Rigid, narrow codes of tradition masculinity and femininity drive poorer reproductive health outcomes, homophobia and gender-based violence. This is especially true among at-risk youth, like those who are of color or LGBT.

To improve outcomes, there has been an increased focus and commitment on "gender transformative” interventions and policies. Gender Transformative approaches question, challenge and change rigid gender norms and inequities. Major international donors–like PEPFAR, UNAIDS, USAID and WHO–have already endorsed Gender Transformative interventions.

Truechild.org is a wonderful resource for grappling with the issue of combating traditional gender norms for young people. This is essential reading/understanding for all educators. Use TrueChild's "learn the facts" section to get yourself up to speed, fast. Our kids need us on this issue as much as any other.

Kiran Bir Sethi's TED talk about empowering young people to change their local community was beyond inspiring. Her kids changed the town they lived in. She wrote up the strategy, translated it into 8 languages, and distributed it all around India. The result? Over 40,000 schools working for real change all around India.

For those who don't think that educational change can scale, Kiran Bir Sethi shows you that it indeed can. Want your school to be a part of this? Join the Design for Change contest.

Thanks to TEDxNYED for bringing this video to my awareness.

This video is incredible. This company has put the research, time, and effort into creating a powerful video game experience. I could see this technology becoming less expensive and more approachable, and then what we could do with it in schools would be left only to our imaginations.

Even just to communicate lecture-style information to students who are far away, absent, or who want to review, would be novel. Imagine being able to watch a 3-d model of your teacher from your phone, your laptop, etc. Then imagine giving that student a joy stick, letting them play with a lab that the teacheris running, letting them explore a sin curve in three dimensions. The possibilities are limitless here, and this type of technology will become a disruptive innovation in our classrooms sooner than later.

via @lenkendall

Visit GLSEN's Be an Ally resource page to order a kit for your school or a school you know.

Our math/science chair gave me this link to fantastic physics games. Careful, they are addicting! http://www.physicsgames.net

I am very interested in how much energy many kids are willing to spend on games. How do we channel that into productive, academic play. I believe games can be educational in their own regard, but we need to capitalize more on the energy kids spend on gaming. Much to discuss here.

As usual danah boyd gets the conversation moving in the right direction with her article 'Bulling' Has Little Resonance with Teenagers. She discusses the differences between how adults are looking at bullying and how teens are looking at bullying - and she acknowledges that most teens don't even consider "it" bullying.

As one of the "old people" doing the talking at schools about bullying I have come to many of the same conclusions. Working against bullying requires many things, some of which include: adults recognizing how teens interact; seeing the Internet as what it is, a venue for bullying, not the inspiration or blame; helping kids clearly understand power and privilege; giving kids an anti-oppression framework;

I have much hope for giving schools and families the tools they need to raise a generation of better people - kinder, more empathetic, understanding young people who will grow up to raise a society up out of a time filled with violence, hate, and fear. But if this work isn't a priority at your school, that you need to start the discussion. Following danah boyd's work on the topic is a great place to start.

photo credit

Wow, what a beautiful video created for TEDxYouth. I found it a little silly that they advocated for using a Canon 5D, but I'll let it slide since I like the video so much.

Alternatives to Food as a Reward                   

Food is commonly used to reward students for good behavior and academic performance.  It’s an easy, inexpensive and powerful tool to bring about immediate short-term behavior change.  Yet, using food as reward has many negative consequences that go far beyond the short-term benefits of good behavior or performance.

Research clearly demonstrates that healthy kids learn better.  To provide the best possible learning environment for children, schools must provide an environment that supports healthy behaviors.  Students need to receive consistent, reliable health information and ample opportunity to use it.  Finding alternatives to food rewards is an important part of providing a healthy school environment.

The number of birthdays and holidays celebrated by an average elementary school class means that sweets can become regular snacks, rather than occasional, special treats.  In addition, it has become increasingly common for teachers to use candy to reward and motivate students.  If food must be used as a reward, healthy choices are encouraged and it should be part of a learning experience.  This flyer offers alternatives to help promote consistent messages about food and health.

Our lower school division head shared this resource from Kansas State's Johnson County branch of the Research and Extension services about alternatives to food as a reward. It is well written, easy to understand, and has great tips. Read the full post here.