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90% of teachers support cellphone bans
Ninety percent of teachers in a NEA survey want their schools to ban cellphones in class, and 83 percent back all-day bans.

Joanne Jacobs
Sep 3, 20242 min read


Discovering math: How do you know 75% is more than 50%?
I remember when "the new math" was new. It was supposed to teach kids to understand math, not just go through the motions. I'd just...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 29, 20242 min read


The solution to apathy is to help students learn
Learning is motivating , writes math teacher Dylan Kane on Five Twelve Thirteen. Many schools are modifying the curriculum to cater to...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 29, 20241 min read


Who's the best teacher? 'Good with kids' trumps knowing the subject
Principals prefer "engaging" teachers over those who are good at instruction but not classroom management.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 26, 20242 min read


Let teachers learn from teachers -- not ed profs -- in the classroom
Education schools are doing a poor job preparing new teachers for K-12 classrooms, writes Beanie Geoghegan of Freedom in Education in...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 26, 20241 min read


It's great if kids like math, but can they do math?
K-8 students will "manipulate shapes, animals and algebraic formulas to build foundational understanding of math" on a new math platform...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 20, 20242 min read


When high school students can't read
Angie Hackman teaches chemistry -- and reading, reports Hechinger's Julian Roberts-Grmela. Every teacher at Health Sciences High and...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 19, 20242 min read


Teaching the election: It's not a crusade
Social studies teachers are eager to discuss the election -- students might actually care! -- but also very nervous about...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 14, 20243 min read


Back to school? It's August!
Most U.S. students will be back in class tomorrow -- it's mid-August! -- and only 15 percent will start the school year after Labor Day. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 11, 20241 min read


'Mad minutes' don't cause math anxiety -- and kids learn more
New research shows timed math tests don't worsen math anxiety.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 9, 20242 min read


Walz boosted school $, but added costly mandates: Tampons aren't free
For a former teacher, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz doesn't seem very interested in education.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 8, 20242 min read


Special ed labeling, spending soar -- but it doesn't seem to help students
Spending more on special ed doesn't lead to better outcomes. Teaching reading well does.

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 7, 20242 min read


'Locking in' learning loss: Math grades didn't return to pre-pandemic normal
Grade inflation soared when learning went remote, writes Amber Northern. Lax requirements to turn in work, fewer graded assignments, and...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 6, 20241 min read


Only the education-rich can afford laissez-faire schools
Monogamy is "outdated," Troubled author Rob Henderson's Yale classmate told him. She's been raised in a stable, two-parent family and...

Joanne Jacobs
Aug 1, 20242 min read


Harris thrills teachers' union, sticks to progressive orthodoxy
"God knows, we don't pay you enough," Kamala Harris told teachers at the American Federation of Teachers convention in Houston. That went...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 26, 20242 min read


Teachers' unions are soft on student behavior: Is this what teachers want?
Teachers' unions want "all the things," said National Education President Becky Pringle at the annual convention. Why isn't one of those...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 15, 20242 min read


'Learn to joke,' say teens who faked teacher TikToks with sex, pedophilia
Middle school is the worst. Kids hit puberty and turn deeply stupid for a few years before they learn to handle it. Even so, the seventh...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 7, 20242 min read


Teachers don't have time to be therapists, cops, nurses and social workers
“Students who are habitually ungovernable should be removed from teachers’ classrooms so teachers can actually teach and students can...

Joanne Jacobs
Jul 1, 20242 min read


It takes a teacher: Many students won't 'discover' science on their own
You'd think that science educators would "follow the science" about what works for students, writes Holly Korbey on The Bell Ringer. But...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 25, 20242 min read


Arkansas raised teacher pay, but some are unhappy
Arkansas raised teacher pay statewide -- a lot -- but some teachers aren't happy, writes Ariel Gilreath on the Hechinger Report. "Because...

Joanne Jacobs
Jun 24, 20241 min read
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