I’ve been a parent for 13 years. I’ve written about education and childhood development for nearly half that long. And because I make it my business to learn about how kids learn, I’ve read a small library’s worth of everything from mainstream parenting books to research papers on childhood neurological development.
With of all of this reading and writing about children and learning, I’ve assumed I am something of an authority on the topic. Then I read Benedict Carey’s recent New York Times‘ article about good study habits and the “sketchy educational research” that have led so many parents astray.
Yikes. Suddenly, what I thought were some indisputable truths about learning, well, aren’t. Here are just a few myth-busting findings on studying that blow conventional wisdom out of the water:
- Assign kids one calm, quiet study space to do homework. Car
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Ly (pronounced LEE) was in the lunchroom for what he calls “the riot.” Days later, he was followed home from school and punched in the face on his front stoop.
He had arrived from Vietnam two years earlier, speaking nearly no English, the son of poor, uneducated parents. He thought America would be like the Hannah Montana TV episodes he had watched in Vietnam. What he found was closer to The Wire. So he kept his head down, sought silent refuge among his countrymen and tried to make his way through the broken system.
Dec. 3 was a turning point. He realized the system must change — and that he and his fellow immigrants were the ones to make that happen.
Their method? Guided by local activists, and despite reservations from some parents, about 50 Asian students boycotted school for a week.
“Before, I was timid. I didn’t really want to get myself into trouble,” says Ly, 18. Then he realized, “If everybody’s silent, nobody speaks up, the problem keeps going on without being resolved. I
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Author’s Note: I’ve re-posted this article for your perusal as I am on vacation.
Big projects, like term papers or dissertations or what have you, really freak people out. Sometimes I try to give other people advice about getting s**t done. They never appreciate hearing my exquisitely condensed single line of wisdom, so sharp it sings out like a band of angels with knives: Sit down and get to work (dumbass).
If they’re unappreciative a**holes about it, I shrug and walk away. Their big dumb project is their big dumb problem, not mine. But if they’re all quietly sad and hopeless and ask for some expansion on my awesome advice, I will relent and add one shred more: Set a timer for an hour or thirty minutes or whatever you think you can handle without losing your s**t. Sit down and work on the project until the timer goes off. Take a short break, and repeat.
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Some big name winners of Investing in Innovation Fund grants are still logging long hours, trying to secure their required 20 percent match before the Sept. 8 deadline (that’s next Wednesday for those keeping score.)
So just how big are these big names still working the phones?
The Success for All Foundation, which is based in Baltimore and got the highest score among four “Scale Up” winners who are in line for grants of about $50 million, is still working the phones. Robert Slavin, the executive director, told me he thinks the grant will come through but it will come “down to the wire.” And even the folks at the KIPP Foundation say they’ve been working round-the-clock, although they also expect to meet the deadline. (You can read more about it in this story.)
Lots of folks expected that the i3 donor registry, which was set up to help donors secure their match, would come through for them. And in many cases, it just didn’t happen.
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Back before the Race to the Top Round One winners were announced, I wondered whether the Education Department would select winners from states with influential members of Congress, who might be able to help U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan move his agenda.
Of course, the selection process was set up in a way intended to assure that political influence was not a factor in determining who actually won—no state got extra points for being the home of a powerful member of Congress.
But politics could be part of the fallout, including the question of whether the Race to the Top program gets extended for another year and ultimately is authorized under the new version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. (There’s money in two spending bills right now for it to continue for another year.)
In Round One, the winning states also happened to be home to two key Republicans in Congress, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, and Rep. M
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Oh, it’s coming. Denying it won’t help you. Fall Term is starting up soon whether you’re ready or not. When the first week of classes have been attended and while you’re still focusing on first chapters, small quizzes, tolerable assignments, and the finer points on your professors’ syllabi, at the very least please skim this: How to Study: A Brief Guide. Learning how to learn is, how do you say, crucial, of the essence, invaluable, indispensable and totally effing necessary.
(take notes)
A student from Nikki Rowe High School turned to Action 4 News after his teacher allegedly assaulted him because of having an iPod in class.
“He hit me right here,” said Jonathon David Aguilar as he pointed to his right cheek. Jonathon is a student at Nikki Rowe in McAllen.
He said the incident started after another teacher told him to turn off his iPod.
“You know, it takes time,” Aguilar explained. “He was like hurry up and I was like okay I’m doing it.”
Aguilar claimed the teacher started calling him a punk and wanted him to go to the office.
When Aguilar refused, he claimed the teacher started manhandling him.
“He tried grabbing me again and I threw his hand off of me,” said Aguilar. “I told him that I didn’t like to be touched. All of a sudden he pushed me and I fell against the wall and hit my head. While in the process of getting up he punched me in the mouth.”
Aguilar said that is when he stood up to defend himself, but police stopped him. Aguilar was arres
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