For most of my fifty years in teaching, librarians and the libraries have been my secret weapons. I have roamed the shelves searching for answers to the questions I asked about why some technique or some idea was not working. I found many answers in various disciplines other than education....

A definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over even when it's not working. An example is standardized testing used when experts have proven it is not an accurate measure of student progress or teacher skills. It is a powerful and effective political tool; its real purpose.

Scanning is a legitimate fast reading technique. One weekend I brought home sixteen books on education and my wife made a comment about my egotism. I told her I couldn't read every word of every book during the weekend, but I knew most of the theories and concepts in...

(This first part I read with and discussed with my students.)

Many excellent scientists think through, devise experiments, and solve or answer many complicated questions. However, the greatest scientists are those who ask the kinds of questions that lead to new theories, concepts, and information that change the world.

The process of critical thinking or teaching of these skills are possible in schools, but I think what is attempted should be called clearer thinking. I would leave critical thinking in the realms that call for challenging accepted knowledge. I don't think this occurs often in schools.

An excellent...

This article will use the book, Rick & Bobo by James & Nick Ventrillo, 2009, Vanir Books, but the concepts can be applied to any book, movie, or story. These will enhance anyone's reading skills.

A WAY to ORGANIZE YOUR THINKING by using Who, What, Where, When, Why, How!

Reading...

Education,...

When I discussed my idea of starting a classroom business, I said that we would do it during class-time....

Throughout history, schools have been one of the main institutions for the dissemination and indoctrination of whatever was considered important to continue each society. Our schools do this. Even before No Child Left Behind, the teachers were the main source of knowledge and the students were the unthinking...

When a contractor is hired to build a room addition you expect him to follow your agreed upon contract. He is considered an expert and held accountable for the results. If he doesn't live up to building codes or does a poor job, he can be penalized or sued. You...

From The Complete Teacher - free in PDF from Dr. Rose. I use this article for my student teachers and interns. It is critical for them to understand both what style of control -- nicely called classroom management -- they are using at different times as well as the reasons...

It's not easy for most teachers to tolerate a student who does anything that interferes with her delivery of the lesson. She takes it as a personal attack and then gets defensive, frustrated, and hurt and is unable to see or believe that the child could be in emotional pain....

One of a teacher's (and parent's) most important skills, as an observer, is underrated. Yet without honing this skill, he can never truly understand his students and meet their individual and group needs.

After a particularly difficult, but productive reading period, I gave my entire third grade...

The idea of standardized tests is based on creating a normal curve. This means the tests have to be developed to insure that there are clear lines of differences. This translates into 60% are in the middle, 20 % are superior and 20% are inferior. This is absolute so with...

I asked myself, "Why should the parents of my black students want to attend a teacher-parent conference?" My answer was they shouldn't and often don't. The reason was that the teachers spent all the time "proving" why their children were not up to par (inferior).

I realized that I had...

Child bored, disinterested in school? School too difficult or too easy? Parents, you can immediately and easily improve your child's education, learning behaviors, and attitudes towards learning by incorporating some of the following suggestions into their daily lives. These will be fun and bring you closer.

1....

There you stand trying to get the attention of your thirty-four students. Each one is so different from the others that it would take hours to list their physical, mental, emotional, and cultural differences. Yet, your job is to impart to this group a very specific body of information and...

(From 1998, three years after returning from "retirement")

In my novel God-Intoxicated: Becoming Paranoid I often speak of "weightlessness." As an amateur athlete, actor, artist, writer, and even many times in academics, everything was in such synch or "flow" that I was in a state of altered consciousness, of mild...

It was a class of mainly juniors in a history class. Their teacher was my intern teacher and I supervised him. He was one of the best teachers I'd ever seen. I asked to speak to his class. He agreed.

"I know you kids are happy with...