Last week, I wrote about my eagerness to read my students’ essays on how to improve American K-12 education. Forty essays in, and I’m exhausted but not disappointed. A few of their ideas are thinly researched or ill-conceived, but most put a lot of thought and evidence into their proposals. About half of my students…
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Any questions??
If we want our kids to become “lifelong learners,” one of the most important skills we can teach them is how to ask questions. Once you leave your formal education, the world isn’t going to spoon feed you information anymore. You actually have to find your own answers, whether it’s “Where is the bathroom?” or…
Read More‘Just challenging enough’
One of the great mysteries of teaching is how to find the right level of challenge for your students. Ask too little, and they are bored senseless. Ask too much, and they will give up. Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky became famous for identifying the “zone of proximal development,” which is education-speak for “teach them something…
Read MoreIs ‘sit up straight’ sound advice?
Monday morning first hour. You scan the room and immediately notice Jason, as usual, slouching in his desk. His legs are sprawled out under the desk in front of him, while his shoulders lean against the top of the seat back. He looks comfortable, maybe too comfortable, or as comfortable as you can get when…
Read MoreNew strategies can be tough
The authors of Make it Stick (Peter Brown, Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel) warned me that students wouldn’t necessarily appreciate better learning strategies. They were right. Using their research-based methodology, I have been giving my AP Macroeconomics students challenging quizzes at the start of class every day, to force them to practice retrieving their new knowledge…
Read MoreSuccess Academy: Under pressure
It’s too easy to be shocked by the New York Times’ video clip of a Success Academy teacher tearing up a first-grader’s math paper and publicly chastising her, which is making the rounds on social media. Who would think it is OK to humiliate a first-grader? Who would support a school culture where, as one…
Read MoreWe must help kids overcome the opportunity gap
The teenagers in our classes may not realize it, but they are on the verge of making one of the most important decisions of their lives: How will they develop their “human capital”? Our challenge is to make sure they understand how critical this is — and to help them make the best decisions possible.…
Read MoreIt’s important to share that you’re not perfect
It’s hard to really remember what it was like to be a preteen or teenager. It’s even harder to imagine being one today. The drama, the pressure, the energy that goes into social media. We wish they could just set it aside and focus on what’s important, i.e. academics. But if we want to engage…
Read MoreSimplest is not always best
According to Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like a Champion, teachers should teach everything in the simplest, most straightforward way possible. I just can’t do that. Yesterday I was explaining to my fresh crop of AP Macro students the different types of economic resources: land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. Sure, I could have given them…
Read MoreTech devices are powerful – but not motivating
The optimists among us see technology creating schools full of self-directed, collaborative workers, using the power of the internet to advance their own learning at light speed. The pessimists see technology allowing teenagers to become image-conscious dabblers, skilled at manipulating their Facebook profiles, taking selfies and playing games — but not much else. This digital…
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MARTHA RUSH 