Some days I just get tired of collecting everything. Every handout, every practice problem, every reflection, every quick quiz. I know students benefit from practice, but the paperwork volume is enough to give me a migraine. Like most teachers I know, I wish my students would sometimes — just sometimes — do work for the…
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The goal: Get students to love the work
In 20+ years of teaching, I’ve never heard one student say they deeply enjoyed the time they spent studying for or taking a multiple-choice test — or that they were really engaged by reading the textbook. Working on a meaningful creative project, however, triggers something different. “It sounds cliché, but ‘time flies when you’re having…
Read MoreHow badly do you want the answers?
You have just taken a five-question quiz. Now you have a choice: I will either tell you the right answers, or I will give you a candy bar and not tell you the right answers. Which would you choose? According to Dan Gilbert’s Stumbling on Happiness, what you think you would do and what you…
Read MoreYour words count
You’re just not good at math That book is beyond your reading level College isn’t necessarily for you Why do teachers insist on making disparaging comments that pigeonhole students? These comments are all ones my own students and grad school classmates have heard from other teachers — probably well-intentioned teachers who thought they were giving…
Read MoreBeware the power of incentives
If you had to choose between (1) teaching two weeks of difficult AP course content or (2) prepping your students for a broader but less rigorous state test in your subject, which would you choose? Before you decide: Your pay is tied to student performance on the state test, but not the AP test. One…
Read MoreWhat teachers want
This week I presented my first workshop as a College Board consultant. My task: In six hours at a hotel conference room in Cincinnati, help 10 high school teachers hone their ability to teach AP Microeconomics, AP Macroeconomics or both. Six hours isn’t much time, let alone for two distinct subjects, and most of the teachers at…
Read MoreCould you learn in the ‘classroom of the future’?
(image from Atlantic magazine) Which metaphor best describes the way you learn? Your mind is an empty vessel. A teacher pours in new knowledge to fill you up. Your mind is fertile soil. A teacher plants a seed, and the interaction of the seed, nutrients and water — with careful tending — creates new knowledge.…
Read MoreHer math problem? Chronic boredom
Here is how Clara, a 7th grader in Rhode Island, says she spends each day in math class: 50% Doodling, working ahead, doing homework for my other classes, or reading 25% Doing pointless work (that’s the “math”) 15% Spacing out 5% Talking 5% Listening “Sometimes I just watch the clock or think about the book…
Read MoreRe-learning that really works?
Three years ago, under a new principal, my high school leaped head first into the “re-learning, re-take” trend sweeping public education. The philosophy is simple and has undeniable logical appeal. If Michael performs poorly on a test, he should have the opportunity to re-learn the material and improve his score. After all, we get more…
Read MoreExit slips: Just the first step
Using formative assessment to check student understanding may be one of the best new ideas in education, but are we doing it right? When I first learned I was expected to use “checks for understanding,” I was skeptical. I was certain my students understood what I was explaining, and I didn’t want to burden them…
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MARTHA RUSH 