(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best education theory books

(having studied in Japan for 2 years during which time I worked as a writing + conversation tutor with my universities/local high schools, and making the assumption that your friend is similar to most of the people I worked with)

I don't think textbooks are the answer. If your friend learned English "the Japanese way", that's what she's been doing her entire life. I think the problem is more that (a) a lot of the Japanese school system discourages making mistakes, so students tend not to open their mouths unless they're 100% confident that what they say is correct, (b) students are nevertheless sometimes reluctant to open their mouth even if they feel they are correct in order to avoid being a 出る杭, and (c) Japan's strategy of teaching English is so heavily centered upon grammar that every sentence offers a ludicrous amount of opportunities to make mistakes. I've also got a personal opinion that poor English is a form of tatemae and that, like other forms of tatemae, it gradually goes away as you move from soto to uchi... but that's another story for another day.

So, I think your friend doesn't have an "English" problem so much as a mentality/cultural problem. Plus, given that she's an English teacher, she had to pass a sort of nightmarish test concerning everything to do with (written) English in order to be certified to teach. I thus feel sort of confident saying that your friend probably has all the "English parts" she will ever need to converse in English, meaning the problem you have on your hands is more one of creating an environment where she feels comfortable using this parts dynamically.

That in mind, I have two main thoughts.

1. Write to her in only English on Line/Facebook/texts whatever. The stress level is a lot lower and allows her to do English "at her own pace" (not the pace you set in conversation). A lot of my Japanese friends will text me for hours in English -- and really, quite decent English -- even if they absolutely refuse to speak a lick of it when we're together in person. A few of my friends opened up to talk with me in English after we had several text conversations in English.
   
   
2. Teacher Effectiveness Training is the Bible and I encourage everyone to read it no matter what you do. The book's thesis is that the relationship you have with people sets the stage for whatever else you do with them, and that an integral portion of developing a healthy relationship is through something called Active Listening (see the bullet points a ways down). The idea is basically that "active listening" is that communication is encoded; the person takes their feelings, encrypts them by putting them into language, and you then decrypt this language in order to make your judgment about what the other person is talking about. When we don't use active listening we often (a) misinterpret the other person, (b) use language (called "roadblocks") that works to convince the other person that we don't really care about the problem they're having, and (c) tend to steer the conversation in the direction we think it should go, not the direction the person actually wanted it to go. (active listening is seen as a means of conflict resolution in the book).
   
   
   Take the book and its thesis for what you will, I basically just want you to focus on this active listening -- read some articles, watch some videos, and learn how to do it. I personally think it goes beyond the classroom and has benefited every single relationship that I have in my life, but specifically in terms of your friend:
   
   
3. Paraphrasing what your friend says back to them communicates an important thing to her: you're understanding what she wants to say. More specifically, you're understanding what she's trying to communicate in English. In other words, the English she is using is correct (enough). That's a pretty huge confidence booster, especially if it's one you haven't had before. A lot of Japanese people seem to have a mantra of "I can't speak English", and having lots of successful, painless instances of using English will eventually turn that around (I think this goes for many language learners in general).
   
   
4. Paraphrasing what your friend says back to her functionally works to ensure that she understands more of your speech than normal -- obviously, if she's just used these words you can be confident that she understands them (but not the ones you might otherwise use). This is an easy way to tailor your speech to her level, sort of like a graded reader for listening. Listening is a stressful part of the conversation exchange -- what if you don't understand it? You're going to have to tell the person to repeat themselves, maybe you'll make a funny response that wasn't actually what the person wanted, stuff like that. If you can't understand what you hear, you have to (a) admit that your level is inadequate, and (b) make requests of the other person -- two very uncomfortable things. Simply understanding what you say consistently reduces the stress she has to deal with a ton.
   
   
5. Human beings are curious beings who like to explain things. As the conversation goes on you're going to be bound to put forth a paraphrasing of her thoughts that was not quite correct: "Huh, I never knew that you liked Korean food so much" leads to "Well, I don't actually like KOREAN food.. it's just this one dish//I just like spicy foods, like..." and stuff like that. Her attempts to correct your perceptions of her speech will lead the conversation to move forward naturally... but in a fashion such that she's completely in the driver's seat. That's sort of an illusion, because she's basically talking to an interactive wall helping her to sort out her thoughts... but it does yield conversations that go places with basically zero effort on your part. The books stance on active listening is that if the person you're communicating with feels like you're really understanding what they are trying to say -- not the words they're putting out, but the root feeling these words are attached to -- you'll naturally come to have a better relationship because you make the other person feel comfortable, non-judged, and understood.
   
   TL;DR... by employing active listening, you (1) give your friend tons of small confidence boosts by affirming that her English is correct (opening the shell), (2) remove large portions of the stress involved with conversation (encouraging her to keep it open), and (3) she's using her English to have satisfying, meaningful conversations... which shows her that her English is good enough to have such conversations. She'll reflect on it later and be like "Wow, I communicated X feeling in English". That's an incredibly powerful thing. I think that language learning is sort of an "overnight" thing to some extent -- a lot of language learners feel used by their language because it limits what they can and can't say and furthermore how they can express those things. One day they have a eureka moment where it's like, "wow, I own my English -- I'm using it to do what I want and I'm doing it successfully", then the next day they make this mental transformation from "I'm being used by English" to "I'm using English for ___", and suddenly the language feels night/day different.
   
   Your job is to help your friend have that eureka moment.
   
   Of course, conversations do get sort of boring if all you're doing is robotically parroting back what she says to her. So you have to branch out beyond that... but listening actively will help you to encourage her to speak English, meaning you can see how much she knows and adjust your English accordingly, and so long as your not-paraphrased-feedback is still related to what she's saying, it leaves the power with her. Conversation is sort of a dance between inspiration and invitation -- on the one hand, inviting your friend to say more (by really hearing what they say and encouraging them to continue) and on the other inspiring them to say more (by offering relevant input based on what you hear). Active listening is just one easy strategy to do handle those invitations well, which in turn makes your job with the inspirations easier.
   
   
   This is personally how I've approached every single eikaiwa session I've done over the last two years, and even people in the beginner courses open up and take hold of the conversation. It's sort of weird because we normally don't think about how we talk/listen... but it's also fairly straightforward. I also realize it sounds really dumb, but I've never had one person ( amongst hundreds, or even my close friends/partner) call me out for the fact that I'm basically just looping back what they say to me. I don't know if they realize what I'm doing or not -- but a golden rule of thumb I've found is that if I give someone a pedestal to talk on (which active listening does), they'll stand on it and give me a speech. Granted, you eventually have to do more than just parrot back what people tell you... but it's a really powerful tool to have in your toolbox, especially if you're supporting someone (whether the problem is emotional, or in this case, with their English).

Fear cuts deeper than swords

1. Something that is grey - Wreck This Journal! A post on /r/travel turned me on to this nifty little book that encourages you to do and look at those things you might not otherwise on your vacations and trips. Main WL
   
2. Something reminiscent of Rain Freshwater Pearl Drop Earrings. This one may be a stretch, but as soon as I read the item list I thought of these. I've always liked calling them rain drops instead of tear drops. Main WL
   
   
3. Something food related that is unusual I didn't think the frying pan on my list would really count as "unusual", hope this counts as "food related." These are a set of vitamins that I saved for my fiance; he loves his drink, and I love him to be healthy. Main WL
   
4. Something on your list for someone else This pinstripe fedora is for my fiance. He's had an identical fedora since we began dating several years ago and he's incredibly sentimental about it. The poor thing is worn out though, and I'm not sure if it can be restored. If it can't, I'm hoping he'll be able to learn to love a new one so that we can retire the original respectfully. Main WL
   
5. Something related to cats I hope that this counts even though I just noticed it's become unavailable! This reminds me of the book Catzilla that was read to me in elementary school and seems perfect for my own vicious kitties. Main WL
   
6. A book you should read I will shamelessly endorse Karen Miller's writing everywhere I go and to everyone I meet. Seriously. She's fantastic. Poor reviews on Amazon, but I chock that up to people not understanding proper plot development. You can trust me on that, I almost have a degree. Books WL
   
7. Something for less than $1.00 This was not on my list previously, but it makes me feel sympathy towards home-school moms to need such a tranquil book cover.
   
8. Something that is not useful Being able to do calligraphy isn't really a useful art these days, but whenever I see those strokes on /r/penmanshipporn I feel I simply must learn how to do it. It's beautiful. And my handwriting is dreadful. Main WL
   
9. A movie that everyone should watch My Neighbor Totoro! I actually just watched this myself for the first time last week! It's just one of those movies that makes you happy and leaves you with a smile. We all need those movies for the days that just get to be too much. Main WL
   
10. Something useful for when the zombies attack It doubles as a weapon AND a tool. Can't always buy replacements when the undead are running amok! Main WL
    
11. Something that would have a profound impact on your life Fitness has become very important to me in the last year or so and I would like very much to one day have a home gym so that I might always keep myself healthy and fit. This particular item would help me tone my stubborn tummy area and is one of my favorite tools at the gym I work out in. Main WL
    
12. Add-on item Just my luck, I would discover add-on items the day this contest begins. I did add these before I saw the contest, but last night I began researching hair products and came across John Frieda. Ordered one product already, hoping to try out these others soon! Main WL
    
13. The most expensive item on your list Oh boy. I guess my dream item is actually a toothbrush. My fiance has awful brushing habits. His parents just never really made him do it. Since we've gotten together I've kind of taken up a "mom" role in this area and made sure that he cleans his teeth daily, but there's damage to his gums from neglect. I did a lot of research on the products on the market and this seems like the best tool to help him get healthier gums. He's not totally on board with spending so much on a toothbrush, but I want and need him to be healthy in every way. You know? Main WL
    
14. Something bigger than a breadbox The rolling massager is your best friend and your worst enemy at the gym. Using this item after your workout helps to minimize your soreness the next day, but I won't lie. It hurts a bit to use. Main WL
    
15. Something smaller than a golf ball Who doesn't love jewelry for your ears? Jewelry WL
    
16. Something that smells wonderful Eucalyptus oil! Main WL
    
17. A SFW toy I saw this on Top Gear UK and I must have it. When asked by a friend why I would ever need such a thing, I promptly responded, “For when I go spelunking.” Toys WL
    
18. Something helpful for going back to school As an English major, I have to buy a LOT of books. My poor overburdened bookshelf is in desperate need of relief. If this weren't my last year, I would absolutely have to buy another bookshelf. As it stands, I'll have to buy a new one soon regardless. Avid readers live here. Main WL
    
19. Something related to my current obsession I am an unashamed, unapologetic Whovian.
    Main WL
    
20. Something awe inspiring - speaking of Whovians Isn't this fantastic? I've always said the best thing after a bath is the snuggle up with the TARDIS. Gifts WL
    
21. Made in Oregon - I've been doing this contest since 7 a.m. I could use this right about now
    
    WHEW. That took way longer than I thought it would but I think I found everything but what your name is! Thanks for the contest, I had a blast!

• The Great Indian Obsession: The Untold Story of India's Engineers
  
  this idea can be pretty much translated into any other colonized region
  
  REVIEW
  
  >The great Indian obsession portrays the journey of engineering in India right from its advent to the present time where engineering degree and IT jobs have become the biggest obsession among the Indians. For middle-class household, an engineering degree is a ticket to a better life and reputation in society.
  
  >Apart from its benefit, the author has highlighted many detrimental side effects of this obsession. There is undue pressure on young shoulders to be amongst toppers both from parents and society. Failure in doing so many times results in depression, the stigma of looser and in extreme situation suicide as well which is becoming increasingly common.
  >The obsession for engineering has led to the advent of flourishing coaching industry in India to crack the competitive exams. The author has written in detail about the beginning of coaching centers and its rise and rise.
  >The book also brings out the darker side of the Indian education system. Pathetic government school conditions, expensive private schools, and colleges, donations, the uselessness of primary education, flourishing tuition centers, reservation issue, the importance of caste over merit.
  It's a hard-hitting book and an eye-opener. The book does not dissuade from pursuing an engineering degree, but the author just wants from parents and society not to crush the dreams and aspirations of young ones only for better financial health.
  It's a must-read book.
  
  
• What is Education For article (long)
  
  >education has no clear purpose. That’s not a criticism; it’s just an observation that there are numerous conflicting visions of what education is “for.” What are we actually trying to do for kids by making them go to school, and why are we trying to do it? If it’s an attempt to help kids understand things they’ll need to know in their daily lives, much of contemporary education makes little sense: Very few of us will use chemistry or algebra or French. But it would be very helpful to know how to cook a good breakfast, negotiate a pay raise, or defuse an argument. If education is about making “model citizens,” well, we would probably expect civics to be treated in a little less cursory a fashion. Maybe education is about teaching job skills, providing abilities that will prove useful in making a living. Maybe it nourishes souls and expands horizons. Maybe it’s just a way to keep as many kids as possible in a room together and therefore out of trouble. Or maybe it doesn’t do much of anything at all.
  
  
• [The Case Against Education
  Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money]
  (https://www.amazon.com/Case-against-Education-System-Waste-ebook/dp/B076ZY8S8J)
  
  >Despite being immensely popular--and immensely lucrative—education is grossly overrated. In this explosive book, Bryan Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity—in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee. Learn why students hunt for easy As and casually forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for the average worker but instead in runaway credential inflation, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely if ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy.
  
  >Caplan draws on the latest social science to show how the labor market values grades over knowledge, and why the more education your rivals have, the more you need to impress employers. He explains why graduation is our society's top conformity signal, and why even the most useless degrees can certify employability. He advocates two major policy responses. The first is educational austerity. The government needs to sharply cut education funding to curb this wasteful rat race. The second is more vocational education because practical skills are more socially valuable than teaching students how to outshine their peers.
  
  >Romantic notions about education being "good for the soul" must yield to careful research and common sense—The Case against Education points the way.
  
  
• Schooling In Capitalist America: Educational Reform And The Contradictions Of Economic Life
  
  >Noted radical economists point out that lack of equal opportunity in American education is a reflection of the weaknesses of capitalism and offer guidelines for the implementation of a more democratic, egalitarian system.
  
  
• savage inequalities
  
  >For two years, beginning in 1988, Jonathan Kozol visited schools in neighborhoods across the country, from Illinois to Washington D.C., and from New York to San Antonio. He spoke with teachers, principals, superintendents, and, most important, children. What he found was devastating. Not only were schools for rich and poor blatantly unequal, the gulf between the two extremes was widening—and it has widened since. The urban schools he visited were overcrowded and understaffed and lacked the basic elements of learning—including books and, all too often, classrooms for the students.
  In Savage Inequalities, Kozol delivers a searing examination of the extremes of wealth and poverty and calls into question the reality of equal opportunity in our nation’s schools.
  
  
• [Meritocracy in Our Society Is a Lie - Genes Reveal It's Better to Be Born Rich Than Talented](https://www.scien
  cealert.com/genetics-reveals-being-rich-gives-you-a-better-chance-at-graduating-uni-than-being-talented)
  
  >The least-gifted children of high-income parents graduate from college at higher rates than the most-gifted children of low-income parents.
  
  
• Eclipse of Reason because this book is very technical and has nothing to do with education straightforward
  
  I'm not gonna link it but, it mentions something in passing that relates to college students
  
  >“The idolization of progress leads to the opposite of progress,” this is his claim
  
  
  >The objective mind pervades social life in all its branches. We worship industry, technology, and nationality without making sense of these categories.
  
  the objective here means focusing on the ends, so it would make sense to pump out as much product as you can cheaply for max profit
  
  Subjective on the other hand focuses on the means, so the goal is mass production but is it a good idea to do it without thinking about the impact on the environment? this is where people would argue for green energy which is the subjective mind
  
  however, everyone is thinking with an objective mind, so green energy is off the table because earlier he mentions truth is reduced only as a tool of assessing (control of nature) bascially productivity and science (by science he means, by adding acid and a base we can get a salt and h2o if i remember chemistry correctly), so we are unable to argue about the truth of environmental care because our idea of truth cannot be used in that means. clear example is climate change, science proves climate change is real, but people in positions of power who can do the most about it (companies who mass produce) argue it will hamper productivity and profit (objective mind truth).
  
  he also mentions that this way of thinking led to an unoriginal lifestyle
  
  >The idea of happiness has been reduced to a banality to coincide with leading the kind of normal life that serious religious thought has often criticized.
  
  its also important to mention, the normal life, is sold to us by mass media and the culture industry, bascially people on TV and Ads, social media tell you what is the normal life of happiness one should pursue. the pursuit of this lifestyle is costly so you have to be able to make yourself a skilled worker in order to get enough money to live the happy life, this leads into the next quote
  
  >...Economic significance today is measured in usefulness to the structure of power, not the needs of all.
  The individual must prove their worth to one of the groups in engaged in the struggle for control of the economy.
  
  This bascially says that your value to people/society is based on how "useful" you are to current power structure, and you must compete with people to prove your worth to a company so that the company competes for you in the global scales of things to provide for you so that you can live that normal life that is critized heavily by religious thought, that is if you are deem worthy to them compared to all the other competiting individuals seeking that job
  
  
  Horkhiemer would argue at the end of the day the same mindset that students have, who compete with one another to display economic signifigance, are similar to those in position of power who deny climate change due to productivity issues. why? because your usefulness to society is how you can help prop up the existing power structures, not how you can fight climate change which is a needs of all people. you prove your worth to such power structures so you can live the happy normal life dictated by you mass media and social media.
  
  
  

My first thought was that is was a great idea, but then I thought about classifying students as slaves, it might be a bit of an issue.

One of my big things for student engagement was to design and build in game-like structures in class.

I hate, absolutely hated lecturing and if I needed to have a class lecture, I kept it to ten-fifteen minutes. Then students used the information from that to create a game, play a game, have a debate, something within the class. I found that games were the surefire way of holding student engagement.

Here is a good book about building in game structures into the classroom - http://www.amazon.com/The-Multiplayer-Classroom-Designing-Coursework/dp/1435458443. If you are a gamer, think about how games hold your attention, and your students' attention. Typically it's just a bit of work for a big payoff. You play for a while and you level up. If you can build your classroom along those lines. We learn/play for a bit, then we "level up" kids take pride in that.

Simulations are awesome for this as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Short-Role-playing-Simulations-History-Classrooms/dp/0983426732

Here is a good article on game-based classroom learning - http://www.edutopia.org/blog/short-happy-history-of-historia-rick-brennan

I had a lot of fun building and designing simulations and games for my students. Because I was having fun, they fed off of that energy and they had fun as well. Some games we built the rules together.

I think one of the most fun lessons was when we were studying the American West and Populism - High School. Students had to research a particular aspect of that time period and teach it to their classmates by playing a board game. So I had four board games where kids were playing in my room. They had four stations and one person from each team stayed each turn to teach their games to the other group members. At the end, we had board game designer awards. One won for Best Game Design. One won for "I learned the Most". Another won for Best Game Artwork, etc. Each game design team won something and each team learned something. It took about three-four days from start to finish in a one hour - fifteen minute class. Day 1 - Quick mini-lecture on the basics of the time period. Students chose their topics, etc. Day 2 - Build day. Day 3 - Play/Awards day.

When I gave them my end of year evaluation. How did Mr. NameIdeas do this year? Did you learn something? What lesson/activity did you like best/least? How can Mr. NameIdeas improve his teaching, his relationships with students, his music choice, etc? They all remembered the games and, more importantly, the information from the games.

I can't even imagine how hard writing a blog is, so I absolutely commend you for trying it out!

However, I think mistercow had some very valid points to go along with his cool username. I had a lot of the same thoughts, and almost stopped reading on several occasions even though the subject matter is of immense interest to me (I'm a pediatric neuropsychologist). I don't think mistercow was offended by your blog entry, but I think he was justifiably confused and maybe even frustrated by some of the vagueness and conflation of related concepts in your post (and 'prefrontal visual cortex' doesn't make it any better... I have no idea what you might mean by that? Maybe 'primary visual cortex'? But that doesn't make sense either...).

If you want suggestions, I read a lot of sciency blogs as a diversion from all the usual textbooks and journal articles I read, so I'm happy to give some friendly advice.

The blogs that I find most successful focus small - they only try to tackle one thing at a time, for example. If you want to talk about using visualization to help improve your memory, great, awesome, do it - but only do that. I don't think you need to also go into your views on caffeine, or hydration, or chess, or mentally-effortful series practice, or the use of imagination to solve problems, or your lizard brain, or visual pattern recognition (which is done by entirely different brain systems than the ones involved in active problem solving, BTW - that's what mistercow had a problem with... you can't just "make" a logical problem that requires cortical effort into a subcortical visual recognition problem even if you wanted to, though you can use visualization strategies to help you solve problems, which sounds similar but is really entirely different), or any of the other things you touch on in about one sentence each. You could save all of these ideas for other posts, for example. This gives you more to write about in subsequent posts, keeps your focus for each post laser sharp, and directs your readers' attention exactly where you want it.

Once you've figured out what you want to talk about, get a hook. A lot of popsci bloggers use a current research study, a classic research finding, or an everyday example as the introduction to a topic. So, if you want to talk about visualization in the pegs of loci sense (which I think is where you're headed?), you might introduce readers to the general topic by having them first try to remember something using a verbal cue (e.g., quick - what brand of spaghetti do you usually buy?), and then try to remember it using a visual cue (much easier: what color is the box? where in the grocery store is it located?). Or, briefly describe a classic study on how effective visualization is as a memory strategy. Alternatively, talk about someone who is really good at memorization using visualization strategies, like those people who can memorize hundreds of playing cards at once, or someone like Daniel Tammet.

Then, give your readers what they've come for - explain science in a way that's directly applicable to their everyday lives. That's a lot easier said than done... you've got to get the science right, the explanation right, and the implications of the science correct, all without being too simplistic or going beyond what the science can support -- a delicate balance to be sure!

As an example of why this is so tricky, and I promise I'm not trying to poke holes in your specific post here, but I had a lot of trouble with your assertion that "At some point, people stop using their imagination to solve problems" -- I am literally not even sure what specific scientific findings you might be thinking about.

Certainly people don't "stop" using visualization or imagination or creativity or any such thing. I think you might be thinking about the sort of 'common sense' idea that as kids grow up, they 'lose' their creativity and imagination? However, science doesn't really support this. In fact, somewhat counterintutively, this common 'experience' that adults report results from the fact that we get better at thinking linearly and using useful cognitive heuristics as we age, but this massive increase in problem-solving ability comes at the possible expense of the ability to think in illogical and/or inefficient (and therefore potentially creative) ways. This leads to some strange research findings (that in fact might make a good blog post!), such as that kids are better than adults at not falling into some easy cognitive traps (e.g., together, a ball and a bat cost $1.10 - the bat costs $1 more than ball - how much do each cost?). Ironically, though, you then go on to recommend some 'repetitive' pattern-recognition-y mental exercises, which train the very skills adults have that kids have less of! So, here's an area where I think you might want to tighten up what you're thinking about, and/or your explanation, and/or your understanding of the research base in the area.

In general, while you seem to have great intentions, I think a general cognitive psych book might provide you with some helpful background... a technical but yet understandable one on how people learn to think is Why Don't Students Like School?.

>Ms Creighton said teachers should also be included: “It happens across the world and this is the new system of management within public service delivery which happens right across the globe, and we have to be able to distinguish between those who excel and those who don’t, whether that’s in the education system — after all, this is about our children, it’s about the future of the nation, and we can’t tolerate underperformance any longer.”

I'm a teacher. I'd love performance related pay, as I feel I'd do pretty well out of such a regime.

Unlike Lucinda, however, I'm not a fucking delusional eejit. Lucinda has no expertise in any of the shite she's talking about here. She's never worked in management. She's never worked in the public service. She's never worked in education. She's never worked, except as a politician and, incredibly briefly, as a newly qualified barrister.

Whatever about the rest of the public service, which I've never worked in, performance related pay in education would be a disaster and always has been a disaster.

Lucinda, in mentioning performance related pay for teachers, is ignoring the huge an gigantic elephant in the room: How are you going to measure that shit? In fact, on a more basic level, how are you going to define it?

How you do oversight is the problem. Teaching is an incredibly complex (and not super well understood) process.

The strategies countries currently tend to lean on include standardised (high stakes) testing and/or inspections of classroom teaching. Both these methods are fatally flawed, and the flaws actually only get worse as the teachers get more intelligent.

To take testing first. The problem is fairly obvious, clever teachers who are incentivised to get students to achieve high test scores will essentially alter their methodologies to ensure that this occurs. Optimal teaching methods are seldom the same as the optimal methods for ensuring that students do well on an exam. As a method this has improved with our ability to better analyse data and control for certain external factors, but it's far from perfect. I'm not sure it can ever work when you take into account that clever people will always find a way to game the system, what you will end up with are not the best teachers, but the best exam coaches. Is that aligned with the goals of a good education system? Fuck no.

Inspections pose a similar problem. They're better, because you get a more holistic sense of what the teacher is doing. However there are two practical issues with it. The first is that in order for inspections to be worthwhile you need talented and experienced inspectors. That's not cheap. You also need to do very regular inspections, that's not cheap either. A robust system of inspections is expensive.

The second problem is that for inspections to work as a disciplinary model you also need to have fair, clear, and transparent criteria on which the inspections assess teachers. This leaves you back in a similar (if slightly better, while significantly more expensive) situation as the testing scenario. Teachers will quickly adapt to the criteria, and do "just enough" to ensure they hit the target. They will, as the phrase went in my time within such a system (the UK) "play the game man, you've got to play the game". Nowadays you'll see books like The perfect "OFSTED" lesson which are a guide to essentially gaming the inspections.


The best method, and this is what thriving education systems like the one in Finland do, is to ensure that only extremely bright and motivated graduates enter the profession by making teacher training highly selective. This method works because it gives freedom to teachers, it assumes (correctly) that bright and motivated young graduates will make bright and motivated teachers, and that as a result you won't need to peer into their classrooms to check on them. You can trust that they will do their jobs well and use their best judgement, which has been well trained.

Forbes is annoying with adblockers:


It’s not uncommon for public school teachers to experience burnout or feel demoralized by the weight of their work. Many leave the classroom and the education profession behind to pursue other careers. In fact, U.S. Labor Department data reveal that public school educators are quitting their jobs at record-breaking rates.

But some public school teachers wonder if conventional schooling may be the root of their discontent, not education itself. They are frustrated by standardized curriculum expectations, more testing, an emphasis on classroom compliance and the antagonistic relationships between teachers and students that a rigid schooling environment can cultivate. Rather than abandoning their passion for education, some of these teachers are building alternatives to school outside of the dominant system that nurture authentic teaching and learning relationships.

One of the pioneers of schooling alternatives is Kenneth Danford, a former public middle school social studies teacher who left the classroom in 1996 to launch a completely new learning model. Along with a teacher colleague, Danford opened North Star, a self-directed learning center in western Massachusetts. They sought to create a space for young people, ages 11 and up, that prioritized learner freedom and autonomy, while rejecting the coercion and control they witnessed in the conventional classroom. This involved building the learning center as a resource for peer interaction, optional classes, workshops and adult mentoring, while providing teenagers with the opportunity to come and go whenever they chose.

Using homeschooling as the legal mechanism to provide this educational freedom and flexibility, North Star members attend when they want, frequently using the center to supplement community college classes, extracurricular activities and apprenticeships. Full-time, annual membership up to four days per week is $8,200, but no family has ever been turned away for an inability to pay these fees. Some families choose part-time enrollment options that start at $3,250 per year for one day a week at North Star.

In his new book, Learning Is Natural, School Is Optional, Danford reflects on his more than 20 years of running North Star and the hundreds of young people who have gone through his program, often gaining admission to selective colleges or pursuing work in fulfilling careers. He told me in a recent interview: “I feel like I’m making an important difference in teens’ lives, perhaps the most important difference. And all this loveliness has social implications and can be shared.”

Sharing this model with others was the next step for Danford. After receiving many calls and emails from educators across the country and around the world who wanted to launch centers similar to North Star, in 2013 Danford helped to establish Liberated Learners, an organization that supports entrepreneurial educators in opening their own alternatives to school.

One of the centers that sprouted from Liberated Learners is BigFish Learning Community in Dover, New Hampshire. Founded by Diane Murphy, a public school teacher for 30 years, BigFish allows young people to be in charge of their own learning. Murphy opened the center in January 2018 with five students; today, she has over 30. Full-time tuition at the center (up to four days a week) is $9,000 per year, with part-time options also available.

An English teacher, she never expected to be the founder of a schooling alternative. “I loved my job,” she says, but she quit to create something better. “The main reason I left is because the kids began showing up more and more miserable,” Murphy continues. “In my last few years, I was meeting dozens of students who were depressed, anxious and burned out at just 13 years old. More and more rules, more tests, and more competition had sucked the fun out of learning and truly broken many kids.”

Granted more freedom and less coercion, young people at BigFish thrive—and so do the teachers. “Real teachers understand that our role is to support and lead young people to discover and uncover their talents, most especially to find their passions and their voice,” says Murphy. Working outside of the conventional school system may be a way forward for more teachers who want to help young people to drive their own education, in pursuit of their own passions and potential.

According to Kevin Currie-Knight, an education professor at East Carolina University, it’s rare for teachers to recognize that their dissatisfaction as an educator may be a schooling problem, not a personal one. Currie-Knight, who studies self-directed education and alternative learning models, says that the tendency is for teachers to internalize the problems they encounter in the classroom. If children aren’t engaged or are acting out, teachers typically assume that it must be their poor teaching and that they must not be cut out for the job, rather than seeing it as a problem with coercive schooling more broadly.

“School isn’t challengeable,” says Currie-Knight of its entrenched position in our culture. “The teachers who leave to create alternatives have a really amazing ability to separate learning from schooling. It takes a higher level of thought and an amazing ability to detach.” Currie-Knight explains that most teachers go into education either because they really like a certain subject area or they really like kids, or both. “In the conventional environment,” he says, “teachers are going to be in rooms where the vast majority of students just really don’t care about that subject at that point.” Many of these teachers conclude that it’s their teaching that is the problem, rather than the underlying dynamics of conventional schooling that compel young people to learn certain content, in certain ways and at certain times.

Teachers who leave the classroom to create schooling alternatives can be an inspiration to other teachers who may feel frustrated or powerless. Rather than blaming themselves, entrepreneurial teachers are the ones who imagine, design and implement new models of education. As BigFish’s Murphy proposes: “We need to flip schools to become community learning centers filled with mentors, classes, programs and materials, and we need to trust young people and let them lead.”

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.

There's a really great book called Get Ready to Read that has easy little games that are age appropriate for 3 to 6 year olds that develop the skills children need to begin reading. It's out of print, but can be purchased used for cheap.

Reading aloud is the most most important thing though--20 minutes a day, every day. Get buckets of books from the library--she'll be excited by the variety and it will be great for her. Repetition is also good. If she loves hearing the same book, read it again!

As for numbers, you want your daughter to begin to develop 1-to-1 correspondence and begin recognizing that numbers are abstract representations of quantities. You also want to encourage her understanding of shapes, patterns, colors...

The Critical Thinking Company has FUN math workbooks that are appropriate for 3s and 4s. You can certainly do that--but I would also focus on having toys around that are good for her brain--magna-tiles, pattern blocks, cuisenaire rods, snap cubes, bead sequencing kits and then play with her--make a pattern and have her guess what comes next, build things together.

At 3.5 she's going to have a short attention span but it will grow and if the learning feels like playing with her dad you can probably get a good 20 minutes of focused activity out of her at a time. Start small--just 5 minutes--and do it daily if you can. That's far better than aiming for an hour of instruction once a week and having her be not in the mood. :)

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!

What if you flipped it and tried to catch the 3 of them doing the "right" things?

It's a long-term strategy, but it might change the energy in the room with them. It reminds me of some things I learned at a Fred Jones Positive Classroom Management Course a long time ago . . . if you have your whole class "earning" for some type of reward - game time on Fridays (with the games all related to your content) or a movie day (again, a movie related to content) - then you can orchestrate it so that those students can't take time away from what the class has earned if they're misbehaving, but they CAN add additional time when they're behaving.

Example: The goal is to earn 30 minutes for the reward day. I give them 15 minutes to start with (so the goal is 45 minutes total), and students can earn minutes by being in their seats working on the warm-up at the beginning of class, everyone having all their supplies, everyone turning in their homework, etc.

For the 3 students you're struggling with, if they DON'T do any of those things, it doesn't penalize the whole class. If they DO the things, it gives the class extra time - so if they're all 3 in the same class period, that gives the class an opportunity to earn 4 minutes for each of the activities instead of only one.

In my experience, that motivates their classmates to put positive peer pressure on them, so that they get to their time goal faster.

Also, you can play it up when they misbehave: "Oh, man. I'm so disappointed that I can't add more time because you (fill in the blank.) I was really looking forward to game time on Friday, but I guess we'll just have to try again next week."

Here's the Fred Jones book, if you want to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/Fred-Jones-Tools-Teaching-Discipline%E2%80%A2Instruction%E2%80%A2Motivation-ebook/dp/B00F2LJ0J4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=fred+jones&qid=1564510410&s=gateway&sr=8-1

There are a few resources for you:

Philosophy for Kids

Junior Skeptic Magazine

I have an 11-year old who is very interested in discussing philosophy, and sometimes talking and learning together is the best approach. There's not as much of a 'right answer' as it is a process of inquiry. Also, if it fits with your worldview, McGowan's book on Parenting Beyond Belief is also really helpful. Good luck and enjoy the ride!

I've read Gatto's "Dumbing Us Down", and his writing style for that is a bit sensationalist, too. It was confusing that in this .txt file, near the end, someone wrote that free market, pre-Civil War style schools are "UNavailable only to the
resourceful, the courageous, the lucky, or the rich." (Huh?)

If anyone takes anything from this, though - since I'm assuming everyone reading this post has already gone through said schooling system - is to look into homeschooling yourself now. You can still learn things from people in the community and or teach yourself. Sure, we don't have as much free time as schoolchildren anymore, but that doesn't mean we ought to not try. Inside of a school building is not the only designated place where you are allowed to learn, and after you graduate high school/college/trade school, that doesn't mean you have to be "done."

Gatto's writing, along with others (John Holt, Susan Wise Bauer, etc.) have been used by many who have decided to homeschool their children, but you can can become an autodidact and "unschool" yourself, no matter what age.




Edit: If you like the idea of Ben Franklin's self-education, you might find this book to be a really fun read.

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
   

Wow, I don’t even know where to start, but I will try to be brief and maybe add more later.

First and foremost, the ways in which resources- material and human- are distributed in the U.S. are woefully inequitable and unacceptable. I believe that all students should have opportunities to engage in intellectually demanding curricula and that this curricula should reflect and build on their life experiences. While I do believe a valid role in public education is “preparing our children to compete in the global economy” (www.barackobama.com/), I think that the most important responsibilities of the education system to sustain a democratic society and to support students’ critical literacy. By critical literacy, I mean students should be able to read, write, and do arithmetic, but also be able to use these skills to understand the world, in terms of social, political, cultural issues.

I was optimistic about Obama when he took office. There were rumors he was going to pick a distinguished educator/professor who is internationally known in the field of education. So I was dismayed that Obama named a non-education person for the Secretary of Education. While I appreciate and value outsider perspectives, to me Duncan just seemed like another neo-liberal business person who really didn’t understand schools or school (due to his past performance as head of CPS and his rhetoric). His record of closing neighborhood schools and privatizing public schools in Chicago was devastating. His misguided notions of merit pay were embarrassing, given the decades of educational and sociological research on the topic. Just to name a few! (From a common sense standpoint, why would “good” teachers want to teach in underperforming schools? Why would teachers in underperforming schools teach anything other than the low-level skills required on the test?)

To me, very little seems different than the Bush years in terms of action/rhetoric. I wish that the DOE spent more time listening to and collaborating with real teachers and education researchers that have more than enough accounts and research to lead the way to a more progressive, equitable, and socially just educational system...really take the notion of educating our citizens [in the public school system].

An Open Letter to Arne Duncan by Sen. (and former teacher) Herb Kohl is an excellent example of the kind of issues and hope I have for the future.
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/23_04/good234.shtml

Jonathan Kozol’s The Shame of the Nation is also an excellent, albeit depressing book about schooling in the U.S.
http://www.amazon.com/Shame-Nation-Restoration-Apartheid-Schooling/dp/1400052440 - http://www.amazon.com/Shame-Nation-Restoration-Apartheid-Schooling/dp/1400052440

That's because I can't spell her surname, turns out it's just Cowley (no r)!

Here are the two books I got that I loved: The Seven Cs of Positive Behaviour Management and The Seven Ps of Brilliant Voice Usage.

And the one that's recommended is "Getting the Buggers to Behave"

Not a high schooler anymore but read Dumbing us down by John Taylor Gatto (a multiple winner of "Teacher of the year" for NY city and one time winner of "Teacher of the year" for NY state).

>> 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

It's an integral part of my high school sociology class, especially in the few couple weeks. We focus on classical perspective, Plato's allegory, etc. I am currently using Dr. Seuss, as well as Aesop's Fables and will migrate into this as they get older. Right now we will read a book, and I will ask probing thought question and Socratic method afterwards. The benefits I'm seeing thus far are very promising. My 5 YO is doing great with insightful questioning and comments when we discuss other things, and watch movies, etc.

Hey thanks for replying. Yes it's the iclicker2. Looks like this: https://www.amazon.com/iClicker2-student-remote-iClicker/dp/1498603041

You don't. When we lie to students and tell them that such and such mathematics relates to their lives, when they know better and we know better, you lose credibility and they lose interest.

Instead, you should be upfront with them. Admit to them that unless they get a job that uses maths, they will never sit down and derive two systems of equations in two variables and solve them. Instead, the act of learning the maths--of thinking about them, struggling with them, and understanding them--will arm them with cognitive tools which translate to all thinking processes in all areas, which is unmatched in studying any other area.

You tell them that you study maths because it makes you a smarter person, physically, through shaping the way neuron connections are eroded into their brains. Convince them that the time they put into studying the abstractions and structures of problems in mathematics will erect a permanent filter in their mind which they will push every thought through for the rest of their lifetime.

And then you prove it to them. You take an idea that you know is just past their understanding--through formative assessment--and you demonstrate to them that they understand it. This part takes work because it is necessarily one-on-one.

Maybe you have a student that doesn't understand a concept. You give him a problem that has that concept and he hits "the wall." This is where you get excited, because you're about to blow their mind. Don't give him the answer or show them the steps, teach him to understand the question. Teach him how to think about the problem, how to reach into what he knows already and put the ideas together to understand this concept. Lead him there, don't take him there.

When this happens you'll get some sort of "eureka" moment from him, and you will have begun a process of successes that you can build off of that will invariably convince the student that he can do it. He'll begin to see that math isn't some magical manipulation, but rather that he can understand it with enough hard work and intentional thought. Most importantly, you've built yourself credibility, and the student has a glimpse into the meaning of what would otherwise seem like idealistic bullshit.

And then, you have built a student who will willingly study maths for the sake of studying maths.

See Daniel Willingham's book Why Students Don't Like School. He makes a much better argument against "making it relevant" and goes through the brain processes to describe what happens in learning and what motivates us to do it.

ENVoY classroom management training might be helpful for you.

Edit: The price of this book went up since I bought it, but it's very useful.

https://www.amazon.com/Envoy-Personal-Guide-Classroom-Management/dp/188340701X

let me see if I can explain. The public school system in America was not designed to help literacy for poor immigrants, although that would be noble. And it wasn't really designed to make us #1 in math or whatever (it would be failing at both of those goals).

It was designed to break children from their parent's culture and to help them integrate into the melting pot.
http://www.amazon.com/Dumbing-Down-Curriculum-Compulsory-Schooling/dp/086571231X

Any number of videos by John Grotto on this. He's kinda crazy on a lot of things, but his education experience is quite sound.

My wife firmly believes the school system is corrupt. I can see how the church, under David O. McKay (or at least when he was an apostle) incorporated Correlation and the public school system to revise how kids are taught in order to pull them away from previous religions and cultures in order to assimilate them into the new culture of the church.

We talk about it as brainwashing, but a lot of it is culture-washing. You're no longer a mexican/Brazillian/swede/russian. You're a Mormon, here is your jell-o salad and please bring funeral potatoes.

Your parents might pray to the previous God once in a while (such as the pentacostal who still speaks in tongues once in a while, even after having been to the temple) but the kids... they know better. They roll their eyes at their parents and try to be more righteous, more godly, like they're supposed to be.

Does that make sense?

if she still wants to stay within christianity, I suggest UU or TEC (the episcopal church) both are fairly progressive non-indoctrinational churches. We go to TEC, and my girls love it the two oldest got to go to their first sleep away camp and they loved it, they are even open to the fact that even tho I am still Christian, my spirituality is more closely align with agnostic theist and my hubby is Secular humanist/agnostic atheist. but as with everything it would also depend on your parish, not all churches are made equal even within a particular denomination. also I suggest helping her develop her own critical thinking. have her read [the magic of reality] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Magic-Reality-Whats-Really/dp/1451675046/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1406185178&sr=8-1&keywords=magic+of+reality), and [Philosophy for kids] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1882664701/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) also read [Raising Freethinkers] (http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Freethinkers-Practical-Parenting-Beyond/dp/0814410960/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1406185579&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=raisin+free+thinkers).. Edited: for grammar and to add one more book suggestion..

Be Bilingual - Practical Ideas for Multilingual Families https://www.amazon.de/dp/9526803701/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wtoNBbYN8DYCM


This one. We have it bought but I didnt read it full sice our little one is only 4 months old. But its very good so far, she had a master in that area and a mother of one or two i guess

For us basically my wife will speak only spanish and I German. We talk Romanian between us.

Wow these things look fancy now (and expensive)! I remember when they were just introduced when I was at UIUC back in the day.

>https://www.amazon.de/dp/9526803701/ref=cm\_sw\_r\_cp\_api\_wtoNBbYN8DYCM

Hi,

Babies in-fact already start to pick up sounds from when they are in the last trimester. Your husband should differently stick to only speak Japanese to your child and you English. It is important that the baby learn right from the start which sounds/languages are associated with which parent. Which is the one language one parent method. Which country are you living in as this will also support with language development.

John Holt's work defends a pretty radical idea of how to educate children.

Michael Grinder, Envoy: Your Personal Guide to Classroom Management.

Was a life saver when I taught 7th graders. Really helpful strategies that I continue
to apply in high school.

A genuinely useful and real-worldbook to try is this: Getting the Buggers to Behave by Sue Cowley.

Getting the Buggers to Behave https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1472909216/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_IagyCb7JA10E6

Read this book, and then consider that it's been going on for generations. Also the culture of immediate gratification. And things...

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

Punished by Rewards

Beyond Discipline

https://www.amazon.com/iClicker2-student-remote-iClicker/dp/1498603041/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=iclicker&qid=1556369467&s=gateway&sr=8-1

​

if u actually want one for $40

My first year, I read this book from [Fred Jones](Fred Jones Tools for Teaching 3rd Edition: Discipline•Instruction•Motivation Primary Prevention of Discipline Problems https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F2LJ0J4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_emoHyb7RSXQ74) . I thought it really helped improve my behavior management, and even now, I still remember his thoughts that at the end of the day, I should not have a headache from having to manage behavior. The students are the ones that should be doing the work, not me.

In larger (typically STEM) classes, professors will ask multiple choice questions during lecture to gauge understanding, enforce specific concepts, take and enforce attendance, etc. The clicker (i-clicker) is a small remote with buttons that you use to answer these multiple choice questions.

iClicker2 student remote https://www.amazon.com/dp/1498603041/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_IyzhDb866GNTQ

The last price is ~$50 but you shouldn't pay more than $20 for one.

The return of segregation has been going on for a while. Jonathan Kozol wrote about in his 2005 book, The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America. I'm glad to see the NAACP taking a more aggressive stand on the issue.

Though if we look at what concentration of the population buts what books we will see that these people can read but they are still dopes. During the civil war nearly everybody in the country minus black slaves bought books by Paine, while today rarely anybody buys books that in depth.


In fact Gatto's book Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling even goes as far as saying people during the civil war were more literate than today.


I have look for citations and have not been impressed with anything. Some say people are smarter today other say they are not and standards have just been lowered.

>What craig does have though, and you still seem to lack, is the basic understanding that he cannot under any circumstances allow for the possibility that the universe could have begun without a cause.

Well, there is this where he writes:

>Notice that they equate knowledge with certainty. If you’re not certain that some proposition p is true, then you do not know that p. But what justification is there for that assumption? I know that I have a head, for example. But I could be a brain in a vat of chemicals being stimulated by a mad scientist to think that I have a body. Does this mere possibility imply that I do not know that I have a head?

There is also the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on Certainty that says,

>One of the primary motivations for allowing kinds of knowledge less than certainty is the widespread sense that skeptical arguments are successful in showing that we rarely or never have beliefs that are certain (see Unger 1975 for this kind of skeptical argument) but do not succeed in showing that our beliefs are altogether without epistemic worth

Or you could, you know, actually read a book.

You're just wrong, and no matter how snarky you are you will still be wrong. So you can either admit it, or you can continue to be a part of the most dogmatic religion around - New Atheism. Let me guess, you choose New Atheism? Big surprise...