Movie: Race to Nowhere

The Tufts University, Eliot-Pearson Children's School is pleased to announce that they will be hosting a national screening of the new documentary film, Race to Nowhere,  on Tuesday, January 25th at 7:00 pm, Aidekman-Arts Center, Cohen Auditorium, 40 Talbot Ave., Medford, Ma

The film is about the high-stakes culture that children and educators face in their school lives now.  

Please see attached link for more information and to order tickets. A portion of the proceeds will also benefit the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School scholarship fund.  Tickets will be $10.00 online, $15.00 at door.  Please pass on this information to interested people.

Here is the link to buy tickets:

http://www.racetonowhere.com/postcard/january-25th-medford-ma

Common Sense Media

The following common sense media website is a terrific resource for educators, parents and students.  It contains a vast amount of information on cyber safety, online citizenship, and much more.  They have also purchased Cyber Smart in an effort to expand the site's digital literacy curriculum. Take a moment to check it out.
GO TO:  http://www.commonsensemedia.org

How Much Sleep do Children Need?

Excerpt from About.com

The American Academy of Pediatrics Guide to Your Child's Sleep provides some helpful guidelines regarding just how much sleep children need at different stages in their development.

Children need:
Between Ages 3-10, children need 10-12 hours
Between Ages 11-12, children need about 10 hours
Teenagers need about 9 hours of sleep per night

Kids who are regularly sleep deprived will exhibit some pretty difficult behaviors. They display frequent irritability, overreact emotionally, have difficulty concentrating, forget easily, wake often during the night, and may even display hyperactive behaviors.

The best thing you can do is simply move your child's bedtime up. This may sound impossible at first, but by moving the entire bedtime routine up half an hour, you'll help your child associate bedtime with an earlier time. In fact, you may be surprised to find that he/she goes to sleep easily and sleeps through the night more regularly when he/she is well-rested.

Vigorous Exercise Makes Children Smarter

This excerpt is taken from the Marshall Memo:

 Vigorous Exercise Makes Children Smarter

            In this New York Times Magazine article, Gretchen Reynolds reports on several studies of the effect of aerobic exercise on children’s brains. In one study at the University of Illinois/Champaign-Urbana, 9-10-year olds who ran on treadmills performed markedly better than sedentary kids on a variety of cognitive challenges, including the ability to filter out unnecessary information and pay attention to relevant cues. When their brains were scanned with an M.R.I., the fittest children had significantly larger basal ganglia, the part of the brain that deals with “executive control” – the ability to crisply coordinate actions and thoughts. The fit and unfit children all had the same socioeconomic background, body-mass index, and other characteristics, so it must have been the vigorous exercise that enlarged that part of their brains.

            A second study at the same university grouped 9-10-year olds by exercise level, gave them tests involving complex memory, and did M.R.I. scans. Sure enough, the fittest children did best on the tests and the scans showed that the hippocampus in these children, the part of the brain that deals with complex memory, was enlarged.

            An earlier study found that 20 minutes of walking just before a test improved scores, even among students who were unfit or overweight.

            And a study conducted among 18-year-olds in Sweden found that better fitness correlated with higher I.Q. scores and more lucrative careers, even among identical twins. There was no correlation between muscle strength and I.Q. It’s clear that aerobic exercise, not strength training, is best for the brain.

The implication for schools is clear, says Georg Kuhn, a professor at the University of Gothenburg: “More aerobic exercise!”

“The Fittest Brains: How Exercising Affects Kids’ Intelligence” by Gretchen Reynolds in The New York Times Magazine, Sept. 19, 2010

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/15/phys-ed-can-exercise-make-kids-smarter/?scp=9&sq=Gretchen%20Reynolds&st=cse

Pedestrian Safety letter

Pedestrian Safety Newsletter

Officer Corey P. Rateau

Traffic and Parking Enforcement Unit

781-316-3928

CRateau@town.arlington.ma.us

This is a time of unprecedented economic challenges for many communities including Arlington.  Some very difficult fiscal adjustments had to be made and as a result there was a reduction in the number of traffic supervisors stationed around town during school hours.  In light of this situation, I would like to send out a reminder to parents to make sure that they teach their children about pedestrian safety.  I have included the following tips that should be helpful to pedestrians of all ages:

·         Always cross at a crosswalk if one is available.  They are there to remind motorists to look out for pedestrians. By law, you are required to use one that is within 300 feet of the location where you wish to cross or you could be considered “Jay Walking”. 

·         Always stop at the curb, edge of road, corner or parked vehicle before proceeding across the street.

·         If there is traffic, try to make eye contact with the driver(s) approaching you to make sure that they see you, understand your intentions, and have stopped for you before crossing.

·         LOOK LEFT, RIGHT, THEN LEFT AGAIN.  Cars may have proceeded from your left after your initial look (and this should typically be the closest direction that traffic would be approaching you).  If it is clear, then proceed to cross.

·         Walk - Don’t Run when crossing the street, even in a crosswalk.  Always keep looking in both directions for drivers that may not see you in the street.  Do not assume that a car will stop for you just because you are in the crosswalk.

·         When crossing at signalized locations, wait for the cross signal and be sure that all traffic has stopped before entering the crosswalk.  Continue to look for vehicles, especially ones that could be making turning movements from adjacent streets, as you are crossing. 

 ·         Do not step off the curb if “Don’t Walk” is already flashing as you approach the intersection.  Wait for the next “Walk” cycle before crossing.

·         Always walk on the sidewalk if there is one available.  If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic so that you can see what’s coming towards you.

·         Be aware that many large vehicles, including school buses, have “No Zones” around them where the driver simply cannot see anything, even with the best mirrors.  Avoid these areas to the rear and sides of these vehicles.  Look for the rear tires of large vehicles to go “off track” (ride up on the curb/sidewalk) while turning.  Most skilled drivers will avoid this but be extra cautious and not stand too close to the corner if this happens, as you will be in that driver’s “No Zone.”

·         Large vehicles like buses and trucks need a longer distance and take a longer time to stop; no matter how fast they are traveling.  Don’t try to rush out in front of one of these vehicles, as sudden moves on a pedestrian’s behalf can be difficult to anticipate for even a well-trained professional driver.

·         While you should always cross at least 10 feet in front of a school bus while at a school bus stop and the lights are flashing and traffic has stopped, DO NOT cross in front of MBTA buses at a bus stop.  As they are about to depart, their focus may be on any oncoming traffic to the side of their vehicle.  Always wait for MBTA buses to leave the bus stop before crossing.

·         Try to wear clothing that is bright and/or reflective enough to make you stand out and not blend into the background of the area you are in.  This helps when crossing both during the day and night.

Remember, pedestrian safety begins at home.  Always set a good example when crossing the street with your children.  Make sure that they know what the different crossing signals look like and for what they stand.  Statistically, the most common cause of pedestrian injury or death is pedestrian error, not driver error. By keeping some of these pointers in mind, we can help avoid these situations and make walking in Arlington safer for everyone.

Voices of Dallin Podcast #8

Extending the School Day and Year

 The excerpt below is taken from the Marshall Memo:

What the Research Says About Extending the School Day and Year

            In this Review of Educational Research article, Erika Patall of the University of Texas/Austin and Harris Cooper and Ashley Batts Allen of Duke University study the impact of extending the school day and year. They start by distinguishing the different ways in which we can talk about school time:

-   Allocated school time – the number of days in the school year and hours students are required to attend school;

-   Allocated class time – the time students are required to be in class;

-   Instructional time – the time devoted to instruction (versus noninstructional time in the classroom devoted to administrative matters, discipline, etc.)

-   Engaged time – the time students are paying attention to a learning task and attempting to learn (often called time on task);

-   Academic learning time – the time in which students are actively engaged and successfully learning.

Most studies of the impact of extra time focus only on the first – allocated school time – based on the assumption that increasing allocated time provides the opportunity to increase academic learning time.

            Patall, Cooper, and Allen conducted an exhaustive search of studies on this subject and came to the following conclusions:

            • The research in this area is weak and it is difficult to make strong causal inferences; there are no controlled studies that allow us to draw definitive conclusions about what works and how extended time affects student performance over time.

            • There is little evidence on the impact of extended school time on non-achievement results such as student motivation, attitudes toward themselves, toward school, or toward coursework, and on student conduct, discipline, attendance, fatigue, or family dynamics.

• However, say the authors, “the research evidence would suggest that extending school time can be an effective means to support student learning, particularly for students who are most at risk of school failure and when considerations are made for how that time is used.”

            • Extending school time won’t always improve achievement. “It is only common sense,” say Patall, Cooper, and Allen, “that if additional school time is not used for instructional activities or if additional instruction is poor in quality, it is unlikely to lead to achievement gains.” They cite several schools supported by the Massachusetts 2020 initiative as examples of what’s essential: a focus on teacher quality, strong leadership, rigorous and continuous professional development, a positive school culture, and strong family engagement.

• Parent and staff attitudes toward extended school time are generally positive, while student attitudes are less positive.

• Extra time is “one of many interventions needed to alter the academic success of students, particularly those who enter and continue with disadvantages,” say the authors.

            • Where funding for extending school hours and days is not available, the authors say that alternative approaches can be effective, including after-school programs, summer school, and other out-of-school services.

            • Furthermore, we don’t know the optimum amount of additional time that balances costs and benefits.

            Patall, Cooper, and Allen conclude: “The task now falls on education researchers to conduct well-designed research that will help determine under what conditions, for whom, and when more school time will yield the greatest benefits.”

“Extending the School Day or School Year: A Systematic Review of Research (1985-2009)” by Erika Patall, Harris Cooper, and Ashley Batts Allen in Review of Educational Research, September 2010 (Vol. 80, #3, p. 401-436), no e-link available; the authors can be reached at erika.patall@mailutexas.edu, cooperh@duke.edu, and aba8@duke.edu.