Monthly Archives: May 2023

A chess board seen from an angle, with red arrows showing how pieces might move in different combinations

Should Teachers Explain or Demonstrate?

If I were a chess teacher, I would want my newbies to understand … … how a bishop moves, … how castling works, … what checkmate means. To help them understand, I could… … show them (“see how this piece



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Book Cover for Adam Boxer's Teaching Secondary Science: A copmlete guide.

Book Review: Teaching Secondary Science, by Adam Boxer

Let’s start by making this simple: First: You should absolutely buy Adam Boxer’s Teaching Secondary Science: A Complete Guide. Sooner is better than later. Second: You will probably not READ Boxer’s book so much as you will STUDY it. Have a



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Outsmart Your Brain by Daniel Willingham

Aligning with my work in this area, Daniel Willingham’s influential insights have greatly contributed to the field of neuroscience and education. His critique of learning styles and debunking of common learning myths and neuromyths have been pivotal. His critique of



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Outline drawing of female student drawing

The Potential Benefits of Doodling and Chatting

This post will cover two topics simultaneously. First, I’m going to describe recent research into the benefits (?) of doodling. Second, I’m going to use a cool new artificial intelligence thingy to explore that research. I found both fascinating; perhaps



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Headshot of Dr. Morgan Polikoff, smiling at the camera

Have I Been Spectacularly Wrong for Years? Part 1

Over the years, I’ve used this blog to make several persistent arguments. One of those arguments features in almost every post I write: context always matters. That is: research might suggest that a particular classroom strategy works well. However, teachers



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