Betsy's Blog

Birthday Zoom Party! Last night was quality quarantine fun! Family and friends worldwide celebrated my brother David’s 64th Birthday! We had online party guests from Thailand, China, Colorado, California, Texas, Massachusetts, and Michigan. We celebrated with festive hats, neon lights, and festive drinks! My niece ordered ice cream and cookies delivered to David during the party. What a nice surprise! My 91-year-old mother was able to see her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren on her iPad screen from her comfy chair in Michigan. The “Surprise Birthday Party” Zoom link was sent to all of us from my niece with instructions to upload a background photo for the party. This was my Zoom photo above from my niece's wedding. We talked, laughed, and shared childhood memories. I saw relatives and friends that I haven’t seen in years. We compared beer bellies, pregnant bellies, gray hair roots, graybeards, and home haircuts. We shared childhood stories, daily routines...

Happy World Book Day! Celebrate World Book Day with over 100 countries around the world on April 23, 2020. This annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The annual celebration of reading includes authors, illustrators, and books worldwide. Join the largest celebration of reading in the world today. “World Book Day” is a registered charity whose mission is to promote reading by giving every child and young person a book of their own. Kindle is offering nine free adult books to download today to promote “World Book Day.” I already downloaded a few of them to read on my Kindle.  Here are my four favorite children’s books written by my Teacher friends around the world in Germany, Texas, and Colorado. Their book titles below are all available for sale on Amazon.com. You can share your favorite books online and in Betsy’s Blog using the hashtag:  #WorldBookDay Take a look at Amazon.com and order my Teach...

EARTH DAY 2020 I found this Earth Day Event sign above on the Internet today. It said, "CANCELLED" underneath it. How could Earth Day possibly be canceled? Today is its 50th Anniversary that began in 1970 to raise awareness about environmental issues. This year Earth Day worldwide outdoor events have been canceled due to the  COVID-19 pandemic . Instead, we are social distancing and wearing face masks. I understand that holding a public celebration does not fit into our current set of health rules. However, the good news is that there are unprecedented drops in air pollution levels in cities worldwide this week. We can still celebrate Earth Day in our own ways. How can we do this both inside and outside our homes? 1.  This is your lucky star gazing night. The universe is aligned with Earth Day. The Lyrid Meteor Shower will rain on our night sky tonight. 2020 is special because it is almost the New Moon and the sky will be extra dark. There will be shooting stars t...

Day 25 in our self imposed quarantine during the worldwide coronavirus. I must admit that my husband and I are in an idyllic location. We have an ocean view from our condo balcony in a beach town in Thailand. Our days have a slow, but predictable rhythm. They revolve around exercise, food, the Internet, Netflix, and more food. We talk to family members daily around the world and compare routines. We are all adjusting to a new normal with an unknown future.  We are doing the best we can under the circumstances to stay healthy and connected. My family is full of educators worldwide. I work at an international school in Laos is closed until further notice. My grandchildren are using the Zoom online platform as students in California and Germany. My sister is a first-time Zoom teacher in Texas. My son is using Zoom to teach his classes at home in Germany while his son attends Zoom Kindergarten from his bedroom. My oldest son set up an online educational program for his...

Child’s Play When it comes to social media, there are just times I turn off the world, you know. There are just some times you have to give yourself space to be quiet, which means you've got to set those phones down. -Michelle Obama Do you remember how you spent your idle time as a child? I do. I spent it outside on a swing under my backyard apple tree. I played hopscotch on the sidewalk with friends. I colored, played freeze tag and read books. We only had one TV in the living room and a record player to listen to albums. Our TV was only on after dinner and we watched it as a family.  I reflect on this today as I watch a family at the beach. Their daughter looks six years old at the most. She is posed with a pail and shovel at the water’s edge. Her parents are on their phones. Every so often, they take photos of her. She knows how to pose, stare at the camera, and smile. Then she goes back to digging in the sand. Her parents return to their phones to send the beach ...

Did you know that 65% of our Kindergarten students will end up in jobs that haven’t even been invented yet? What are the future jobs waiting for our students? What can we teach them how to prepare for the future? Will there be robots doing our daily tasks? Will people be traveling to space? There are no answers yet. However, there are some skills that we can teach our students now to prepare them for the future. First, let’s take a look back a couple of decades ago. In the 1980s, the Internet didn’t even exist. We didn’t know yet what new links were coming our way. Now we are surrounded by the Internet and jobs that never even existed ten years ago. With the Internet, new jobs evolved with social media, cloud computing, robots, designing phone apps and more. The next decade will be full of even more Internet surfing for our children. How can we teach our students today to be prepared for future careers? We can lead them through daily learning activities. We can motivate them t...

Education and Creativity Have you ever given your students colored paper, ribbon, crayons, tape and scissors? It is fascinating to sit and watch their imagination in motion. Each student creates their own masterpiece and none of them are the same. Our minds are unique entities and we learn to express ourselves in multiple ways. Children love to learn and observe their environment and how things work daily. They are full of questions and wonder about the world around them.  What is creativity? I could write a whole book about it.  How do we teach it?  How do we measure it?  How do we foster it? However, it is a hard concept to define. We know creativity when we see it. Creativity transcends subject matter and levels of expertise. Did you know there are over 71 different learning styles? I only learned about visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles in school. As educators, we can provide materials and guidance for students to be cr...

We all want the best for our children. Sometimes, we think they need more school work, homework, friends, sports, or higher grades. However, many of these items cause pressure on children and undermine their well being. As educators, we want the best for your children. Consider placing emphasis on the items from this list instead. How do you want your child to feel?: My child is valued as an individual My child feels a sense of belonging My child’s strengths matter more than his weaknesses My child is intrinsically motivated My child forms meaningful relationships My child experiences personal growth My child contributes to the community My child loves learning My child has ownership of her decisions and accepts the consequences My child is allowed to fail and learn from his mistakes If you would like to read more on this topic, take a look at the informative book below. ‘Wellbeing is a state of health, happiness and positive engagement t...

How Can We Teach Our Students Empathy? We all want our children to be more caring and empathetic. They will make the world around us a better place. Can we teach Empathy at school? Yes, we can. In Denmark, schools have been teaching Empathy to students ages 6-16 one hour a day since 1993, Chances are that is why Denmark has been rated in the Top 3 Happiest Countries in the World for the past seven years according to the “United Nations World Happiness Report.” Denmark believes that teaching Empathy will help children build relationships, prevent bullying, and succeed at school. What are two simple ways to teach Empathy daily to students?  Teamwork :  60% of their school tasks focus on teamwork. No trophies or certificates are ever awarded. Students cooperate to learn and build the talents of each other.  Collaborative Learning: The Danish believe their children’s upbringing is the secret to happiness. Their society focuses on a system that suppor...

The Homework Debate How much homework is enough? What kind of homework? What about weekend homework? The topic of homework is the subject of a worldwide debate. What does homework look like around the world? Here are some interesting facts. Finland hasn’t had homework for years, but its education system is ranked as one of the best in the world. South Korea has 2.9 hours of homework a week. Yet, they have managed to rank number two in the world for their reading knowledge. S chools in Japan only assign 3.8 hours of homework a week. Thailand has drawn up guidelines on how teachers can reduce their homework assignments. The Philippines forbid weekend homework for all ages.  In Toronto, Canada, there is no homework in Kindergarten and no homework over the holidays for Grades 1-12. The U.S. National Education Association and the National Parent Teacher Association general guideline have the 10-minute rule: Children should have no more than 10 minutes of homework each day f...