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Although it was a few years back, I distinctly remember the hours I spent studying to memorize the steps of how a bill becomes a law. Passing the Constitution test was a requirement for passing the eighth grade, so it was a pretty big deal to us at the time.

Younger students don’t spend much time thinking about laws, or how they are created. They understand laws as “rules” that are meant be followed, and that the appearance of police officers and general unpleasantness may occur if the rules (laws) aren’t obeyed. It’s not until upper elementary and middle school that students really start to grasp the notion that laws don’t just arbitrarily happen, but are in fact the result of a lengthy process that often takes unexpected twists and turns.

I feel like such a hypocrite writing this minutes after smoothing aloe vera gel on my daughter’s sunburn from a long day at the pool.  Our topic this week on the Gateway is sun safety, and I have not been a good example!  Today’s blunders remind me how valuable it can be to help our students learn from other people’s mistakes, so they don’t have to make every mistake on their own.  I could start a sun safety lesson tomorrow by bringing in my daughter as evidence of the sun’s powerful rays…or by using another primary resource like a video I find online.  There are videos out there showing the consequences of too much sun exposure, and you can find ones that are appropriate for many different age groups.

In the 1920s, French fashion designer Coco Chanel inadvertently started a trend when she was photographed with a suntan. Previously dismissed as the badge of farmers and laborers, suntans suddenly became the emblem of luxury and leisure, and everyone wanted one. Nearly a century later, tanning is still popular. Despite all the research linking sun overexposure to skin cancer, the tanning industry continues to grow, and grosses about $5 billion annually. What’s wrong with this picture?

Movie day!  Students love to be entertained, and teachers love the chance to sit back and breathe a sigh of relief (or tackle that giant pile of grading).  No lectures to take notes on, just a passive viewing of a movie in a nice, dark, cool classroom, right?  I hope not.  I hope we can find simple ways to use movies in class as more than just entertainment.  Instead, movies can engage students and inspire thoughtful, critical thinking about current classroom topics.

Recently, my third grader was required to watch installments of the 2006 film Cars in school over the course of three days. The students were required to jot notes in their journals during the film, in order to learn about characterization and to trace the characters’ emotional development throughout the film. Normally a big fan of Pixar films, she had never warmed to Cars, and was less than enthusiastic about the assignment. At the end of the week, however, she acknowledged that the assignment had been beneficial, and that she had a much better grasp of how characters could evolve in both film and books.

“I’m booooooored!”  It’s the sound of the gains made by this year’s students slowly slipping away as they veg out in front of one kind of a screen or another.  Movies and video games will keep our kids entertained and…quiet, but there is no mental challenge to maintain the learning from the school year.  We all need a break, and summer vacation is the perfect time to enjoy some much-deserved relaxation.  A good goal for teachers as summer approaches is to help students and parents find intriguing, fun, and memorable ways to work out their brains all summer long.  Summer should be relaxing, fun, and engaging…not boring at all.

Summer is fast approaching, and your students are probably giddy with the thoughts of sun-kissed days and freedom from the classroom. Of course they – and their teachers – deserve a little downtime from the rigors of the academic year. But is an entire summer of downtime too much of a good thing?

A major part of a student’s life from upper elementary through college is maintaining the delicate balance between fitting in with their peers and being true to themselves. Teachers and parents share the responsibility of ensuring that these young people are armed with the right information and skills to make good decisions when the need arises.

Students who follow the news regularly or tune into sports channels such as ESPN are likely familiar with steroid use among some elite athletes. While the rumors of steroid use continue to dog some athletes who deny using such drugs, other athletes have confessed to using anabolic steroids to enhance athletic performance and give them an edge over their competitors. Former California governor and ex-bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger, NY Yankee Alex Rodriguez, track star Marion Jones, cyclist Tyler Hamilton, and linebacker Shawne Merriman are a few examples of notable athletes who have all admitted to using steroids.