Reddit mentions: The best education administration books

To be honest this doesn't sound like the best homeschool environment. But: Many (if not most) homeschoolers of kids who were pulled out of public school take a sort of "detox" period when the kids are taken out of school. This kind of gives them a chance to relax, put the public school environment really on the back burner, and kind of reset to get ready for homeschooling.

The kinds of programs you are describing are basically "school at home." This is fine for many kids. For a kid who obviously hates school and "learning" as he perceives it (i.e. what he has been forced to do at school all his life,) this is probably not a good option.

There are as many different ways and methods of homeschooling as there are families who homeschool and that's really what is so exciting and effective about it. Now is a great time to start exploring these methods WITH HIM. He is certainly old enough to have a vote in how he learns.

For a kid who is resistant to book learning I would read up about unschooling, free range learning, project-based homeschooling. It goes by different names but the basic premise is the same: people learn best when they are interested and engaged and making their own choices about what to learn and when.

He needs to start taking an inventory of his interests and abilities. Is he mechanically inclined? He obviously doesn't like to read but what about math? Video games? Does he want to learn how to code? What about animals? He could become involved in a program that trains dogs to become service dogs for people with various disabilities. The possibilities are really endless and bounded only by his own imagination.

This could be a very exciting time for your brother (and the rest of your family); fighting about sitting in front of a computer all day and reading about the civil war or whatever is not going to help anything. He has decided he doesn't like to learn. This is a potential tragedy but he is still young and there is still time to change his mind.

It is important that when you begin his interest inventory (I would suggest doing this as a family) that there are no disparaging comments made. If he says he is interested in video games, it goes onto the list. If he loves to play guitar, it goes onto the list. There are plenty of ways to work those interests into valuable projects, you just have to get creative.

On another note: he is old enough to start learning about trades; if he thinks that's where his interests may be. You could track down electricians, plumbers, any kind of tradesman in your area and I'm sure any one of them would be thrilled to explain their career and necessary education to a 14-year old.

It looks like you live in Texas? I am also in TX and the state has some of the most liberal homeschool laws in the nation. Unschooling is definitely possible here.

I noticed that you said your parents are high school dropouts and that they can't teach your brother. This does not have to be a barrier to his education; at the high school level most parents aren't actually "teaching," anyway, they are acting more as mentors. It is important that they are on board in supporting his projects and interests but they don't have to teach him trigonometry; there are plenty of other ways to go about getting that information when he needs it.

I hope this helps. The most important thing you can do right now is to get him excited about learning something. ANYTHING.

My public school was awesome. Great physics, science, math, computers, language, technology, and history educations. (graduated mid 00's) Ended up in a top university.

Know why? I lived in middle class neighborhood in a rich area of town. Schools are funded largely by local property taxes. Poor places tend to have worse schools. A great example of this is 2 elementary schools in the city of Atlanta: Morningside Elementary School, one of the best schools in the entire state, and Thomasville Park Elementary school, one of the worst in the entire state. They are both part of the Atlanta Public Schools district. One resides in the dilapidated old industrial south part of town. The other resides in the northern, office-based, commercial, and residential part of town. I'm sure I don't need to tell you which is which.

This pattern is repeated across the nation. Poor places have bad schools, well off places have great schools. Given this, do you really think that poor places are going to just grassroots fund their way into great private schools if public schools are taken away?

>You need not ask if your policy feels good, but does it do good. In other words, does it work? Social education doesn't work for the same reason no other bureaucratically managed industries work - they lack proper incentives and controls to innovate and self-manage efficiency.

This just doesn't seem to be true. In the past decade, a bevy of new research has shown that private schools do not actually produce better outcomes. This book is a deep examination of data that shows this. You can find gobs more information out there, including the foot notes and references in that book.

I guess I still don't think the ideas you're proposing are going to educate everyone, though I certainly think we could agree upon the fact that they ARE over-regulated with the endless testing and metricization and focus on memorization rather than teacher certification/trust, reasonable pay, and training students to think and learn problem solving skills.

>Are there asshole parents out there that are going to buy a new car instead of send their kids to school? Sure. But you can't get hung up on this as a reason to make ineffective decisions based on appeals to emotion.

Isn't that what you're doing when you say government schools are producing uneducated people who are destroying the west? "Oh my god, destroying the west? We have to get rid of public schools now!"

> No government welfare program can even hold a candle to the Red Cross

The US Military seems to do a pretty kickass job of being there for disasters that happen across the world.

>The absolute most effective mechanisms for social welfare are private institutions - hands down.

After Reagan gutted the public mental healthcare system (an admittedly primitive system, but one that at least attempted to help the most likely to recover to do so) the only private system to spring up has been those based on exorbitant profit which the majority of Americans cannot afford.

>Why is it you put so much trust in a group of people that has little accountability and no incentives? The market has these - put your trust there.

This seems farcical. Some serious mistakes were made at the founding of the country (and many on the way to now) that prevent us from truly holding our elected officials accountable, including but not limited to: non-enforcement of increased representative count with larger populations, FPTP elections (for some positions), allowance for arbitrary and politically motivated district allocation, and others. In the early 1920's onward, after a pushback against the guilded age corruption from the 1880s to the 1920s, the increased involvement of money in politics, allowed by the justice system, and codified by the judicial branch, has led to our officials becoming beholden to moneyed interests, instead of the people.

I think we could if we make a few changes so that the system is a bit more accountable to us, rather than those with gobs of money - which leads me to...

As for the market - we've seen what happens when the market allows companies to act uninhibited - they attempt to maximize profit at the expense of anything that gets in their way: they permanently contaminate large swathes of land ( here), they pollute water supplies indiscriminately ( [here] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes#Pollution) and (here), they kill people via food for profit (here and here), they kill those that get in their way (here), they poison vast swathes of the world (here). I could go on. So I ask you: what makes you place your trust in opaque capital market entities that pursue profit at all costs rather than the one entity in society that isn't driven entirely by never-ending increase in profit regardless of the consequences?

>Ask yourself honestly, which are you?

Definitely a 1, I'm just trying to get by while leeches like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Ecclestone and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump inherit billions of dollars and don't have to do an honest day's work in their lives to live in the lap of luxury.

Given a more equitable society I would love to do hands on work with children, but it's just not possible if one wants to escape the trap of labor exploitation and one day be able to pursue such works.

I worked at an outdoor preschool for about a year. It's certainly a concept I love so much, unfortunately the owner sold to someone who didn't want to keep it an outdoor preschool(she felt the two classes couldn't handle being outside together and they'd get sick being out there in all weather)

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1. We would spend time outside if it was slightly rainy but if it was anymore than that we came inside. The school was new that year so many parents didn't know how to dress properly for the weather.
   
2. We basically stayed in the outdoor classroom directly behind the building but we'd explore the wooded area above which wasn't that large.
   
3. We would offer different materials. We had these built by the first owners husband: http://shop.natureexplore.org/s.nl/sc.1/category.2283/.f We basically offer anything we want in these. We also had a mud kitchen, garden and a acrylic art easel: http://shop.natureexplore.org/Art-Panel/
   
4. We had rakes, shovels, buckets, water etc. that we would let the kids explore with.
   
5. The owners idea was to take the typical classroom and keep it outside. So we ran centers with the discovery tables and did an art project on the easel.
   
6. We basically spent from 9-11:45 outside. Then inside from 11:45-3 for lunch, nap, snack and outside from 3-6.
   
7. I don't see any challenges at all. I find the outdoor model to be very helpful to kids. They have the rest of their schooling to spend inside in a classroom, so let them explore and be kids.
   
8. https://natureexplore.org/ has some great ideas. Most of which can be recreated for half the cost. Also check out Cedarsong on Vashon Island in Washington. Erin Kenny founded it(she recently passed away from cancer though) and she's founded one of the first nature schools. It's modeled after the German model. They still run training's at her school and she has a whole home study thing you can purchase which has a book, curriculum ideas, and a dvd. The book is amazing. I considered buying this to do nature studies with but we didn't have access to any water for the pond studies: https://raisinglittleshoots.com/buy-exploring-nature-with-children/ It comes with everything you'd need for a nature walk a week and you can print out the journal for each child. There's a few facebook groups that are awesome. Wildschooling is super helpful, it's a bunch of moms who do homeschool but outdoors. So like forest schools but for kids in elementary and middle school. Nature Preschool Ideas & Community is another great one as well. https://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Classroom-Practice-month-month/dp/041572905X/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=erin+kenny&qid=1554420826&s=gateway&sr=8-5 Also I'm not sure where your located but Antioch University in New Hampshire actually has a masters type program specifically on Forest Kindergarten type learning. It's run by David Sobel who has some great books out on learning in nature.
   
   Something I suggest you do that I never got a chance to was visit other nature schools to get ideas on how they do things. If you have any other questions PM me! I'm super passionate about this type of learning.

Congrats on getting hired!!! I'd recommend a mix of PD/teaching books and content. When you get bored of one switch to the other. Both are equally important (unless you feel stronger in one area than the other).

For PD, I'd recommend: Teach Like a Pirate, Blended, The Wild Card, and the classic Essential 55. Another one on grading is Fair Isn't Always Equal - this one really changed how I thought about grading in my classes.

As far as content, you have a couple ways to go - review an overview of history like Lies My Teacher Told Me, the classic People's History, or Teaching What Really Happened, or you can go with a really good book on a specific event or time period to make that unit really pop in the classroom. The Ron Chernow books on Hamilton, Washington, or Grant would be great (but long). I loved Undaunted Courage about Lewis & Clark and turned that into a really great lesson.

Have a great summer and best of luck next year!!

I know your question is more a rules/procedures one, but what I feel is most important is that teachers and students use the Chromebooks differently than they taught and learned before them. Don't just digitize worksheets and traditional assignments - leverage the collaborative and digital tools and resources to teach and learn better than ever before. To that end, here's an awesome book by Alice Keeler which shows how Google Classroom (a must for Chromebook digital learning in my opinion) should be used for student-centered learning.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0996989560/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1468786446&sr=8-1-fkmr2

Alicekeeler.com is her website which is also awesome.

Also, I recommend purchasing the Read&Write for Chrome extension. It's a literacy support tool for reading and writing that works with Google Docs and web pages for text to speech, word prediction and dictionaries for writing, and and voice recording (voice notes). Highly recommended at about $1.50/student/year. Teachers get it for free.

Good luck! This will be awesome for students and teachers!

Hi again, /u/JaredofHawaii.

I am not going to go point-by-point here since its the end of a long ass day for me (proposal for my Comps exam--and it passed!).

What I see here ultimately hinges on a single (but important question): "What is the purpose of school?" Anybody's analysis of your views and points here will change depending on how you answer that question.

For instance, Thomas Jefferson--who we usually see as a bastion of liberty and justice, and all that--claimed that the purpose of schooling was to "weed out" the undesireables. That school's function is to filter and winnow.

I personally disagree with that logic. I see the purpose of school as being essentially framed in terms of equiopotentiality--that all of us can and should contribute to a more robust and open society. That we should embrace differences and work within the spectrum of what is, and not what could/should be. All students matter, essentially.

(Different research programs focus on different populations and prestige abstractions within those programs, but essentially all of them are important. Even if I am not reading "x" literature, I still agree that it has merit since somebody else--some other expert--believes it to be true. [not to get too deep into the weeds, but if a native american scholar views indigenous cultural language and iconography is a cornerstone to a culturally sustaining pedagogy--and this is not my experience--I am still inclined to believe that person regardless of my own thoughts and limited knowledge.)

As to your points about values, valuation, and value systems... all of these fall under the broad philosophical category of "axiology" and is very related to the notion of ideology--essentially what is good and what is bad and on what grounds.

Axiology is embedded in other things like culture, language, education, politics. One of the interesting things that I learned a few years ago taking a class on "literacy as a social practice" was to understand that there is a schism in purposes of school as they hinge on the question of values. if you have not done so, take a look at Brian Street's work in this vein. He says that all schooling can be classified into two headings: ideological and autonomous.

Now, before you make assumptions about the idea itself--realize that "ideology" in this sense is not a bad thing, it is more descriptive than prescriptive. It essentially says that schooling is value laden or it is not. Nonideological schooling (sort of what you are proposing when you say "non-values based personal critical analysis") views knowledge (broadly construed) as inert, acontextual, ahistorical, apolitical. That is to say that autonomous education systems are false representations. All knowledge is contextual, it is historical, it is political and it is dynamic. This is Street's notion of ideological schooling.

The opposite is something more like what we have in US schools today--this common core stuff that sees the framework of schooling as irrelevant so long as somebody can pass an exam. It is even more clearly represented in the "Charter School" movement which treats knowledge as a mere commodity.

I wish i could give you more about early childhood education but I only am conversant in my early childhood deaf education, and I should not make any broad claims about mainstream education theory, research, or practice, since I simply am not well versed enough to do so. If you are looking for general readings, you could do a LOT worse than Jerome Brunner, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky. These are the three most important theorists to date, especially the second two.

If I had to point you toward One thing to help you sort through some of this "creative" phase of your ideation, it would be this book: Dr. Joanne Larson's "Radical Equality: Starting Over in US Schools".

Most of my ideas in this response contend (in some way shape or form) with ideas from this text. It is foundational to any "new" critical approach to education, IMO. Its a short book but a damned important one.

Hope this helps a bit. Feel free to ask more pointed questions too. or if I am left of center (to your questions), let me know.

> Where do you get the idea that employing a Peace Corp Volunteer takes a job away from a Host Country National?

I just thought it'd be better to educate English teachers, since then you'd be helping out adults that can then continue your work once you're gone. 1 PC teaching 30 teachers means that those 30 teachers can then go teach 900 students, instead of 1 PC just teaching 30 students. But if their isn't anyone around to become teachers, then it looks like MZ does have a problem.

> Besides, with both sides forcing adults into employment, there was no one left to teach.

What about teaching MZ students about /r/unschool? Here are some books that I highly recommend: What Smart Students Know , Study Smarter Not Harder , The Unschooling Handbook , The Unschooling Unmanual , and Unschooling Rules.

> I'll spare you the statistics, but feel free to do some research into literacy and overall education in MOZ.

Yup, you're right.

I usually question everything, especially with regards to activities that our Government engages in here and abroad, since I just don't trust the bastards. But it sure does sound like Mozambique needs more help than I thought, initially, and I'm glad you and lenaurora are going to do it in whatever way you can. I'll delete my previous negative comments, don't want those sticking around.

Cheers and good luck mates! Make sure you update Reddit so we know if there's any other ways in which we can help.

So, I've got almost everything I need to start my online course but there's a very cute notebook on my Uni Stuff wish list which I would adore (and it's unicorn themed which makes it even more amazing!) it's definitely... back to school cool!

Edit: so I hope it's not too late but I just found an even cuter notebook which I love more than anything! Its in my "uni stuff" list. I hope it's not too late to change it but fully appreciate if it's not appropriate for me to change at this late stage!

I'm having a very similar experience with both my emotional state and the classroom environment.

Most people wouldn't say this, but perhaps your instincts about discipline/punishment are worth listening to. In the short term, for the sake of your sanity, you may need to set them aside, because in my experience, they don't lead to quick fixes, and as you said, a structured environment is important for your students. However, I would posit that structure does not REQUIRE punishment, though that's certainly one way to get there.

I highly recommend these two books: Beyond Discipline and Lost at School. I think you would find them quite validating. Even if you (or any others reading this) are not willing to entirely give up punishment, I believe there is ample evidence out there that there is another way.

Feel free to message me if you are interested in discussing. This is an issue I feel very deeply about, even if I am currently not skilled enough to create the kind of environment I'd like to see.

Best of luck with the rest of your school year!

Is there a particular gamification mechanism you're exploring, or just gamification in general?

I'm writing a book on digital badges at the moment, but it won't be out for some time. There are some existing books that are quite useful, though.

Digital Badges in Education: Trends, Issues, Cases is fairly new, and specifically targets education.

Play to Learn: Everything You Need to Know About Designing Effective Learning Games discusses designing educational games. This is a fairly new text that I have not yet read, but Boller is quite accomplished and Kapp is very well-known in the field. While this talks about designing games, I anticipate the lessons taught will be useful in gamifying instruction as well as creating analog (i.e., non video) games. You just may have to think a bit more deeply about transferring the knowledge.

Let me know if you have any questions. In the meantime, beware of slapping points, leaderboards, or badges onto a learning experience and calling it gamified. If done poorly, this can actually be demotivational in the long run, and is likely to result in quite a bit of wasted effort. However, don't let this discourage you. The fact that you're seeking information already shows that you're committed to learning the most effective ways to gamify your course. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. This is my area of research.

Wow, this is an amazing contest. I hope you'll have a good time in training, and that your feet esp. won't kill you. Best of luck!

Getting The Buggers to Behave 2 by Sue Cowley, whose wit, wisdom and clear writing have saved my sanity and my faith in my chosen profession of trying to educate little blighters. :) If it's unavailable (the books sell out often enough), her Guerilla Guide to Teaching is also on my "Oh Lord Won't You Buy Me A New Set Of Nerves" list. :D

This is a great book for guiding parents in supporting kids to "go deep" with their interests. It is really hard to give them the right kind and amount of support to encourage them without killing the fun with your "support".

http://smile.amazon.com/Project-Based-Homeschooling-Mentoring-Self-Directed-Learners/dp/1475239068/

Although this is targeted towards homeschoolers, it is actually written for anyone, even people who want to do it as an "after school" activity.

The author offers great support in her facebook group and forum.

Good luck

>However, Trump in general just makes me uncomfortable. I wouldn't let my students speak the way he does in many of his speeches, mocking others and inciting hate.

I suppose Obama's words typically seemed measured and were able to cajole, but his drone strikes were not and did not. Also, I don't think Hillary's "basket of deplorables" comment or her obvious smear campaign against a competitor like Sanders was steeped in light and love. Framing politicians, even the ones you vote for or mostly align with ideologically, as "nice people" is inherently flawed.

> These are 6th graders and they are definitely looking as this as a meme rather than a point of policy,

Of course. They're 11- and 12-year-olds. I really wish I had a good answer for you about addressing contentious political issues in the classroom, but these kids very well might not even come from Trump-supporting families and almost certainly know very little about the wall on an intellectual level. There is a solid book with good reviews about politics in the classroom that may be worth checking out.

>How would you define a good vs bad school, or is it just about movement of students?

>How would you assess if a teacher is good or bad?

The parents decide, just like they do for everything else for their kids.

>Should private and/or charter schools be required to go through some sort of process to certify their merit before being allowed to enter the educational system

No.

>Presumably you would support private and/or charter schools, how would you make access to them affordable for poor students?

Every kid gets a voucher, to be used at any school they wish.

>being pointed to a good resource would be appreciated.

This book.

And this book.

But to be honest, imo, the best way to educate your own kids is this way.

Here's my 2 cents on the subject. First, I'd give up on the idea of debating. Most of the debating I see is nothing more than verbal warfare--how productive is that? Well, it probably depends on what your objectives are. Are you out to belittle people and make yourself feel better? Than verbal warfare is the way to go. Are you out to improve knowledge or discover truth? Then debating probably isn't the route to take. Whatever, I'd establish the objective upfront. I'd recommend simply asking questions and providing sources.

So what are some questions involved in the spanking subject?

1. What are the parents goals?
   
2. Do the methods applied meet the desired goals?
   
3. What is the self-ownership status of a child?
   
4. When does a child gain full agency?
   
   
5. Goals will vary by parent, but shouldn't this question be asked every time the subject comes up? Most parents will answer with goals like happy, productive, independent, socially skilled, able to think critically, whatever. I doubt many parents will say out lound that they want obedience, silence, blind acceptance of authority, shyness, inability to bond, addictive behavior, a poor relationship with their parents as adults, approach-avoidance behavior, depression, divorce, etc. The point is, the question needs to be asked, and the answer must frame the response.
   
   
6. Do the methods applied meet the desired goals? Now would be an excellent time to provide links and sources. There is a wealth of information available on the effectiveness and consequences of different parenting techniques. Read the sources, compare results to the desired goals, make your decision. No emotional and verbal warfare required.
   
   
7. What is the self-ownership status of a child? I've yet to see a complete theory or philosophy on this subject. I'd recommend saying you don't know or labeling all proposals as a "working theory" to diffuse all the negative reactions you're likely to get on this emotional subject. Personally I think parents should have a trustee relationship with their children, and that a child's request to leave a household should be honored as soon as he can make it. I have no idea how to put that in an argument but suspect it would involve knowledge of cognitive development.
   
   
8. When does a child gain full agency? Well, first you have the whole can one own oneself debate. Then you'd have to argue when that occurs, if it does. I again lean towards the trustee relationship and gradual development of agency.
   
   Here's sources for those interested in studying the issue instead of yelling at each other:
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbiq2-ukfhM
   
   http://www.alfiekohn.org/index.php
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Unconditional-Parenting-Moving-Rewards-Punishments/dp/0743487486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338338284&sr=8-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Discipline-Compliance-Alfie-Kohn/dp/1416604723/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338338349&sr=1-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_17?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=punished+by+rewards+by+alfie+kohn&sprefix=punished+by+rewar%2Cstripbooks%2C256
   
   http://www.amazon.com/No-Contest-Case-Against-Competition/dp/0395631254/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338338440&sr=1-2
   
   http://nospank.net/
   
   http://www.rie.org/
   
   http://www.wholechild.org/vision/documents/TheEffectsOfImprovingCaregivingOnEarlyDevelopment.pdf
   
   http://www.echoparenting.org/
   
   http://www.becomingtheparent.com/all/hp.html
   
   http://drgabormate.com/
   
   http://www.committedparent.com/
   
   http://www.janetlansbury.com/
   
   http://www.regardingbaby.org/
   
   http://www.eileensclasses.com/
   
   http://www.mindfulparentingnyc.com/Mindful_Parenting/Welcome.html
   
   http://www.riemiami.com/
   
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Dear-Parent-Caring-Infants-Respect/dp/1892560062/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338339719&sr=1-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Your-Self-Confident-Baby-Encourage-Abilities/dp/1118158792/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338339719&sr=1-3
   
   http://www.amazon.com/The-RIE-Manual/dp/1892560003/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294253451&sr=1-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Blessing-Skinned-Knee-Teachings-Self-Reliant/dp/1416593063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298050770&sr=8-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ruth+anne+hammond&x=0&y=0
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Parent-You-Want-Sourcebook/dp/0553067508/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294253521&sr=1-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Life-Toddler-Alicia-Lieberman/dp/0028740173/ref=pd_sim_b_2
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Theories-Attachment-Introduction-Ainsworth-Brazelton/dp/1933653388/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1298051329&sr=8-10
   
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XR2CGU/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1C1SJ1BR2T4ADEN9VMJM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Unfolding-Infants-Natural-Gross-Development/dp/1892560070/ref=pd_sim_b_1
   
   http://www.youtube.com/user/stefbot/videos?query=parenting
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyNQFG7C8JM
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjxXuDYdBzY
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONNRfflggBg
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1GJsCa_4G8
   

If you've not come across it before, Battle Hymn for Tiger Teachers is amazing and great as an example of the counter-thrust that some in the UK are taking to this form of teaching.

I found it very liberating.

Twitter can be great for connecting you to the 'traditional' teaching education sphere.

Some selected people that I've found useful:
@oldandrewuk
@DavidDidau
@daisychristo
@greg_ashman
@Doug_Lemov

You can really go from there.

Does your school have a teaching and learning center? Or courses on pedagogy for grad students? It sounds like you'd benefit from some workshops or formal training-- leading discussion is not something that just comes naturally to most people, but requires training and experience. As others have suggested here, thinking about learning goals first is a good start, but you also need to consider specific types of questions and what sorts of responses you want from your students.

If you don't have a teaching center to help with this directly, there are many books out there that can help. Get a few from the library and see what you can learn from them, then experiment with different techniques in class.

My two sons also were diagnosed with ADHD, my wife bravely took on the Unschooling approach for homeschooling them. Really happy with how that turned out.

As for games in learning, here is a book about a group of teachers who are pioneering this movement. https://www.amazon.com/Game-Based-Learning-Action-Literacies-Epistemologies/dp/1433144743. (I am part of a The Tribe, but not a subject in his book.)

You can also google articles by Paul Darvasi (amazing classroom experiments) ; and with key words ‘game based learning’ .

Regarding Fortnite, try to objectively evaluate the cognitive skills needed to succeed, and why working so hard in that game is so rewarding. Studies have shown that the challenge of scoring points and survival are what’s going on in player minds, not glee at murder. It’s more like scoring against another player in one on one basketball, although it LOOKS like shooting.

I am currently in India working on a gamification elements for digital education project for UNESCO, this is a global movement that is already beginning to be used in classrooms. Hardest part is overcoming skepticism about having education be ‘fun’.

It wouldn't be graded and it would be questions about their lives, interests, what they care about, what they want to see in instruction, questions they have. I imagine it as a silent free write for five or so minutes. It's actually pretty commonly recommended in pedagogy research, especially when students do not share the teachers cultural, class or racial background. I haven't personally tried it.

Edit: it's also featured in books where students are interviewed as something they like
https://www.amazon.com/Fires-Bathroom-Advice-Teachers-Students/dp/1565849965

This is one of the best references for teaching I have ever read. Not all literacy strategies, but a good majority of them are. It is very very wonderful.

If you want to do some reading on the topic, one of the more useful textbooks that we've been using in my program is "Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology" (Reiser and Dempsey, 2017 https://www.amazon.com/Trends-Issues-Instructional-Technology-Measurements/dp/0134235460). It has chapters dedicated to history, to theory, to major (and alternative) ID models, etc. It would be more than enough for a grounding in models and theories, and would give you something to talk about during interviews.

I'm sure you could find all the information online, as well, but it's nice to have it organized and contextualized in a text :)

>> Have a source for how they 'perform worse'? By what metric are you measuring performance? The guy you were replying to wasn't saying that the education an average child receives was the best, but that the best education in the world that money can buy is in the US.

And that's absurd. You can't have an education system that only serves the privileged few, education is a god damn human right and does nothing but improve this country.


>> Citation needed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/15/education/15report.html

Private schools don't even outperform public schools in America when you account for factors.

https://www.amazon.com/Public-School-Advantage-Schools-Outperform/dp/022608891X

If you're interested in learning more about the public schools in New Orleans I would definitely recommend the book Hope Against Hope which I just read this Summer and really enjoyed. But maybe that's just cuz I work at a charter school down here.

>I know several kids who were kicked out of private schools for having low grades. So it has at least does happen in some instances).

Ok, I'll concede that it does happen sometimes. But overall, I'd bet that schools which care very much about average test scores are probably very selective as to who they'll accept in the first place.

Of course, if we got rid of public schools entirely then all that money would be freed up for private sector education, which would mean an enormous and unpredictable variety of school choice.

If you're interested, this book examines how it has worked in the past.

Check out the sidebar, there are lots of books and such. I love the book Design for How People Learn and this Trends and Issues textbook is also a great survey; more academic though.

I enjoyed Homeschooling for Excellence https://www.amazon.com/Homeschooling-Excellence-David-Colfax/dp/0446389862 and Project Based Homeschooling https://www.amazon.com/Project-Based-Homeschooling-Mentoring-Self-Directed-Learners/dp/1475239068/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=project+based+homeschooling&qid=1557432686&s=books&sr=1-1

Fires in the Bathroom

Great book that gives perspective on teaching from a students point of view. It was remarkably insightful, and very helpful in learning how to deal with the good and the bad that comes up.

A couple of books worth checking out, both by Alfie Kohn:

Punished by Rewards

Beyond Discipline

This is one of several attacks on the finding that public schools outperform private schools when student SES is accounted for, that was documented in the book The Public School Advantage. These attacks do nothing to dis-prove the findings of this book. One of the authors of the book provides a thorough rebuttal to the attacks here. So, no private schools don't beat public schools.