DCI middle school

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, tech doesn't lead to pot smoking. Sorry my post wasn't clear. I was trying to provide an example of how exposure can have different impact on developing brains. Hasn't it been proven that this is true for tech exposure in kids? No. I was just trying to provide one example of how environmental exposure differs in impact based on age.

I don't think I am doing good job of this. Never mind!

Pretty sure that poster was joking!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What? Technology use leads to pot smoking?

Yes. Chromebooks are absolutely a gateway drug.

[Anonymous]

As a PP mentioned, some people are risk-averse and others are willing to take risks to be trailblazers. Can we just agree that we need both people- and their offspring- in order to make the world go 'round?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please put your tinfoil hat back on and rest, dear.

I hope you at least feel good about your snarky attempts at making people feel ashamed for their opinions. Because it's boring as hell for the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

Then why are you attending to it? Why don't you go and find something more interesting to do if you're bored?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please put your tinfoil hat back on and rest, dear.

I hope you at least feel good about your snarky attempts at making people feel ashamed for their opinions. Because it's boring as hell for the rest of us.

This. I'm not even sure what idiot poster is referencing, but I'm not a dork, so, yes, it's above my head. Just hoping "it" isn't a DCI parent. We see enough losers on a daily.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Then why are you attending to it? Why don't you go and find something more interesting to do if you're bored?

The thread is great. It's you that's boring. Sometimes we have to attend to things that are unpleasant, you know, like weeds. If you don't attend to them, they grow out of control even more. But you can still tell them you're tired of them as you try to get them away from the good stuff. And yes, I realize that stuck people like you are not going away just because they're told they're the only ones interested in their silliness, but at least now everyone else knows they're not the only ones sick of snarky weeds in this thread.

[Anonymous]

Interesting story on NPR. Didn't listen but read article.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2015/03/19/393820845/questions-to-ask-about-ed-tech-at-your-kids-school

[Anonymous]

Okay, another article from NPR. It focuses on preschoolers but the discussion could apply to all ages. As an M.D, I can't stress how much I believe in "first do no harm" and following evidence based practices.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2015/02/12/385264747/q-a-blocks-play-screen-time-and-the-infant-mind

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^This. My children's health and wellness is my number 1 priority. Tech-rich environments are unhealthy for kids. The science is clear. I'm surprised at the number of parents complacent with this. [b]The exposure to radiation alone scared the crap out of me. Young bodies with cells reproducing as fast as a child's are rife with the potential from real negative health effects. Who, in their right mind, would be okay with that? Not a parent focused on their kid. I'm really sad about this because I was excited by the program that DCI touted, which sounded unique in the nation. No where did they advertise this hyper focus on technology and Chrome books. If they had they may have gotten schooled early on that parents would not tolerate an unhealthy tech focus for their kids. I already know one family leaving their feeder school for Basis instead of completing their last year at their immersion school. So that particular feeder school will miss out on one more year of payment for a pupil (it's unlikely that slot will be filled by anyone) and DCI is missing out on a qualified applicant with language ability. It's a shame on all counts.

What are you talking about? I sat in front of a CRT TV as a kids, and that exposed me to far more ELM than today's computers. Really what are you talking about?

[Anonymous]

This is a great treatment of the crazy pseudo-science of so called "EMF induced illness" (i.e. idea that all kinds of devices from laptops to light bulbs make people sick because of radiation.

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/nonsense-about-the-health-effects-of-electromagnetic-radiation/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting story on NPR. Didn't listen but read article.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ed/2015/03/19/393820845/questions-to-ask-about-ed-tech-at-your-kids-school

Recommended question to ask your school admin from the article "What will coding classes do in terms of critical thinking skills that, say, a cooking class wouldn't?" Wow. The level of ignorance reflected in this question is really profound.

[Anonymous]

Why is the question silly? Please explain.

[Anonymous]

but DCI has cooking clubs, mandatory Arts class and Design class, AND coding? Surely this is a good thing???

[Anonymous]

Cooking can teach math, the ability to follow directions and some chemistry. I love it. But, developing software requires a lot of abstract thinking. It also requires planning and the ability to form hypotheses and test them (will approach A or B perform better). And of course, depending on what you do it can require a ton of math, starting with algebra, including discrete mathematics and even encompassing calculus for algorithm analysis. Not to take anything away from cooking, but a school cooking class will not teach nearly as much critical thinking as even the most basic coding class.