You don't need a school to learn but you need a school for a career, how can this make sense ?

Voki an Educational asset?

Voki is a webpage that allows people to create avatars that speak a text that has been written.
Children may be engaged and find it fun to customize the character to fit the way they look, through this the practitioner can assign them work.

Due to voki being an online application it allows children to take their account home and watch again and again this will help process and remember the information given and allow the children to relate back to when completing homework tasks.

Children themselves can post the avatars and their speech, this can allow the practitioner to assess the pupils development and allows the pupils to educate each other through new knowledge they have discovered which may become very helpful with research projects.

You can do the voice of your avatar through many forms allowing it to be more accessible to the pupils from home the simple layout allows the children to select one of the following options

-record by phone

-Type text to speech

- Record from Microphone

 and upload an audio file

As you can see the application is very engaging, and can be seen as very use full within the classroom as it not only engages the pupils it gives them a way to express knowledge they have or even ask other peers for help, yet there can also be some downsides of using this in education as not all pupils may have the accessibility at home allowing the more wealthier pupil to have an advantage to those who may not have the option, also when signing up for the application it asks to confirm your age is above 13, some 13 year old may find this childish rather than engaging.

(I asked my sisters aged  14 and 12 to have a go and the eldest found the application to be “okay but could have more options like be able to put a profile pic” where as the youngest spent almost a half an hour making the avatar before selecting texts)

By following this link you will be able to watch my voki and see how the application works,

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=10891039&height=267&width=200

Voki is free to sign up for so why not make your own?

Why is Physical education important?

P.E is a compulsory sport in school for all ages, although it is compulsory not everyone takes part. Children will only take part in activities they want to and do not like to be forced in to doing things they don't like or don't want to do. 

P.E is obviously a very important factor when growing up, as it helps keep kids active and fit. It also helps children develop friendships and confidence through sport. If children don't par take in the activities that are put on for them by the school then there is a risk that they will refuse to partake in any activity outside of school such as football or rugby. 

P.E gives children the foundation to go out and enjoy sport at home with friends, teams and clubs that will keep them fit, happy and healthy. 

As stated above children will develop friendship from P.E classes and that will make them want to partake in P.E more often as they see their friends taking part, they may even challenge each other to be better than the rest of the class, This however can also cause a problem in the P.E classes as some children don't like challenges and certainly won't enjoy the class if they are unable to compete at the same level as other pupils in the class so they may stop taking part altogether, this then leads to children skipping class and becoming less active and may lead to obesity in later life if not during the school period. 

Schools are trying to get all children to enjoy P.E from a young age so they continue taking part through their school life. P.E is important especially to young children in school as it helps gain friendships, confidence, keeps children fit and allows them to have an idea on how their body works and how to keep it healthy, PE can also lead them to success in later life, may it be through a sport itself or through the confidence, independence and state of mental balance it can give a child.

By clicking on the photo below you will be able to access a video on the benefits of P.E in schools and why children should be having more Physical education lessons.

Blog review - Why I wrote about it?

Many may be wondering about my previous blog post about child depression.

I had some news this week that my sister was on her way to the emergency room at our local hospital, after having a fit during her English GCSE exam.
My sister is young, athletic and in all other accounts a healthy child, after speaking to doctors and counselors throughout this week they have told us that they believe the fit was brought on due to stress. I then decided to look further into what stress she may be undergoing, that is when I came across the statistics of childhood depression, the further I looked into these statistics the more agitated I became about the pressures being put on my sisters and other children.
In my previous blog I mentioned how siblings may have an effect on each others mental health, my sister is the youngest of three, Myself being the oldest and my younger sister Courtney who is in the same year of education as the youngest.
My mother become a single parent when I was 14, my father was never around much due to working long hours, it was my mother who sat us down and helped us with our homework despite upholding a stressful job herself, after the divorce my mother put in longer hours at work so that we could afford to get nice clothing, be able to go on school trips, to take part in the many sporting teams that we were involved in as well as extra activity's. I could see the strain it was putting on her and it was then  that I made it my target to make her proud I pushed myself to all I could in order to get the GCSEs and diploma to allow me to get into University and once I was accepted the thrilled look and attitude she had made it all worth it.
Unknowingly I had set a bar for my younger siblings to reach, they are now thriving to get the same reaction from my mother.
Courtney has always been a bright child and has always been educationally gifted, knowledge seems to be absorbed easily to her, and she hit top of her class on many occasions.
The youngest Ellie has always been a sport enthusiast and played netball for the district county as well as the country until an injury to her foot made it painful for her to play professionally any longer, shes bubbly and tends to get along with everyone she meets, yet educationally she's a lot like me, she has to work hard to get what she needs to get into university as she would like to become a teacher, this alongside the pressure of having Courtney sitting her exams at the same time as well as all the other pressures of society seemed to be to much.

My sister had a fit due to the stress she was being put under yet other children all around the world are feeling that there is no escape from these pressures.
I could not help but think of how a simple word of assurance would take some of the stress away so I then decided to write the blog to inform others about the stress children and teenagers are going through in hope that they take this knowledge and reassure the child that it is OK, because it is OK.

Follow the link below if you would like to read the blog post that I have reviewed

http://p135625reflective.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/child-depression.html

Child Depression

"As many as 1 in every 33 children may have depression; in teens, that number may be as high as 1 in 8" KidsHealth.org 

Just think of that statistic.....
A high school class has on average 25 to 30 children
Primary schools holding 1,000 pupils or more

According to suicide.org every 100 minutes a teenager will take their own life through depression!

Children, what could they be depressed about? all they do is play, run around and have fun correct?
Wrong with the society we are living in there is a lot of pressure being put on teenagers and young children.

Image

Do I look like everyone else?
Nobody likes to stand out especially when your a child. think back to when you was younger, that child that nobody wanted to sit by, well its become worse children feel that they must meet a certain criteria to be accepted into society and is it anywhere when you look at a magazine or switch on TV what are you greeted with ?

Children believe that it is these images to look up to. On the over of a well known children's magazine you will find many pop artists such as this one with Arianna Grande and Katy Perry who also appeared at this years teen choice awards 

Children look up to these women then they see the way they act and are dressed in their music videos 

And suddenly children all over want to have the figure, the clothes, the hair, the attitude and if they don't they risk becoming isolated targets, 

School

You must do well in school, how else are you going to get a good job ?
That one piece of homework will change your life,

You must remember all this information for this exam even if you never use it again.
Failed your English GCSE 5 years ago?  I'm sorry but no jobs available.......

How many times have we been told over and over again how important our school lessons are to uphold a good career?

How many times in your career have you used the important school lessons?

Click photo above to have a greater understanding on how children are becoming so depressed due to school.

Siblings  

Children will look to their older brother or sister as an example of how they can or should live their lives. They'll also use the way they act to better themselves. Often siblings will use each other as targets to become better than or to out-do each other so teachers, family or friends will notice them for being better than the others, This will put pressure onto children as they thrive to become ' The Best Child' and be used as an example by parents when they speak of their children. 

Sport involvement

Children who play sports will at some point endure stress whilst playing, whether it be from themselves, coaches or parents, children will always thrive to be the best at the sport they choose to take part in. A major part of sport is winning and when a child has been brought up on this then that's what they'll always aim for and losing is unacceptable. This alone can cause a lot of stress to children as they will put everything into their effort to win and if they come away with nothing or a loss then they feel they have failed and that it wasn't good enough and will blame themselves for the loss. Parents can sometimes be a distraction at sporting events as when a child knows their parent is watching they feel they have to do well to make their parents proud and that taking part isn't enough, they feel they can't let them down and want to be the best they can, this causes stress upon the child and will undoubtedly cause them to make mistakes which will hinder their self believe and confidence for future sporting events.

With many more factors affecting a child's life this added stress can cause children to reach all levels of depression, children are no longer the children we believe them to be and we all must support children, let them know that its OK for them to fail, its OK for them to be unique and most importantly Its OK for them to be children!

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!!

If you are a child/Young adult that is suffering from depression or know of someone who is, do not suffer alone below are some help sites and numbers to call, they offer advise or somebody to talk to, they will listen and they will understand.

• SupportLine Telephone Helpline: 01708 765200 (Helpline)
  email info@supportline.org.uk
  Confidential emotional support to Children Young People and Adults. Also keeps details of agencies, support groups and counsellors throughout UK
• Breathing Space: 0800 83 85 87 (Area served SCOTLAND)www.breathingspacescotland.co.uk Breathing Space is a free, confidential phone line for people in Scotland who are experiencing low mood or depression. Breathing Space is available to the public every day of the year, 24 hours at weekends (6pm Friday–6am Monday) and 6pm-2am (Monday-Thursday).
  
  
• CALL Community Advice and Listening Line (Wales): 0800 132737www.callhelpline.org.uk Mental health helpline for Wales providing confidential listening support service.
• Childline: 0800 1111
  www.childline.org.uk
• Get Connected: 0808 808 4994www.getconnected.org.uk Free telephone and email helpline finding young people the best help whatever the problem. Can connect a child or young person to any UK helpline where appropriate.

Racism

I came across a poem that a father wrote about his son please take a moment to read.

‘I don't mind my boy getting a few knocks on the pitch

Because it's his choice to play,

I don't mind cuts and bruises

Because they just fade away,

I do mind him getting racially abused

Because it's something that he'll keep.

It hurts more than a cut or bruise because it runs so deep

His background and his colour are not choices that he has made

But he accepts and is proud of who he is

And has no need to be afraid,

He'll stand tall in the taunts of racism and will dismiss the weak

By being better and stronger and turning the other cheek,

He has the backing of his team mates so it doesn't get too much

They will stand united and kick racism into touch’ (RFL)

Now before you continue to read this post close your eyes and imagine that you were this father, that your son had to deal with this issue each time they go to do something they enjoy,

Now close them again and imagine you were his son would you still enjoy the game?

Racism has always been a problem and an issue that dates back to the 1600's sports are trying to minimize this as best as they can they put in place punishments and procedures so that in the event of a racial comment it can be dealt with appropriately. 

Football have their own initiatives when dealing with racism both on and off the pitch. with football being such a published sport they enforced the "Show Racism the RED card UK" and  "Kick it out" witch is sponsored by The premier league as well as many more organisations.

They educate throughout the leagues and also through schools educating children why racism is wrong and why the race of a person dose not define the person it pushes the fact that racism hurts the individual.

Many famous sports role models back these campaigns and appear in posters and adverts in an attempt to help cancel out racism. 

But is it enough ?

With incidents of racism still appearing in sports what more can be done?

Or do we just wait and hope that through teaching in schools that the generations to come will do the right thing ?  

I am not suggesting that it is pointless teaching the wrong doing that racism can have I just have an understanding that our generation was taught the same valuable lesson yet I can still see my fellow peers making racist remarks . 

Will we ever live in a world where race is just a competition on who finishes first? not a reason to comment on the skin colour of a person. 

Where our ethnicity is not guessed because we are White, Black, Pink, Brown, yellow or what ever other colours people believe resembles the skin colour of each individual?

Graffiti or Art?

Last year I made a power point at University based on Banksy a well known graffiti artist, then whilst out socializing last night the discussion of vandalism and graffiti came up as a topic of conversation  

Some people see graffiti as vandalism, granted some is just people writing their name or comments on a wall, yet some is so much more.

Graffiti is more than what it seems, it can be a statement reaching out to the public, a point of view that the artist feels this one resembling a drunk man this could mean that graffiti is not controlled that they almost need to do it just like a drunk person being sick but yet it makes a statement that graffiti is beautiful by placing the flowers in the picture as a symbol of beauty, 

It can be related to others as well as the artist for instance the photo below showing how things being swept under the carpet,

 It can be influential to the public's opinions, just as this photo shows the artists opinion on capitalism. 

An artist doesn't just go and vandalize on a wall they take in the opportunities of their surroundings to make and allow the art work to have grater impact on the community they are in.

The art work can be meaningful, deep and powerful yet simple!

Although vandalism is still breaking the law Banksy has also used his fame to help those in need and has been known to have donated his art to help raise money for charities that work to restore sight and prevent eye diseases, and inspire younger artists (vandalizes) to do the same.  

Recently there has been an incident where a community has reached out to others to get the art work back of the photo you can now see  below,  by clicking the photo below you can see the news article on why and how they want the art back.

If this community saw the graffiti as art then can why is there such a bad view on graffiti if we educated the children in graffiti skills as some community's already have then maybe the generations to come will only see the talent and beauty of the art.

English as a second language.

The Department of Education has stated that “The Government is committed to supporting pupils for whom English is not a first language.” (education, 2013) 

So within this blog I will be discussing English as an additional language and the procedures that are being or have been put in place by current settings to help all children that use English as an additional language in order for them to get the best educational outcome that they can.

Children that use English as an additional Language are not homogeneous and have all got many different needs and are at different stages of development although they may be similar in that they may struggle with the English language the background of each child is unique just like everyone they all have different interests, strengths and weaknesses.

Just because they may speak a different language does not mean that they should be discriminated the same planning should be for each child there for planning should be flexible in order for the child not to feel isolated or different to all the other children that attend the setting this will then help build the Childs confidence  as they will feel part of the group and will lead to their social development not being effected as they will still be in constant interaction with other children of their age and ability.

Also by the practitioners taking into account each child’s interests, valuing and respecting all children at the setting, the children should then pick up that the practitioner is communicating with everyone, this will then help the child in many developmental stages including social development as they see the practitioner as a role model and copy his or her actions this can then help the child later on in life and will help the practitioner gain a bond with the children thus helping them with developing their planning around them. Allowing the education system to take a step forward in stamping out discrimination.

How Social Networks Have Changed The World!

Web 2 has had a massive impact on society today but why and is it all such a wonderful new world ?

The social network sites such as twitter and Facebook have many advantages, such as keeping in touch with people all over the world, play games, meet new people and many other things ,you can update your status or your tweets at any point of the day and can also message privately to other members of your Facebook friends, share information, photos and send alerts so that you never forget an important date.

Although there are many advantages to the social networks there are also many disadvantages such as cyber billing where people get bullied through the commuter screen, also photos and videos can be uploaded although this can be a good thing some people are taking advantages and using this to bully others there are also some apps on the Networks such as the one taken from Facebook ask.com where people can post comments anonymously this is then allowing the people on the app to be a victim of abuse without knowing who the abuse is coming from.

•39% OF SOCIAL NETWORK USERS have been cyber bullied in some way

•32% of online teens say they have been targets of a range of annoying or potentially menacing online activities.

•13% say someone has spread a rumour about them online,

 •13% say someone has sent them a threatening or aggressive message.

 •6% say someone has posted embarrassing pictures of them online.

•88% OF SOCIAL-MEDIA USING TEENS say they have SEEN SOMEONE BE MEAN OR CRUEL TO ANOTHER PERSON on a social network site

 •1 IN 5 TEENS who are bullied or cyber bullied THINK ABOUT SUICIDE –

 1 IN 10 ATTEMPT IT (Foundation)

These statistics show how bad bullying on the social network can be, and can cause people to develop mental disorders such as depression and anxiety and can cause them to take their own life in some cases.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5PZ_Bh-M6o

The link above is a short video on how cyber bullying starts and the effects it has on its victims.

Alongside bullying social media has effected how we communicate, there is less conversation between people and more communication through social media, I can say that i have found myself falling into the trap where I have in-boxed/ tweeted somebody who has been in the same room as me.

Social networking can be an asset as long as it is being used correctly and I believe that out of the many users there are very little people using it correctly.

The video that i have linked below lists some further pros and cons of social media, 

Esta Soler: How we turned the tide on domestic violence (Hint: the Polar...

I believe the video gives a good insight on how domestic violence was viewed in the 1980s by the police and other authority's as well as civilians, that it was a normal thing to hit a partner and be classified as just an argument.

In Estas speech she stated how the Polaroid picture of the injury’s that occurred was taken and this is how the breakthrough of stopping domestic violence came in to force, when the Polaroid camera started being used to take photos of the injury's to allow people to take the partners to court that led to a 64% drop in domestic violence in the U.S.

All though the speech is very inspirational and an educational insight to domestic violence, what she does not say throughout the talk is that men also can be a victim of domestic abuse,

Ester goes on about how women and children are the victims and how men should support the campaign to stop their children getting hurt, what about the male's that are suffering???
She also stated that she believed that this violence was learned and I feel as though it was implying that if your father hit your mother then so would the child which we know to be not true through millions of examples throughout the world and media of children from violent homes that go on to be wonderful parents and inspirational people themselves.



Overall a good video supporting women and children that have suffered through the hands of domestic abuse but more information on men suffering could have been used.