Kepp it up- the CTM Academy

https://www.ctm-academy.org/

One often reflects at the end of January about what has happened and what resolutions to make. Without a doubt, our school had many changes and overcame many challenges.

One of the more dominant questions which pop to our academic minds are: How to motivate talented hardworking young minds to excellence in education; how to help prepare students for admission to university studies at home and abroad; and how to utilize the best online practices for the development of in-class education programs.

There is one program in the Czech Republic which for years has been targeting these questions and has been providing services to all gifted and motivated young minds. The CTM academy has over 1,000 students participated in CTY online programs and summer programs, taking demanding CTY Online courses in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, informatics, effective writing and other subjects, all taught in English. Additionally, the academy has over 40  students who have received full scholarships to the CTY Summer Program through a competition in which 150 students annually take part. Most students choose programs at Princeton, Berkeley, john Hopkins and other top universities, while a few students went to CTY Ireland and CTY Hong Kong.

What is more fascinating, that since 2011, over 60 schools have participated in CTY Online Program and a few have even integrated CTY online courses as their electives and our is school is the only one which has incorporated a Creative writing and a World Around Us science class into our school’s curriculum.

This means that all our students from 6th -9th class as well as the 1st two years in gymnasium have a required on line program which is supported by 2 hours of the subject taught by native speakers.

Is it tough? Yes. Is it challenging? Yes. Is it intellectual? Yes.


We are half way through the year, and half way through the program, and students knowledge of the English language as well as the scientific world is soaring up. And all we can say is “Keep it up!” 

EDU Reading Corner

Searching for the first book ever to have been published can be a bit of a challenge, as some believe it was the The Epic of Gilgamesh, mythologized account of an historical figure, Gilgamesh. Others will focus on the invention of the printing press by Johannes Guttenberg in 1440, as the real “book” printing era.

Over the centuries, we have gone from clay, to papyrus, to wax table, hand written parchments, printed paper and the most current invention of an e-book. It is maybe, with the invention of an e-book in the 21 century, that one can see a massive decline in reading or interest in books themselves. Book shops are closing and are being replaced by Apple Stores, and libraries are shrinking to make room for computer labs.

With all the advantages of modern technology and most up-to-date aps and state of the art technology, there is in me the nostalgic yearning for an old-fashioned book. You know, the one you can hold, flip pages with one hand and hold a hot cocoa with the other, all while wrapped in a cozy blanket while sitting on the sofa. With this in mind, I have opened the EDU Reading Corner, where students themselves will post reviews, stories, vocabulary lists and even recommendations etc. based on the books they have read either as part of school’s curriculum or as part of their own free time entertainment- yes, book can be entertaining.  

So, check in with us, once in a while,  to see what the kids are reading these year – you just might be surprised.

http://edureadingcorner.blogspot.cz/

Humans of Educanet

https://www.facebook.com/skolaEDUCAnet/

Once in a while we have a silly idea. We want to bring in students, teachers and parents closer to together. I mean, we all know each other by name and by what class we teach or whose parent is who. Often, we base our ideas and opinions of each other based on such limited facts. One way we attempted to bring out more personal information and shed some light on our lives beyond the classroom, emails and grading. 

We created our own HUMANS OF EDUCANET facebook page. This is based on the ever popular Humans of New York page which has over 18 million followers! (yes ,we have a bit more to go with our    Humans of New York began as a photography project in 2010, with a goal to photograph 10,000 New Yorkers on the streets and create a nice and short interview portrait.

We have done the same thing. We have contacted our students, teachers, parents and even graduates of our school and asked to write a personal view of themselves and their likes and even dislikes. I can honestly say that at the beginning it was a bit hard ro convince the students and teachers even more to open up… but slowly and surely the wonderful, clever humans of Educanet are coming out.

Check out our page! And even better contact me to become the next Human of Educanet! https://www.facebook.com/skolaEDUCAnet/

Revolution Train, an anti-drug campaign

http://www.revolutiontrain.cz/v2/

As a teacher, I often feel that sometimes we just need to get out of school. The trick is to think of a field trip that makes senese, that is entertaining and educational... and that is not always easy to do. Last week I chose for our classes to vist a Revolution Train, it is an Anti-Drug campaign. I, myself, didn't know what to expect. I heard great reviews and recommendations but a huge part of me was terrified that this will yet another "Don't do drugs" lecture which students are not very fond of nor do they think of this as "fun." Boy, was I surprised. A fantastic educational program that should be required for schools and students.
Instead of describing it myself, I will let the words of Rashad from our 9th class to the work :-)

Revolution Train, an anti-drug campaign.

The other day, a few classes from my school went to an anti-drug program that was held in a fully functional train. It was about 150m long and weighed over 300 tons! The silver colour was clearly a giveaway that this was no ordinary train.

We arrived at the train station in Dejvice and were split up into three groups. As we entered, we were welcomed by a nice lady who instructed us to leave our bags at the entrance and have some water or use the bathroom if needed. The entire exhibition took about one and a half hours. Certainly, I expected yet another boring lecture about how drugs are bad.  The first task we were given was to fill out a questionnaire about ourselves. The questions were mainly asking if we have ever used drugs, smoked, drank alcohol or something along that line. Once that was done, we entered one out of four theater rooms. I immediately assumed that we will watch a boring documentary. We were played a short movie, which was divided into several pieces throughout the train. An ear catching fact was when at the beginning of the film we learned that the narrator of the film is already dead and perhaps the scariest thing about this movie was, that this mini-movie was based on a true story and not a typical documentary. It was about a mistake made by two teenage girls who chose the wrong path in life. Their lives changed when they got into a car (after a night of drinking and dancing) with two drunk and drugged men. While in the car, driven by one of those men, they  crashed into a motorcyclist who died instantly. Not only was this tragic, but one of the girls lost her eye and the driver consequently went to prison. Long story short, the main character ended up doing pervitin and other drugs while still in a relationship with one of those men. Their relationship turned worse as he continued to sell drugs and use stronger and stronger types of drugs. Towards the end, the girl had a baby with him and attempted several times to go through a recovery program. At the end, we did learn that she had managed to get her life back to normal but were aware of how unusual and difficult that was.

I must also add, that in addition to watching this mini movies, in between the short films there were very interactive settings such as a jail cell, hospital room, interrogation room and even a real life squatter room to show us the realistic and dirty life style of a drug user.

In my opinion, it was very hard hitting. You realize that if you ever do something like this, you are pretty much screwed for the rest of your life. I myself found it interesting and very true. Surely, this was a great way, very interactive way to get us to pay attention and learn a valuable lesson.  My classmates had the same feeling about this program as I did. This generation is almost an identical example to the mini-movie and certainly can force kids to think about the choices they will one day have to make. I absolutely recommend visiting this antidrug campaign train.

Rashad , EDUCAnet Praha, Grade 9.

Busy Month

September is a busy month for all teachers. Yes, we are full of energy and are greatly motivated and one can even say that the students are still optimistic J There is always a bit of new organizational issues that always have to be dealt with and both the students and the teacher must get on the right “wave length” to assure that the remaining months go well. This month we managed two projects: The European Day of Languages and The Celebration of the State National Holiday of Saint Vaclav.

Sometimes, we as teachers talk a lot, or more than needed. This time I asked the students to make films about those two projects and here are the results! Great Job! 

Check out the Videos on our school web page.       http://praha.educanet.cz/

What We Can Learn From Huck Finn?

"I do believe he cared just as much for his people as white folks does for their'n." Chapter 23

I am amazed how so many students in the Czech Republic know the book "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn," yet few have actually read it… and those few are the ones who read it as part of their reading lists for Maturita exam in Czech (and they choose it only because they assume that it is an easy book to read, about a little kid.) Little do they know that the book is actually full contemporary lessons, although still considered a great American classic.

This year I have decided that both of my classes will have to read the original version… yes, not the abbreviated look alike.

So I assigned it… the first 5 chapters, a total of 25 pages to be read over the weekend.

Within a few hours one of the students responded: 

 “I just wanted to say, that I read the first chapter and this book is very racist and some of the words in the text I have no idea how to read... EXAMPLE: By and by they fetched the niggers in and had prayers, and then everybody was off to bed. I went up to my room with a piece of candle, and put it on the table.“  

I was crushed… if this is the response I get now, what are they going to say on Monday? And how am I going to explain this unique book to a bunch of modern, mobile phone oriented teens? After all, plenty of people doubt the value of an old, possibly musty canonical work when there are fresher ones for students to read. Why do we need Twain’s 130 yr old novel?

And yes, the novel‘s continuous use of racist language often finds it being taken out of school curricula. The debate over the necessity of the N-word in the novel has been debated for decades (For a particularly good exploration, see: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/01/05/does-one-word-change-huckleberry-finn?ref=books) The book without a doubt sustains its criticism of a hypocritical and morally derelict society and accurately shows what racism looks like. So the word is painfully necessary because it was a historical fact.

Beyond the racist comments, the language (as my student pointed out) is hard for contemporary teenagers to understand – of course reading original Shakespeare is no match at all. 

However, beyond the language, it is my understanding that students simply get Huck. They understand keeping secrets. They understand that your friends expect you to protect them even if it gets you in trouble. They understand that their moral instincts are not always shared by society. They understand that the worlds they create, either modern subcultures or a raft on the Mississippi, are more real and intelligible to themselves than the hypocrisy and corruption of adult society. They know that they will need to light out to the territories themselves someday and find their way – with a path often more difficult than predicted.

So, yes, they are still going to have to read the book – why, because they need to know that they are right, that their instinct is more valuable than predisposed rules by the society.

"I reckon I got to light out for the Territory ahead of the rest, because Aunt Sally she's going to adopt me and sivilize me, and I can't stand it. I been there before." Chapter 43

History - is inspirational

I have always loved history –one can say it is in my blood. I mean, my dad wrote over 20 books on history so something rubbed off on me. History is a very important subject. Although, there has been debate over the years about whether or not to remove History as a core subject. I hope it will not. History is inspirational. Personally, it has improved not just my knowledge of the past, but my analysis in general, and has honed my opinions about a wide range of subjects, including my knowledge of current affairs.

History is a subject that focuses on the past, but can also give us an insight into the present, and how to deal with circumstances that bear a significant resemblance to those of decades or centuries ago. For example, the current recession has been compared to the Great Depression beginning in 1929. The reign of Elizabeth II has also been compared to that of Elizabeth I in the late sixteenth-century as a Golden Age.

In my own opinion, it’s important to know the important figures like William the Conqueror, Henry V, Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Joan of Arc and Florence Nightingale because you can then apply their principles and ideas to the wider events of the time, and to what happens now, and who you want to be. Learning about key events like the Battle of Hastings, the Wars of the Roses, the Reformation, the Spanish Armada, and the English Civil War, gives us a sense of patriotism.

Of course, history must not be changed or modified to current trends or wishes. It is important to tell history as it is, or it is not history at all.

To summarize:

• ·        History provides identity. Studying history improves our decision-making and judgment. 
• ·        History shows us models of good and responsible citizenship.
• ·        History also teaches us how to learn from the mistakes of others.
• ·        History helps us understand change and societal development. 
• ·        History provides us a context from which to understand ourselves and others.’

In conclusion, History is essential to the past, present and future. Without it in schools, we would not have influential people. Moreover, without them, we would not know as much about our ancestors, and how to deal with current problems