In my quest to enlighten myself as to the true contents of the studies cited by Robert Marzano, et. al. in Classroom Instruction that Works, a course of action suggested not only by Marzano’s detractor Alfie Kohn, but by Marzano himself, I found an article entitled “Synthesis of Research on Homework” in Educational Leadership written…
As I promised earlier, I am reading the studies cited by Robert Marzano Classroom Instruction that Works. The first study I picked up is “The Effects of Homework on Learning: A Quantitative Synthesis” from Journal of Educational Research, November/December 1984 (full citation at end of this post). Alfie Kohn’s claim in his rebuttal of my…
In my ten years of composition instruction, I have developed a set of pet peeves associated with the body of student writing I have read. Any of my students reading this should keep in mind that I do not direct this at any particular student — this list is a synthesis of common writing errors…
I don’t write about my children much here, and it is probable that most of my readers don’t know I have two children who have autism-spectrum disorders. Psychological testing done by Maggie’s school indicates she has Asperger’s Syndrome, which many people describe as a high-functioning form of autism. I don’t have any evidence to support…
Folks who have been long-time readers of this blog (see Shakespeare With the Lost Boys) know I like the Lost Boys, a “Renaissance rock” group who perform annually at the Georgia Renaissance Festival (and others). Annually, that is, until this year. This popular act has inexplicably not been invited to perform at this year’s faire,…
Who knew, right? My argument against banning homework was, surprisingly, a lightning rod for controversy. However, it’s a useful and important conversation to have. You can read Alfie Kohn’s response to my argument. I really hope, in light of some allegations Kohn made, that some effort to include Robert Marzano in the conversation is made….
The Southern Association of Colleges and School (SACS), the chief accreditation agency here in Georgia, is recommending that Clayton County Schools lose its accreditation. The AJC article linked focuses on the fact that loss of accreditation would strip Clayton students of HOPE Scholarship eligibility. At any rate, the real losers in this system are the…
In a recent post, I discussed three cultural markers that have made teaching more difficult for those of us who teach today than it was for our own teachers. However, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out the ways in which teaching is a lot easier for us today than it was for…
Today was a professional development day, and we had an interesting guest speaker on the topic of discipline. I wanted to share part of what he discussed today with edubloggers in hopes that we can contribute to the dialogue. Do you think teaching is harder today than it was for your teachers when you were…
You may recall I am reading Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat for an online PLU course. In chapter six, he describes the kinds of people who will be “untouchable,” that is their jobs will be safe in the flat world. I admit to thinking that teaching is one of those “untouchable” jobs. However, I…
