Is it enough if your students get high grades—or would you rather they really learn? Do you think of learning primarily as memorizing facts—or do you appreciate its potential in practical application, original thinking, and ongoing growth? If you want your students to appreciate and appropriate “rich” learning, here are six major elements that belong […]
Most schools—especially in areas of high ethnic and economic diversity—have concerns over “student achievement gaps,” academic-success differences related to demographics. This post series looks at ideas for remedying the problem. The worst-case classroom scenario is the teacher who not only is sure of the one way a “good” student should perform, but “predicts” every […]
DESIGNS LESSONS FOR STUDENT MASTERY “Mastery learning” is an educational philosophy that relies on not expecting students to learn new things before they master less advanced concepts. In one sense, the mastery principle has always been an inherent part of education: students are required to demonstrate a certain level of knowledge or skill before being […]
ESTABLISHES GOOD CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES Some teachers, perhaps reacting against the harshness of the old “sit up and shut up” classroom, take a laissez-faire attitude toward student restlessness. While it’s good to encourage children to volunteer opinions and ideas, no classroom should be an anarchy. Give the kids too much license to do as they please, […]
EXHIBITS POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS FOR ALL STUDENTS Hopefully, most teachers these days know not to greet the siblings of former students with, “I hope you’ll be as smart as [or better-behaved than] your sister/brother.” But however much we value objectivity and fair treatment, everyone finds certain characteristics easy to like or dislike. Picture yourself, on the […]
You may be a product of the “gold star era” when good behavior and achievement were rewarded with stickers. Maybe your mother’s kitchen—or your second-grade classroom—was even decorated with a “star chart” that resembled this table: Making bed Eating vegetables Doing chores Picking up toys MIRIAM X […]
Allowance for children is a tradition opposed by some. Why should anyone grow up, the argument goes, feeling entitled to financial benefit apart from personal effort? If the kids want spending money, let it come in direct exchange for their share of household chores. It’s fortunate that people who take that line, rarely progress to […]
Any child old enough to understand that purchases are paid for is old enough to learn about money. Here are some things kids should understand at each stage of life: Preschool • Cards and checks are not magic money generators. Ideally, children this age should regularly see their parents paying cash, and should be able […]
“You talk about yourself all the time! All you ever say is, ‘I … I … I … I … I’!” “I?” It’s true: people who begin every sentence with “I” tend to be boring and self-centered, interested only in themselves. But there’s one area of communication where sentences are best begun with […]
What pictures does the word “discipline” bring to mind? You may have grown up with one or more parents whose favorite sentence was, “If you don’t behave, I’m going to have to discipline you”—which meant some hard swats on the rear or an indefinite stay in time-out. Kids raised on this approach may learn to […]
