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Corporal Punishment By Munir Moosa Sewani

Children will not remember you for the material things you provided but for the feeling that you cherished them.” (Richard L. Evans)

Students Just Like You! Or they dislike you! Well, knowing this is a well guarded secret for a teacher. If you want to know whether you are a good teacher or a dictator, just ask these questions to yourself:

• What do you feel when you look at children?

• What will be your reaction, if you find students shouting in your class?

• How many times did you find your students appraising you genuinely, or how many times you felt that your students abhor you?

• After ending your class, do you feel energetic or lethargic?

You will get so many answers to analyze yourself by student responses to the above given questions.

In my school, 50 students were questioned: what is the one line, which comes to their mind for their teachers? Few of the responses are given below:

• I hate you teacher!

• I love my teacher. She is like a role model for me.

• What the hell is going on with our Math teacher? Is she mad?

• I am fed up of my teachers stupid threats!

• Teacher, I respect you more than my parents, because you always counsel me like a parent.

• Dumb and Stupid!

• Go to hell Miss ......

• I guess Sir ..... wife beats him regularly, that's why he takes out his frustration on us

• If I was the Principal, I would have thrown my teachers out of the school.

• Our teachers are like devils!

• Teachers always support us and they always do good for us. They are really concerned about our future.

• I am damn sure that Sir .... was given severe punishments when he was a student. Now he has become mental and throwing tantrums on us.

• My dear teachers, God bless you all!

• A teacher must learn how to respect us.

• My teacher always insults me in front of all the students. I want to kill my teacher one day!

These are some of the very unsympathetic and ruthless statements made by the students. Why they said such is based on their own perception. But what makes them to say all that is something, which is to be assessed. Corporal punishment is the result of student's awful attitude in most of the cases. Corporal Punishment is a very common illegal act, performed by many teachers worldwide. Despite reading so many articles, news headlines, laws, etc., some teachers love to be staunch all the time.

The word "corporal" is an adjective which modifies a noun to clarify that it is of the physical body (the corps). Punishment is another word for retribution, the enforcement of undesirable conditions upon someone in response to a previous act that was considered by the punisher. Corporal punishment, then, is defined as unwanted retaliation inflicted upon the physical body of the recipient in response to an act that was undesirable to the person inflicting the retaliation.  (Retrieved from: www.irregulartimes.com/cpdefinition.html on March 21^st, 2009)

Corporal punishment is an ineffective discipline strategy with children of all ages and often is dangerous. Corporal punishment most often results in its victim's anger, resentment, and low self-esteem. It teaches violence and revenge as solutions to problems, and perpetuates itself, as children imitate what they see adults doing.

How many times you have read or heard that students look at the personality of a teacher? But truly, students look more at your attitude and behavior than any thing else. Mr. Rehman, Arif recalls and shares his bitter experiences of corporal punishment in the following examples:

No. 1

When I was in class 1, I took private tuitions from teacher who was our art teacher in school, because both of my parents were working.  But then in class 2 or level 2, when my mother realized that teacher had like 50 students studying at one time, she and my elder sister decided to teach me at home. When I was taking private tuitions from her she was so nice to me but after that her attitude changed completely towards me. She became evil with me in the sense she always gave me low grades in courses she taught, always punished me and always tried to find reasons for beating me. Since she was responsible for selecting students for various extracurricular activities like poetry competition and art competition, she never selected me and always disapproved my work. 

No. 2

I remember that I was in class 4, when one day, our English teacher told us that she was going to collect our class work copies. We had one copy each for English language and literature. Our teacher asked the monitor (CR: Class Representative), to collect language copies first. After she and CR collected English language copies, she asked everyone to take out their English literature copies and then they both went into the teacher’s room to place copies in teacher’s closet. When I checked my bag for my literature copy, I realized that I gave the literature copy first instead of the language one. I came in front of class near the chair of the teacher, and waited for her to come, so that I could inform her. Then she came and shouted at me by saying ‘Why are you standing here, go to your seat’, I informed her that I had given her the wrong copy first and the copy in my hand was the language copy and I also said sorry to her.  She didn’t said anything but started slapping me on my face and head and back and chest.  She might have beaten me 50 times and the whole class was viewing this beating as I was standing in front of the classroom. While she was beating me she was saying ‘why did you give me the wrong copy, didn’t your hear what I said?’. She beat me up, took English language copy from me and after she finished beating me, she ordered me to bend on my knees in front of class. I was crying and was bent on my knees for the entire period. I wasn’t a bad student, but still she had beaten me and treated me as if I was a prisoner and did something very wrong.

Teachers claim that corporal punishment is the only solution to maintain discipline in a classroom; but challenging and good teachers articulate that there are many alternative ways through which we could transform students' inappropriate behavior without using any punishment.

We all have hearts! For years, I have been constantly seeing so many articles in the newspapers and magazines about the quality of a good teacher. In fact, I have also written a few articles on it to salute teacher's dedication and determination to groom children. But, if even a single teacher in this world uses corporal punishment, then it is like a taboo for the whole community of teachers.

Keep your fingers crossed, as part 2 will be coming soon!

Using Sign Language to Help the Hearing ADD or ADHD Child by Kim Taylor-DiLeva

As a teacher, you are challenged with students who have a difficult time focusing in class. They often seem to be busy and constantly on-the-go. Often times, these children are labeled with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) or ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). Regardless of diagnosis, or lack thereof, you have been given the responsibility of educating this child. When it seems too difficult, it is important to remember that there are alternative methods of teaching these children, and one of them is to use American Sign Language signs. This approach does not need to be taught as a separate lesson, but rather incorporated into your current curriculum.

Dr. Marilyn Daniels states in her book, Dancing with Words, that children who have been diagnosed with ADD are more likely to retain information and new words when they are presented with the material visually.  “The point is clearly articulated by Freed and Parsons in Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World:  Unlocking the Potential of Your ADD Child: ‘It is a given that these youngsters (ADD) must visualize in order to learn and that they process exclusively in pictures’” (1997, p.61).  Therefore, in order to strengthen an ADD or ADHD child’s ability to learn and understand new words, you must help them to visualize an image of that word in their mind, or develop a mental picture. Sign language signs are typically iconic, meaning that the sign often represents an image of that actual word (like in the word house you sign the roof and the two walls). This can be very useful to help a child create a mental image. Even those signs that are not iconic, can still represent the word visually.

In addition to the visual elements of sign language, the ADHD child can also benefit because it is a language that requires movement. When you teach your student a sign and they repeat it the sign back to you, they are using their hands, bodies, and facial expressions to demonstrate the new word. Kinesthetic learners especially benefit from this because they are able to use their bodies in order to learn new information.

When you incorporate sign language into your regular curriculum, it is easier for your students to actively participate in their learning, rather than remaining a passive listener.  The use of this visual and physical language will allow your students to be more engaged in what they are learning. Sign language instruction will not only help the hearing children in your class, but also specifically help ADD and ADHD children to learn more easily.

Incorporating sign language into your sight word instruction is very easy to do.  Just look up the ASL signs for the sight words that you want your students to learn in an American Sign Language Dictionary (you can also use an online dictionary that shows a video of how to do the sign.)  Show your students the sight word and the sign.  Say it and sign it.  Ask the students to look at the word, and say it and sign it with you.  Repeat this a few times.  Every time you are discussing, practicing, or reading this new sight word, you and your students will sign it when it is read. To make it easier on yourself and your students, you may want to look into purchasing “My 1^st 50 Sight Words in Sign”, where frequently used sight words are on a card alongside their sign for easy learning/recalling.  You can find them at My 1^st 50 Sight Words in Sign

Don’t be overwhelmed by all of the above mentioned signs if you don’t know them. Just try one sign and then the next week add a new one. Start with the positive and encouraging signs. Just one or two signs can start your class on the way toward creating your ideal peaceful and positive classroom.

TECH CORNER
	ePals: Connections Around The World By Mark Benn Middle School Teacher

Have you ever thought about making connections outside of your classroom so that your students could learn about other students from around the world and their cultures? This would tie into your Social Studies and English curriculums, plus students could improve their communication skills, also.  If this interests you then go to http://www.epals.com.

ePals is a 21^st century version of pen-pals, but in a larger way.  It is a website designed to connect classrooms and students with other students around the world. Not just anyone can be a part of this website.

ePals, Inc. is a Participant in the TRUSTe Children's Online Privacy Seal Program. This website is designed to protect our students. It has filters that can be chosen so that no student’s e mail can be sent or received until the teacher has seen it. It also has a swearing filter that flags any words in many languages that would be considered swearing. No student under the age of 13 may participate until the teacher has received a signed parent consent form.  As you can see, many precautions have been taken to protect our students.

The first thing you have to do is submit a profile for approval.  Once you have received approval, you can start looking for a classroom in which you wish to connect. There are several ways to search for this classroom. You can check out the section on Today’s New Classrooms located on the home page. There is also a section called Classroom Match that will help find a match. There is also a section called Search by Project located under Connect on the home page.  There you will find seven projects you can use to connect with other classrooms.

While sending out e mail s to connect with other classrooms, start setting up your own students.  Go to the My Home section located on the home page in the upper right hand corner. Choose Accounts under Monitored Accounts and set your students up.

My students have enjoyed these connections and learned a lot about other cultures. We always share with everyone in the classroom each time an e mail is received. I know your students will enjoy this, too.

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Autism is classified as a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests itself in markedly abnormal social interaction, communication ability, patterns of interests, and patterns of behavior.

Although the specific etiology of autism is unknown, many researchers suspect that autism results from genetically mediated vulnerabilities to environmental triggers. And while there is disagreement about the magnitude, nature, and mechanisms for such environmental factors, researchers have found at least seven major genes prevalent among individuals diagnosed as autistic. Some estimate that autism occurs in as many as one United States child in 150, however the National Institute of Mental Health gives a more conservative estimate of one in 1000. For families that already have one autistic child, the odds of a second autistic child may be as high as one in twenty. Diagnosis is based on a list of psychiatric criteria, and a series of standardized clinical tests may also be used.

Autism may not be physiologically obvious. A complete physical and neurological evaluation will typically be part of diagnosing autism. Some now speculate that autism is not a single condition but a group of several distinct conditions that manifest in similar ways.

By definition, autism must manifest delays in "social interaction, language as used in social communication, or symbolic or imaginative play," with "onset prior to age 3 years", according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The ICD-10 also says that symptoms must "manifest before the age of three years." There have been large increases in the reported incidence of autism, for reasons that are heavily debated by researchers in psychology and related fields within the scientific community.

There are cases of children with autism who have improved their social and other skills to the point where they can fully participate in mainstream education and social events, but there are lingering concerns that an absolute cure from autism is impossible with current technology. However, many autistic children and adults who are able to communicate (at least in writing) are opposed to attempts to cure their conditions, and see such conditions as part of who they are.

More on the Characteristics of Autism in the next article.  

 

 

MythMichigan Books Novels by Frank Holes, Jr.
Now Available!	Now Available!		Now Available!
Part mystery, part science fiction, Year of the Dogman is an imaginative, compelling, and adrenaline-pumping adventure. Author Frank Holes, Jr. takes no prisoners in creating a diabolical creature that leaves the forest to prey on the hapless hamlet of Twin Lakes in Northern Michigan . When night falls, the nocturnal beast, Dogman, scares the living daylights out of anyone he happens upon as he searches for a timeless treasure stolen from a Native American tribe. In the midst of the chaos, a young teacher is forced to put two and two together no matter how high the cost to rid the village of the treacherous man-beast who thrives on destruction and terror.	In The Haunting of Sigma, Frank Holes, Jr. returns fans of the legendary Dogman to the wild world of cryptozoology in Northern Michigan .  This darker, far more sinister prequel to Holes’s first novel fully establishes his hold upon the imaginations of readers all over the Midwest .  June 1987 ushers in the hot, dry summer season, but something else far more horrifying has taken up residence in the deep wilderness in Kalkaska County .  The Dogman, a supernatural combination of canine and man, has returned to wreck havoc upon the tiny, sleepy community of Sigma.		Based upon the epic Greek tale of The Odyssey, yet set in the American Wild West, The Longquist Adventures: Western Odyssey chronicles the journey of a young boy and his guide through a perilous world of dangerous encounters and fantastic creatures.  It is a world of gun fights at high noon, stampedes on the great plains, stagecoach robbery, and an ultimate showdown with a ruthless, powerful gangster aboard a turn-of-the-century paddlewheel in the San Francisco Bay.  Can the time-traveling boy and the law-abiding Marshal restore order to the chaos of the American West gone truly wild?
Click Here For The Year of the Dogman Website	Click Here For The Haunting of Sigma Website		Click Here For The Western Odyssey Website
The Dogman, a creature of MythMichigan, is an excellent example of modern-day folklore to study in your classes.    http://www.dogman07.com		The Longquist Adventures, written for elementary students, is excellent for teaching mythology and classic stories to young children.   Western Odyssey, the first novel in the series, is now available!
Teachers: We now have special offers on Classroom Sets of our Novel.  Click here for more information: ORDER A CLASS SET

 

 

New Teachers' Niche:  A Place for New Teachers, Student Teachers, and Interns
	Preparing For Your Student Teaching Experience (part 1) by Frank Holes, Jr.

There are many questions you'll want to pose to yourself far in advance of your student teaching experience. It is important to think carefully about them, as they will help to guide the actions and decisions you make. What kind of teacher do you want to become? Are there other teachers who have been a positive influence on you? Who have been your role models? Are there teachers you've had whose style you want to emulate? Are there teachers you know you don't want to be like? What has worked for some teachers that you want to implement in your own practice?

Who do you see yourself as? What style will you create for your own teaching? How will you balance the subject matter with the care for kids? How do you want the students to see you? How do you want your students to remember you five, ten, or twenty years later on? Will they remember you as a positive influence on them? Could you potentially change their lives?

Create a plan to become your dream. Do it now. Talk with teachers you admire and respect: those you want to model yourself after.  Discuss the techniques and ideas that work for them, and use or adapt what you feel is useful. You can also check out the FREE teacher "Who I Want To Be" inventory available on our website. It gives ideas, provides guidance, and helps to create a plan for starting out on your teaching career.

Click here for the "Who I Want To Be" plan:
http://www.starteaching.com/studentteachers.htm

Meeting your mentor teacher as early as possible is very important.  The two of you must form a bond, a cohesive unit in the classroom.  Your co-op teacher will become the most important contact for this point in your career. They provide you not only with support, guidance, and structure, but also critique. Your co-op teacher's evaluation and recommendation is vital to your resume and to interviewing.

Planning will become very important to every aspect of your life, from school to your personal life. One huge difference is planning for class. Not anymore are you just setting up an activity or a day's lesson plan. Now you must think in terms of the long haul. It becomes a campaign where you must have an overall picture of what you'll cover with your students.

Also within this overall framework, you must have weekly and then daily plans. You'll also have to reflect daily and adjust and (re-adjust) your plans depending upon how each lesson or activity goes (or doesn't go!) The daily grind is often interrupted by school-wide activities, fire drills, and those 'teachable moments' that happen on the spur of the moment. You'll need to be flexible and able to adapt on a daily (or even hourly) basis. But that's a part of teaching!

Another concern many new teachers and student teachers have is becoming involved in extra-curricular activities. There are several ways to look at this. First, it is a good idea to become involved in extra-curriculars at your school. These are good resume' builders, and your involvement shows potential employers you are a team player and willing to go the extra mile for your school and job. Extra curriculars also set you up in a new and different relationship with those students. They are able to see you in a different role too, and many times you're able to create in-roads with students whom you might not otherwise make a connection. Of course, taking part in extra-curriculars means more time and efforts put in, especially when you're already pulled in all directions. However, it is in your best interest to find an activity you can join, even if just as an assistant.

You will also need to carefully plan your personal time while student teaching. In addition to the increased teaching and planning load, your time will be further divided by your college, which undoubtedly has course work or projects for you to accomplish. There are always hoops to jump through. If you have a family, you'll be pulled in even more directions as you find the new balance between home and work.

Our next articles will focus on the duties of student teachers, including observing, team teaching, and flying solo. We'll get you started in becoming accustomed to your class and school, and what specific steps you can take right now and this summer to prepare.

Be sure to check out our website for the FREE teacher Who-I-Want-To- Be plan and other great Freebies for new teachers. Simply click the following link: http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm

Did you find this article helpful and useful for your classes?  Interested in more information on teaching writing, or writing ideas you can use (and adapt or change for your classes)? See our website or click the following link to access our NEW writing page:
http://www.starteaching.com/writing.htm

Be sure to check out our website for more great information, tips, and techniques for new teachers, student-teachers, and interns in teacher prep programs. Also be sure to check out our Who-I-Want-To-Be teacher plan for preparing yourself to enter the educational profession.  Simply click the following link: http://www.starteaching.com/free.htm Want to check out the articles in our Student-Teaching series?  Check out our special Student-Teaching page through the following link:  http://www.starteaching.com/studentteachers.htm

 

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"A Little Boy At A Big Piano" Author: Unknown Themes on Life

In This Week's Issue 
(Click the Quick Links below):

Corporal Punishment (part 1)

Using Sign Language To Help the Hearing ADD or ADHD Child

Tech Corner: 
ePals: Connections Around the World

New Teacher's Niche:
Preparing For Your Student Teaching Experience (part 1)

Themes on Life:  
"A Little Boy At A Big Piano"

School Features: Autism (part 1)

10 Days of Writing Prompts

10 Days of Math Problems

Spring Book Sale for Teachers

Book of the Month Club:
Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling

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10 Days of  Math Problems by Mary Ann Graziani
Day 1	1.    How many minutes is 1 hour 49 minutes?
Day 2	1.    Add: 8.333 + 14.75 + 6.1
Day 3	What is $26.45 rounded to the nearest dollar?
Day 4	4.    Marie worked on the farm for 11 hours one week, 26 hours the next week, and 17 hours the third week.  How many hours did she average each week?
Day 5	Write the ratio 55 to 47 in two other forms.
Day 6	What is the perimeter of a square 3 feet long?
Day 7	How many hours and minutes is 73 minutes?
Day 8	Add: 7.98 + 9.08
Day 9	What time is it 10 minutes before 2:05 P.M.?
Day 10	A bag contains 10 red checkers and 5 black checkers.  What is the probability of picking a black checker?

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