Wednesday, February 27, 2013
For as long as there have been schools, teachers have given homework to students for them to complete out of class. However, it is clear that homework, especially when teachers give it in excess, is unnecessary for the students. Recent studies performed by experts at Penn State University as well as the Curry School of Education have pointed to the fact that more homework does not correlate with better grades. In fact, some studies showed that homework is useless because of all the stress it puts on the young students that it is given to.
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
My graduate research and my teaching interests have focused primarily on the intersections of public writing and rhetorical theory. Specifically, I am interested in the disconnect between school writing and public writing and how our students and off-campus communities can …
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012
As a student with a learning disability, confidence has always been half the battle. It has proven time and time again to be the difference between success and failure. I’ve seen my fair share of both. Most times, this confidence …
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Tuesday, May 1, 2012
One of the challenges I face as an English teacher is teaching critical thinking skills to my students, as opposed to merely assessing for comprehension. Ultimately, texts are understood through a reader’s interpretation of the larger organization structures signaled by …
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Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Both learning disabilities and giftedness are socially constructed paradigms that fail to educate the student to his full potential while treating him or her as a holistic person with strengths and weaknesses. …
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Monday, April 2, 2012
We’re still enraptured here at LearningDiversity.org by the Finnish school model, which emphasizes early interventions and individualized support as key components for academic success. …
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Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Three days ago, the Wall Street Journal published an article entitled, “My Teacher is an App” by Stephanie Banchero and Stephanie Simon. The basic premise is that education as we know it is undergoing a radical change that …
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Friday, September 16, 2011
A recent study published by the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research has found that teacher credentials are unrelated to student achievement. This particular study has widespread implications, as often in public schooling salary and tenure is based upon certification, degrees, …
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Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Nobody goes into teaching because it seems cushy and lucrative. Presumably teachers are people who have a passion for an academic subject and enjoy working with young people. Most teachers I know like to think they have a positive influence …
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Thursday, March 3, 2011
Dr. James Paul Gee is a leading expert on literacy with a special interest in the potential of educational games. In the following video he talks about a revolutionary approach to learning that would seem to have significant advantages over …
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Monday, February 28, 2011
The Kahn Academy website provides a free online library of over 2100 educational videos in the fields of mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, finance, economics, astronomy, and history as well as 100 automated self-paced exercises (mostly in math) with continuous assessment.…
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Friday, February 18, 2011
Some readers of earlier posts about reading comprehension understandably have trouble wrapping their heads around the notion that interpretation and comprehension can be considered one and the same. I think it would be helpful to consider verbal conversation. When we …
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Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Social justice is the belief that all individuals are invaluable members of our society, that all people can contribute to the betterment of our society. Social justice means resources are distributed equitably, social power and privilege are non-existent, and mutual …
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Tuesday, February 15, 2011
While in my earlier post I argued that any worthwhile interpretation of a text must be preceded by competent understanding, let’s consider the inherent dangers of this approach and the value of an alternative one.
The danger of neglecting an …
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Friday, February 11, 2011
Alright, it might not be the most in-depth presentation of scholarly material, but it sure is catchy. Check out these info-packed music videos created by talented teachers Amy Burvall and Herb Mahelona spoofing popular hits. You’ll find spin-offs of everything …
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Wednesday, February 9, 2011
When Matthew Leeb of collegehumor.com created a faux Facebook page for World War II he may have had his tongue planted firmly in cheek, but it demonstrated a whole new range of possibilities for presenting material to students. That’s right; …
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Thursday, February 3, 2011
A couple of recent posts (Interpeting Comprehension, Reading is a Cultural Activity) on LearningDiversity.org have rested on the assertion that reading is a cultural activity and that we teachers should encourage students to read creatively. My worthy …
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Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Yet another study suggests that testing may be useful not only for evaluation but for learning. An earlier post on LearningDiversity.org pointed out other research that bashed the conventional wisdom about what makes for effective studying, including mention of earlier …
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Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Back in the late 1980’s when I was a rookie student teacher, an experienced teacher told me, “You will learn to teach something after you have taught it.” At the time, those words did not help me, but as I …
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Thursday, January 13, 2011
As educators I think we all struggle from time to time with finding a balance between laying out strict requirements and letting our students take the initiative. Each approach has obvious benefits. Structure facilitates clear communication, including the imparting of …
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