Sunday, June 23, 2013

Adversity in Learning

Have you learned the lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you? Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed passage with you?
Walt Whitman
US poet (1819 - 1892)


In other words, not all lessons are easy. Not all teachers are founts of wisdom or sensitivity. "Disputed passage."  One of my fave learning quotes, and manly poets.
;-)

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Motivation, study habits -- not IQ -- determine growth in math achievement

Motivation, study habits -- not IQ -- determine growth in math achievement

Got this from Research blogger!  Love people who do meta-analyses.  The difference between our schools and other countries, I believe has to do with this. We focus on direct instruction and don't teach enough good study habits. If you're good at something, and it's competitive -- our schools tend to reward "perfection."  Learning requires making mistakes without penalty, except you're own awareness of how to correct it and why.