Common Core Fears: Short Atlantic Reflections
From the article Suburbia and Its Common Core Conspiracy Theories: Many parents view the Common Core and the accompanying tests as a threat to their ability to keep their kids safe in a hostile world. Suburban parents, who are known for being particularly involved in their kids’ education and traditionally enjoy a good deal of influence […]
Keep an Open Mind
I value – be it in leadership, teaching, or simple day-to-day interactions – sympathy and empathy. Understanding others is a cornerstone of compassion. And, I believe, how we move our society forward bit by slow bit. This break carried quite a few conversations about race, society, and the police. I attend a church where blacks […]
Hold on, laptops may NOT be bad for learning
Around a month ago, a corner of my Twitterverse erupted with a study that indicated that laptops in the classroom discourage learning. Titled “The Pen is Mightier than the Keyboard“, one could easily conclude it best to have students close their screens and pick up a pencil if you wanted more retention in your sit and […]
Comparing Teachers to Doctors
Not that we’re trying to do the apples to apples thing here. But I do wish society would give a bit more credit to the cognitive and physical complexities of the profession. Why teachers have a tougher job than doctors: http://t.co/3E2Qfus8Xn pic.twitter.com/rn0C8amBQI — Vox (@voxdotcom) August 9, 2014
The Role of Chance in Outcomes
Are the successes in my life a result of ability (the quality I produce) or chance? NPR kicked off a story about the Mona Lisa. It’s a popular painting – the most popular painting. Each year thousands swarm the Louvre in Paris to get a glimpse of her enigmatic smile. The Mona Lisa is famous. But […]
The Probability of Being Replaced by a Robot
A new paper by by Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael A. Osborne (and reviewed on the Atlantic) takes a stab at assigning probability of professions being taken over by automation. Here’s the takeaway graph. Note education is given low probability. If, however, you are a library technician, you are screwed.