Tag: School

Growing up, I rented the VHS tape of the b-flick American Ninja probably a million times. I wanted to be a Ninja pretty badly. My mom would never let me buy a sword or throwing stars, so my ninja dreams never came true.

Anyone who has been to college knows the delicate balancing act that takes place with difficult classes your major requires, tempered with easy classes so your GPA doesn’t make you look like a total idiot. If you are going to Syracuse University, it may have just added the coolest class at any college to the schedule.

A few weeks ago we learned about Classcraft, a software and system that adds role-playing elements to classrooms. If you thought that was cool, check out Østerskov Efterskole. It’s a boarding school in Denmark that’s built around the idea of teaching students through live-action role-playing (LARP). In Østerskov, students are given a different role-playing theme every week.

Would you look forward to school if you could roleplay, level up and earn real rewards in class? If so, ask your teachers to check out Classcraft. Designed by 11th grade Physics teacher and web developer Shawn Young, the free service introduces roleplaying game elements in the classroom to make learning fun and exciting.

Despite the move to eBooks and tablets, papers and printed reports are still a part of life. At least, they are, if you had a course in school where you had to turn in papers and all.

I’m sure a lot of little girls wanted to become mermaids at some point in their lives. I’m guessing probably after they watched The Little Mermaid or some other movie which featured the mythical creatures. There’s no way you can actually become a mermaid, but now you can learn how to be one (or at least, swim like one) at an actual school located in Manila, Philippines.

Dentists have Simroid and Hanako to practice on, while doctors also have their own simulator robots which they use to perform simulated surgeries. It was only a matter of time before vets got their own robots to practice on – and that they did get back in 2010, when Robo-Jerry II and Robo-Fluffy made their debuts at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

My heart breaks every time I hear about school shootings and other incidents where people with guns fire at innocent people for no apparent reason. It’s especially heartbreaking if it happens at a school, no less, where almost no one expects to get hurt because they’re there to learn.

When I was 13, I wasn’t thinking about college. No, at that time, I was worried about whether or not I’d get accepted for the school paper and how I was going to ask my parents for a cellphone (it was a relatively new thing at the time.)

Scientists and researchers around the world are always investigating better ways to help children learn important subjects like math and science. A group of researchers at Durham University has been working for the last three years on a project to design and develop the classroom of the future.

Devon Carrow is a fairly normal kid, except for the fact that his allergies are so severe that he has been compared to David Vetter, the boy who inspired the film The Boy In the Plastic Bubble.

Is this evidence that Parkland High School was built upon the ancient crash site of the Millennium Falcon? Are they secretly planning a Smugglers school? Did George Lucas re-edit this institution?

I’m not boasting, but most of my college textbooks look pristine. That means that you won’t find any highlights, notes, or markings on any of their pages. Not because I plan to resell them or anything (although I probably could, so I could make a few extra bucks), but because I think highlights look kind of messy.

This hilarious self-inking stamp is a great accessory for teachers. It puts a dash of humor to an otherwise sorry state of affairs – a failing grade.

I remember back in high school when everyone would scramble to hide their cell phones in every nook or cranny whenever an unannounced inspection was about to be conducted. Teachers eventually learned which hiding spots students used, resulting in more phones getting confiscated and more parents phoned about their child’s misdeeds.

Remember when life was a whole lot simpler and we didn’t use or even need a ton of electronics to live our lives? No iPods, no mobile phones, no laptop computers or tablets, no cars, and no television?