At One School, a Push for More Play Time

Play came in the form of “choice time,” a roughly 30-minute afternoon period during which each child chose what blocks or toys in the classroom to work with, and at recess, which was often truncated by the time it took for every child to calm down and form an orderly line back to class.
About a month ago, about half of the kindergarten parents signed a letter to the principal, Valerie Capitulo-Saide, asking for more unstructured time in the school day, an extra recess period and better procedures in recess. Ms. Capitulo-Saide gave them one extra gym period a week and no longer required students to form perfect lines at recess, one parent said.
P.S. 101 “is a high performing school,” Ms. Capitulo-Saide said in an e-mail. “Our collaborative decision-making process includes input from parents, teachers and administrators. As a result of our collaboration, we have added 30 minutes of additional physical education instruction per week for kindergarten students while maintaining strong instruction.”

Early childhood homework is another issue. Each Monday, the kindergartners get a packet of worksheets they are supposed to complete by Friday. There are generally 10 to 12 reading, writing and math worksheets each week. Parents are also asked to read to their children.
The School in the Gardens has a rigorous academic curriculum, and it is the sort of place where homework assignments by third grade can stretch to an hour.
About half of the parents support the idea of kindergarten homework, and about half do not, said one parent, Norberto Maio. Mr. Maio said his son, Francisco, generally came home tired, making homework difficult.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for a 5-year-old,” Mr. Maio said. “At least not on a regular basis. They do have, like, 20 more years to do homework.”
Ms. Chin, the mother of 5-year-old Kristin, had no complaints about the homework. “It’s manageable,” she said. “They have to take the standardized tests soon.”
Asma Khan, another parent , said she saw both positives and negatives to a kindergarten focused on academics, especially when a talented teacher is getting results. Her daughter, Zainab, 4, has already learned how to read and would sit around writing all day if she could, Ms. Khan said.
Zainab, for her part, said she liked school just as it was: no more play needed.
And homework? No problem.
“I love homework,” she said. “I write my numbers and my A B C’s.”
                                                     

                                               

CONT...

10. Failing to include basic greetings.

Simple pleasantries do the trick. Say “hi” at the start of the message and “thanks” at the end. Be sure to use the recipient’s name. Be polite yet brief with your courtesy.

11. E-mailing when you’re angry.

Don’t do it. Ever. Recall buttons are far from a perfect science, and sending a business e-mail tainted by emotion is often a catastrophic mistake. It sounds cliche, but sleep on it. Save the message as a draft and see if you still want to send it the next morning.

12. Underestimating the importance of the subject line.

The subject line is your headline. Make it interesting, and you’ll increase the odds of getting the recipient’s attention. Our inboxes are cluttered; you need to be creative and direct to help the recipient cut through the noise. You should consistently use meaningful and descriptive subject lines. This will help your colleagues determine what you’re writing about and build your “inbox street cred,” which means important messages are more likely to be read.

13. Using incorrect subject lines.

Change the subject line if you’re changing the topic of conversation. Better yet, start a new e-mail thread.
14. Sending the wrong attachment.

If you double-check an attachment immediately before sending and decide that you need to make changes, don’t forget to update the source file. Making corrections to the version that’s attached to the e-mail does not often work, and it can lead to different versions of the same doc floating around.
15. Not putting an e-mail in context

Even if you were talking to someone an hour ago about something, remind them in the e-mail why you’re writing. In this multi-tasking world of ours, it’s easy for even the sharpest minds to forget what’s going on.
16. Using BCC too often.

Use BCC (blind carbon copy) sparingly. Even though it’s supposed to be a secret, it rarely is. Burn someone once, and they’ll never trust you again. Likewise, forwarding e-mail is a great way to destroy your credibility. When people send you something, they aren’t expecting you to pass it on to your co-workers. The e-mail might make its way back to the sender, who will see that their original message was shared. They might not call you out on it, but they’ll make a mental note that you can’t be trusted.
17. Relying too much on e-mail.

News flash! No one is sitting around staring at their inbox waiting for your e-mail. If something is urgent, use another means of communication. A red “rush” exclamation point doesn’t compare to getting up from your desk and conducting business in person.18. Hitting “reply all” unintentionally.

This is a biggie. And it’s not just embarrassing; depending on what you wrote in that e-mail, it can ruin your relationship with a co-worker or even your boss. Take extra care whenever you respond so you don’t hit this fatal button.

18 Common Work E-mail Mistakes

Primary communication tools. And given the number of messages we send and receive, we do it with remarkable success.But as with anything, the more e-mails we send, the more likely we are to screw one up. And simple e-mail mistakes can be disastrous. They can cost us a raise, promotion–even a job.
With a new year upon us, this is the perfect time to go through some of the worst e-mail mistakes employees make and how to avoid them.

1. Sending before you mean to

Enter the recipient’s e-mail address only when your e-mail is ready to be sent. This helps reduce the risk of an embarrassing misfire, such as sending an important e-mail to the wrong person or e-mailing a half-written note.

2. Forgetting the attachment

 If your e-mail includes an attachment, upload the file to the e-mail before composing it. This eliminates the embarrassing mistake of forgetting it before hitting “send,” and having to send another e-mail saying you forgot to attach the document.

3. Expecting an instant response

Don’t send an e-mail and show up at the recipient’s desk 30 seconds later asking if they’ve received it. They did, and they’ll answer at their convenience. That’s the point of e-mail.

4. Forwarding useless e-mails

I’ve never seen a single e-mail forward at work that was beneficial. Whether it’s a silly joke or a heartwarming charity, there’s never a time to share an e-mail forward using your work e-mail.

5. Not reviewing all new messages before replying.

When you return to the office after a week or more away, review all new e-mails before firing off responses. It might be hard to accept, but odds are, things did march on without you. Replying to something that was already handled by a co-worker creates extra communication, which can lead to confusion, errors, and at the very least, wasted time for everyone involved.

6. Omitting recipients when you “reply all.”

Unless there’s an important reason to omit someone, don’t arbitrarily leave people off the response if they were included on the original message.

7. Including your e-mail signature again and again

 Nor do you need to include it at the end of an e-mail you send to your long-time co-worker who sits six feet away. If you have your e-mail program set to automatically generate a signature with each new message, take a second to delete it when communicating with someone who knows who you are. It’s always wise to include your phone number, but the entire blurb with your title and mailing address is often nothing but clutter.

8. Composing the note too quickly

Don’t be careless; write every e-mail as if it will be read at Saint Peter’s Square during the blessing of a new Pope. Be respectful with your words and take pride in every communication.

9. Violating your company’s e-mail policy

Many companies have aggressive spam filters in place that monitor “blue” language. From that famous four-letter word to simple terms, such as “job search,” don’t end up tripping the system by letting your guard down.

Cognition and General Knowledge

Research points to the positive effects of technology use on cognitive and social learning and development.

 In similar studies with different ages of children, using computers along with supporting activities ; provided even greater benefits than either one alone. Compared to children in a similar classroom without computer experience, three- and four-year-olds who used computers with supporting activities had significantly greater gains in verbal and nonverbal skills, problem solving, abstraction, and conceptual skills .

 

Similarly, third-grade children who used both manipulatives and computer programs

showed more sophistication in classification and logical thinking than children who used only manipulatives (Clements & Nastasi, 1993). Technology use that is connected to what children already know and can build upon leads to greater tivation and selfdirection. Loss of creativity can be a problem if children use drill-and-practice software. Open-ended software—software that provides opportunities to discover, make choices, and find out the impact of decisions—encourages exploration, imagination, and problem .

 

Technology offers additional ways to learn, and to demonstrate learning. For some children who have unique learning styles, computers can reveal hidden strengths. At the computer, children can approach learning from a variety of perspectives and

follow various paths to a goal . Poor concentration and attention problems can be addressed by limiting screen time, helping children focus on the task, and choosing software that does not employ excessively stimulating noises or constantly moving graphics.

Concerns that technology speeds up the pace of learning and cuts down on childhood can be lessened if unprogrammed playtime is included as an essential part of the child’s daily routine, including any technology use. Play is important for intellectual

development and, as such, should be included as a vital part of early childhood education. Used appropriately, computers can be a positive element of children’s play and learning as they explore and experiment.