Teachers told not to ask for hands up

[neio79]

Any one else seen this story in todays papers.

Teachers are apparantly being told not to ask for hands up in classes incase some of the little darlings feel inadiquate or think that they are not as clever!!!

Oh my f#88king god, what ever next? its a fact people some of us are less inteligent than others.

How much more is the UK going to wrap everyone in cotton wool, faliure is part of life.

Kids today are never shown the negative in what they do any more, always the best, its like yes you completly f**ked up your exam but you got your name right so have a reward!! not a good thing in my eyes, reward where nessacery but punish and point out errors as well.

I remember reading about youngsters applying to the army and when they failed they did not know what to do because they have never been told before that they were cr*p at something.

This county is going down the pan far too quickly for my liking!!

viva la revlution!

[Law]

???

Completely stupid IMO. What might happen is the kid that gets picked may not know the answer and will feel even more inadequate when the whole class laughs at their completely wrong answer.

[neio79]

yep at least let the kids who know/want to answer , that way the others learn as well without looking even more stupid.

[Gordon B]

Did you know that most schools now have 'non competitive sports days'.

Oh brother.....:smt103

Its dog eat dog in the outside world and, as far as I'm concerned, the sooner my kids know that the better.....

[tigersaw]

Did you know that most schools now have 'non competitive sports days'.


Are we applying that to the olympics too?

[Lissa]

So teachers can no longer ask for hands up in class in case it makes some children feel inadequate, but they now have the power to search those same children for knives..................presumably the knives they will use to stab the teacher with for making them feel inadequte! Is it just me, or is the world going mad?

[falc]

Thats just stupid and non-competitive sports days! so whats the point in doing it? Everyone has a competitive streak in them and its not wrong or evil to let this out every now and again, surely its better to teach the kids to win with diginity or lose with dignity.

It will get to a point where kids won't get taught because its infringing on there growth by sitting down in a chair but they cant be taught standing up or walking cause that will cause to much stress on them! ARGH

[CoolGirl]

Teachers are apparantly being told not to ask for hands up in classes incase some of the little darlings feel inadiquate or think that they are not as clever!!!

Actually, that's not true. Chinese whispers.

An academic (and nothing to do with us) did some research which found that if kids aren't able to put their hands up to answer a question, they feel inadequate. Tell us something we don't know :rolleyes:

Good teachers will always notice this and will have their own strategy for engaging with those kids who aren't able to answer the question, or are just not 'hand putter uppers'. We have not, and I doubt if we ever will, instructed teachers not to ask for 'hands-up'.

[Jelster]

The report on BBC TV, with some woman who is head of some teachers association, said "We are reminding teachers that those who don't know the answer may feel in adequate" (or something very similar). More to do with "children being "traumatised"....

Complete and utter gonads !

Some children are more inteligent than others, if we are not going to continue with the 2 tier schol system (Grammer schools) how on earth can those that are better excel ? And, those that are not as bright need to be taught differently.

Having a "one size fits all" system will hold back those who excel and won't focus on those who find some learning difficult.

At the end of the day we need those with brilliant minds, and we need those that are skilled with their hands. Don't let the education system screw it up for everybody just because they want one system that based on an "average" pupil.

[CoolGirl]

The report on BBC TV, with some woman who is head of some teachers association, said "We are reminding teachers that those who don't know the answer may feel in adequate" (or something very similar). More to do with "children being "traumatised"....

I think the point is more to do with the fact that there are bright kids who have self-confidence issues and find it difficult to put their hand up and could get overlooked/labelled as stupid (mostly by people who equate confidence with intelligence - not always the case). Which goes back to my point about good teaching.

Of course, that has nothing to do with Grammar schools. Most schools have selection criteria based on ability.

[Alpinestarhero]

Any one else seen this story in todays papers.

Teachers are apparantly being told not to ask for hands up in classes incase some of the little darlings feel inadiquate or think that they are not as clever!!!

Oh my f#88king god, what ever next? its a fact people some of us are less inteligent than others.

How much more is the UK going to wrap everyone in cotton wool, faliure is part of life.

Kids today are never shown the negative in what they do any more, always the best, its like yes you completly f**ked up your exam but you got your name right so have a reward!! not a good thing in my eyes, reward where nessacery but punish and point out errors as well.

I remember reading about youngsters applying to the army and when they failed they did not know what to do because they have never been told before that they were cr*p at something.

This county is going down the pan far too quickly for my liking!!

viva la revlution!

This is rediculous. It's taken me until my second year of university to feel confident to give an answer, and thats with an orderly system. How are the teachers going to let the kids say their answer? Let everyone shout it out and the kid with the loudest voice wins? Thats intimidating!!! Or have everyone put their answer on a peice of paper and pick it out of a hat?!

There's nothing wrong with being told your wrong. I lik eit - it lets me know where i stand and if I am wrong, then I can forget completly about whatever stupid idea I had! I tell people when they are wrong all the time - ok, I'm not harsh, but theres no point in letting someone think they are good when they are not.

Grrrr

Matt

[Lozzo]

How about the teachers doing their job properly to make the inadequate kids learn more... radical thinking I know, but it might just work

[Alpinestarhero]

How about the teachers doing their job properly to make the inadequate kids learn more... radical thinking I know, but it might just work

I dont think kids should be encouraged to learn more, as it all just turns into a memory exercise. Kids should be encouraged into thinking for themselves, to be given some "tools" and then work out a problem using those "tools" e.g. in maths this can be done (teach some equations, then give the kids a problem to solve where they can apply those equations - they dont all have to do it the same way?) and chemistry (teach them some reactions, then give them a problem e.g. how might one investigate an unknown chemical, how might one make a certain chemical)

This way, kids dont just memorise stuff and regurgitate it in the exams / tests, they actualy learn the usefullness of what they are being taught

Matt

[Baph]

Actually, that's not true. Chinese whispers.

An academic (and nothing to do with us) did some research which found that if kids aren't able to put their hands up to answer a question, they feel inadequate. Tell us something we don't know :rolleyes:

Good teachers will always notice this and will have their own strategy for engaging with those kids who aren't able to answer the question, or are just not 'hand putter uppers'. We have not, and I doubt if we ever will, instructed teachers not to ask for 'hands-up'.

Another point to this on a slightly different note. All throughout highschool, college and the little bit of University that I attended, I don't remember having to put my hand up to answer a question. I did in infants & junior school, but that's different IMO.

At highschool/college & after, the teachers never said (to my memory) "hands up who knows..." etc. The teaching style was very different to a question & answer session.

That's the good thing about face to face interactions (like happens in schools), you get to judge things based on what you can see, as well as what you can hear etc.

[kitkat]

i was at a course on dyspraxia last week and we had a discussion about competitive sports day and it made me think differently. the professor giving the talk was discussing her son who has dyspraxia. she helps him dress and gave him special cutlery to eat with and never asked him to run. then sports day and it was egg and spoon race, three legged race (he had problems running with 2 legs) and the dressing up race. we dont have intelligence days when the most intelligent children are paraded up and down and the thicker ones forced to show how thick they are.

fun day is more appropriate, the kids get fresh air, do what they want. running races are there for those who wish to take part. there is more to school than being able to run.

plus parents should be banned. last year at school we had irrate parent seeking out the class room assistant who said her son was 2nd not first. kid was happy enough but this mum went on and on about how he was first

[northwind]

What's the source? Because it sounds like either a) taken out of context or b) just a lie, to me :)

There's plenty of other reasons that kids don't stick their hand up, remember. Too lacking in confidence to answer, or not wanting to stand out, or not wanting to appear like a swot to other kids. All of those can help to push kids that could answer the question out of even trying. And the other side of it is that if you're only interested in the kids who can answer the question, you're not doing much to help the kids who can't- and I see everyone jumping to the "because they're stupid" kneejerk reaction, but is everyone here so confident that they always picked everything up at school at the same speed as everyone else?

(edit- Holy run-onn sentence Batman!)

We had a teacher who just loved the kids who could give the answer, who wasn't at all interested in the ones who couldn't, worst teacher I ever had... I was one of the kids that usually COULD answer the damn question, but I started having problems with the maths work in that year, and got very behind. She never once attempted to pick me up- just kept on running with the kids who could, because she couldn't actually teach. I just barely avoided getting put in a remedial maths class at high school, if I'd not then I would have been pipelined into low-end standard grades and probably not given the opportunity to do higher- when instead I walked my way to 1s at standard grade and Bs at Higher in maths- very nearly lost that opportunity just because this woman wasn't interested in the "stupid" kids, and maths is a very important subject- I'd not have got into my degree course without higher maths. If I'd been planning on leaving school early, a bad maths grade can rule you out of a lot of jobs as well, but I imagine she thought anyone who wasn't putting their hands up every time was destined to be a binman.

So yes, bit biased ;) So I'd tell that incompetent cow not to ask for hands up, but to actually pay attention to her class and see who's getting it and who isn't, not to just write kids off as stupid at the first opportunity as some like to.

I loved competetive sports days though- I used to skive off and go cycling.

[Baph]

i was at a course on dyspraxia last week and we had a discussion about competitive sports day and it made me think differently. the professor giving the talk was discussing her son who has dyspraxia. she helps him dress and gave him special cutlery to eat with and never asked him to run. then sports day and it was egg and spoon race, three legged race (he had problems running with 2 legs) and the dressing up race. we dont have intelligence days when the most intelligent children are paraded up and down and the thicker ones forced to show how thick they are.

fun day is more appropriate, the kids get fresh air, do what they want. running races are there for those who wish to take part. there is more to school than being able to run.

plus parents should be banned. last year at school we had irrate parent seeking out the class room assistant who said her son was 2nd not first. kid was happy enough but this mum went on and on about how he was first
About your first sentence.... :D I'm honestly VERY happy to hear of teachers and/or teaching assistants on courses specifically about Dyspraxia. Mainly as my son suffers from it. (PS. Tell your boss I said you need a payrise just for attending that course! :D )

I think you have it down to a tee. So long as the kids are happy, and engaged (not having the run of the place), then who cares about anything else.

As for the parent, you get all sorts of folks. Going slightly off topic, a group of older teenagers were told by some moron (choosing words carefully due to U-Rating) that they weren't allowed to play football in the school grounds after 7pm last night. This is in a pretty remote area, busses one every day on working days, not at all on other days. If you want to go shopping, you NEED a car for the 25min journey. The kids have nothing to do! So I went out & had words with this idiot. About the only people they'd disturb is us as we live right next to the school. They weren't causing damage, they were playing football! Sooner in the school grounds than near my car or bike!

Some people forget that they were once a kid too.

[kitkat]

About your first sentence.... :D I'm honestly VERY happy to hear of teachers and/or teaching assistants on courses specifically about Dyspraxia. Mainly as my son suffers from it. (PS. Tell your boss I said you need a payrise just for attending that course! :D )

.

the course was brilliant. it was an all day course but lunch was included (main reason I must admit for me going). as the woman said she was not going to give us a magic cure but just some common sense things. ie if a child cannot colour in why bother doing it. they need life skills. to decide whether its important or not ask will this child need to do this in 5 years. if not dont bother. ill put it to boss about payrise, but not a chance. learning assistants in my council are the lowest paid in britain. need to move lol

[Tiger 55]

reward where nessacery but punish and point out errors as well.
You spelled necessary incorrectly. Report to the Head for tweaking!

[Miss Alpinestarhero]

That is pathetic.

Preventing children from raising their hands will not stop the more timid children from feeling inadequate. If anything, it will probably hinder the children who want to give the answer...

what are the teachers going to do when a child puts their hand up? I cant see how this would even work or be implemented because there are loads of problems with it;

(1) A teacher would hardly turn around and say "sorry claire, you cant give me the answer". If they did say that, then the childs confidence/self esteem would probably be dented due to them thinking that they are stupid/wrong/not good enough. The end result? lots more timid children

(2) the timid children who get picked to answer a question will probably end up feeling one of two ways: (a) increased confidence because they realise they can speak up in class and answer a question correctly. or (b) even worse because they may keep giving the wrong answer. Naturally the teacher would have to say "no thats wrong" because they can hardly pretend that the child has given the right answer otherwise the entire class would fail.

I could probably go on but I wont. The fact is, this is a dumb idea and wont work. The UK is becoming increasingly silly with far too many rules which overlap and just confuse everything. I swear one of the solutions for timid children were seperate confidence building classes which ran as an after-school club? That wasnt a bad idea as it dealt with the 'problem' (if you can even call it that, nothing wrong with a timid child) directly.

Maria

[northwind]

what are the teachers going to do when a child puts their hand up? I cant see how this would even work or be implemented because there are loads of problems with it;

(1) A teacher would hardly turn around and say "sorry claire, you cant give me the answer". If they did say that, then the childs confidence/self esteem would probably be dented due to them thinking that they are stupid/wrong/not good enough. The end result? lots more timid children

(2) the timid children who get picked to answer a question will probably end up feeling one of two ways: (a) increased confidence because they realise they can speak up in class and answer a question correctly. or (b) even worse because they may keep giving the wrong answer. Naturally the teacher would have to say "no thats wrong" because they can hardly pretend that the child has given the right answer otherwise the entire class would fail.


Nah, hang on. 1), if teachers stop asking for hands up why would the kids even put their hands up? If they do, all the teacher has to say is "Remember this is a class exercise, we don't put hands up for this" or whatever. and 2), who said anything about picking random kids to give an answer? That's just one of many alternatives.

We didn't use hands-up much in my school, the only teacher that really did it much was the incompetent one.

[Miss Alpinestarhero]

Nah, hang on. 1), if teachers stop asking for hands up why would the kids even put their hands up? If they do, all the teacher has to say is "Remember this is a class exercise, we don't put hands up for this" or whatever. and 2), who said anything about picking random kids to give an answer? That's just one of many alternatives.

We didn't use hands-up much in my school, the only teacher that really did it much was the incompetent one.

Well I googled the story and that is what the daily mail said http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=459077&in_page_id=1770

"They should instead pick the children they want to respond to questions so quiet pupils are tested as well as the keener ones" (paragraph 2)

The whole point is, I just cannot see this whole thing working.

Maria

[northwind]

Ah, it was the Daily Mail ;)

Along with the quote you picked up, there's also "working in smaller groups or pairs is more effective than 'hands up' in whole classes" and "The Education Department insisted it was not "banning" hands-up in class."