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What should we be teaching? This question received significant attention at the November 2011 Learning and the Brain Conference in Boston. With the changes in our world and in our students, what should we, then, teach? The question reveals a consequential recognition: some of what we’ve taught and how we’ve been teaching it . . . → Read More: What should we be teaching? It seems contradictory. The brain seeks and sees patterns, but when asked to find patterns, many people become uneasy. (Shelley Carson suggests that up to 80% of people find this type of thinking “uncomfortable.”1) This conundrum is the result of effort. When the brain instantly sees a pattern, it seems like a new insight has . . . → Read More: Patterns: Learning, Thinking, Creating A mallet and chisel in my hands will not a sculptor make. I could certainly do some damage to a piece of marble—or, more likely, to myself—with these tools. I could probably produce enough evidence for a television detective to conclude that I had been there, but no one would look at the results . . . → Read More: Tools Do Not Determine Quality You’ve likely heard the chatter. Educational reform seems to be to be the obsession of the moment in Educaburgh.
No matter your position, you can broadcast your opinions at high volumes in the modern media vortex. In an attempt to hit the mute button, at least momentarily, may I suggest a topic that seems to be missing from the megaphones of rights, power, money, influence, etc.? That topic: wisdom. CONTINUE READING Hope. Humility. Determination. How do these characteristics contribute to an atmosphere of achievement? The dictionary describes determination as a “firmness of purpose,” “perseverance,” “intentness,” “a state of indefatigableness.” As with most tone-related aspects of the classroom, an atmosphere of determination begins with the teacher. I believe every great—and by great I mean not just instructive, but inspiring—teacher is him or herself a determined learner. An excellent professor I had in college beat this drum in almost every class: “The true professional never stops growing. He or she is always learning, always growing.” As Karen Cushman puts it, “…expertise is a process, not a product…”1 CONTINUE READING “But hope is not disconnected from action or result; it is the drive that propels action and result. It is not an ungrounded feeling but a belief that action can bring about change.” Hope is word #1, a characteristic of an atmosphere that enables optimal achievement. Three words grabbed my attention. Ideas that can make the difference between a t-ball novice and A-Rod, between nephew Johnny’s string recital performance and a Yo-Yo Ma concert, between the weekend jogger and Paula Radcliffe. No, not age, not time, nor even practice. (Though all these play a role.)
Confession: as a student, I usually hate group work. I know, I know. Having students work in groups reaps a bounty of benefits, including boosting students’ social skills and upping the number of “happy campers” in the classroom. Such findings filter through my thinking when I’m preparing to teach, so I do use group interaction, hoping that the promises from its advocates will be realized. Occasionally they are; often they are not. I’m convinced: our schools need to give fitness a place in the curriculum. Let me clarify one thing. By an emphasis on fitness, I’m not recommending more or longer recess periods (though they may help), nor more or longer physical education classes (though, again, they may help). I fear some schools may reach these conclusions and implement changes without additional thought. Such an approach would be a mistake as schedule changes are only part of a good response to the growing body of research. CONTINUE READING If our profession exists to enable understanding of new ideas, should we really have our own language? Consider the following opening paragraph from a recent journal article: “Education is an all-encompassing institution where schools can be found in each and every continent, culture, and society; their functional principles, organizational structure, and modus operandi are quite universal.”1 CONTINUE READING |
 
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