Bingham Elementary
News and Notes Week of April 27
Weekly Schedule
Monday
- Leadership Meeting - 1:30
- Meador & Tarrasch in meeting 2:00 - 3:00
Tuesday
- Meador in a meeting 8:00 - 9:00
- K -2 Meeting 1:30 - 2:00
Wednesday
- Meador in a meeting 8:00 - 9:00
- Bingham 3 -5 Meeting 1:30 - 2:00
Thursday
- Speciality Team Meeting 1:30 - 2:00
Friday
- Zoom Happy Hour 3:00 - 4:00
Crazy Doc's rant and raves...
This is not what we signed up for, but you are doing amazing with it. Our goal is to celebrate the students we are able to serve on a daily basis, please keep this as your focus. "If you can't be with the ones you love, love the one you are with!" Different original thought, adapt it to us, now.
If you need me, I am only a phone call away, I try to answer if I am available. I am also in the main Bingham canvas conference page most days 2:00 - 3:30.
My goal for you is to shut down your computer at the end of the work day and enjoy your time. Please stay away from your device as much as possible when you are not teaching.
Please make sure you are reading the SPS at Home daily annoucements, there is so much information in these annoucements to support you as you are adapting to this new way of learning.
Huge thank you to Amy for organizing our surprise guest during today's meeting!
This is a google doc where I will try to keep information updated. Please let me know if there is anything you wish were on here.
Teacher Spotlight
Thank you to Miss Terri for oh, so many of the things you do. Sorry we could not be together with you this past week to celebrate you in style!
I encourage you to send text/email/snail mail/phone call to another teacher in a different building/district this week. Tell them how great they are doing!
Do you have a idea for a person in the spotlight? Please let me know.
Some Good News - great new youtube show we need right now.
Should We Worry About Kids Getting Too Much Screen Time?
In this New York Times article, Andrew Przybylski (University of Oxford) and psychologist/author Pete Etchells say that with most schools closed, children’s screen time is going through the roof. That can be a blessing for parents cooped up with their kids 24/7, but wait a minute: isn’t this video game binging and smartphone indulging harming young people? In the last few years, say Przybylski and Etchells, we’ve been hearing that excessive screen time “melts our children’s brains, shrinks their attention spans, and weakens their social skills.” Digital abstinence for young children was the message from the American Academy of Pediatrics until quite recently.
Worries like these have a long history, with parents fretting about each new wave of entertainment technology – radio, movies, TV. But is viewing time all that damaging? For starters, say Przybylski and Etchells, “the evidence linking screens to harm is, in reality, paper thin.” Recent studies have downplayed negative effects, including on adolescents’ sleep. In fact, they say, “a couple of hours of screen-based leisure is associated with improved peer relationships and increased sociality. Gaming meets our fundamental needs for exploration, competence, and social connection. And games often improve rather than undermine our reasoning abilities.” As for concerns about kids getting isolated, the Internet “is the world’s best tool for distanced socializing.”
So parents and educators needn’t fret too much during the coronavirus lockdown, conclude Przybylski and Etchells. But they should monitor what kids are watching and playing, sometimes playing and watching with them, and steer kids toward “brainy games,” age-appropriate educational videos, documentaries available on streaming services, cooperative and team-oriented video games, and timeless films “that don’t just entertain, or distract, but teach ineffable lessons about life, love, and family.”
“Screen Time Isn’t All That Bad” by Andrew Przybylski and Pete Etchells in The New York Times, April 7, 2020, https://nyti.ms/2KkHYGw; Przybylski can be reached at andy.przybylski@oii.ox.ac.uk