Pitfall 1: Your lectures are more effective than tranquilizer darts.
You’ve burned the midnight oil putting together the most titillating talk on the mitochondrial replication process, but for some reason when you’re 15 minutes into it (and just getting to …
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.
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 …
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 …
Attention social studies teachers! Here’s a great project for the kids. Collect stories from local veterans as well as those who worked in war industries or supported war efforts in other ways. “The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife …
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. …
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. …
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 …
Last week we encountered a highly unusual situation; in fact, it was one that I had not anticipated whatsoever: a week-long power outage. As a teacher at a boarding school, one thing you must know is that the show must …
Our last few posts (One Year Out: Student Survey Seems to Show Students Want Challenge and Alfie Kohn on the Homework Myth) have focused on the question of academic challenge and the contention that homework may or may …
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, …
The ongoing debate about the increasing importance of uniform educational standards in the public school system often centers on pedagogical issues. Paul Thomas, in his “A Case Against Standards,” offers a political perspective. Siding with those who construe …
In his latest book, The Same Thing Over and Over: How School Reformers Get Stuck in Yesterday’s Ideas, educator, political scientist, and author Frederick Hess explains why it’s imperative that we thoroughly rethink schooling in light of current goals …
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 …
In the never-ending discussion of how to fix the broken American public school system we are repeatedly pelted with the now familiar litany of “fixes”; better teacher training, more funding, more accountability, and so on. Many people naturally look to …
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.…
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 …
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 …
Here at Learning Diversity we are starting a new project, and we need your help!
We’re gathering up the best, most effective lesson plans, categorizing them by subject, and making them available to all our readers. If you’ve got a …
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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