JEREMY Y WANG

Interesting research on how music changes the brain, with implications for stroke patients and people with dyslexia.

If you've never seen an amazing teacher in action, you need to check this out.

Doug Lemov, the founder of Uncommon Schools, talks you through the techniques used by teachers in different classrooms to achieve learning.

I'm wondering how to characterize these techniques... On the surface, they are classroom management techniques - how to get kids to listen, how to move them from one area of the class to another, how to call on kids, how to keep them on their toes. But on a deeper level, these are techniques that took teachers a lot of trial-and-error to figure out. It takes knowledge and experience working with students as well as content knowledge to develop, execute, and know why these techniques works so well.

That said, I'm not sure how well a brand-spanking-new teacher would be able to apply these techniques in their classroom. Yes, these techniques look simple enough, but they require time to develop, intensive practice with students, and persistence and consistency on behalf of the teacher to work.

So, while these are good models for how to teach, don't be tricked into thinking that just anyone can pick them up and implement them tomorrow.

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� Family Income Matters Most in Early Years, Study Says | Main | Learning Gains Found at a Massachusetts KIPP School �

President Obama Reveals His Picks for IES Board

By Debra Viadero on February 25, 2010 9:29 AM --> | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks

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President Obama on Tuesday announced his picks to fill some long-empty seats on the National Board for Education Sciences.

And, as they say at the Oscars, the nominees are:
Deborah Loewenberg Ball, dean of the education school at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; Adam Gamoran, a professor of sociology and educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research; Bridget Terry Long, professor of education and economics at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education; and Margaret R. (Peggy) McLeod, executive director of student services and special education in the Alexandria City Public Schools in Virginia.

These selections are long overdue. Created to advise the federal Institute of Education Sciences on education research matters, the 15-member board has been hobbling along with six members for nearly a year and even had to postpone one meeting for lack of a quorum. But the wait isn't yet over. The nominations have yet to be approved by Congress.

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Full disclosure: This is a story of interest to me as an IES-funded graduate student.

It's good to know that the Obama Administration is getting around to this matter, especially given the large amounts of stimulus money that have dedicated to education and education research.

I am not familiar with most of the nominees, but they seem to have diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise. One researcher I do know, Deborah Ball, is a great pick in my humble opinion. While my exposure to her work has been limited, my impression is that she brings a level of practical, theoretical and methodological rigor to the table.

Keeping an eye on this...

This man may be the only reason I make it through grad school. A ride with Jazz Man is better than months of counseling...

The explanation is that it is evolutionarily advantageous to have a faster 'reaction time' that 'initiation time', not that it is advantageous to get involved in a shootout.

This short video about the impact of John Watson (not to be confused with James Watson of DNA structure discovery fame) and his theories of behaviorism on American culture.

Even today, Americans have a strongly-held belief that parents and childhood environment really do matter. This is not to imply that they don't; as the video description states, most psychologists today take a hybrid view of the influence of genetics and environment.

Another interesting note is that John Watson eventually left academia (after the fallout from an affair) for the advertising industry. There, he made lots more money and had considerable impact on American advertising.

So, I might be a NYT interactive graphic fan-boy for posting two in two days, but this is a great explanation of the science behind aerial skiing.