"Another Awkward Sex Talk: Respect and Violence" The New York Times
"Teaching autistic kids to read facial expressions" Los Angeles Times
"Our view on helping hyperactive kids: New findings raise questions about use of ADHD drugs" USA Today
"Kids and antipsychotics: Prescriptions on the rise" Los Angeles Times
"Is a high IQ a burden as much as a blessing?" Financial Times
"The myth of developmental lag in reading" Robin Hansen, SF Examiner
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
WORLD OF LEARNING
"Teaching Autistic Teens To Make Friends" Science Daily
"Cyber Scout Puts Autism Studies On Faster Track" NPR
"Do reading curricula make a difference?" Teach Effectively!
"Disabled Group Protests Removal of Kindle's Text-to-Speech" Publishers Weekly
"Willpower: A Game Of Strategy" NPR
"Brain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory" The New York Times
"New Theory Of Autism Suggests Symptoms Or Disorder May Be Reversible" Science Daily
"Demystifying Dyslexia: 1 in 10 Americans have Dyslexia" WWLP.com
"Cyber Scout Puts Autism Studies On Faster Track" NPR
"Do reading curricula make a difference?" Teach Effectively!
"Disabled Group Protests Removal of Kindle's Text-to-Speech" Publishers Weekly
"Willpower: A Game Of Strategy" NPR
"Brain Researchers Open Door to Editing Memory" The New York Times
"New Theory Of Autism Suggests Symptoms Or Disorder May Be Reversible" Science Daily
"Demystifying Dyslexia: 1 in 10 Americans have Dyslexia" WWLP.com
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
WORLD OF LEARNING
"Physical Activity May Strengthen Children's Ability To Pay Attention" Science Daily
"Eye Exercises Help Patients Work Out Vision Problems, Optometrist Says" Science Daily
"Choice autism treatment offers benefits, has limits" CNN
"Dyslexia or dysteachea?" "The best kept secret in special education," "National and local evidence of reading neglect and how YOU can fix it" Robin Hansen, SF Examiner
"The sound and the fury about making sense of written words" The Sydney Morning Herald
"Eye Exercises Help Patients Work Out Vision Problems, Optometrist Says" Science Daily
"Choice autism treatment offers benefits, has limits" CNN
"Dyslexia or dysteachea?" "The best kept secret in special education," "National and local evidence of reading neglect and how YOU can fix it" Robin Hansen, SF Examiner
"The sound and the fury about making sense of written words" The Sydney Morning Herald
RECENT NEWS: FINDING A ZONE OF SUCCESS
A recent “diversion” on NPR’s morning news show humorously recounted Pittsburgh school officials’ decision to reinstate the grade of “zero.”
The city’s schools had eliminated that black mark for incomplete assignments, instead giving students the benefit of the doubt with grades of 50 percent averaged into their report cards. Students figured out they could game the system and more easily get away with not handing in their work.
The new policy was rejected.
Grade inflation might, indeed, have adverse effects. In a New York Times article, some college professors noted that their students, products of such a trend, expected B’s for just showing up.
A study done at UC Irvine offered further evidence. Discussing the study, researcher Ellen Greenberger commented on “an increased sense of entitlement” among her students.
Over-praising can devalue praise and make it ineffective. This is the thrust of important recent work done by Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
I’ll come down firmly on being honest with students when they do not measure up to expectations. It’s a moot point at any rate. It’s pretty obvious to most children when they are not doing well, even if someone is telling them, “Good job!”
But I also believe that part of the responsibility for setting expectations for children falls on educators and parents. We’re all individuals and learn in different ways and at different speeds. And none of us is motivated by constant failure.
The challenge is finding where the challenge is. If we want someone who can jump over a two-foot high bar to jump five feet, it’s probably not going to work if we immediately raise the bar to five feet. If we raise the bar a few inches, practice, raise it a few more inches, practice some more, and so on, we are much more likely to get results, and perhaps reach the goal.
Finding what the great psychologist Lev Vygotsky called the “zone of proximal development,” that place where we challenge the learner just the right amount, is not always easy, but effective education is a collaborative effort, and the teacher should be working at least as hard as the student.
In her landmark work, Children’s Minds, another psychologist whom I greatly admire, Margaret Donaldson wrote: “There can be no doubt that if we decide we cannot cope with a particular kind of challenge we tend to give up and avoid it.”
Nothing is sadder than a child who views herself as "dumb," a child who has given up.
Yes, there should be consequences for lack of effort. No, persistence and effort should not result in constant failure. Young learners need to see they can make progress, and we need to find the work that will demonstrate that.
The city’s schools had eliminated that black mark for incomplete assignments, instead giving students the benefit of the doubt with grades of 50 percent averaged into their report cards. Students figured out they could game the system and more easily get away with not handing in their work.
The new policy was rejected.
Grade inflation might, indeed, have adverse effects. In a New York Times article, some college professors noted that their students, products of such a trend, expected B’s for just showing up.
A study done at UC Irvine offered further evidence. Discussing the study, researcher Ellen Greenberger commented on “an increased sense of entitlement” among her students.
Over-praising can devalue praise and make it ineffective. This is the thrust of important recent work done by Carol Dweck, author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
I’ll come down firmly on being honest with students when they do not measure up to expectations. It’s a moot point at any rate. It’s pretty obvious to most children when they are not doing well, even if someone is telling them, “Good job!”
But I also believe that part of the responsibility for setting expectations for children falls on educators and parents. We’re all individuals and learn in different ways and at different speeds. And none of us is motivated by constant failure.
The challenge is finding where the challenge is. If we want someone who can jump over a two-foot high bar to jump five feet, it’s probably not going to work if we immediately raise the bar to five feet. If we raise the bar a few inches, practice, raise it a few more inches, practice some more, and so on, we are much more likely to get results, and perhaps reach the goal.
Finding what the great psychologist Lev Vygotsky called the “zone of proximal development,” that place where we challenge the learner just the right amount, is not always easy, but effective education is a collaborative effort, and the teacher should be working at least as hard as the student.
In her landmark work, Children’s Minds, another psychologist whom I greatly admire, Margaret Donaldson wrote: “There can be no doubt that if we decide we cannot cope with a particular kind of challenge we tend to give up and avoid it.”
Nothing is sadder than a child who views herself as "dumb," a child who has given up.
Yes, there should be consequences for lack of effort. No, persistence and effort should not result in constant failure. Young learners need to see they can make progress, and we need to find the work that will demonstrate that.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
WORLD OF LEARNING
Monday, April 6, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
WORLD OF LEARNING
"Visual Learners Convert Words To Pictures In The Brain And Vice Versa, Says Psychology Study" Science Daily
"Inconsistent Performance Speed Among Children With ADHD May Underlie How Well They Use Memory" Science Daily
"Electrical Signal in Brain Seems to Warn of 'Mistakes'" U.S. News & World Report
"Reading Test Dummies" The New York Times
"Inconsistent Performance Speed Among Children With ADHD May Underlie How Well They Use Memory" Science Daily
"Electrical Signal in Brain Seems to Warn of 'Mistakes'" U.S. News & World Report
"Reading Test Dummies" The New York Times
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
WORLD OF LEARNING
"'Square peg' students more often targets of bullies' Georgina Advocate
"Some schools are cutting back on homework" Los Angeles Times
"Smart People Really Do Think Faster" NPR
"Heightened Level Of Amygdala Activity May Cause Social Deficits In Autism" Science Daily
"Drug Maker Told Studies Would Aid It, Papers Say" The New York Times
"Some schools are cutting back on homework" Los Angeles Times
"Smart People Really Do Think Faster" NPR
"Heightened Level Of Amygdala Activity May Cause Social Deficits In Autism" Science Daily
"Drug Maker Told Studies Would Aid It, Papers Say" The New York Times
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