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Why kids need to know 3 x 9 = 27
The ninth-grader needed to multiple 3 x 9 to answer an algebra problem. She didn't have a calculator, and I wouldn't let her go look for...

Joanne Jacobs
May 9, 20232 min read


Math wars: What does the 'science of math' say about what works?
Jayden can't read a simple story problem. Mia can't subtract, if she knew that she should be subtracting. Peyton could no more find a...

Joanne Jacobs
May 9, 20232 min read


Educating citizens: We can do better, but will we?
"The new National Assessment of Educational Progress civics and history results are as deplorable as they were predictable," writes...

Joanne Jacobs
May 4, 20232 min read


AI can be an equalizer
Educators can personalize teaching and equalize education opportunities, if they learn how to use artificial intelligence intelligently,...

Joanne Jacobs
May 2, 20232 min read


Gates: AI bots will teach reading, writing -- soon
AI chatbots will be teaching reading and writing in 18 months, predicts Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Artificial intelligence will be...

Joanne Jacobs
May 2, 20231 min read


'Our nation's children are all our children'
"There's no such thing as someone else's child," said President Joe Biden in honoring the new Teacher of the Year, an Oklahoma math...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 27, 20232 min read


Knowledge isn't just for Republicans
Teaching knowledge is not just for Republicans or conservatives, writes Natalie Wexler on Minding the Gap. Anyone who values equity...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 26, 20232 min read


Without the jargon, 'social-emotional learning' means ...
Social-emotional learning means "teaching kids to be nice to one another and to be nice to themselves," Liz Mikitarian, a retired...

Joanne Jacobs
Apr 4, 20233 min read


All children can learn -- but how much?
Not all education problems are solvable, if we just try hard enough or spend enough, argues Freddie DeBoer in a column on optimism bias. ...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 23, 20232 min read


If you have to think about 3x = 18 . . .
Thinking about everything is hard, writes Greg Ashman, author of Cognitive Load Theory, on Filling the Pail. It exhausts students'...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 21, 20232 min read


Why even kids who like to read hate English class
English teachers are teaching kids to hate reading, writes Pamela Paul, a New York Times op-ed columnist, in response to Nathan Heller's...

Joanne Jacobs
Mar 14, 20232 min read


Seeking the 'science of math' teaching
Basing early literacy teaching on evidence of what works -- the "science of reading" -- has taken off in the last 10 years. Teachers are...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 27, 20232 min read


Teach civics -- not activism
"Fixating on activism misses the point of civics education," write Frederick M. Hess, a former civics teacher now education policy...

Joanne Jacobs
Feb 3, 20232 min read


Teacher: Students are learning they don't need to show up or do the work
No-consequences attendance policies have encouraged students to skip class, teacher Loren Green told the Albany, New York school board....

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 30, 20232 min read


The sound of stupid
The Sound of Music is not the Nazi-glorifying Triumph of the Will, nor is it the Nazi-spoofing Springtime for Hitler. But it does have...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 29, 20232 min read


When the best paper in the class was written by a bot
Professors are changing the way they assess students to make it harder for students to use artificial intelligence to generate essays,...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 18, 20231 min read


Tolerating misbehavior undercuts learning
A six-year-old boy shot and nearly killed his first-grade teacher at a Newport News, Virginia school last week. The teacher was...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 11, 20232 min read


Teaching with AI: Can the bot be a useful tool?
ChatGPT can be a powerful teaching tool, argues Ben Talsma, who helps teachers use technology, on Chalkbeat. A learning specialist for...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 10, 20232 min read


NYC schools ban ChatGPT
Is it real or is it artificial intelligence? ChatGPT, the new AI chatbot that"generates stunningly cogent and lifelike writing" has been ...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 10, 20231 min read


NAACP pushes for literacy reform: Teach our kids to read
Black leaders have transformed reading instruction in northern Virginia, reports Sarah Carr in the Washington Post. The Fairfax County...

Joanne Jacobs
Jan 3, 20233 min read
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