Thursday, November 14, 2013

11-14-13 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:





The fetishization of international test scores
Not one, not two, but 10 national educational organizations are planning to host a blowout digital event to talk about (what else?) international standardized test scores. There’s even a new Web site just for PISA Day, called, you won’t be surprised to learn, PISADay.org. The event is being held on Dec. 3, the same day […]    
Getting kids to read: The 5 key habits of lifelong readers
How do people become lifelong readers? That’s a subject tackled in a new book, “Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer’s Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits,” by Donalyn Miller, a sixth-grade language arts teacher in Texas who is known as the Book Whisperer. After her first book, The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in […]    


A new college theology course on Bruce Springsteen
It’s been quite a week for me. First I had a somewhat reasonable educational excuse to write about John Lennon — school  records showing that he was quite adept at getting detentions were being put up for sale. And now, thanks to Rutgers University, I get to write about a new Bruce Springsteen course. Here, […]    
What is developmentally appropriate in learning?
What is developmentally appropriate when it comes to learning? Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham wrote about the subject recently on his Science and Education blog, and here is a version of that post. Willingham  is a professor and director of graduate studies in psychology at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” […]    

YESTERDAY

What Michelle Obama told high school students
Here from the White House’s Office of the First Lady is a transcript of what First Lady Michelle Obama said to students on her visit to Bell Multicultural High School in Washington D.C. this week. The First Lady is taking on a new policy role in the Obama administration: urging high school students to go […]    
11-13-13 The Answer Sheet
The Answer Sheet: Four things on which nearly all teachers agreeDo educators agree on anything these days? A few things, it turns out. Here’s a post on what those are, from Roxanna Elden,  a National Board Certified Teacher, speaker, and author. Her book, “See Me After Class: Advice for Teachers by Teachers“ is a funny, honest, practical guide widely used for teacher training and retention. By […]