Student Guide Corner

Quick note:    This teaching blog went over 95,600 page views yesterday.    Thanks a million (and a half) to everyone who has mentioned these random writings to someone else who teaches.    I�m convinced that people throughout the world of education really do want to have conversations about better teaching just so they can bat some ideas around.     Sometimes, though, it is hard to get those conversations started.    Perhaps something that is written here can serve as a conversation starter.    College education gets beaten up a lot these days in the news.    I�m convinced that more conversations among teachers would be a good way to start solving some of those problems. And, in case you wondered, a total of 95,600 page views is roughly the equivalent of one page view every 21 minutes, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for the past 3.6 years.    Hopefully, that translates into a whole lot of better teaching...

Before I get started today, I wanted to pass along a link to a great article (sent to me recently by a friend) titled �Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results�:      http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304213904579095303368899132.html There was a lot that I loved about this article but here are two great observations: �An entire industry of books and consultants has grown up that capitalizes on our collective fear that American education is inadequate and asks what American educators are doing wrong.    I would ask a different question. What did Mr. K (a teacher that he profiles) do right? What can we learn from a teacher whose methods fly in the face of everything we think we know about education today, but who was undeniably effective?� �Studies have now shown, among other things, the benefits of moderate childhood stress; how praise kills kids' self-esteem; and why grit is a better predictor of success than SAT scores.� Read it � I�ll bet you�l...