This is Part 3 of an interview series with Barry Garelick and J.R. Wilson about Traditional Math: An Effective Strategy that Teachers Feel Guilty Using. You can read Parts 1 & 2, and the rest of the saga as it comes out, here. Q3: How does a traditional approach to math teaching offer opportunities for … Continue reading What is Traditional Math? Part 3
What is Traditional Math? Part 2
Over the next few blogs, I will be interviewing Barry Garelick and J.R. Wilson about their new book, Traditional Math: An Effective Strategy that Teachers Feel Guilty Using. You can read Part 1 and the rest of the saga as it comes out, here. Q2: I can picture students becoming very fluent with the procedures, … Continue reading What is Traditional Math? Part 2
S2E25: Pamela Snow on Early Language and Literacy Skills
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, I am joined by Dr. Pamela Snow. Dr. Snow is a professor of cognitive psychology at the School of Education at La Trobe University in Melbourne, and an absolute legend of the Science of Language and Reading. Subscribe to this podcast on…SpotifyGoogle PodcastsApple PodcastsWordPress One of the most contentious … Continue reading S2E25: Pamela Snow on Early Language and Literacy Skills
What is Traditional Math? Part 1
In this special blog series, I will be interviewing Barry Garelick and J.R. Wilson about their new book, Traditional Math: An Effective Strategy that Teachers Feel Guilty Using. You can catch the whole saga, here. https://twitter.com/MrZachG/status/1632463582322626563?s=20 Let’s dive right in, shall we? Q1: Can you tell me what you mean by “Traditional Math”? J.R./Barry: First, … Continue reading What is Traditional Math? Part 1
S2E19: Daniel Bundred on Tackling Behavior in Tricky Schools
In this episode of Progressively Incorrect, we will continue our journey through the education debates by chatting with Daniel Bundred about behavior, specifically on how to turn around a school that struggles to manage it. Subscribe to this podcast on…SpotifyGoogle PodcastsApple PodcastsWordPress I think this episode is a fantastic example of how networking and social … Continue reading S2E19: Daniel Bundred on Tackling Behavior in Tricky Schools
PBL or Direct/Explicit Instruction: What Works?
I was recently invited to debate the merits of direct instruction and project-based learning with Drew Perkins on the TeachThought podcast. It was fun being back on the other side of the interview table after hosting so many consecutive episodes of Progressively Incorrect. There are a couple of tweaks I would make to my "performance" … Continue reading PBL or Direct/Explicit Instruction: What Works?
Dead Ends from the Explicit Teaching vs. Inquiry-Based Learning Debate
I've learned a lot from engaging in the "teaching wars" that pit teacher-led explicit teaching approaches against student-led inquiry (IBL) and discovery (DL) approaches. I even created a podcast to explore these ideas with other teachers and researchers. Recently, however, I've noticed that the conversation tends to circle around the same territories, often leading to … Continue reading Dead Ends from the Explicit Teaching vs. Inquiry-Based Learning Debate
Can Students Really Self-Differentiate?
Take a look at the screenshot below. It shows a learning activity containing a menu with two choices. Clicking the right button leads to a problem that the student must solve, and clicking the left button leads to an example that shows the student how to solve that sort of problem. This activity is one … Continue reading Can Students Really Self-Differentiate?
Instructional Videos: Perfect for Learning Styles, Popular with Students, and THE FUTURE of Education!
Last week I attended a government-sponsored training on instructional video that began with three weird reasons for why teachers should use more instructional video: Instructional videos cater to students' learning stylesInstructional videos are more popular with students (i.e., they like them) than alternative methodsInstructional videos are the future of learning I'm sure fans of this … Continue reading Instructional Videos: Perfect for Learning Styles, Popular with Students, and THE FUTURE of Education!
Can a Theory Improve Your Teaching?
If much of what we learned in teacher training was not very useful once we got to the classroom, and if some theories we were taught, like learning styles, were just plain false, it's tempting to conclude that theory has little to offer the busy teacher. Having used cognitive load theory to streamline my teaching, I can't agree.
Education Rickshaw 