Input. Corporation for National and Community Service

Dear Service Leader, The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) wants your input. We are seeking the best thinking from the national service network and the public about two key topics:  a unified training and technical assistance strategy, and disability programming for all CNCS programs.  A notice has been published in the Federal Register inviting public comment on these topics. Your feedback will be used to inform our planning as we transition from a formula-based methodology to competitive processes for awarding funds.   There are several ways you can participate.  You may send your written comments to tta@cns.gov.  You may participate in a CNCS-hosted listening session at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service or conference calls later this month (see below).   You can also submit your comments via www.regulations.gov, by mail, or by fax.  Details on these methods are in the Federal Register notice. National Conference Listening Session The public input listening session will be held on Tuesday, June 19, during the National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Chicago, Ill., at McCormack Place West at 2301 S. Indiana Ave. from 8:30 -10:00 a.m.  If you plan to attend, please send an email to tta@cns.gov specifying the National Conference with your name, title, organization, and contact information.  We will follow up with a confirmation.   If you are already registered for the conference, please go to the conference website and add Session 3336 to your itinerary.  If you are not registered for the conference, you can use the confirmation we will send to attend this listening session.   If you cannot attend the listening session, a transcript will be posted on the CNCS website for review.  Conference Calls Conference Call #1:  Monday, June 25 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET, call-in number 888-324-4147, participant passcode: POWELL Conference Call #2:  Thursday, June 28 from 12:30-1:30 p.m. ET, call-in number 800-779-1632, participant passcode: 2116663 If you plan to join a conference call, please send an email with your name, title, organization, contact information, and which call you will be joining to tta@cns.gov. Transcripts will be available on the CNCS website following each call. Please check our Web site at www.nationalservice.gov/tta.asp for further information and updates.  CNCS will not respond to comments individually but will take input into consideration in future planning.   The comment period will close on July 6, 2012. Thank you in advance for your participation, and we look forward to your comments. The Corporation for National and Community Service

Teachers Need More Training to Handle Children’s Emotions

By Janice Wood Associate News Editor Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on June 8, 2012

Student teachers learn a lot about how to teach in college, but they don’t get much training in how to respond to young children’s emotions, such as frustration, anger, and excitement, according to new research.

“When teachers aren’t trained to respond to emotional outbursts in supportive ways, they often fall back on responses that reflect the way they were raised and whether they feel comfortable with their own emotions,” said Rebecca Swartz, a doctoral candidate at the University of Illinois and the study’s first author.

For the study, 24 student teachers in the university’s Child Development Laboratory (CDL) filled out self-assessments, rating their responses to hypothetical emotional situations and reporting their beliefs about the best ways to handle children’s emotions.

The students were then observed several times interacting with children in the CDL classrooms over the course of a semester. From these observations, the researchers rated how the student teachers responded to the children’s positive and negative emotional displays.

As expected, student teachers who reported more effective strategies for regulating their own emotions — for instance, thinking about a stressful situation in a different light — and who also reported more accepting beliefs about children’s emotions were more supportive of children when they had emotional outbursts, according to the researchers.

The most common nonsupportive response was not responding, the researchers add.
Swartz wants teachers to learn how to handle emotional situations in the classroom as part of their professional development. “It might be effective to bring in a mentor who could coach, consult, and reflect with teachers as occasions arise,” she said.

In the typical preschool classroom, it wouldn’t take long for a mentor to find a teachable moment, she predicted. “In a classroom for 2-year-olds, sometimes it’s just emotion, emotion, emotion.”

Instead of saying “Don’t cry” or “That’s not important,” Swartz suggests the teacher label the child’s emotion and help him learn to cope with his anger or frustration. “If a child is crying because a classmate has taken a toy, a better response would be, ‘I know you’re sad. You really want to play with that.’ Then the teacher could use a problem-solving strategy: ‘Maybe you could take turns, or you could play with another toy for now.’”

These “everyday moments” are “golden opportunities for children to learn how to manage their emotions, Swartz add. “Too often, teachers want to make negative emotions go away. Instead we need to use them as learning opportunities.”

Another interesting finding from the study was that the student teachers only sought the support of a master teacher in dealing with negative emotions, the researcher said, noting that kids need help handling happiness and excitement, as well. In those instances, teachers could say, “We can’t throw blocks in the air to show we’re excited, but we can clap or cheer instead.”

Swartz said that regulating emotions is important not only for young children, but for their long-term success as they move into higher grades.

“When you’re sitting with a long-division problem, it’s not just understanding long division that’s important, but being able to stick with it long enough to understand it,” she said. “When children are building a block tower and managing their frustration, those skills will help them later.”

The study was published in a recent issue of Early Education and Development.

Source: University of Illinois

http://psychcentral.com/news/2012/06/08/teachers-need-more-training-to-handle-childrens-emotions/39862.html

Apply for the 2012 Individual and Community Preparedness Awards today!

Have you or a program been working to make your community safer, stronger and better prepared for any disaster or emergency event? If so, the Individual and Community Preparedness (ICP) Awards application window is open through July 31, 2012 for activities taking place during the period of January 1, 2011 through June 1, 2012. Apply today!

Winners of the 2012 FEMA ICP Awards will be chosen from ten categories and will be announced in September during National Preparedness Month. They will also be FEMA’s honored guests at a community preparedness roundtable event in Washington, D.C.

At last year’s event, winners were able to share their ideas, experiences and solutions as well as their advice on how to keep their communities prepared for emergencies. For example, honoree Michael Smith, Fire Chief for the San Manuel Band of Serrano Mission Indians, helped San Manuel develop a “Send Word Now” system which provides text messaging, email and voice alerts to tribal members during emergencies.

Several of last year's honorees also distinguished themselves by involving their entire community in emergency preparedness. Herman Schaeffer, the Director of Community Outreach for the New York City Office of Emergency Management, helped oversee the New York City Citizen Corps program, which collaborated with more than 60 community organizations, government agencies, private sector organizations and volunteer programs to promote emergency preparedness.

Do you know someone who is a preparedness trailblazer like these two individuals? Send your nominations to citizencorps@fema.gov by July 31, 2012 at 11:59 p.m.!

Visit the Awards page on our Citizen Corps website for information on how to apply!

TRACE: Anti-Corruption

June 6, 2012

Taking a Degree at the University of (anti-) Corruption 

Armenia, Croatia, Georgia, Indonesia, Russia, TRACE, whistleblower • Tags: anti-corruption, bribery, bribes, corruption, higher education,university

As college students pack their bags and head home for the summer, we took a quick look at anti-corruption efforts on university campuses.  One very positive development is the growth of anti-corruption  programs at universities around the world.  The latest to join this global trend is a group of 100 universities across Indonesia.  These schools have all agreed to offer courses on integrity and anti-corruption as part of the curricula in public administration, law, Islamic studies, health, business ethics and communication.  The hope is that with a new cadre of tens of thousands of young professionals who have been made aware of corruption problems and how to combat them, Indonesia will make inroads in the fight against corruption.  Given recent statements by Indonesian parliamentarian Marzuki Alie that Indonesia’s most corrupt individuals were educated at elite universities such as the University of Indonesia and Gadja Mada University, the measure couldn’t come too soon.

Many national university systems have long been accused of corruption in the administration of admissions exams.  Social media have helped expose some of the corruption; an example of this is the scheme to inflate test scores and award study grants to less qualified medical students at aRussian university.  In Georgia  significant progress has been made toward reducing corruption in the admissions process.  Not long ago, it was common for prospective students of medicine or law to  pay unofficial fees of up to $15,000 to so-called tutors, to “prepare” them for the university’s entrance exams.  The tutors in fact served on the university’s examination committee in charge  of grading the exams.  The bribe-givers were told to include code words in their anonymous entrance exams.  Now there is hope in Georgia that such practices has been curbed.  Examples of similar practices – and fortunately, similar efforts to eradicate them – abound (Croatia, Armenia).  Other university systems still seem to have a long road ahead.  Some diplomas are not recognizedinternationally due to perceived corruption at the institutions that awarded them.  And in socially and economically troubled Greece, reform of the university administration and  admissions process has been put on hold, much to the chagrin of anti-corruption activists.

One place where students have taken things into their own hands is Uganda, where a corruption-reporting website has been set up.  The site, Notinmycountry.org, allows individuals at 34 universities to name members of the faculty and administration, and describe incidents in which the named individual requested a bribe payment, a sexual favor, etc. and for what purpose.

All in all, with scandals affecting the highest officials at universities in the UK,  Australia and elsewhere, the student body may not be a bad place to begin serious anti-corruption efforts.

http://traceblog.org/2012/06/06/taking-a-degree-at-the-university-of-anti-corruption/

Men's Health Month: Wear Blue Day.

Wear Blue Day

Plan a “Wear Blue Day” to help spread the knowledge of Men’s Health Month.

• Choose your day. Choose any day that works for your group of team.
• Choose a goal amount. Set a goal amount to raise, that way you have something to strive for.
• Choose BLUE. From blue accessories, to head-to-toe blue work attire, to an excuse to go casual, choose what works best for your group.
• Pick and choose. Your group can simply wear blue and have your group and anyone else who wants to participate, donate any amount for wearing blue.
• Sell blue prostate cancer pins to wear in support of the fight against prostate cancer.

Or, you could include an educational event, such as a men’s health presentation.

Or, make it FUN! Put together a contest for the best BLUE attire or host a bake sale to raise additional donations.

Be creative, and remember to have fun!

Men's Health Month: Men's Health Library

Contact Us MHN Support the Library

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Social Science->Fathers and Parenting
(0 subcategories, 21 items)

(1) Good Relationships = Good Health for Men
(2) Dads & Kids: 5 Things Men Can Do to Stay Involved by Armin Brott, Mr. Dad
(3) A Modern Mom’s Guide to Dads: Ten Secrets Your Husband Won’t Tell You
(4) The Dad Difference in Child Development: Men's Health Network
(5) Research on Fatherhood: Old Discoveries Seem New Again: Men's Health Network

(1) In Search of Fatherhood(R)
(2) A Modern Mom’s Guide to Dads: Ten Secrets Your Husband Won’t Tell You
(3) The Disenfranchised Father
(4) The Innocent Third Party: Victims of Paternity Fraud by Ronald K. Henry
(5) Attention Dads: Stay Involved

1. Dads & Kids: 5 Things Men Can Do to Stay Involved by Armin Brott, Mr. Dad

Mr. Brott is a spokesman for MHN. 5 Things Men Can Do to Stay Involved. Keywords: Time magazine; flyer; fathers; mothers; children; parents; marriage; divorce; men; male; women; female
Last Access: June, 7, 2012 03:16:11 PM
Hit(s): 1,716
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2. Dads & Kids: 5 Ways Women Can Help Men Stay Involved by Armin Brott, Mr. Dad

Mr. Brott is a spokesman for MHN. Keywords: Time magazine; flyer; fathers; mothers; children; parents; marriage; divorce; men; male; women; female
Last Access: June, 7, 2012 12:57:44 PM
Hit(s): 506
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3. Noncustodial Fathers Positive Influence on Kids' School Performance: NCES

National Center For Education Statistics. "Children are less likely to have ever repeated a grade or been suspended or expelled if their nonresident fathers are involved in their schools." Keywords: fathers; mothers; children; parents; marriage; divorce; custody; men; male; women; female
Last Access: June, 4, 2012 01:01:35 PM
Hit(s): 412
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4. Father Involvement and School Performance: NCES

National Center For Education Statistics. "Children are less likely to have ever repeated a grade or been suspended or expelled if their nonresident fathers are involved in their schools." Keywords: fathers; mothers; children; parents; marriage; divorce; custody; men; male; women; female
Last Access: June, 7, 2012 12:11:05 PM
Hit(s): 423
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5. Fathers Preferred as Day Care Providers: Census Bureau SIPP

Who's Minding the Kids?, Child Care Arrqangements: Fall 1991. Keywords: fathers; mothers; children; parents; marriage; divorce; custody; men; male; women; female; visitation
Last Access: May, 4, 2012 12:39:25 PM
Hit(s): 305
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6. Research on Fatherhood: Old Discoveries Seem New Again: Men's Health Network

Researchers and politicians have long known that father absence leads to a dysfunctional society. Keywords: fathers; mothers; children; parents; marriage; divorce; custody; men; male; women; female; child support; visitation
Last Access: June, 7, 2012 07:38:51 AM
Hit(s): 720
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7. Parenting Time Statutes and Enforcement: Texas

Consult with an attorney for current interpretation. Examination of this state's unique custody, unwed parent, and visitation statutes giving noncustodial parents 40+% time with the child. This is not legal advice and is current as of 1999. Keywords: access; possession; visitation; joint custody; child support; courts; family law; NCP; CP; mother; father
Last Access: May, 8, 2012 08:12:07 AM
Hit(s): 228
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8. The Dad Difference in Child Development: Men's Health Network

Excerpted by Edward M. Stephens, M.D., from American Psychiatric Association-APA Committee on Mental Health in Schools. Kyle D. Pruett, M.D.; Fatherneed; empathy; self-control; paternal; father; mother; children; parent; marriage; divorce; custody; flyer
Last Access: June, 7, 2012 01:21:17 PM
Hit(s): 742
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9. In Search of Fatherhood(R)

Not a MHN publication. In Search of Fatherhood(R) is a quarterly international male parenting journal which facilitates a Global Dialogue on Fatherhood and provides Men from all Walks Of Life throughout our Global Village with an uncut and uncensored forum to explore issues directly and indirectly related to Fatherhood.
Last Access: June, 7, 2012 12:21:09 PM
Hit(s): 207
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10. A Modern Mom’s Guide to Dads: Ten Secrets Your Husband Won’t Tell You

MHN book review by Raquel Gonzalez. Keywords: father; children; mother; baby; parenting; marriage, pregnancy, couples, family, relationship; birth, sex, Hogan Hilling; Jesse Jayne Rutherford; Gold Award.
Last Access: June, 7, 2012 12:20:56 PM
Hit(s): 847
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11. The Disenfranchised Father

Dr. Robert E. Fay discusses the issues of father child relationships. Keywords: fathers; children; divorce; mothers; baby; nurture; custody; visitation; child support; Robert Bork; parenting; unwed; Dr. Mom; Wallerstein and Kelly; stepfathers; stepparents;
Last Access: June, 8, 2012 04:20:17 AM
Hit(s): 449
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12. The Innocent Third Party: Victims of Paternity Fraud by Ronald K. Henry

2006 journal article on paternity fraud. Keywords: fathers; mothers; children; unwed; child support; courts; custody; default judgments; Bradley Amendment; Kirk Kerkorian; welfare
Last Access: June, 5, 2012 06:50:29 AM
Hit(s): 186
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13. Attention Dads: Stay Involved

Parenting brochure from Armin Brott, Mr. Dad. Keywords: fathers; mothers; children; diapers; breastfeed; divorce; mediation; child support; single father; quality time
Last Access: June, 7, 2012 11:34:29 AM
Hit(s): 465
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14. Fathers as Care Providers: CPS P70-59 - September 1997

Current Population Reports, Household Economic Studies: “My Daddy Takes Care of Me!” It is undisputed among researchers and policy pundits alike that fathers’ involvement is extremely important for children’s proper social and emotional development.
Last Access: May, 4, 2012 12:55:52 PM
Hit(s): 269
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15. The Price of Fatherhood-a Father's Reply to Ann Crittenden: by Glenn Sacks

Reprinted with permission of the author. Sacks examines the contributions that fathers make to the family and to their children.
Last Access: June, 4, 2012 11:06:48 AM
Hit(s): 310
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16. Divorce, Parenting Time, and Children's Development

From Prof David Garrod. "In summary, 30% of the children in the present study experienced a marked decrease in their academic performance following parental separation... Access to both parents...was associated with better academic adjustment..."
Last Access: June, 5, 2012 12:54:31 PM
Hit(s): 309
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17. 1998 Census Report on Single Fathers

1998 Census Report on Single Custody Fathers & Fathers as Child Care Provider
Last Access: December, 9, 2011 01:15:56 PM
Hit(s): 261
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18. Child Support: As It Ought To Be: Congressional Testimony of Ronald K. Henry

Keywords: fathers; mothers; children; parents; marriage; divorce; custody; men; male; women; female; child support; visitation
Last Access: March, 5, 2012 02:56:11 PM
Hit(s): 369
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19. Growth of Single-parent Families, Headed by Fathers

Census Bureau, December, 1998. Keywords: fathers; mothers; children; households; custody; housing unit; householder; African-American; black; Hispanic; Latino; Latina
Last Access: May, 25, 2012 03:08:29 PM
Hit(s): 237
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20. Good Relationships = Good Health for Men

Flyer. Tips from James Sniechowski, PhD. Keywords: men; males; women; females; couples; partners; masculinity; love; relationships; intimate relationships; intimacy
Last Access: June, 7, 2012 06:45:14 PM
Hit(s): 9,429
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Attending FEMA EMI Higher Education Conference. June 4-7th

From June 4-7, 2012 Attending FEMA EMI Higher Education Conference in Emittsburg, Maryland.


Charles D. Sharp
Chief Executive.  Founder
Black Emergency Managers Association