Salty Pretzels Entertainment

Finland’s School Success Beats Ours ‘Cause They Do It Opposite From Us

salty — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 19:50:11 +0000

Fascinating article in The Atlantic, What American’s Keep Ignoring About Children’s Success. We think it’s worth taking note. They are always at the top of the list, we’re always in the middle. It may well be because they do things OPPOSITE of the way we do it.

There are no private schools in Finland.

Finland has no standardized tests.

There’s no word for accountability in Finnish. Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted.

All teachers and administrators are given prestige, decent pay, and a lot of responsibility. A master’s degree is required to enter the profession, and teacher training programs are among the most selective professional schools in the country. If a teacher is bad, it is the principal’s responsibility to notice and deal with it

Sounds almost subversive, doesn’t it? Or, I’m thinking perhaps that it sounds like keys to success for both students AND teachers. Radical thoughts, no?

Bill Moyers’ Is Back (and some great art!)

salty — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:29:48 +0000

When I was producing that little doggie show for PBS, there was no one who impressed me more than Bill Moyers and I have been a big fan ever since first hearing him speak. Take a look at his most recent PBS KEYNOTE ADDRESS and see the most articulate reasons for why we need PBS–and why we need Bill Moyers! . At Salty Pretzels, we are thrilled that he will be back in January with his new show.

And when you’re done, take a look at the NY Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of 2011. There is truly some beautiful, original work highlighted here.’

Kids have media thrust upon them…

salty — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:41:50 +0000

…and it’s the grown-ups in their live’s job to change that.

Some fabulous reports and commentary are out regarding Common Sense Media’s research on media use by kids 0-8. It’s called, “Zero to Eight: Children’s Media Use in America A Common Sense Media Research Study October 25, 2011.” (You “0″ kids probably come under a whole other discussion, but I digress).

Lisa Guensey, the Director of the Early Education Initiative at the New America Foundation writes wonderfully in The Huffington Post about the questions that arise from the report.

As you begin to decipher this yourself, see their main findings:

Key Finding 1: Young Children Use Digital Media Frequently

Key Finding 2: Substantial Digital Divide

Key Finding 3: Kids Under 2 Spend Most Time Watching TV

Key FInding 4: TV Dominates Young Child Media Time

Key Finding 5: Broadcast TV Most Accessible

Key Finding 6: Demographic Differences in Media Use

Key Finding 7: Media Multitasking

And here is the other report from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center earlier this year:“Always Connected: The new digital media habits of young children by Aviva Lucas Gutnick et al. March 2011

With our deep concern about the relationship between kids and media here at Salty Pretzels, no matter what transpires we seem to come up with the same conclusion: we must find a way for caregivers to spend time with their kids. The more they do together, the better their lives will be. How can we promote this to the most underserved community, the lower income families? Who has time? How do we make time? We grown ups don’t have to teach our Little Ones all the time. Just being with them and engaging them in conversations about their world is the best possible support you can offer them. All our children need to have intimate, loving communication

You can view the full Common Sense Media report HERE.

And thanks to a tweet from @360kid that first brought my attention to the report.

After 9/11 How We and The World Teach It

salty — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:32:33 +0000

There have been some very interesting comments this week about how the world teaches the events of 9/11 . There’s a great article from Boston’s WBUR station by a Tufts Graduate Student you can see HERE. Just as importantly, how we’re teaching it at home makes one really think of the consequences as in this aritcle from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette HERE. On radio, there has been much discussion about how in Texas some school districts barely mention the event. The main reason for this is that they don’t know how.

And before you say we better hurry up and think of something because we must never forget, I am reminded of the woman on NPR’s This American Life, who’s husband died at the World Trade Center and said the only way she can move on is if she forgets. I’m sure she’s not wrong. It’s an interesting debate, and when you read how the rest of the world treats this, you may wish to spread the word that we must at least make it clear for those who do need to share. Peace.

Kids (always) suck at history

salty — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:52:36 +0000

Someone (some thing?) once said, “sharing is caring,” so I share a great article by Nick Paumgarten in last week’s New Yorker. Everyone’s up in arms that kids today don’t know history. But apparently kids NEVER knew history. A Stanford professor shared: “...the first large-scale proficiency study—of Texas students, in 1915-16—demonstrated that many couldn’t tell Thomas Jefferson from Jefferson Davis or 1492 from 1776. A 1943 survey of seven thousand college freshmen found that, among other things, only six per cent of them could name the original thirteen colonies. “Appallingly ignorant,” the Times harrumphed, as it would again in the face of another dismal showing, in 1976. It’s our “amnesia of past ignorance.” Maybe we’re hopeless, though I hope not. And aren’t you proud of me for not just bashing Texas for this?

Kids Need to Play

salty — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 16:16:54 +0000

We always like the opportunity to push play for kids. It’s the greatest way to learn. And the rest of the world takes some wonderful chances melding art, design, and usability. Check it out here.

The Cat And a Poke

salty — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:18:26 +0000

We’d like to thank our friends at NCircle Entertainment for letting us create and produce two new TV spots for them for Random House’s new PBS show, The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That! and the international star, Pocoyo!

What We Can Do For You

salty — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:31:48 +0000

We tell stories with our commercials, trailers, videos, and publishing. We create them. We produce them. With our Peabody Award-winning talent. Kids stuff. And some cool grown-up stuff, too! Let us add video to your exhibit, talk, or ipad presentation. Think industrials, viral web, B2B…And see how affordable and invaluable broadcast can be. And don’t forget to check out our page tabs above!

We Sizzle

salty — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:31:28 +0000

We do sizzle videos too! Unbelievable creative with perfectly priced production!

Another Way To School?

salty — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:27:21 +0000

A brilliant piece on education and schooling (and how we’re doing it…wrong?) by the RSA has beautifully meshed the information world and internet art in a talk by Sir Ken Robinson. Take a few minutes and see not only how right I think they are, but how it seems that this is really what the web is for.

The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) has been a cradle of enlightenment thinking and a force for social progress. Our approach is multi-disciplinary, politically independent and combines cutting edge research and policy development with practical action.