This post was originally published at the Partially Examined Life: A Philosophy Podcast and Blog and is contributed by Gary Chapin, Senior Associate for Quality Performance Assessment at the Center for Collaborative Education . ________________________________________________________________Over the past hundred years Constructivists and Traditionalists have enjoyed an uneasy truce in the world of education practitioners. Constructivism “says that people construct their own … [Read more...]
Flying Below the Teachers’ ADHD Radar Screen
The following blog post is contributed by Dr. Anthony Rao a nationally known expert in child psychology, and author of The Way of Boys. Dr. Rao will be a speaker at the INSPIRE 2014 Conference in October 2014.Getting noticed or standing out is usually a good thing, but not for American boys in school. Their diagnoses for ADHD continue to be too high. What drives this? In my practice, it seems to be coming from teachers. They don't realize it, but over the last few years they have been … [Read more...]
Five Ways Traditional Education Has to Change
The following post is contributed by Will Richardson. Will Richardson is a speaker, educator, blogger and author of four books, most recently Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere (September, 2012) published by TED books. Will Richardson will be the opening Keynote for the INSPIRE 2014: Engaging Today's Students conference in October 2014.1. From Answers to Questions - In a world where we have access to the sum of human knowledge (almost), 2.5 … [Read more...]
Being Careful About What We Say
I imagine we may have a few differences when it comes to what we believe is appropriate communication with our students. For me, the goal is to increase communication and deepen relationships with students rather than increase distance between us and strengthen our negative assumptions about them. Lastly, and most importantly, we want students to love coming to our classes, to feel relaxed and comfortable in our presence, to feel safe enough to ask spontaneous questions, to take risks and to … [Read more...]
Teaching to Different Learning Styles When it Feels too Hard
Two years ago I talked about using Learning Styles in the Classroom. Since then, I have worked with many teachers who agree that teaching to varied styles is critical but wonder how to do it well when they don't have many resources, administrators don't think it is important, they worry the class will get out of control, and they have so many students they can't meet all their different needs. These are legitimate concerns that, if left unanswered, might prevent some teachers from promoting this … [Read more...]
Promoting Behavioral Change in Students
When I work with teachers and other professionals, they often ask me, "What are the best things to do to deal with a particularly difficult student who just won't respond to limits?" I tell them there isn't a simple answer. They say they know, but they still ask. I wish there were a magic intervention for each difficult child, something that works in this moment. But in my experience there is no one sentence you can say, or consequence you can set, that will solve a chronic behavioral problem … [Read more...]
Time Out of the Classroom: Why It Matters to Today’s Youth and Education System
On Thursday, March 27th, at the Regent Theatre in Arlington, MA, NISCE will be hosting the film Brooklyn Castle. After the film, Melina O’Grady, EdM, an Education Consultant with over 20 years experience working with youth and youth programs in Boston and San Francisco, will facilitate a post-film discussion. The following are excerpts from an interview with Melina. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Brooklyn Castle highlights the personal lives … [Read more...]
Beyond the SAT: Leveraging Noncognitive Measures of Success
This article originally appeared in OnlineSchools.org. __________________________________________________________ By the time students reach the end of high school, they will be well acquainted with cognitive skill assessments. Math, critical reading, and fact recall are prioritized in our traditional school systems, subjects that rely heavily on cumulative knowledge and memorization. Standardized scoring systems like the SAT, ACT, and GPA ratings might not provide a full picture of students’ … [Read more...]
Cracking the Behavior Code
The following is an excerpt from The Behavior Code: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Teaching the Most Challenging Students, by Nancy Rappaport and Jessica Minahan.__________________________________________________________________________________Ten percent of the school population—9 to 13 million children—struggle with mental health problems. In a typical classroom of 20, chances are good that one or two students are dealing with serious psychosocial stressors relating to poverty, … [Read more...]
Timeless Teaching Practices
In a recent book by Mike Schmoker, titled Focus: Elevating the Essentials To Radically Improve Student Learning (ASCD 2011), he talks about some basic, timeless teaching practices that tend to get overlooked in favor of more enticing strategies that have been the focus of late, like multimodal teaching, "hands-on" instruction, project-based learning, whole-body immersion, and field trip events. These are all important methods but there are some other more hidden practices that are just as … [Read more...]
