Teach And Learn

Lee Marek at Moto

The Chicago Tribune took Letterman's science wizard and Chicago local Lee Marek out to dinner at Moto to analyze chef Cantu's creations. Sure hope they picked up the tab!

America's Best Leaders

Two people who really have inspired me have rightly earned US News's America's Best Leaders award. Bob Moses, of the Algebra Project, advocates makes mathematical knowledge a civil right. Wendy Kopp's Teach For America just keeps getting better and better. Congrats to both!

No Test Tubes?

Chicago's Laboratory Chicago 2020 addressed the issue this New York Times piece raises about virtual science classes, as did America's Lab Report. There's certainly some good models about how to do this well, but some terrible ones as well.

Nobel Prizes 2006

This Los Angeles Times article highlights some of the inequities in our educational system, noting that in the American sweep of the science Nobel prizes this year, there's still many students in the USA who don't get the same sort of chance. I haven't heard the same sort of buzz emerging from this year's prizes as the article claims, but it's an important argument. The inequities within our educational system are staggering...

Hip Hop Physics?

This Washington Post story describes a team of Howard University students who perform hip hop physics shows at local schools. Probably not what's needed to make science cool for the kids.

I'll stick to that new Jay-Z track anyhow.

Northwestern Lab Explosion

This news story from the Chicago Sun Times about a laboratory explosion at Northwestern University reminded me how important laboratory safety issues are, and how far we need to go in CPS to establish strong policies and mechanisms to ensure safety in our science classrooms

Boys And Girls In America

I've been digging the new Hold Steady record, Boys And Girls In America. In Sunday's New York Times, there's a full-page article about their vision of kids and our country, and includes a piece about a Littleton, CO teacher who's used their music in his English class. (That's exactly the think I'd fund via DonorsChoose, if there was such an opportunity--take that, Russo!)

The music is about kids these days, with all their drama and cluelessness, but presented in a way that's both humorous and honoring--lead singer Craig Finn is always respectful, even if his advice is along the lines of "let your boyfriend deal with the dealers." The sex and drugs--and they're all over this record--are presented not to be glorified but as a key part of kids's reality. That student in the back row there? He doesn't care about Newton's Laws or the Catcher In The Rye, but the girls who will be at Friday's party.

And as an educator, I'm struck by this perspective and the respectfulness with which it's brought. It took me several years in the classroom to realize that a key differential between good teachers and great ones is a deep respect for their students on a level that sees their immaturity and desperation for exactly what it is. Great teachers provide help and support without making students fit a particular model or mindset or peculiarly adult vision of who they should be. The Hold Steady are clearly older than the kids they sing about, but their stories have exactly the sort of observant details and underlying respect that great teachers do.

E. D. Hirsch Interview

I have never quite bought into the left-wing attacks on E. D. Hirsch, and after reading this interview with him at Education Sector, I'm even more impressed with him. (He votes for Dems!) Sadly, the sense that content and curriculum matter is a perspective that has get to gain much traction within the education establishment, and Hirsch is as articulate as anyone in advocating.

For those who've written him off, it's certainly worth reading the interview.

Scientists And Educators For America

I just found out about Scientists and Engineers For America (SEFORA), a new PAC "dedicated to electing public officials who respect evidence and understand the importance of using scientific and engineering advice in making public policy." There's even a New York Times article already.

It's great to see even part of the scientific community get organizied to work within the political system for change.

NAS on K-8 Science

The National Academies Board On Science Education study on K-8 science (Taking Science To School: Learning And Teaching Science In Grades K-8) was released this past week. It's a strong document, and a nice summary of the current thinking in the field. The big ideas--that we should focus on big ideas, not the current standards, that open-ended inquiry doesn't work without some direct instruction, and that current materials don't do a very good job of identifying the misconceptions and nïeve ideas that students bring to science classrooms--are all very relevant to reform efforts these days.

I wish there was more information about the questions of scalability and how to pull these changes off. I think the systems thinking, leadership, and organizational change are incredibly important in this regard.

The Washington Post version of the story is here, and provides a strong summary.