A movie or novel starts in the moment when something is about to change for our protagonist.
This change is always brought on by some outside force. Dorothy, home and all, is spirited away to Oz, accidentally committing murder in the process. Gandalf shows up and disrupts Bilbo’s peaceful existence. Hagrid comes along and tells Harry he’s been a wizard all along. We’re in for a wild time.
Read MoreIs there a chance that you subscribe to the notion that children (and humans in general) are fundamentally wicked creatures who must be coerced into doing right?
Or might you believe that the only way to get yourself to do anything is to be browbeaten or shamed into it?
I have discovered that these attitudes are prevalent around me — so much so that people don’t even realize that they have them. They don’t even know that there is another way.
Read MoreWould you rather gain $20 or avoid losing $20?
Studies have shown that the relief of not losing $20 is greater than the satisfaction that we get from gaining $20 — or, put another way, that the pain of losing $20 is bigger than the satisfaction of gaining $20.
We humans tend to focus more on potential losses than potential gains. Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman were the first to note this phenomenon. They called it “loss aversion.” And if we’re not careful, it will rule us.
Read MoreChildren who have struggled with reading often rush through it.
When reading aloud, they push themselves to get through the words as quickly as possible, giving each word equal weight.
Perhaps, after a history of being self-conscious about their slow decoding, they are trying to make up for lost time.
Ironically, they will find themselves stumbling more, not less. That’s because they are ignoring the natural pauses offered by commas and periods. If they slow down and focus on meaning, they will actually read more smoothly. When you see language in phrases instead of words, more emphasis is given to the important words, and the less important words will flow naturally. The overall effect will be “faster.”
Read MoreThe “real world” rhetoric among teachers is relentless.
It’s not all teachers — in fact, there’s an increasing number of teachers who have a more nuanced view. But the prevailing story goes like this:
“If I don’t take points off for late work/give zeros for missing homework/point out every error, how will my student make it in the real world, where bosses aren’t forgiving and deadlines are strict? I have to teach them to follow through on their responsibilities.”
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