https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctuo7ibEWZI
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Finnish Educational System
A vice-principal colleague sent me the following link - Finnish educational system!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctuo7ibEWZI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ctuo7ibEWZI
Monday, September 30, 2013
Dear undergrads: Your degree was never intended to land you a job
Dear undergrads: Your degree was never intended to land you a job
from: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/new-graduates-have-skills-not-fields/article14558219/?service=print
Dear Applicant: Thank you for your letter inquiring about positions in
our economics department. At this time, we have no openings. However, I will
keep your letter on file should an appropriate job become available.
At least, that’s what I am required to tell you. But here’s what I’d really like to say to you – and to every recent economics graduate who sends me the same letter.
First, I know it’s lousy for bachelor of arts grads looking for a job “in their field.” Twenty years ago, it was lousy for me too. It’s almost always lousy. In a way, it’s kind of supposed to be – a small rite of passage to welcome you into the working world. It’s sort of like being froshed.
But if I may, I would like to offer some advice.
Don’t be too fixated on landing a job “in your field.” The truth is, you don’t yet have a field. In university, you majored in economics, but that may or may not be your eventual field of professional work. The world is full of possibilities; limiting your search to an economist job is a terribly narrow way to start out.
You chose to study economics, which doesn’t necessarily imply that you’ll be an economist. Rather, it implies you have an aptitude for problem solving. You’re probably good at analyzing data. You can see different sides of an argument. And I’ll bet you’re excellent at finding solutions to problems. These are essential skills required in hundreds of rewarding (and lucrative) fields of professional employment.
Your ultimate field may actually be in sales for a biotech firm. It may be analyzing crime statistics for the city police. It may even be a rock star (just ask Mick Jagger). The world is full of “fields.”
What you’re facing is a common problem: BA graduates confuse their major area of study with what they expect to be their eventual careers. It doesn’t matter if it’s a degree in history, film studies, sociology, or comparative feminist literature.
You’ve successfully navigated your way through a four-year degree. Congratulations! That is no small accomplishment. But now you’re embarking on a totally different program of learning – one that will last the rest of your life. It’s called “What am I here for?”
That may sound all spiritual and existential, but don’t let it throw you off. It just means that your challenge from here on is to find what you’re good at, and keep getting better and better at it.
An apology, by the way, on behalf of society. We are sorry if we led you to believe that attending university would land you a good job. That’s not actually true. A polytechnic college will do this – and the job opportunities available right now are fantastic. A good option for you might be to continue post-university studies at a polytechnic.
But your university education, at least at the bachelor of arts level, was never intended to land you a job. It was intended to make you a more complete thinker. It was intended to teach you how to absorb complex information and make reasoned arguments. It was, quite simply, intended to teach you how to learn. Those are skills that you’ll use in any field of work.
Open your mind to all sorts of job possibilities. Don’t be too proud to start out in the service industry, or where you might get your fingernails dirty. Talk to as many people as you can about their career paths. Go live overseas for a year or two. But never, ever, allow yourself to think you’ve wasted your time in university if you don’t land a job as an economist.
Meanwhile, be encouraged and stay positive. And yes, I will keep your letter on file. But my guess is that when a position in my economics group eventually opens up, you’ll no longer be available.
Todd Hirsch is the Calgary-based chief economist of ATB Financial and author of The Boiling Frog Dilemma: Saving Canada from Economic Decline.
At least, that’s what I am required to tell you. But here’s what I’d really like to say to you – and to every recent economics graduate who sends me the same letter.
First, I know it’s lousy for bachelor of arts grads looking for a job “in their field.” Twenty years ago, it was lousy for me too. It’s almost always lousy. In a way, it’s kind of supposed to be – a small rite of passage to welcome you into the working world. It’s sort of like being froshed.
But if I may, I would like to offer some advice.
Don’t be too fixated on landing a job “in your field.” The truth is, you don’t yet have a field. In university, you majored in economics, but that may or may not be your eventual field of professional work. The world is full of possibilities; limiting your search to an economist job is a terribly narrow way to start out.
You chose to study economics, which doesn’t necessarily imply that you’ll be an economist. Rather, it implies you have an aptitude for problem solving. You’re probably good at analyzing data. You can see different sides of an argument. And I’ll bet you’re excellent at finding solutions to problems. These are essential skills required in hundreds of rewarding (and lucrative) fields of professional employment.
Your ultimate field may actually be in sales for a biotech firm. It may be analyzing crime statistics for the city police. It may even be a rock star (just ask Mick Jagger). The world is full of “fields.”
What you’re facing is a common problem: BA graduates confuse their major area of study with what they expect to be their eventual careers. It doesn’t matter if it’s a degree in history, film studies, sociology, or comparative feminist literature.
You’ve successfully navigated your way through a four-year degree. Congratulations! That is no small accomplishment. But now you’re embarking on a totally different program of learning – one that will last the rest of your life. It’s called “What am I here for?”
That may sound all spiritual and existential, but don’t let it throw you off. It just means that your challenge from here on is to find what you’re good at, and keep getting better and better at it.
An apology, by the way, on behalf of society. We are sorry if we led you to believe that attending university would land you a good job. That’s not actually true. A polytechnic college will do this – and the job opportunities available right now are fantastic. A good option for you might be to continue post-university studies at a polytechnic.
But your university education, at least at the bachelor of arts level, was never intended to land you a job. It was intended to make you a more complete thinker. It was intended to teach you how to absorb complex information and make reasoned arguments. It was, quite simply, intended to teach you how to learn. Those are skills that you’ll use in any field of work.
Open your mind to all sorts of job possibilities. Don’t be too proud to start out in the service industry, or where you might get your fingernails dirty. Talk to as many people as you can about their career paths. Go live overseas for a year or two. But never, ever, allow yourself to think you’ve wasted your time in university if you don’t land a job as an economist.
Meanwhile, be encouraged and stay positive. And yes, I will keep your letter on file. But my guess is that when a position in my economics group eventually opens up, you’ll no longer be available.
Todd Hirsch is the Calgary-based chief economist of ATB Financial and author of The Boiling Frog Dilemma: Saving Canada from Economic Decline.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Wednesday, August 14, 2013
"Starting High School: Stress That Can Last"
April 24, 2013
Starting high school: Stress that can last
By CAROLINE ALPHONSO
Researchers recommend young people be taught coping strategies after study finds one in four experience anxiety issues
The transition from elementary school to high school is fraught with anxious moments: finding your classes in a bigger building, meeting new classmates and getting your locker opened on the first try. New research has found that the shift is highly stressful for about one in four students, and many more than that could use help coping.
Researchers at McGill University tracked 800 students over three years as they made the transition into high school (in Quebec, high school begins in Grade 7), and discovered those who are highly anxious engaged in "maladaptive" behaviours. About one in three of the stressed students reported overeating, others drank alcohol, smoked and did drugs, while a few said they hurt themselves on purpose.
Lead investigator Nancy Heath, a professor of human development and child psychology at McGill, said her preliminary results apply to students making the transition into high schools across Canada, usually in Grade 9, and speaks to the need to teach young people coping strategies when they're about to experience some kind of change. All of these students will face even bigger challenges with a competitive university admissions process, high tuition and an uncertain job market.
"When kids are saying, 'I'm highly stressed,' we need to take it seriously and start teaching them ways to start managing that stress," Prof. Heath said. "Otherwise, they're flailing around and some of them are engaging in really problematic behaviours."
The study involved students who began attending Montreal-area, English-language high schools three years ago. Prof. Heath said a growing body of research is showing that moving to a new school, usually larger with more academic and new social demands, is associated with significant stress.
Students in the study rated themselves on a 10-point scale, and were assessed repeatedly. The survey found that those who were highly stressed when they entered high school continued to be anxious into the following year. Some of that stress stemmed from conflict with families and friends, or academic anxiety. But Prof. Heath said students entering high school are also anxious because their peer group has been broken up.
About 80 per cent of the students surveyed had not been been taught any stress management techniques.
For those involved in the study, as a way to thank them for their participation, Prof. Heath and her graduate students now run an hour-long workshop in the schools teaching teenagers ways to manage their stress. Prof. Heath said other school boards have expressed an interest in running a similar workshop. Students are told about celebrities who have struggled with significant stress levels, so they know they're not alone. They learn how to relax each muscle group, for example, and are provided with websites to help them manage stress and mental-health problems.
Sierra Nadeau, who participated in the study and attended a workshop earlier this week, said she had panic attacks when she started high school.
"I was really scared. The night before, I did not sleep, which was pretty bad. I spent the whole night staying up worrying about it," said Ms. Nadeau, 14, and a Grade 9 student in Lachine, Que.
She wished the workshop had been offered earlier. "When I'm stressed out, I tend to just give up on things, and this would have helped," she said.
Elizabeth Dhuey, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto who has studied school transitions, said researchers are still trying to understand why students have difficulty with the transition, whether it's the move itself, a new kind of school environment or the age when the change occurs. The effects of a difficult transition, however, can last for years. Learning techniques to manage stress, even if it's for an hour during the school day, could be beneficial over the long term, she said.
If they're anxious "they stay at this lower trajectory," Prof. Dhuey said. "So, when they're entering university, they're at a lower trajectory [as far as academic achievement] than people who didn't have a difficult transition."
Researchers at McGill University tracked 800 students over three years as they made the transition into high school (in Quebec, high school begins in Grade 7), and discovered those who are highly anxious engaged in "maladaptive" behaviours. About one in three of the stressed students reported overeating, others drank alcohol, smoked and did drugs, while a few said they hurt themselves on purpose.
Lead investigator Nancy Heath, a professor of human development and child psychology at McGill, said her preliminary results apply to students making the transition into high schools across Canada, usually in Grade 9, and speaks to the need to teach young people coping strategies when they're about to experience some kind of change. All of these students will face even bigger challenges with a competitive university admissions process, high tuition and an uncertain job market.
"When kids are saying, 'I'm highly stressed,' we need to take it seriously and start teaching them ways to start managing that stress," Prof. Heath said. "Otherwise, they're flailing around and some of them are engaging in really problematic behaviours."
The study involved students who began attending Montreal-area, English-language high schools three years ago. Prof. Heath said a growing body of research is showing that moving to a new school, usually larger with more academic and new social demands, is associated with significant stress.
Students in the study rated themselves on a 10-point scale, and were assessed repeatedly. The survey found that those who were highly stressed when they entered high school continued to be anxious into the following year. Some of that stress stemmed from conflict with families and friends, or academic anxiety. But Prof. Heath said students entering high school are also anxious because their peer group has been broken up.
About 80 per cent of the students surveyed had not been been taught any stress management techniques.
For those involved in the study, as a way to thank them for their participation, Prof. Heath and her graduate students now run an hour-long workshop in the schools teaching teenagers ways to manage their stress. Prof. Heath said other school boards have expressed an interest in running a similar workshop. Students are told about celebrities who have struggled with significant stress levels, so they know they're not alone. They learn how to relax each muscle group, for example, and are provided with websites to help them manage stress and mental-health problems.
Sierra Nadeau, who participated in the study and attended a workshop earlier this week, said she had panic attacks when she started high school.
"I was really scared. The night before, I did not sleep, which was pretty bad. I spent the whole night staying up worrying about it," said Ms. Nadeau, 14, and a Grade 9 student in Lachine, Que.
She wished the workshop had been offered earlier. "When I'm stressed out, I tend to just give up on things, and this would have helped," she said.
Elizabeth Dhuey, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Toronto who has studied school transitions, said researchers are still trying to understand why students have difficulty with the transition, whether it's the move itself, a new kind of school environment or the age when the change occurs. The effects of a difficult transition, however, can last for years. Learning techniques to manage stress, even if it's for an hour during the school day, could be beneficial over the long term, she said.
If they're anxious "they stay at this lower trajectory," Prof. Dhuey said. "So, when they're entering university, they're at a lower trajectory [as far as academic achievement] than people who didn't have a difficult transition."
Monday, August 12, 2013
The math is wrong... "Don't Mean to Burst Your Bubble"
"While waiting for a train, commuters can help themselves to square sheets of bubble wrap labelled with how long it would take to pop them. I love this idea. The world is a better place because of it. I hesitate to bring this up, but ... the math is wrong."
From: http://reflectionsinthewhy.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/dont-mean-to-burst-your-bubble/
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Folding a sheet of paper the size of a football field in half!
I am currently working on co-editing the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Mathematics Teacher Media Clips column. The column keeps me in tune with mathematics. In the 2014-2015 calendar year, I have written a submission pertaining to folding a sheet of paper in half - how many times can this be done? Taking an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper, we can fold 7 times. The team in the following video "bust the 7 paper fold myth". Very cool!!!
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Math is Hard - t-shirt (!)
Heard on CFRB 1010 radio this afternoon of the backlash as a result of a t-shirt for girls: Math is Hard. It's amazing that people will still be proud not to be good at math - yet how many people will be proud not to be literate. Glad the t-shirt has been removed. Mathematics is so important and we need high expectations for all students.
I found the following on the Internet: http://consumerist.com/2013/08/05/the-childrens-place-shirt-dont-worry-if-you-arent-good-at-math-theres-always-shopping/
I found the following on the Internet: http://consumerist.com/2013/08/05/the-childrens-place-shirt-dont-worry-if-you-arent-good-at-math-theres-always-shopping/
The Children’s Place Shirt: Don’t Worry If You Aren’t Good At Math — There’s Always Shopping
By August 5, 2013
We understand that there are plenty of demands on a little girl’s time, and that she can’t possibly be expected to excel at every subject in the school of life. But hey, according to The Children’s Place (henceforth to be referred to as TCP), it’s okay because her best subjects of Shopping, Music and Dancing are all covered. As for math? Nobody’s perfect, so don’t worry about checking off that subject.
We’ve seen these kinds of messages in the past, and it appears that TCP hasn’t learned the lesson other retailers have that marketing clothing to girls with the message that “math is hard” is a questionable move. Especially when compared to the messages communicated by TCP about boys activities: The boys are surfing, playing the drums, being an athlete and a rebel, while the girls are “all about glitter” and “born to wear diamonds.”
Also, to be a good shopper, math skills would, in fact, be very useful. Just sayin’.
Some of TCP’s customers aren’t pleased by the “Best Subjects” shirt, either, as noted on thestore’s Facebook page:
NOT cute, Children’s Place. This is not 1953. Stop making it fashionable for girls to be dumb. Parents are sick of this garbage.
I dropped by one of your stores over the weekend and was really disgusted by the sexist approach to girls’ clothing. It’s bad enough that so much of it is pink and purple, but the “best subjects” t-shirt is pretty terrible so is the “this princess is no drama queen” one. What, boys get to have aspirations to do things and girls are supposed to be materialistic wannabe princesses angling to catch a man before third grade? I have a son and haven’t paid much attention to your girl clothes before this, but I was hoping to purchase a gift. Not only did I leave empty-handed, but I won’t be returning.
I’m disgusted with the “my best subjects” shirt. I have always loved children’s place, the clothes, the backpacks; but I can not support a company financially that thinks a shirt like that is okay. As the mother of four daughters I want them to value education. Shame on you.
We’ve reached out to The Children’s Place for comment regarding customers’ concerns, and will update this post as soon as we hear anything back.
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