-to-school time comes with rich, teachable moments to support the social and emotional development of children.
So, if you are a parent, here is what you need to do:
• Be self-aware! Focusing entirely on your child’s transition overlooks your own feelings about transitions. They are tough for everyone. Knowing what you are bringing to the mix is important. Once you know it, you can work on helping your child develop his or her self- awareness.
• Talking helps. A simple question like, “Any thoughts or feelings about school starting?” is an opening. Let the question hang there. You don’t need to clarify or say more. Give them space to think and feel. If you have concerns about
transitioning your child from summer to school mode, talk to your friends, a pediatrician or your child’s therapist.
• Structure time. Depending on your child’s age, you can start implementing bedtimes and times for breakfast in the morning that slowly move back to school timetables. This is easy enough with children, but tough to do with adolescents who just have notoriously poor sleep hygiene.
And don’t forget, if there is summer homework that needs to be completed (summer reading, projects, etc), then you may want to help schedule that for your child.
“Education is life itself”
As an academic, I love and hate the back-to-school time. I love teaching. I am a sucker for back-to-school sales and love the smell of stationery and the feel of opening a new notebook.
But I also love the summertime, without
my students and schedules. I enjoy reading through the stack of both pleasure and subject-area books I have accumulated over the academic year. My summer is “me” time. Fall, winter and spring are “we” time. These are the elements of my own “self-awareness.”
Back-to-school time brings mixed feelings, as do most important events in life. Our jobs as parents and educators should be to help with the social and emotional development of those in our care so that they can more easily do the reading, writing and arithmetic that they need as well, not the other way around.
In an age where answers are only a smartphone away, knowing how to think and critically evaluate information should be the focus of education.
In many ways, this is what John Dewey, the noted academic, philosopher and educator meant when he wrote:
“Education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.”
Gaps: Continued from Page 14C
science achievement test. Approximately 31 percent of Asian students scored in the bottom 25 percent on the science test. In contrast, only 12 percent of white students did so. This gap was present even though Asian students performed as well as or better than white students in mathematics and reading.
Interestingly, unlike the black-white gap, the science gap between Asian and white students closed rapidly between kindergarten and the end of first grade. In fact, by the end of first grade, the gap had reduced by almost 50 percent.
It’s unclear what causes this rapid decrease in the Asian- white science gap. However, what it does show is that achievement gaps are not stagnant.
Prior research conducted by scholars David Quinn and North Cooc showed similar
Instead, boys and girls appear to begin schooling on relatively equal footing when it comes to science achievement. It is only as they progress through school that the gender gap emerges.
elementary grades for equity in science achievement. We show that many gaps, such as the black-white gap, already exist when students start school. We also show, however, that these gaps can change significantly in the first two years of schooling as evidenced by the Asian-white gap and the emergence of a gender gap.
What’s happening in classrooms?
classrooms, teachers spend only about a fourth of the amount of time on science that they do on mathematics or language arts.
What can we do?
Our findings point to the need for increased emphasis on science in kindergarten and first grade. I believe, for example, that teachers and school leaders should look for opportunities to incorporate science concepts into reading and math lessons.
a century, according to a recent synthesis of 308 studiesthatincludedover one million students. This female advantage started in elementary school and continued until college.
Girls get better grades, even in math and science – two subject areas often assumed to favor boys. Women also now earn more bachelor’s degrees, master’s degree and – since 2007 – doctoral degrees than men in the U.S.
really smart” therefore
partly match the reality
of who gets top scores
on mathematics (but
not reading or writing) Stereotypes could
to gender achievement
percent or higher of math scorers. However, girls tendtoslightlyoutnumber boys among top scorers on standardized reading and writing tests.
hypotheses, the new
Science study also
found that, by age six,
girls expressed less
interest than boys in
games described as for
“children who are really, These results suggest
about who is “really,
standardized tests.
Self-fulfilling
stereotypes
But children’s
stereotypes may do
more than merely reflect
reality: They may help
create that reality through
self-fulfilling prophecies.
For instance, if girls Teachers’ stereotypes
Maximizing all children’s potential
negatively affect boys
too. As experiments
on elementary school
children suggest, beliefs
about boys’ academic
inferiority or poor
reading ability could Stereotypes could
make boys underperform on evaluative academic tests.
therefore hold back both girls and boys, but in distinct domains. Beliefs about brilliance might deter girls from top intellectual pursuits, but beliefs about grades and classroom behavior might harm boys in school more broadly across the achievement spectrum.
aren’t the only factor at work. For instance, girls’ advantage in grades might also be tied to actual differences in classroom behavior or activity level.
underachievement also have often been historically overlooked in media attention and educational policies. Some writers even argue that boys’ educational struggles aren’t “worrisome” because “the workplace is still stacked against [women].”
But it’s not constructive to pit one gender against the other. Recognizing contexts that favor females doesn’t erase biases against them elsewhere. More importantly, the goal of education should be to maximize all students’ potential and remove obstacles in their way. Regardless of the individual strengths students bring to school, stereotypes shouldn’t determine how far they go. Realizing that goal requires identifying and mitigating how stereotypes can also hold boys back in school.
findings. By eighth grade, Asian
student performance in science
was equivalent to or higher than
that of white students. Other
researchers have also found
Asian students’ performance
in science increases rapidly
relative to white students
throughout elementary and Finally, we found that the
middle school.
No gender gap
kindergarten gaps by race or ethnicity tend to be larger in science than in mathematics or reading.
Additionally, we found
no difference in science For example, on the
All this means that the
early elementary years may Looking beyond the
achievement between boys and girls in kindergarten. A small male advantage was evident only in first grade. This too is an important finding given the documented gender gaps in the later grades of elementary school.
Prior work has found that boys outperform girls in science at third grade. Similarly, results from the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) show a male advantage in science in the fourth grade.
kindergarten achievement tests, the Hispanic-white gap was about twice as large for science as mathematics or reading. Similarly, the black-white gap was slightly larger in science than in mathematics and was about twice as large as the gap in reading.
It is possible that students lagging behind in math and reading struggle even more in science as it requires the application of language and mathematics to scientific content.
be an appropriate point for addressing inequities in science achievement. However, science instruction has not been a high priority in the early elementary grades.
Research comparing kindergarten in 1998 to that in 2010 found that teachers cover fewer science topics than before and students spend less time using science equipment.
Furthermore, kindergarten classrooms today are much less likely to have science or nature areas. Indeed, in kindergarten
classroom setting, the findings of our work and that of others suggest the need to provide support to informal science learning opportunities. Visiting museums, interacting with nature and exploring novel tools all represent ways in which parents and caregivers can support early science inquiry.
Science achievement gaps begin early. It is important that our policies and interventions take steps in those early years to ensure increased science achievement for all.
Our work shows, however, that
these gaps in later grades do not In sum, our findings point extend back to kindergarten. to the importance of the early
Science gaps larger