Monthly Archives: December 2018

personal best goals

New Research: Personal Best Goals (Might) Boost Learning

Some research-based suggestions for teaching require a lot of complex changes. (If you want to develop an interleaved syllabus, you’re going to need some time.) Others couldn’t be simpler to adopt. Here’s a suggestion from researchers Down Under: encourage your



Posted in L&B Blog | Tagged , | Leave a comment
AdobeStock_111782033_Credit

Bit by Bit, Putting It Together

Over at Teacherhead, Tom Sherrington has posted a form that teachers can use for lesson plans. He has put together different versions: one filled-in with explanations, another left blank for teachers to use, yet another for adapting and editing. The Bigger



Posted in L&B Blog | Tagged | Leave a comment
new learning habits

New Year, New Habits: More Learning!

When the school year starts back up in January, teachers would LOVE to use this fresh start for good. In particular, our students might have developed some counter-productive habits during the first half of the year. Wouldn’t it be great



Posted in L&B Blog | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Festive Holiday Present for You

We don’t focus a lot on seasonal cues here at the blog, but… Given that many of us are celebrating holidays about now, perhaps you’d like a present. (Trust me: it’s information every teacher wants…)  



Posted in L&B Blog | Leave a comment
AdobeStock_69438555_Credit

Escaping the “Inquiry vs. Direct Instruction” Debate

If you’d like to stir up a feisty argument at your next faculty meeting, lob out a casual observation about direct instruction. Almost certainly, you’ll hear impassioned champions (“only direct instruction leads to comprehension”) and detractors (“students must construct their



Posted in L&B Blog | Tagged , | Leave a comment
MWolfBook

Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf

How often do you read in a deep and sustained way fully immersed, even transformed, by entering another person’s world?  In her newest book, Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World,Maryanne Wolf cautions that, the way our



Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged | Leave a comment
teens and sleep

Unambiguously Good News about Teens and Sleep

You read that right. I mean: it’s really good news about teens and sleep. We all want adolescents to sleep more. Better said, we know that they need to sleep more. More sleep should benefit, say, their mental health, their physical



Posted in L&B Blog | Tagged , | Leave a comment
AdobeStock_151962569_Credit

Everything You Wanted to Know About Sleep, in 20 Minutes

Russell Foster is on the case…



Posted in L&B Blog | Tagged | Leave a comment
multitasking

When Multitasking Helps (And Why Teachers Should Discourage It Anyway)

We all know that multitasking is baaaaad. In fact, we all know that multitasking doesn’t happen. Instead, when we think we’re multitasking, we’re actually switching rapidly back and forth between two tasks. (Or, heaven help us, more than two tasks.)



Posted in L&B Blog | Tagged , | Leave a comment
AdobeStock_169457901 [Converted]_Credit

Brain Research in Translation

Science relies on skepticism, so let’s ask a skeptical question: “Does it really benefit teachers to understand brain research? Isn’t good teaching good teaching?” If you’re reading this blog, you doubtless already see the value that brain research offers teachers.



Posted in L&B Blog | Tagged , , | Leave a comment