Article on American Thinker  explains why "close reading" is a misguided pedagogy.

If you are suspicious that Common Core contains lots of nasty little surprises, you will find confirmation.

The weird central premise of Close Reading is that children should read the same thing over and over again. Teachers are supposed to pick a small passage; then the kids…

Managing Time and Priorities with Savvy and Wisdom

In this thoughtful Chronicle of Higher Education article, Allison Vaillancourt (University of Arizona/Tucson) writes about some of the time-allocation choices she’s had to make during her academic career: “Do I meet with the student who is struggling, or the one who shows great promise? Should I make an appearance at the often-pointless department meeting, or should I use that time to finish my…

Fewer, Better Tests Can Boost Student Achievement

Ed Week

Both Democrats and Republicans have submitted proposals to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary…

Opinion: More students are actually making the cut

Originally published: October 4, 2013 7:16 PM

Updated: October 6, 2013 9:52 PM

By WILLIAM H. JOHNSON. AND CAROL BURRIS

Photo credit: Newsday/Audrey C. Tiernan | An eighth grade student with a New York State English Language Arts test booklet. Photo was taken…

http://www.teacherstechworkshop.com/2013/10/amazing-map-of-most-visited-website-per.html

Flipped Friday

I was reading about the Chappaqua Children's Book Festival and read this reference to the Summer Reading Round-Up that I wrote for the July issue of Parenting magazine.  Surreal!



Happy reading,

Christine…

Getting Students to Take On Seemingly Impossible Challenges

(Originally titled “I Can Climb the Mountain”)

In this Educational Leadership article, former New York City educator Maddie Witter describes how a 17-year-old incarcerated youth exploded when his teacher asked him to read in class. He had dropped out of school after numerous expulsions and had spent most of the last two years on the streets. 

The…

Here is my annual update:

http://www.free-press-release.com/news-k-12-education-reform-starts-here-1380753376.html

 For those not familiar with the site, my emphasis is on identifying and explaining the worst theories and methods used in the public schools. Generally speaking, I don't know if there are any good ideas in the public schools. It is as if some of…

100 Best Children's Books of the Past 100 Years

“We Tried Advisory and It Didn’t Work”

(Originally titled “Designing Advisories for Resilience”)

In this Educational Leadership article, consultants Jeffrey Benson and Rachel Poliner describe their work with a number of secondary schools that have had difficulty implementing advisories and list the elements they believe are essential to success:

• The advisor’s role – The purpose of advisories is…