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The fact is that real learning often can’t be quantified, and a corporate-style preoccupation with “data” turns schooling into something shallow and lifeless.  Ideally, attention to learning signifies an effort to capture how each student makes sense of the world so we can meet them where they are.  “Teaching,” as Deborah Meier reminded us, “is mostly listening.”  (It’s the learners, she added, who should be doing most of the “telling,” based on how they grapple with an engaging curriculum.)  Imagine how American classrooms would be turned inside out if we ever really put that wisdom into action.

The fact is that real learning often can’t be quantified, and a corporate-style preoccupation with “data” turns schooling into something shallow and lifeless.  Ideally, attention to learning signifies an effort to capture how each student makes sense of the world so we can meet them where they are.  “Teaching,” as Deborah Meier reminded us, “is mostly listening.”  (It’s the learners, she added, who should be doing most of the “telling,” based on how they grapple with an engaging curriculum.)  Imagine how American classrooms would be turned inside out if we ever really put that wisdom into action.

What you really want to measure is curiosity, imagination, passion, creativity, and the ability to see things from multiple points of view.

I believe that we get into trouble when knowing becomes a surrogate for learning. We know that a vast recall of facts about something is in no way a measure of understanding them.

The gods must be crazy

Strategy 1: Teach to Developmental Needs

competence and achievement; opportunities for self-definition; creative expression; physical activity; positive social interactions with adults and peers; structure and clear limits; and meaningful participation in family, school, and community.

physical movement. It’s not enough for tweens to move between classes every 50 minutes (or every 80 minutes on a block schedule)

So instead of focusing on skill development alone, we considered engagement.

real readers find pockets of time during the day in which to squeeze some reading, known in her classes as “reading emergencies.” Highly portable digital devices make it much easier to exploit these pockets of time.

responses to their reading on Kidblog.