The Educator's Notebook

“What’s Lost When We Rush Kids Through Childhood”
Edutopia - 8/23/19

“Quality education is about relationships. Caring teachers who understand child development and who know and are attuned to the children in their care are far more important than many of the measures of quality we use today, such as class size, physical environments, or a specific curriculum. Rich, open-ended conversation is critical, and children need time in the day to experience warm, empathic oral language—to converse with each other playfully, to tell a rambling story to an adult, to listen to high-quality literature and ask meaningful questions.”
Excellent, Fine-Grain Suggestions For Choosing Words When Giving Feedback
Cult of Pedagogy - 2/3/19

“Instead of saying: “Your next step would be to revise some of the dialogue to make it sound more realistic.” Try this: “I wonder if, as a writer, you’re ready for more advanced dialogue techniques.”

"How To Help Teenagers Keep Track Of Their Stuff”
New York Times - 8/29/19
Rooting Through The Data On Teens And Screen Time
NPR - 8/27/19

“There isn't a linear relationship between screen use and mental health. On most surveys, teens who use their phones up to two hours a day appear healthier than those who don't use them at all. This doesn't count other reasons for technology use, such as homework or listening to music.”
“Three Things Overscheduled Kids Need More Of In Their Lives”
KQED - 8/26/19

“Playtime. Downtime. Family time.”

Meritocracy In Athletics: Boon Or Burden?
Atlantic - 8/30/19
On Andrew Luck And The Dehumanization Of “Playing Through The Pain”
New York Times - 8/27/19

“That is the cruel paradox of the sport: Participation almost guarantees eventual injury, yet the culture simultaneouslycelebrates only those healthy competitors who survive the winnowing.”

Ben Folds’ Memoir On Finding Your Creative Voice
Brain Pickings - 8/22/19

“We all see something blinking in the sky at some point, but it’s a damn lot of work to put it in the bottle. Maybe that’s why only some of us become artists. Because we’re obsessive enough, idealistic enough, disciplined enough, or childish enough to wade through whatever is necessary, dedicating life to the search for these elusive flickers, above all else.”

A Deep Look At, Like, The Use Of The Word Of The Word “Like”
THE Conversation - 8/20/19

“To shed light on like’s grammar, I’ve built what is known in linguistics as a corpus. A corpus is a representative sample of language as used by certain speakers. We can then examine this corpus to understand how language is used – rather than relying on our perceptions, opinions and memories.”

Reflections On Computational Thinking In The Classroom
Medium - 7/11/19
John Hattie And A Model For Effective Teaching And Effective Learning
KQED - 6/14/17
“Co-Teaching: How To Make It Work”
Cult of Pedagogy - 2/5/17
“5 Common Teaching Practices I’m Kicking To The Curb”
Cult of Pedagogy - 9/3/15

“1. Popcorn reading… 2. Giving students prepared notes… 3. Whole-class punishments… 4. Using learning styles to plan instruction… 5. “Differentiating” by having advanced students help struggling students”

Blurring The Lines Between Digital And Print Reading
New Yorker - 9/2/19

“Far from embodying an arc of unbroken concentration, books have always mapped their readers’ agitation—not unlike the way a person’s browsing history might reveal a single day’s struggle, for example, to focus on writing a book review.”
Barbara Kingsolver Rediscovers Love Of Language Through Writing Poetry
Washington Post - 8/27/19
A Deep And Fascinating Analysis Of Novel Reviews
Literary Hub - 8/27/19

US Middle School Science Curriculum Now Free Online
EdWeek - 8/28/19

“These three dimensions—disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices—are supposed to be integrated across the curriculum… The requirement that these three dimensions work together is partly why materials have been so hard to develop."
Everything You Wanted To Know About: Faraday Cages
Quartz - 8/26/19

How Aquaponics Works [video]
National Geographic - 8/20/19
“The Uncanny Power Of Greta Thurnberg’s Climate-Change Rhetoric”
New Yorker - 4/24/19

“No one knew what to say to Thunberg, or how to respond to her exhortations. Her microphone check was another rhetorical device. “Did you hear what I just said?” she asked, in the middle of her speech. The room bellowed, “Yes!” “Is my English O.K.?” The audience laughed. Thunberg’s face flickered, but she did not smile. “Because I’m beginning to wonder.””

Starbucks Releases Its Brand Guidelines [Interactive]
Starbucks - 8/26/19

“Functional vs. expressive copy: Functional means helpful—it organizes things in a clear way and anticipates our audience’s needs, helping customers have an easy, enjoyable experience in-store and online. Used primarily for wayfinding and ordering, this copy is so seamlessly integrated that it calls attention to the product—not itself. Functional doesn’t mean sterile; it means clear… Expressive copy is where our brand personality unfurls with day-making thoughts. We use expressive moments on focal products to present a product truth in a fresh, relevant, interesting way. When we have the space, we tell a passionate coffee story. But even with just a few words, our copy can make you smile—always taking into account where our audience is interacting with us—and making every word count.”
Robert Moses And Jane Jacobs On The Power Broker
Next City - 5/4/16

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