"Self-Awareness and LD: Enhancing Skills for Success in Life" LD.org 11/20/10
Some good, practical advice.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
WORLD OF LEARNING: NEUROSCIENCE AND CONSCIOUSNESS
"A Conversation With Antonio Damasio and Siri Hustvedt" Big Think Breakthroughs Video 9/22/10
You can read about Damasio and Hustvedt's conversation in the December issue of Discover, but far better to watch the video of it...and you won't have to subscribe to the magazine (of course, it is a great magazine). Damasio, a star of neuroscience, just published Self Comes to Mind, a book I want to read. Hustvedt is a novelist (I really liked her The Sorrows of an American), who is very knowledgeable about Damasio's field. They touch on Phineas Gage, too!
You can read about Damasio and Hustvedt's conversation in the December issue of Discover, but far better to watch the video of it...and you won't have to subscribe to the magazine (of course, it is a great magazine). Damasio, a star of neuroscience, just published Self Comes to Mind, a book I want to read. Hustvedt is a novelist (I really liked her The Sorrows of an American), who is very knowledgeable about Damasio's field. They touch on Phineas Gage, too!
WORLD OF LEARNING: SOCIAL SKILLS CURRICULUM
"New Approach Finds Success in Teaching Youth With Autism" ScienceDaily 11/20/10
This program being developed at the University of Missouri might have value for all children, with its curriculum that focuses on "recognizing facial expressions, sharing ideas, taking turns, exploring feelings and emotions, and problem-solving."
This program being developed at the University of Missouri might have value for all children, with its curriculum that focuses on "recognizing facial expressions, sharing ideas, taking turns, exploring feelings and emotions, and problem-solving."
WORLD OF LEARNING: RECESS DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH LEARNING; RECESS HELPS LEARNING
"Eliminating Recess Hurts Kids" Education Week 11/12/10
This article reminded me of the Ken Robinson video posted earlier here, where he makes the point that education uses an obsolete Industrial Age model. The assembly line that produces standardized test takers can't stop for recess, even though play and exercise improve cognition.
This article reminded me of the Ken Robinson video posted earlier here, where he makes the point that education uses an obsolete Industrial Age model. The assembly line that produces standardized test takers can't stop for recess, even though play and exercise improve cognition.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
WORLD OF LEARNING: GROWING UP DIGITAL
"Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction" New York Times 11/21/10
After a long wait (since August) Matt Richtel is back with his "Your Brain on Computers" series, and as he promised on "Fresh Air," he and his helpers are delving into the effects of the digital revolution for those for whom it is no longer a revolution, but a way of life.
I hope this is just the beginning of that study, because here Richtel mostly documents how important digital devices are to high school kids--at least right here in the Bay Area, at Redwood City's Woodside High. Richtel finds one student who sends 900 text messages a day, another who spends six to seven hours a day playing video games.
A logical conclusion would be that this is having a profound effect on brain structure. While the article does quote researchers, notably Michael Rich of Harvard Medical School, I'm looking for more of what the scientists say--work like that done by Patricia Greenfield and Maryanne Wolf.
I was struck by a couple of things. One is how accepted it is by parents, teachers, Woodside's principal, as well as the kids themselves, that they don't do their homework, that they don't read. All concerned were quite frank about this.
The other is how articulate these kids were, even as they acknowledged the deleterious consequences social networking and video games were having on their lives. More than one wished parents would limit digital time.
After a long wait (since August) Matt Richtel is back with his "Your Brain on Computers" series, and as he promised on "Fresh Air," he and his helpers are delving into the effects of the digital revolution for those for whom it is no longer a revolution, but a way of life.
I hope this is just the beginning of that study, because here Richtel mostly documents how important digital devices are to high school kids--at least right here in the Bay Area, at Redwood City's Woodside High. Richtel finds one student who sends 900 text messages a day, another who spends six to seven hours a day playing video games.
A logical conclusion would be that this is having a profound effect on brain structure. While the article does quote researchers, notably Michael Rich of Harvard Medical School, I'm looking for more of what the scientists say--work like that done by Patricia Greenfield and Maryanne Wolf.
I was struck by a couple of things. One is how accepted it is by parents, teachers, Woodside's principal, as well as the kids themselves, that they don't do their homework, that they don't read. All concerned were quite frank about this.
The other is how articulate these kids were, even as they acknowledged the deleterious consequences social networking and video games were having on their lives. More than one wished parents would limit digital time.
WORLD OF LEARNING: MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY'S BRAIN SHOW
"Brain: The Inside Story" American Museum of Natural History
Even if you can't get to New York to see the exhibition, this site offers plenty of fun and information.
Even if you can't get to New York to see the exhibition, this site offers plenty of fun and information.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
LARS'S LIBRARY: MY REVIEW OF JOHN FLEISCHMAN'S "PHINEAS GAGE: A GRUESOME BUT TRUE STORY ABOUT BRAIN SCIENCE"
PHINEAS GAGE: A GRUESOME BUT TRUE STORY ABOUT BRAIN SCIENCE. By John Fleischman. Houghton Mifflin, 2002. 96 pages.
John Fleischman opens Phineas Gage at full tilt, September 13, 1848, "a minute or two away" from an accident that can only be described as freakish. Gage was working with gunpowder, blasting through solid rock as the foreman of a railroad construction gang in Vermont.
The tool of his trade was a tamping iron, three and a half feet long, a little less than two inches round, one end pointed like a spear to set a fuse, the blunt end used to tamp down earth over the gunpowder.
Something went wrong. The sharp end of the iron spear shot into Gage’s left cheek. Its entire length rocketed through the front of his brain and burst out of the top of his skull, clanking down thirty feet away.
Gage lived. During the half hour it took for a doctor to arrive, he sat down on the front porch of the hotel where he was boarding and talked about what had just happened.
Was he okay? Not exactly. Phineas Gage was not the same man. He could walk and talk, but the even-tempered supervisor had now lost the ability to match his behavior to the situation at hand. He had no social skills.
Gage’s misfortune occurred as the medical establishment was on the verge of looking at the brain in an utterly new way. A decade and a half later, a surgeon in Paris showed, by conducting autopsies on stroke victims, that there was a specific region of the brain devoted to speech production. That place, located just above the left ear, is still known as Broca’s area, after the French doctor.
It has taken another century plus for neuroscientists, equipped with modern technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography, to really begin to map out the brain. Today, when lay people are knowledgeable about "executive function," it’s far easier for us to understand how losing a chunk of your frontal lobe would affect your judgment, your planning, and the way you get along with others.
In the mid-nineteenth century, phrenologists were feeling the bumps and dents on people’s heads to determine cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
What doctors of the time were able to do was dig up poor old Phineas and preserve his skull, as well as the tamping iron that remained a constant companion until his death in 1860, at the age of thirty-six. This ensured that Gage would remain a subject of fascination, and become the protagonist of Fleischman’s unusual and compelling children’s book.
The only thing that bugged me about Fleischman’s otherwise riveting narration was his insistence on using present tense throughout the book. It worked for me in the initial passage, so forceful in its immediacy, but got hokier as he went through several time changes. But that never bothered me enough to lose interest. What a story, and thanks to Elizabeth Bird for bringing it to my attention.
Many of us are attracted, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, to the macabre and grotesque, including middle schoolers. Here’s a nifty book that plays into that draw, and then introduces readers to the exciting work being done in brain science.
Recommended for fifth graders on up.
John Fleischman opens Phineas Gage at full tilt, September 13, 1848, "a minute or two away" from an accident that can only be described as freakish. Gage was working with gunpowder, blasting through solid rock as the foreman of a railroad construction gang in Vermont.
The tool of his trade was a tamping iron, three and a half feet long, a little less than two inches round, one end pointed like a spear to set a fuse, the blunt end used to tamp down earth over the gunpowder.
Something went wrong. The sharp end of the iron spear shot into Gage’s left cheek. Its entire length rocketed through the front of his brain and burst out of the top of his skull, clanking down thirty feet away.
Gage lived. During the half hour it took for a doctor to arrive, he sat down on the front porch of the hotel where he was boarding and talked about what had just happened.
Was he okay? Not exactly. Phineas Gage was not the same man. He could walk and talk, but the even-tempered supervisor had now lost the ability to match his behavior to the situation at hand. He had no social skills.
Gage’s misfortune occurred as the medical establishment was on the verge of looking at the brain in an utterly new way. A decade and a half later, a surgeon in Paris showed, by conducting autopsies on stroke victims, that there was a specific region of the brain devoted to speech production. That place, located just above the left ear, is still known as Broca’s area, after the French doctor.
It has taken another century plus for neuroscientists, equipped with modern technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography, to really begin to map out the brain. Today, when lay people are knowledgeable about "executive function," it’s far easier for us to understand how losing a chunk of your frontal lobe would affect your judgment, your planning, and the way you get along with others.
In the mid-nineteenth century, phrenologists were feeling the bumps and dents on people’s heads to determine cognitive strengths and weaknesses.
What doctors of the time were able to do was dig up poor old Phineas and preserve his skull, as well as the tamping iron that remained a constant companion until his death in 1860, at the age of thirty-six. This ensured that Gage would remain a subject of fascination, and become the protagonist of Fleischman’s unusual and compelling children’s book.
The only thing that bugged me about Fleischman’s otherwise riveting narration was his insistence on using present tense throughout the book. It worked for me in the initial passage, so forceful in its immediacy, but got hokier as he went through several time changes. But that never bothered me enough to lose interest. What a story, and thanks to Elizabeth Bird for bringing it to my attention.
Many of us are attracted, perhaps somewhat reluctantly, to the macabre and grotesque, including middle schoolers. Here’s a nifty book that plays into that draw, and then introduces readers to the exciting work being done in brain science.
Recommended for fifth graders on up.
Friday, November 19, 2010
LAR'S LIBRARY: MY REVIEW OF ROBERT KRASKE'S "MAROONED"
MAROONED: THE STRANGE BUT TRUE TALE OF ALEXANDER SELKIRK, THE REAL ROBINSON CRUSOE. By Robert Kraske, Robert Andrew Parker. Clarion, 2005. 128 pages.
What a neat little book. It makes me wish for more little books like this—seven and a half by five inches and a skosh more than a hundred pages.
Robert Kraske makes no sacrifices here. He offers an elegantly told tale with lots of digression to explain world politics, naval technology, the flora and fauna of Juan Fernández Island, even the sounds and smells of London streets of the early eighteenth century.
It’s unnecessary to have read, or know anything about, Defoe’s classic ‘Robinson Crusoe’ to enjoy this jewel of historical sweep and swashbuckling adventure, although that certainly made my experience all the richer.
As with any biography where source material is scarce, Kraske is forced to resort to many ‘might haves,’ but his research and love for detail bring the past to life. He’s got quite a story in the bare bones of what we do know.
Alexander Selkirk, like Crusoe, was stricken with wanderlust and a desire to escape a caring but overbearing Scottish father, and proved to be a worthy sailor. Unlike Crusoe, he was a feisty one as well and ended up on his island (off Chile rather than Brazil) not through shipwreck, but because a captain called his bluff and left him there. Selkirk got the last laugh on that one.
Selkirk seems to have reveled in the same ‘undoubted right of dominion’ that so thrilled Crusoe in isolation, but he could never equal that joy, as relieved as he was when rescued from Juan Fernández.
The excitement was far from over, as he joined a squadron of British privateers that circled the globe, taking Spanish treasure. But after returning to England, he was uncomfortable with the renown gained through his exploits. ‘O my beloved island! I wish I had never left thee,’ he cried to his nonplussed family. And then ran off to sea again.
Selkirk never really found the feeling of home he had, so far from human contact and his origins, again.
Daniel Defoe’s own story ran parallel to his inspiration. Finally achieving huge success at sixty with ‘Robinson Crusoe,’ he couldn’t parlay fame and fortune into happiness, either.
Kraske’s masterful recounting of the true tale that led to the classic novel is perfectly complemented by Robert Andrew Parker’s simple and effective ink-and-wash illustrations.
A great bite-sized saga for lovers of history and adventure. Highly recommended for sixth graders on up.
What a neat little book. It makes me wish for more little books like this—seven and a half by five inches and a skosh more than a hundred pages.
Robert Kraske makes no sacrifices here. He offers an elegantly told tale with lots of digression to explain world politics, naval technology, the flora and fauna of Juan Fernández Island, even the sounds and smells of London streets of the early eighteenth century.
It’s unnecessary to have read, or know anything about, Defoe’s classic ‘Robinson Crusoe’ to enjoy this jewel of historical sweep and swashbuckling adventure, although that certainly made my experience all the richer.
As with any biography where source material is scarce, Kraske is forced to resort to many ‘might haves,’ but his research and love for detail bring the past to life. He’s got quite a story in the bare bones of what we do know.
Alexander Selkirk, like Crusoe, was stricken with wanderlust and a desire to escape a caring but overbearing Scottish father, and proved to be a worthy sailor. Unlike Crusoe, he was a feisty one as well and ended up on his island (off Chile rather than Brazil) not through shipwreck, but because a captain called his bluff and left him there. Selkirk got the last laugh on that one.
Selkirk seems to have reveled in the same ‘undoubted right of dominion’ that so thrilled Crusoe in isolation, but he could never equal that joy, as relieved as he was when rescued from Juan Fernández.
The excitement was far from over, as he joined a squadron of British privateers that circled the globe, taking Spanish treasure. But after returning to England, he was uncomfortable with the renown gained through his exploits. ‘O my beloved island! I wish I had never left thee,’ he cried to his nonplussed family. And then ran off to sea again.
Selkirk never really found the feeling of home he had, so far from human contact and his origins, again.
Daniel Defoe’s own story ran parallel to his inspiration. Finally achieving huge success at sixty with ‘Robinson Crusoe,’ he couldn’t parlay fame and fortune into happiness, either.
Kraske’s masterful recounting of the true tale that led to the classic novel is perfectly complemented by Robert Andrew Parker’s simple and effective ink-and-wash illustrations.
A great bite-sized saga for lovers of history and adventure. Highly recommended for sixth graders on up.
LAR'S LIBRARY: MY REVIEW OF ALL-ACTION CLASSICS' "THE ODYSSEY"
ALL-ACTION CLASSICS NO. 3: THE ODYSSEY. By Homer, Tim Mucci, Ben Caldwell, Rick Lacy, Emmanuel Tenderini. Sterling, 2009. 128 pages.
At first, the illustrative style and the lettering of this comic book adaptation put me off. Too weird and busy. Like listening to a stranger's voice where tone and accent take some effort to get past, though, once I got into it, the 'All-Action Classic' started working for me. Eventually, I completely forgot I had thought the presentation hard to decipher, and the story began to carry me along.
Tim Mucci does a skilled turn here at collapsing many events into minimal space, touching on almost all the major episodes of Odysseus's long journey back to Ithaca.
An ideal way to introduce young readers to Homer, if they can accept the idiosyncratic graphics of Ben Caldwell and company. Recommended for fifth graders up, who might be seeking some context for Percy Jackson and his cohorts.
At first, the illustrative style and the lettering of this comic book adaptation put me off. Too weird and busy. Like listening to a stranger's voice where tone and accent take some effort to get past, though, once I got into it, the 'All-Action Classic' started working for me. Eventually, I completely forgot I had thought the presentation hard to decipher, and the story began to carry me along.
Tim Mucci does a skilled turn here at collapsing many events into minimal space, touching on almost all the major episodes of Odysseus's long journey back to Ithaca.
An ideal way to introduce young readers to Homer, if they can accept the idiosyncratic graphics of Ben Caldwell and company. Recommended for fifth graders up, who might be seeking some context for Percy Jackson and his cohorts.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
LARS'S LIBRARY: 2010 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS
The 2010 National Book Awards were announced November 17, and the winner in the Young People's Literature category was Katherine Erskine for her "Mockingbird."
WORLD OF LEARNING: HAPPINESS AND PARADIGMS
"When the Mind Wanders, Happiness Also Strays" New York Times 11/15/10
"RSA Animate: Changing Education Paradigms" Ken Robinson/YouTube 10/14/2010
These two certainly fit well together. One of our ablest science writers, John Tierney, makes a case for distraction as a cause of unhappiness, and the words of Ken Robinson, one of our strongest proponents for the arts in education, are cleverly illustrated in a marvelous little video that gets at why our children might be distracted.
"RSA Animate: Changing Education Paradigms" Ken Robinson/YouTube 10/14/2010
These two certainly fit well together. One of our ablest science writers, John Tierney, makes a case for distraction as a cause of unhappiness, and the words of Ken Robinson, one of our strongest proponents for the arts in education, are cleverly illustrated in a marvelous little video that gets at why our children might be distracted.
Monday, November 15, 2010
WORLD OF LEARNING: WHAT SHOULD BE THE STANDARD?
"Why I Will Not Teach to the Test" Kelly Gallagher/Education Week 11/12/10
Gallagher authored a superb manifesto for better reading instruction in middle and high school, the fabulous Readacide. In this opinion piece, he questions the value of overlong lists of standards, and I'm down with it. We need to ask what the purpose of teaching content is. If your answer is that it is to help students absorb and then deal with the content by developing critical thinking skills, it only makes sense that we don't overload them with content. Depth is better than breadth. The trouble is that it is much harder to measure depth with a multiple choice test.
Gallagher authored a superb manifesto for better reading instruction in middle and high school, the fabulous Readacide. In this opinion piece, he questions the value of overlong lists of standards, and I'm down with it. We need to ask what the purpose of teaching content is. If your answer is that it is to help students absorb and then deal with the content by developing critical thinking skills, it only makes sense that we don't overload them with content. Depth is better than breadth. The trouble is that it is much harder to measure depth with a multiple choice test.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
LARS'S LIBRARY: MY REVIEW OF WALTER DEAN MYERS'S "LOCKDOWN"
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Saturday, November 13, 2010
WORLD OF LEARNING: MY REVIEW OF PO BRONSON AND ASHLEY MERRYMAN'S "NURTURESHOCK"
NURTURESHOCK. By Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. Twelve, 2009. 352 pages.
NurtureShock is a wonderful collection of essays on child development that carries more weight than you might think. On an initial glance, it appears to be another example of what Adam Hanft, in a review of Steven Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From, called ‘pattern porn’.
Hanft defines the genre as "non-fiction characterized by a seductive thesis that is supported by an ingenious arrangement of scientific support—manipulatively cherry-picked, in the eyes of some critics—and lush anecdotal juxtapositions that are voyeuristically irresistible."
You’ve seen them on the display racks—those books attractively encased in stripped-down graphics and catchy titles: Blink, Drive, How We Decide, and…NurtureShock.
But NurtureShock, despite its package, shuns the seductive thesis. Instead, Bronson and Merryman’s main goal is that readers avoid thinking in black and white. If we start with the assumption that there is one right way to bring up children, they warn, we are falling for the "Fallacy of the Good/Bad Dichotomy"—the ‘tendency to categorize things as either good for children or bad for children.’
Thinking that antibiotics can only be good because they kill bad bacteria might lead to overuse and problems with resistant bacteria. In the same way, looking at lying solely as a negative trait in children is not entirely helpful.
We learn how to lie. It’s part of development—a necessary part. Lying requires intelligence and social sense. There’s probably a connection between lying and "theory of mind"—the ability to think about what others are thinking about.
But NurtureShock is not a screed for allowing kids to lie, cheat, steal and engage in self-destructive behavior. The authors assure us they are "still telling kids to 'play nice' and say thank you." What they want is objectivity—to steer us toward a balanced approach in developing cognition and citizenship, based on research.
They believe that "good stuff and bad stuff are not opposite ends of the spectrum," but "are what’s termed orthogonal—mutually independent." When we look at children, the "many factors in their lives—such as sibling interaction, peer pressure, marital conflict, or even gratitude—can be both a good influence and a bad influence."
The other assumption Bronson and Merryman urge us to avoid is the "Fallacy of Similar Effect"—the idea "that things work in children in the same way that they work in adults."
If we’re really going to base the rearing of children on evidence, we have to really be careful about confirmation bias—thinking that we already know what studies will show. To examine the way kids learn we have to free ourselves of preconceptions based on our adult experience.
In many cases, the best and simplest solution is not quite as simple as it looks. For example, Bronson and Merryman point out that the experts mostly agree that trying to force-feed language skills to babies through videos such as the infamous Baby Einstein DVDs just doesn’t work.
Why? Babies need to look at adults talking to learn to segment, to tell where one word stops and another begins. Lip reading is part of speech learning.
Don’t stop there, though, because learning to talk is not a passive activity. Caregivers need to encourage language production by the child, not just "push massive amounts of language into the baby’s ear." They need to be more than live versions of Baby Einstein. "If…you think a baby isn’t contributing to the conversation," Bronson and Merryman note, "you’ve missed something really important."
One sign of good non-fiction is that it makes you want to find out more. I wish Bronson and Merryman had gone beyond babies in their discussion of language development. I work with elementary school and high school kids who have weak expressive language.
Like the babies in NurtureShock whose language development is lagging, I believe this is because they do not have enough conversation where they are expected to make sounds—in this case sounds consisting of specific and clear vocabulary. Too much of adult communication with children is one-sided, and in other venues—school, books, and digital devices—there is lots of input but little output.
Bronson and Merryman’s look at language development—"Why Hannah Talks and Alyssa Doesn’t"—is just one of ten essays in NurtureShock. The essays, while tied together by their focus on research into child development, are each valid as stand-alone pieces. Indeed, three of the chapters in the book were published that way, in New York magazine. It’s really an anthology, rather than a thesis with one central theme.
The first chapter—"The Inverse Power of Praise"—garnered quite a bit of attention when it appeared in 2007. It gets to the other connection between all of these essays: avoiding the "fallacies" previously mentioned. Besides the fact that viewing praise as not necessarily a good thing is counterintuitive, praise is effective with adults. So common sense tells us to praise our kids. Research by Carol Dweck and others have shown a danger in doing so.
Bronson and Merryman are searching for what we don’t readily see, what common sense doesn’t tell us, but scientists do.
Children are getting an hour less sleep than they did thirty years ago, and that lack of sleep is reflected in performance.
Avoiding the issue of race because we want kids to understand we’re all equal results in the opposite outcome.
By demanding that kids look us in the eye and speak the truth, we train proficient liars.
Channeling kids into gifted programs based on testing when they're five shuts out gifted students who don’t test well at that young age. I.Q. changes.
Siblings fight not in competition for attention, but for booty. Our Freudian legacy—that brothers and sisters are "locked into an eternal struggle for their parents’ affection" is misguided. "It turns out that Shakespeare was right, and Freud was wrong," say Bronson and Merryman. "Sibling rivalry may be less an Oedipal tale…and more King Lear."
Social skills are not just about being nice. Aggression and manipulation are cards that play well for the popular kids.
We’re right in observing that teenagers think differently than their parents—way differently. But pictures of moody and negative youths need to be tweaked. The authors quote Temple University psychologist Laurence Steinberg: "The popular image of the individual sulking in the wake of a family argument may be a more accurate portrayal of the emotional state of the parent, than the teenager." It seems that teens get something positive from such a battle, and then are often better at letting it go.
The chapter titled "Can Self-Control Be Taught?" especially resonated with me. Bronson and Merryman’s answer is yes, and they illustrate their case with the work done by Elena Bodrova and Deborah Leong in their Tools of the Mind program, based on the ideas of Lev Vygotsky. Bodrova and Leong’s book is at the top of my list of the best books about child psychology.
NurtureShock now enters that list. Bronson and Merryman have assembled ten provocative essays that present up-to-date research and will prompt experts and non-experts alike to think more deeply about children and learning. Highly recommended.
NurtureShock is a wonderful collection of essays on child development that carries more weight than you might think. On an initial glance, it appears to be another example of what Adam Hanft, in a review of Steven Johnson’s Where Good Ideas Come From, called ‘pattern porn’.
Hanft defines the genre as "non-fiction characterized by a seductive thesis that is supported by an ingenious arrangement of scientific support—manipulatively cherry-picked, in the eyes of some critics—and lush anecdotal juxtapositions that are voyeuristically irresistible."
You’ve seen them on the display racks—those books attractively encased in stripped-down graphics and catchy titles: Blink, Drive, How We Decide, and…NurtureShock.
But NurtureShock, despite its package, shuns the seductive thesis. Instead, Bronson and Merryman’s main goal is that readers avoid thinking in black and white. If we start with the assumption that there is one right way to bring up children, they warn, we are falling for the "Fallacy of the Good/Bad Dichotomy"—the ‘tendency to categorize things as either good for children or bad for children.’
Thinking that antibiotics can only be good because they kill bad bacteria might lead to overuse and problems with resistant bacteria. In the same way, looking at lying solely as a negative trait in children is not entirely helpful.
We learn how to lie. It’s part of development—a necessary part. Lying requires intelligence and social sense. There’s probably a connection between lying and "theory of mind"—the ability to think about what others are thinking about.
But NurtureShock is not a screed for allowing kids to lie, cheat, steal and engage in self-destructive behavior. The authors assure us they are "still telling kids to 'play nice' and say thank you." What they want is objectivity—to steer us toward a balanced approach in developing cognition and citizenship, based on research.
They believe that "good stuff and bad stuff are not opposite ends of the spectrum," but "are what’s termed orthogonal—mutually independent." When we look at children, the "many factors in their lives—such as sibling interaction, peer pressure, marital conflict, or even gratitude—can be both a good influence and a bad influence."
The other assumption Bronson and Merryman urge us to avoid is the "Fallacy of Similar Effect"—the idea "that things work in children in the same way that they work in adults."
If we’re really going to base the rearing of children on evidence, we have to really be careful about confirmation bias—thinking that we already know what studies will show. To examine the way kids learn we have to free ourselves of preconceptions based on our adult experience.
In many cases, the best and simplest solution is not quite as simple as it looks. For example, Bronson and Merryman point out that the experts mostly agree that trying to force-feed language skills to babies through videos such as the infamous Baby Einstein DVDs just doesn’t work.
Why? Babies need to look at adults talking to learn to segment, to tell where one word stops and another begins. Lip reading is part of speech learning.
Don’t stop there, though, because learning to talk is not a passive activity. Caregivers need to encourage language production by the child, not just "push massive amounts of language into the baby’s ear." They need to be more than live versions of Baby Einstein. "If…you think a baby isn’t contributing to the conversation," Bronson and Merryman note, "you’ve missed something really important."
One sign of good non-fiction is that it makes you want to find out more. I wish Bronson and Merryman had gone beyond babies in their discussion of language development. I work with elementary school and high school kids who have weak expressive language.
Like the babies in NurtureShock whose language development is lagging, I believe this is because they do not have enough conversation where they are expected to make sounds—in this case sounds consisting of specific and clear vocabulary. Too much of adult communication with children is one-sided, and in other venues—school, books, and digital devices—there is lots of input but little output.
Bronson and Merryman’s look at language development—"Why Hannah Talks and Alyssa Doesn’t"—is just one of ten essays in NurtureShock. The essays, while tied together by their focus on research into child development, are each valid as stand-alone pieces. Indeed, three of the chapters in the book were published that way, in New York magazine. It’s really an anthology, rather than a thesis with one central theme.
The first chapter—"The Inverse Power of Praise"—garnered quite a bit of attention when it appeared in 2007. It gets to the other connection between all of these essays: avoiding the "fallacies" previously mentioned. Besides the fact that viewing praise as not necessarily a good thing is counterintuitive, praise is effective with adults. So common sense tells us to praise our kids. Research by Carol Dweck and others have shown a danger in doing so.
Bronson and Merryman are searching for what we don’t readily see, what common sense doesn’t tell us, but scientists do.
Children are getting an hour less sleep than they did thirty years ago, and that lack of sleep is reflected in performance.
Avoiding the issue of race because we want kids to understand we’re all equal results in the opposite outcome.
By demanding that kids look us in the eye and speak the truth, we train proficient liars.
Channeling kids into gifted programs based on testing when they're five shuts out gifted students who don’t test well at that young age. I.Q. changes.
Siblings fight not in competition for attention, but for booty. Our Freudian legacy—that brothers and sisters are "locked into an eternal struggle for their parents’ affection" is misguided. "It turns out that Shakespeare was right, and Freud was wrong," say Bronson and Merryman. "Sibling rivalry may be less an Oedipal tale…and more King Lear."
Social skills are not just about being nice. Aggression and manipulation are cards that play well for the popular kids.
We’re right in observing that teenagers think differently than their parents—way differently. But pictures of moody and negative youths need to be tweaked. The authors quote Temple University psychologist Laurence Steinberg: "The popular image of the individual sulking in the wake of a family argument may be a more accurate portrayal of the emotional state of the parent, than the teenager." It seems that teens get something positive from such a battle, and then are often better at letting it go.
The chapter titled "Can Self-Control Be Taught?" especially resonated with me. Bronson and Merryman’s answer is yes, and they illustrate their case with the work done by Elena Bodrova and Deborah Leong in their Tools of the Mind program, based on the ideas of Lev Vygotsky. Bodrova and Leong’s book is at the top of my list of the best books about child psychology.
NurtureShock now enters that list. Bronson and Merryman have assembled ten provocative essays that present up-to-date research and will prompt experts and non-experts alike to think more deeply about children and learning. Highly recommended.
Friday, November 12, 2010
WORLD OF LEARNING: DEHAENE AND THE BRAIN
"How Reading Rewires the Brain" ScienceNow 11/11/10
What Stanislas Dehaene is doing with his colleagues to back up his hypotheses in Reading in the Brain. Not everyone in the neuroscience community agrees that literacy might be dispacing face recognition.
What Stanislas Dehaene is doing with his colleagues to back up his hypotheses in Reading in the Brain. Not everyone in the neuroscience community agrees that literacy might be dispacing face recognition.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
LARS'S LIBRARY: LISTS! LISTS!
The end of the year means lists! I love lists! Like the New York Times' "Best Illustrated Children's Books of 2010." And Publisher's Weekly's "Best Children's Books 2010."
While not a year-end list, I also love "Today" show contributor Laura Coffey's "9 most subversive children's books ever written," some of which I'll undoubtedly be adding to my list of Wacky, Weird and Irreverent Picture Books.
While not a year-end list, I also love "Today" show contributor Laura Coffey's "9 most subversive children's books ever written," some of which I'll undoubtedly be adding to my list of Wacky, Weird and Irreverent Picture Books.
WORLD OF LEARNING: WHAT MAKES A GREAT TUTOR?
"Like a Monitor More Than a Tutor" New York Times 11/7/10
Especially liked what educational consultant Emily Glickman says at the article's conclusion: “A good homework helper is one who teaches a child so that they no longer need a homework helper.” That goes along with my own mission statement: "My goal is to work myself out of a job."
Especially liked what educational consultant Emily Glickman says at the article's conclusion: “A good homework helper is one who teaches a child so that they no longer need a homework helper.” That goes along with my own mission statement: "My goal is to work myself out of a job."
WORLD OF LEARNING: HYPER-NETWORKING AND HEALTH
"Hyper-texting and Hyper-networking Pose New Health Risks for Teens" ScienceDaily 11/9/10
I'm somewhat dubious the direct correlation this Case Western study draws between "unchecked texting and other widely popular methods of staying connected" and "dangerous health effects on teenagers." Did the study rule out all other contributing factors? However, I'm tempted to believe that overdosing on screen time is negative for all ages, as I've expressed earlier.
I'm somewhat dubious the direct correlation this Case Western study draws between "unchecked texting and other widely popular methods of staying connected" and "dangerous health effects on teenagers." Did the study rule out all other contributing factors? However, I'm tempted to believe that overdosing on screen time is negative for all ages, as I've expressed earlier.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
LAR'S LIBRARY: SCREEN READING
While there are reasons to be concerned about the relationship between digital media and reading, there are also reasons to be encouraged. Kids are enjoying reading on screens, says a study by Scholastic covered in this New York Times article. Sam Grobart reviews some new books that play into kids' affection for the internet in a more recent Times piece. One of them is indefatigable author Jon Scieszka's "SPHDZ," which I briefly reviewed on Goodreads.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
LARS'S LIBRARY: MY REVIEW OF RICK RIORDAN'S "THE LOST HERO"
THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS BOOK ONE: THE LOST HERO. By Rick Riordan. Disney/Hyperion, 2010. 553 pages.
Rick Riordan claims that by moving on to The Heroes of Olympus, he has escaped "the easy sort of default thing," like writing "Percy Jackson 6, Percy Jackson 7, Percy Jackson 28." During the same Lost Hero release webcast, he griped that there are "too many series" that go on "way too long," where "the book quality suffers."
That seems a bit disingenuous. Okay, Percy Jackson doesn’t make an appearance in The Lost Hero. But his presence is pervasive—he’s off on a quest—and there are strong hints of a re-appearance in the next book. Other characters from The Olympians show up. Annabeth, especially, is quite important here. Yes, there is a "new generation" of demigods, but they’re still going to Camp Half Blood. Calling The Lost Hero Percy Jackson 6 would not really be too far off the mark.
Not that I’m complaining—much. And there are gonna be a gazillion breathlessly-waiting kids eating this one up. So more power to Mr. Riordan. It will be interesting to see whether this series, or Riordan’s other new franchise, The Kane Chronicles, gains more traction in the middle school market. I’m rooting for the Kane siblings, and thought The Red Pyramid was a far more original concept.
To be fair, there are definitely some new elements in The Lost Hero. Despite the singularity evoked in its titles, the novel features a trio of protagonists, and although the narration is always third-person, Riordan divides his focus equally between them, switching off every couple of chapters.
Percy Jackson, solo; Sadie and Carter Kane, duo; now a triad—Jason, Piper and Leo. They’re most emphatically new creations, and likeable ones. Jason and Piper are immediately portrayed as beautiful people, without Percy Jackson’s initial awkwardness. That’s even with Jason having lost his memory. Continuing to move toward more of a multicultural cast (the Kanes are African-American), Riordan enlists a Latino in Leo. Likewise, Piper is not only half god; she’s half Cherokee.
New god-fathers and god-mothers, too, of course.
The real novelty in The Heroes of Olympus is going to be Rome, and the Roman versions of the Greek gods. In The Lost Hero, Jason, Piper and Leo’s quest is to free Hera/Juno and defeat Porphyion and his brother giants, who might awaken their mum.
There’s another plot line, though. Percy Jackson is operating on some kind of parallel mission that will involve the denizens of Camp Half Blood coming to term with the Roman manifestations of their Olympian progenitors. It’s a mission that connects to Jason’s lack of recall.
Goodbye, Odysseus. Hello, Aeneas and the wolf brothers.
I’ll leave it a mystery as to how that begins to come about, and since I can't as yet know how it will play out, I'll be on the lookout for the next Heroes.
Recommended for fourth graders on up.
Rick Riordan claims that by moving on to The Heroes of Olympus, he has escaped "the easy sort of default thing," like writing "Percy Jackson 6, Percy Jackson 7, Percy Jackson 28." During the same Lost Hero release webcast, he griped that there are "too many series" that go on "way too long," where "the book quality suffers."
That seems a bit disingenuous. Okay, Percy Jackson doesn’t make an appearance in The Lost Hero. But his presence is pervasive—he’s off on a quest—and there are strong hints of a re-appearance in the next book. Other characters from The Olympians show up. Annabeth, especially, is quite important here. Yes, there is a "new generation" of demigods, but they’re still going to Camp Half Blood. Calling The Lost Hero Percy Jackson 6 would not really be too far off the mark.
Not that I’m complaining—much. And there are gonna be a gazillion breathlessly-waiting kids eating this one up. So more power to Mr. Riordan. It will be interesting to see whether this series, or Riordan’s other new franchise, The Kane Chronicles, gains more traction in the middle school market. I’m rooting for the Kane siblings, and thought The Red Pyramid was a far more original concept.
To be fair, there are definitely some new elements in The Lost Hero. Despite the singularity evoked in its titles, the novel features a trio of protagonists, and although the narration is always third-person, Riordan divides his focus equally between them, switching off every couple of chapters.
Percy Jackson, solo; Sadie and Carter Kane, duo; now a triad—Jason, Piper and Leo. They’re most emphatically new creations, and likeable ones. Jason and Piper are immediately portrayed as beautiful people, without Percy Jackson’s initial awkwardness. That’s even with Jason having lost his memory. Continuing to move toward more of a multicultural cast (the Kanes are African-American), Riordan enlists a Latino in Leo. Likewise, Piper is not only half god; she’s half Cherokee.
New god-fathers and god-mothers, too, of course.
The real novelty in The Heroes of Olympus is going to be Rome, and the Roman versions of the Greek gods. In The Lost Hero, Jason, Piper and Leo’s quest is to free Hera/Juno and defeat Porphyion and his brother giants, who might awaken their mum.
There’s another plot line, though. Percy Jackson is operating on some kind of parallel mission that will involve the denizens of Camp Half Blood coming to term with the Roman manifestations of their Olympian progenitors. It’s a mission that connects to Jason’s lack of recall.
Goodbye, Odysseus. Hello, Aeneas and the wolf brothers.
I’ll leave it a mystery as to how that begins to come about, and since I can't as yet know how it will play out, I'll be on the lookout for the next Heroes.
Recommended for fourth graders on up.
WORLD OF LEARNING: HOW TO MOTIVATE READERS
"Meeting Readers Where They Are: Mapping the intersection of research and practice" School Library Journal 11/1/10
This article in School Library Journal really delivers. Too bad that too many ignore these seven simple and practical ways to get kids reading—ways backed by evidence that shows they are effective.
First, Carol Gordon writes, children need structured opportunities to read what they want to read. In schools, this is the silent reading period. Yet the trend in schools is less and less silent reading.
Second, being able to discuss what you're reading with peers, in real or virtual time, motivates reading (just ask this Goodreads guy). But true sharing of literary experience is rare in schools. More often, kids begrudgingly read required books, answer study guide questions, and participate in teacher-led discussions because they have to.
Third, being able to choose what you read is another motivator. I've been big on the idea of choice for some time. Once school starts, though, kids forgo reading for themselves as they are burdened with reading for the curriculum. They start equating reading solely with duty, not interest.
Fourth, being able to choose what you read actually makes for better reading. In fact, it may be more effective that direct instruction. Most reading instruction uses mandated materials, however.
Fifth—this seems so obvious—having a wide range of reading material readily available leads to reading. Last summer, a study done at the University of Tennesssee indicated that just giving kids some books they chose for vacation led to "a significantly higher level of reading achievement." How often do schools and parents give kids books they want?
Sixth, kids need to read during summer to avoid the well-documented summer slump. Assigning a couple of obligatory novels often results in resentful kids who fake it.
Finally, Gordon comes down hard on the use of point systems. Although it's clear that prodigious readers read because they enjoy books, many schools turn to competitive programs to motivate young readers instead of helping them to find what they want to read.
This article in School Library Journal really delivers. Too bad that too many ignore these seven simple and practical ways to get kids reading—ways backed by evidence that shows they are effective.
First, Carol Gordon writes, children need structured opportunities to read what they want to read. In schools, this is the silent reading period. Yet the trend in schools is less and less silent reading.
Second, being able to discuss what you're reading with peers, in real or virtual time, motivates reading (just ask this Goodreads guy). But true sharing of literary experience is rare in schools. More often, kids begrudgingly read required books, answer study guide questions, and participate in teacher-led discussions because they have to.
Third, being able to choose what you read is another motivator. I've been big on the idea of choice for some time. Once school starts, though, kids forgo reading for themselves as they are burdened with reading for the curriculum. They start equating reading solely with duty, not interest.
Fourth, being able to choose what you read actually makes for better reading. In fact, it may be more effective that direct instruction. Most reading instruction uses mandated materials, however.
Fifth—this seems so obvious—having a wide range of reading material readily available leads to reading. Last summer, a study done at the University of Tennesssee indicated that just giving kids some books they chose for vacation led to "a significantly higher level of reading achievement." How often do schools and parents give kids books they want?
Sixth, kids need to read during summer to avoid the well-documented summer slump. Assigning a couple of obligatory novels often results in resentful kids who fake it.
Finally, Gordon comes down hard on the use of point systems. Although it's clear that prodigious readers read because they enjoy books, many schools turn to competitive programs to motivate young readers instead of helping them to find what they want to read.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
LARS'S LIBRARY: LITERARY LINKS: HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP
If the name Maurice Sendak only means wild things to you, check out the really offbeat Higglety Pigglety Pop.
LARS'S LIBRARY: MY REVIEW OF KATHRYN ERSKINE'S "MOCKINGBIRD"
MOCKINGBIRD. By Kathryn Erskine. Philomel Books, 2010. 235 pages.
Mockingbird is a valuable book if only because it has stirred things up a little in the kidlit world. Some of the point/counterpoint I’ve seen:
It should have just been about death. It should have just been about differences—a kid on the autism spectrum.
The first-person depiction of Asperger’s syndrome is inaccurate. The first-person depiction of Asperger’s is perfectly rendered.
The combination of school shooting, a death in the family, and developmental disorder is too depressing for a children’s book. A school shooting, a death in the family, and a developmental disorder are presented in a clear way for kids who are curious about these subjects.
It’s too cutesy. It’s quite touching.
Such divergent opinions about this nominee for the 2010 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature avoid the central issue: Was it a good story? Did you buy into the premise?
I’m going with a qualified yes. A little sappy, like any sweet story, with a resolution that’s maybe a little too pat, but still managed to bring tears to my eyes.
Caitlin, the first-person narrator, is diagnosed with Asperger’s. A fifth-grader mainstreamed into regular education in her suburban Virginia school, she lives with her lonely and distraught father.
Caitlin’s mother died when she was a baby, and her older brother Devon has since been her emotional mainstay. As ‘Mockingbird’ opens, Devon has been killed in the most random of ways—a school shooting by another student. In an author’s note, Erskine says the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy prompted her to write the novel.
Mockingbird’s plot—Caitlin’s quest to find closure—bears up under the pressure of weaving together these multiple and solemn strands, often with gentle humor.
Children on the autism spectrum can feel sadness and loss, as well as joy and belonging, just as deeply as ‘normal’ people do. Their expression of feeling can be fresh and unique, if only we can learn to draw it out and they can learn how to frame it.
Writing a novel is difficult for anyone, and getting inside someone else’s mind is impossible, so books like this and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time require a suspension of disbelief that can only be caused by story and language that ring true. Like Haddon, Erskine uses the character of Caitland to illuminate literal thinking, obsessive attention, and repetitive behavior in a believable way that is consistent with the criteria for pervasive developmental disorders.
Erskine’s own attention to realistic detail help the verisimilitude. Caitlin’s father is far from perfect, and somewhat overwhelmed with the responsibility of managing a kid with special needs at the same time as personal tragedy. He occasionally has to leave his daughter in the lurch by leaving the room, or in a touch I liked, turning on Fox news for its superficial analysis of the school shooting.
Other important characters, like Caitlin’s wise counselor, Mrs. Brook, and her younger playground friend, Michael, are equally complex.
And Erskine adds in a nice little literary fillip. As you might guess from the title, her book contains some allusions to Harper Lee’s classic.
Is it all too much for a middle school reader? I say let the middle school reader decide for himself. Some kids, quite naturally, have questions about arbitrary violence, mortality, and their more unusual peers, and might be looking for a novel that addresses these issues that they can easily read.
With the caveat of slightly-too-cutesy presentation and possibly-too-weighty subject matter for all readers, recommended for fourth graders on up.
Mockingbird is a valuable book if only because it has stirred things up a little in the kidlit world. Some of the point/counterpoint I’ve seen:
It should have just been about death. It should have just been about differences—a kid on the autism spectrum.
The first-person depiction of Asperger’s syndrome is inaccurate. The first-person depiction of Asperger’s is perfectly rendered.
The combination of school shooting, a death in the family, and developmental disorder is too depressing for a children’s book. A school shooting, a death in the family, and a developmental disorder are presented in a clear way for kids who are curious about these subjects.
It’s too cutesy. It’s quite touching.
Such divergent opinions about this nominee for the 2010 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature avoid the central issue: Was it a good story? Did you buy into the premise?
I’m going with a qualified yes. A little sappy, like any sweet story, with a resolution that’s maybe a little too pat, but still managed to bring tears to my eyes.
Caitlin, the first-person narrator, is diagnosed with Asperger’s. A fifth-grader mainstreamed into regular education in her suburban Virginia school, she lives with her lonely and distraught father.
Caitlin’s mother died when she was a baby, and her older brother Devon has since been her emotional mainstay. As ‘Mockingbird’ opens, Devon has been killed in the most random of ways—a school shooting by another student. In an author’s note, Erskine says the 2007 Virginia Tech tragedy prompted her to write the novel.
Mockingbird’s plot—Caitlin’s quest to find closure—bears up under the pressure of weaving together these multiple and solemn strands, often with gentle humor.
Children on the autism spectrum can feel sadness and loss, as well as joy and belonging, just as deeply as ‘normal’ people do. Their expression of feeling can be fresh and unique, if only we can learn to draw it out and they can learn how to frame it.
Writing a novel is difficult for anyone, and getting inside someone else’s mind is impossible, so books like this and Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time require a suspension of disbelief that can only be caused by story and language that ring true. Like Haddon, Erskine uses the character of Caitland to illuminate literal thinking, obsessive attention, and repetitive behavior in a believable way that is consistent with the criteria for pervasive developmental disorders.
Erskine’s own attention to realistic detail help the verisimilitude. Caitlin’s father is far from perfect, and somewhat overwhelmed with the responsibility of managing a kid with special needs at the same time as personal tragedy. He occasionally has to leave his daughter in the lurch by leaving the room, or in a touch I liked, turning on Fox news for its superficial analysis of the school shooting.
Other important characters, like Caitlin’s wise counselor, Mrs. Brook, and her younger playground friend, Michael, are equally complex.
And Erskine adds in a nice little literary fillip. As you might guess from the title, her book contains some allusions to Harper Lee’s classic.
Is it all too much for a middle school reader? I say let the middle school reader decide for himself. Some kids, quite naturally, have questions about arbitrary violence, mortality, and their more unusual peers, and might be looking for a novel that addresses these issues that they can easily read.
With the caveat of slightly-too-cutesy presentation and possibly-too-weighty subject matter for all readers, recommended for fourth graders on up.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
WORLD OF LEARNING: NEW RESEARCH
"Study of Babies's Brain Scans Sheds New Light on the Brain's Unconscious Activity and How It Develops" ScienceDaily 11-1-10
"Frontal Lobe of the Brain Is Key to Automatic Responses to Various Stimuli, Say Scientists" ScienceDaily 11-1-10
"Train the Brain: Using Nerofeedback to Treat ADHD" NPR 11-1-10
"Brain's Journey from Early Internet to Modern-Day Fiber Optics; Computer Program Shows How Brain's Complex Fiber Tracks Mature" ScienceDaily 10/29/10
"Frontal Lobe of the Brain Is Key to Automatic Responses to Various Stimuli, Say Scientists" ScienceDaily 11-1-10
"Train the Brain: Using Nerofeedback to Treat ADHD" NPR 11-1-10
"Brain's Journey from Early Internet to Modern-Day Fiber Optics; Computer Program Shows How Brain's Complex Fiber Tracks Mature" ScienceDaily 10/29/10
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