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Tag Archives: challenges
Failing Students in Middle School So They Can Be Successful
On Monday, I was talking with one of the middle school teachers in the city where I teach. I happened to mention one of my pet peeves—the fact that kids in middle school appear to get promoted to the next … Continue reading
Mnemonics As a Substitute For Understanding
There’s an insidious misconception that the ability to reliably get the right answer to a question must be evidence that the student thoroughly understands the topic. +4-4
An Argument Against Heterogeneous Grouping
In my experience, kids want to be in classes that move at their pace, including the low-level kids. +5-1
Combatting Cheating
At the beginning of the year, I choose a number between 0 and 1000 to two decimal places and write it on a piece of paper. I offer 100% on the first test to any student in the room who … Continue reading
How To Get Students to Pass Tests Without Knowing Anything
Last night in my adolescent psychology class, one of the other teachers was describing how he prepared his students for an upcoming test. His review covered two full class days, and it basically amounted to him giving his students all … Continue reading
Clinging to What We Think We Understand
Einstein once said Whether you can observe a thing or not depends on the theory which you use. It is the theory which decides what can be observed. +20
Frustrations With Teaching Science in the Current Educational Climate
This is a message I sent to my department head that outlines some of my frustrations with teaching science in the current educational climate. For my out-of-state readers, MCAS is the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System–a set of high-stakes tests that … Continue reading
Teaching Kids How to Read
Last fall, I took a graduate course called Reading in the Content Areas. The course dealt with various ways of improving students’ reading comprehension. The course made me realize that most students are never taught how to read anything other … Continue reading
Stoichiometry Test Redux
Yesterday in one of my classes, I spent a few minutes talking about the results of the test I described in this post. The two kids who stayed after school for three hours both scored in the 90s on the … Continue reading
A Modicum of Effort
The topic I just finished teaching (moles & stoichiometry) has given me a little more insight into the minds of high school sophomores. +4-4