Food Fight? You're Under Arrest!
A spontaneous lunchtime food fight broke out at a Chicago middle school, and by the time the last bell rang, 25 students aged 11 to 15 were arrested for reckless conduct. Parents told the local news they are furious.
“My children have to appear in court,” Erica Russell, the mother of two eighth-grade girls who spent eight hours in jail, said Tuesday. “They were handcuffed, slammed in a wagon, had their mug shots taken and treated like real criminals.”
“They’re all scared,” Ms. Russell said of the two dozen arrested students. “You never know how children will be impacted by that. I was all for some other kind of punishment, but not jail. Who hasn’t had a food fight?”
What do you guys think? Link (Image from aggrotech’s Photobucket album)
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Que Sera Sera
This ad for the Thai Insurance Company features children from the Srisangwan School for the disabled, a project of the Princess Mother’s Volunteer Foundation. Link -via b3ta
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School for Nervous and Backward Children
The Reed School for Nervous and Backward Children (1906)
The University of Washington Libraries has a very interesting collection of over 450 print advertisements in local magazines, city directories, and theater pamphlets of the Pacific Northwest from 1867 – 1918.
I’m particularly intrigued with this one: The Reed School of Nervous and Backward Children (1906). The ad noted:
The "family physician" notes that this school is not for the exploitation of any "fad" in child training, but is open to the acceptance of the latest developments in its line of work which have received scientific approval.
The parent notes the truly "homelike" atmosphere which is present, as indicated by the entire absence of anything "institutional."
The school was in Detroit, Michigan, and was conducted by Mrs. Frank A. Reed. According to The Handbook of Private Schools (1920) by Porter Sargent:
"Instruction is given in manual and physical training, vocal and instrumental music, drawing, painting, and the usual school subjects. The School for Stuttering and Stammering at the same address is entirely separate"
Link – via Information Junk
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If Hollywood Taught Science Class
This Cracked Photoshop competition asked what science classes would be like if science were as it is portrayed in movies. This CPR poster is only one of the top 19 funny images. Don’t skip reading “The Benefits of Electrocution”. Link -via Digg
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Cat With A High School Diploma
Better Business Bureau employee Kelvin Collins wanted to learn more about diploma mills and make a point about their uselessness, so he helped his cat Oreo receive a high school diploma from a diploma mill high school.
“Oreo’s a really smart cat… She keeps up with current events,” said Collins.
Apparently, Collins hardly even lied on the application.
“I did lie about one thing. You have to be 18 to take the test and Oreo is only two, but that could be 18 in cat years. Who knows?” he said.
Link Via Consumerist
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Miss Georgia Turned Down Crown To Teach Middle School
When it comes to beauty pageants, we’re so used to hearing about scandals that this news is rather unusual: Kristina Higgins, who was crowned Miss Georgia, turned down the prize and gave up her title after just hours of winning it because … she’d rather teach middle school!
After winning the Miss Georgia title Saturday night at the RiverCenter’s Bill Heard Theatre, Miss Capital City Kristina Higgins told pageant officials Sunday morning she wanted to relinquish the crown.
“She just didn’t think that she could fulfill the duties,” said Billy Kendall, secretary for the Miss Georgia Board of Trustees. [...]
In a statement, 24-year-old Higgins suggested her duties as a middle school teacher could interfere with the time commitment that comes with being Miss Georgia.
“Due to my current job responsibilities as a middle school teacher and the responsibilities and time commitment as Miss Georgia, I have decided to not fulfill the duties of Miss Georgia 2009. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been chosen as Miss Georgia and fully support the system and wish Emily Cook the best of luck,” Higgins said in the statement.
Link (Photo: Kristina Higgins from her MySpace account)
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Warning: Scohol Zone
I know, I know, people who blog in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones or something like that. And though we’re typographically-challenged here on Neatorama, we just can’t resist this news from Channel 7 News Fox WSVN TV:
After painters misspelled the word "school" on the road, the sign has become the talk of the town, especially for students who attend class nearby.
Students who attend Goulds Elementary School have no problem spelling the word "school," however, whoever painted the word on the pavement spelled the word incorrectly.
Children who are learning to read and write are recommending that whoever painted the misspelled word go back to school.
Link – via Dave Barry’s Blog
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Snake Charming School for Kids
When other kids are going to kindergarten, the children of the nomadic Indian tribe of Vadi are also going to school of sorts. Except that the ABCs aren’t in the curriculum – instead, these kids are learning to be snake charmers with real cobras:
Divided between the sexes, the act of snake charming with traditional flute is the role of the men, while the Vadi women care for the snakes and handle them when their husbands or brothers are not around.
‘The training begins at two, the children then are then taught the ancient ways of snake charming until they are ready to take up their roles in our community,’ said chief snake charmer Babanath Mithunath Madari, 60.
‘At twelve the children will know everything that they can know about snakes.
‘They are then ready to continue the traditions of the Vadi tribe which can be stretched back over one thousands years to India’s great Raja’s (kings).’
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School Lunch From Around the World
I personally liked school lunch. But looking at these pictures, it seems like my school may have been the exception to the rule. This collection has 26 different school lunches from six countries.
Korea: Kimchi, a fish, some seaweed looking thing, and some colorful mystery items.
From the Upcoming 
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The Secret of Being Smart AND Popular In School
Can kids be smart and popular with their classmates at the same time? Apparently so: English researchers have found the secret of how high-achieving students can avoid being called "nerds." First: be attractive (and/or athletic) …
Research in nine state secondary schools in England found that the vast majority of "alpha" girls were thought of as physically attractive by classmates, had long straight hair, wore make-up to school and used lots of hair accessories, when this was allowed by the uniform code.
The "alpha" boys, were perceived to be "cute". Many had gelled or styled shorter hair, carried banded sports bags and wore their ties in a "jaunty" or casual way.
Bright boys’ prowess on the playing field was also an important factor in ensuring they avoided derision.
… and two: have a "fall guy" as a friend:
Researchers also identified a "fall guy" phenomenon whereby alpha pupils gain kudos by having a best friend who is more disruptive at school, while avoiding facing the discipline that is meted out to the friend.
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Why settle for a boring computer mouse when you can surft in style with Road Mice, a cool wireless computer mouse that looks just like the car of your dreams? Road Mice is available in various Chevy, Chrysler, Dodge, and Ford models including the popular Dodge Viper shown to the left. It's the perfect gift for the auto-enthusiast in your life! |
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Student Protest School's "No-Touching" Policy
Patrick Abbazia attends his class bound in blue duct tape. He’s not doing it just to be weird – instead, he’s protesting a strange policy of the East Shore Middle School in Milford Connecticut: a "no-touching’ policy that bans physical contact between students!
"Going down the halls it is so cramped that it is hard not to touch anyone," Amanda Bollano said. "But if it is accidental, they won’t do anything. If it is intentional, you might get detention."
Patrick Abbazia said that he and his friends like to give each other "knuckles" and to high-five, and that to ban those actions — when fighting is the problem — doesn’t seem right.
"My mom says it’s not good for a person to go all day without touching,” the eighth-grader said.
(Photo: B.K. Angeletti / Connecticut Post)
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Undercover Substitute Teacher Reprimanded for Covertly Filming School's Deficiencies
Substitute science teacher Alex Dolan took covert footage of students in London and Leeds to document and uncover deficiencies in the local school system.
And what did she get for her trouble? Why, she was found guilty of professional misconduct, of course! Didn’t she ever heard of the adage "no good deeds go unpunished?"
Alex Dolan recorded the footage covertly at four schools in London and Leeds in 2005, exposing apparent attempts by the school to dupe Ofsted inspectors.
A General Teaching Council panel found her guilty of taking advantage of pupils, breaching their trust – and that of colleagues – and abusing her position.
Dolan was praised at a hearing of the panel last week for showing integrity, and acting as a whistleblower to expose conditions in the schools in which she had taught.
But in its judgment, the panel said it did not accept that the public interest issues raised by the film Undercover Teacher justified the use of covert filming.
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Don't Use the S-Word!
Last month, a school in the UK banned the word "school", because it is just too negative:
When’s a school not a school? When the local ‘school’ bans it if you to ask the residents of Sheffield, UK. [...]
Linda Kingdon, headmistress of the academy explained that they had decided at a very early stage to not use the word ‘school’ as it was to be a place of learning, also because many parents had very negative connotations of school.
“Instead we want this to be a place for family learning, where anyone can come. We were able to start from scratch and create a new type of learning experience. There are no whistles or bells or locked doors”, she said.
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Shooting Prohibited Sign
Unfortunately, I’m sure that some idiot will see that as a challenge instead … – via Rue the Day and Miss Cellania
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The Kresmont Kiddie Kollege, AKA ... the KKK!
The Perplexikon, a blog dedicated to documenting the ortographic and linguistic phenomenon of intentional misspellings in brands, trademarks and companies, found this doozie of a school: the Kresmont Kiddie Kollege or … the KKK! Now U know!
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Video Game Boosts Learning
Remember when video games were bad for you? Mom and Dad would complain about how they tied up the television, kept you from playing outdoors, ruined your eyesight and wasted your time. That’s a thing of the past. Re-tooled videogames are now helping children and teens boost basic skills in reading, writing and math.
At West Nottinghamshire College in the U.K., computer science teachers were struggling to get teenage students into literacy and numeracy classes. The college needed to take drastic measures to assist “disaffected students”.
The resolution came in the form of Neverwinter Nights, Atari’s popular computer game. Teachers rebuilt the game to deliver educational challenges players must tackle in order to progress.
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No School for 5 Days = $1 Billion Savings for California
Students in California are probably cheering Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to save $1 billion to help the state’s big budget deficit by shortening
the school year by five days.
In other news, it costs $200 million a day (!) to run California’s schools!
Let’s give them 10 days off and save $2 billion!
Seema Mehta of the LA Times has the story: Link
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Eight-Grader's Fancy Hair Cut is a "Gang Symbol" to School Administrators
Jay Cowell of River Road Middle School got a fancy haircut with a star, which he said is "for God and all the stuff he made on the earth."
But the school officials saw it differently, and declared the his haircut a "gang symbol" and suspended the eight-grader until he got it all shorn off.
Did the school do the right thing? Or are they just being a fuddy duddy? Link [Flash clip]
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6 Year Old Boy Missed the School Bus, Took Mom's Car Instead
Who says that video games aren’t educational? Here’s the story of one 6-year-old Virginia boy who took the family’s sedan because he missed the school bus:
The boy, whose name wasn’t released, missed the bus, took the keys to his family’s 2005 Ford Taurus and drove nearly six miles toward school while his mother was asleep, police said.
He made at least two 90-degree turns, passed several cars and ran off the rural two-lane road several times before hitting an embankment and utility pole about a mile and a half from school.
The boy told police he learned to drive playing Grand Theft Auto and Monster Truck Jam video games.
"He was very intent on getting to school," said Northumberland County Sheriff Chuck Wilkins. "When he got out of the car, he started walking to school. He did not want to miss breakfast and PE."
That boy sure is motivated to go to school! Link
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New Schools Built From Cardboard Tubes
Last year’s earthquake in Sichuan province, China killed 69,000 people and flattened thousands of buildings, including schools. A team led by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban is constructing new temporary but strong school buildings using plywood and cardboard tubes.
Recycled paper tubes aren’t just useful for holding architectural blueprints. They can be molded into load-bearing columns, bent into trusses and rapidly assembled, and can be made waterproof and fire resistant. Because paper tubes are available in various thickness and diameters, they can be added to a structure to support more weight as necessary. Ban has said he hopes to build structures a few stories high.
The work is being done by Japanese and Chinese students working together. See pictures of the process, and a completed school at Treehugger. Link -Thanks, Chris Tackett!
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Deer Visits Target
This video from Yahoo! of a deer (just a little guy) crashing through the window of an elementary school reminded me of when a deer wandered through the automatic doors at our Target in West Des Moines a couple of years ago. Such a thing would never happen now – all of the wooded area near that particular Target has been replaced with retail and apartments. But at the time, it was pretty plausible (obviously). I feel sorry for the poor thing – it can’t get any traction on those slick floors!
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Mugs of Authority
Mark Champkins of the Quirky design studio Concentrate asked school teachers their most commonly used phrases … and then print them on these "Mugs of Authority"
Teachers have no need to shout themselves hoarse, repeating the same phrases over and over – now they just need to point at their mug!
(The phrases are: Put That Down, Stop Doing That, and Don’t Mess About.)
Genius! Link
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Red Pen = Aggressive Color = Bad for Kids' Mental Health!
School officials in Queensland, Australia, are worried about the mental health of kids, so they suggest that teachers don’t use red pen to mark homeworks and tests because red is an aggressive color!
Other tips include structuring time for peer tutoring every day, apologizing to students when necessary and asking students to conduct a "personal skills audit" where they focus on their individual strengths rather than their weaknesses.
The kit, designed to help Queensland teachers address mental health in the classroom, suggests social and emotional wellbeing has been linked to young people’s schooling, among other things.
The education aid has sparked a row in parliament, with deputy opposition leader Mark McArdle calling it "kooky, loony, loopy lefty policies."
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Classroom Lecture Musical Prank
Now this is a clever and entertaining classroom prank: here’s Reach! A lecture musical prank by Prangstgrüp, starring Mike Barry with lyrics by Brian Jacobs. Even Prof. James Valentini, who teaches chemistry at Columbia College was amused.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – Thanks Suhan Li!
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