A closeup view looking along a post-an-rail fence on a prairie of brown and green

Getting Bossy about Jigsaws; “Don’t Fence Us In”

Back in February, I wrote about the “Jigsaw method” of teaching. In this strategy, teachers…

anxious

Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

From the author of The Coddling of the American Mind, The Righteous Mind, and The…

A young student sits at a desk with her hands covering her eyes; a sympathetic teacher stands next to her with his hand on her shoulder

Updating the Great Cold-Call Debate: Does Gender Matter?

Edu-Twitter predictably cycles through a number of debates; in recent weeks, the Great Cold-Call Debate…

Close up of student with head down on a wooden desk, hair covering his or her face. Other students are working out of focus in the background.

Can students “catch” attention? Introducing “Attention Contagion”

Every teacher knows: students won’t learn much if they don’t pay attention. How can we…

A futuristic drawing of two heads facing each other, with dramatic lines showing extensive and expansive thinking

Should Teachers Be Excited about “Neural Synchrony”?

This blog — and this company — exist to give good advice to everyone who…

An actor, presumably playing Hamlet, holding up a skull while standing against an all-black background

Improving Multiple-Choice Questions: A Thought-Provoking Pause

Many teachers carry strong ambivalence about multiple-choice questions (handy abbreviation: MCQs). On the one hand,…

brightmind

Insight into a Bright Mind by Nicole Tetreault

Insight into a Bright Mind: A Neuroscientist’s Personal Stories of Unique Thinking is a profoundly…

Middle schooler wearing headphones and doing work in front of her laptop at a desk

Just In Case: Improving Online Learning

We teachers benefit A LOT from research-based guidance, but we do have to acknowledge a few…

A colorful bar graph, showing 20%, 40%, 60%,etc.

Graphic Disorganizers; or, When Should Teachers Decorate Handouts?

Teachers regularly face competing goals. For instance: On the one hand — obviously — we…

A serious-looking college student examining her phone

To Insta or Not to Insta: That Is the Memory...

Here in the US, we’re having something of a national debate about the benefits/harms of…