Productive Pen Pal Phenomena

Dr. Wendy Ghiora –Posting #117-February 21, 2013

In this age of e-mails, instant messaging, texting and social networking, would you believe students actually love receiving old-fashioned letters from pen pals? 

The initial question most children write in the first letter to their new pen pal is:

“Dear Pen Pal, will you be my friend?”

“Yes, I will be your friend,” is the response, and then the magic starts.

"Can we open them now? Can we please open them?”  The teacher hands out letters that have just arrived for her fifth-graders. Some students are actually jumping up and down.Could it be the anticipation of waiting for the letters to arrive by “snail mail,” and the personal human connection that only hand written letters can offer?

Students in pen pal programs write about themselves, their families, pets, favorite subjects in school, music and movies. Unbeknownst to them, they are fulfilling several skills that correlate with state standards for their grade level.

Smart teachers at all grade levels from first grade through high school have discovered this unique way of getting students to learn while they are having fun and meeting new friends from across the country or around the world.

Here are a few first-grade standards the pen pal program meets:

·         Select a focus when writing

·         Write informative/explanatory texts that name a topic, supply some facts about the topic and provide some sense of closure

·         Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking

·         Print all uppercase and lowercase letters accurately.

·         Use common, proper and possessive nouns.

·         Recognize the ways in which they are all part of the same community, sharing principles, goals, and traditions despite their varied ancestry; the forms of diversity in their school and community; and the benefits and challenges of a diverse population.

Many of us had the delightful experience of writing to a pen pal. I thought it was a lost art and was thrilled to discover the program still exists and continues to bring the same joy and friendship to children today, as it did to me many years ago. 

Yes, today it’s mostly Facebook, texting and Skype. But there is still something about that anticipation, about receiving pages and pages of handwritten letters that allow you to really get to know someone. A letter is just more intimate than a phone call or text. Having a pen pal is special and can provide very positive phenomena in one’s life.

If you’d like to get started, here is a website that lists several pen pal programs for students:

http://www.worldwide.edu/travel_planner/pen_pals.html

Happy Writing!

Should Your Students Care About GMO’s?

                Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #116 - February 9, 2013

What are GMOs?

You’ve probably heard about GMOs, which are also referred to as genetically modified organisms, GE (genetically engineered), herbicide-tolerant (HT) or Bt crops. In simple terms, a GMO is an organism that has been changed injecting it with genetic material from another species.

"GE seeds were introduced commercially in 1996 and now dominate the production of corn, soybeans, and cotton in the United States. GE crops contain one or both of two major categories of traits:

• Herbicide-tolerant (HT) crops, more commonly known as "Roundup Ready crops," are genetically engineered to survive direct application of one or more herbicides during the growing season, chemicals that would otherwise kill or severely stunt the crop.

• Bt crops are engineered to produce toxins...that kill certain agricultural insect pests."* In other words, the crops themselves contain poison.

For more visit information, visit http://www.nongmoproject.org/consumers/about-gmos/.

How safe are GMOs?

In 30 other countries around the world, including Australia, Japan, and all of the countries in the European Union, there are significant restrictions or outright bans on the production of GMOs, because they are not considered proven safe.

It is estimated that about 75 percent of processed foods sold in the U.S. contain at least some genetically modified food ingredients. Unlike many other countries, there is no law in the U.S. requiring the labeling of foods that contain GM ingredients. But if you know how to identify which foods are most commonly genetically modified, you can reduce how many GMOs you eat.  The best way to avoid GMO products is by buying unprocessed 100% certified organic local whole foods.

Since grocers and farmers are not legally required to label foods that have been genetically altered, how can we avoid buying these products?

Read the PLU labels. If the five digit PLU number starts with “8,” the food is either genetically modified or genetically engineered.  If the five digit PLU number starts with “9,” it’s organic. Also, by watching for the absence of either the 8 or 9, which means the produce is neither organically grown or genetically modified, you can recognize traditionally grown produce. Ensure your produce is not genetically modified by reading the number on the sticker, and by buying 100% certified organic.100% certified organic food is by law never genetically modified!

Do Teachers Have Eyes in the Back of their Heads?

Do Teachers Have Eyes in the Back of their Heads?

Dr. Wendy Ghiora – Posting #115 – March 1, 2013

 

    Is this seemingly miraculous phenomenon a truly inexplicable anomaly, or is it something else entirely? As a third grader, it seemed very real to me one day, when I was very inconspicuously whispering to a friend while the teacher’s back was turned. I thought I had gotten away with it because she turned back to face the class and continued the lesson without any reproach to me.  My smile soon faded, however, when just before the bell rang, she asked me to stay after class. Needless to say, she knew exactly what I had done, and I got to spend the next two recess periods in the classroom. How could she possibly have known? It could have been those famous rear view eyes; or maybe she had some help.

    Teachers do have eyes in the back of their heads; well, sort of. If having eyes in the back of one’s head means being able to see all kinds of shenanigans going on in the classroom, while the teacher’s back is facing the class, then yes, it’s true. If being able to turn around, look directly at the leader of the “everybody cough on my signal,” just as the coughing subsides, then yes. If while facing the board, the teacher says, “Amy, please bring the note that was just passed to you and place it on my desk,” then without question the teacher must have eyes in the back of her head, right?

    Any teacher worth their salt must develop keen senses and almost superhuman awareness of what is going on in and around the classroom at all times. Good teachers get to know their students better than they know themselves. The perceptive teacher watches, listens and observes, usually when the students aren’t even aware of the observation.  The observant teacher learns to recognize each student’s voice, even when it is a mere whisper. She sees eye contact and hand signals as students communicate, thinking the teacher is oblivious to all this student interaction.

    As a high school teacher, these skills became my “sixth sense,” and proved to be an important and effective tool in creating the mystique of “don’t even try to get away with anything in Dr. Ghiora’s class.”  Let’s just say, on numerous occasions, I would appear to be engrossed in checking a student’s paper, or meeting with a student about his work, while in reality, at least 50% of my sense awareness was honed in on someone that was “up to something, or planning to be up to something,” in the classroom.  When the opportune moment presented itself, (or so they thought), the plotter(s) would attempt the stunt as I was writing on the board, with my back to them. I would hear where and from whom the disturbance generated, at which point I would foil the prank with surprising calm, catching the culprit with his proverbial hand in the cookie jar.

    I only had to do this two or three times throughout the year. The effect seemed to be very powerful and almost paranormal to the students. They just couldn’t figure out how I did it. When I told them, “All teachers are given an extra set of eyes for the back of their heads along with receipt of their teaching credential,” they would chuckle and smile. However, I noticed several of them actually exhibited a ponderous look as their smiles faded and a few heads shook gently from side to side . . .