Ukraine has long been a special interest of mine. My great-grandpa Dmitri came from the Ukraine 100 years ago, and my family has always been proud of our heritage. My last name is Ukrainian, not Irish. When the invasion happened, I was glued to the coverage. But I noticed that background knowledge was missing fromContinue reading “Ukraine Invasion Booklet”
Author Archives: Courtney O.
Dimensional Analysis
When I went to undergrad, I had chem lab, and I was terrible at it. To be fair, my fine motor skills are not the best, and I did end up paying several hundred dollars for extra glassware, but the worst part was the math. We did a lot of dimensional analysis. Dimensional analysis tendsContinue reading “Dimensional Analysis”
Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics
The Cult of Smart by Fredrik deBoer, 2020, St. Martin’s Publishing What is intelligence? A book whose thesis seems to be ‘the unintelligent will always be with us, so it’s our moral duty to take care of them’ should spend some time carefully defining terms, but instead deBoer uses a slew of synonyms, not unlikeContinue reading “Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistics”
Youngest Child’s Curriculum List, K-2
Math: RightStart A, B, C (primary curriculum) Saxon Math (daily, morning meeting only) Kumon Simple Addition Grade 2 Subtraction Grade 2 Addition Grade 3 Addition & Subtraction My First Book of Money: Counting Coins Math Mammoth Light Blue Series Lollipop Logic: Grades K-2, Book 1 Primarily Logic, Grades 2-4 English Language Arts Reading: All About Reading Pre-readingContinue reading “Youngest Child’s Curriculum List, K-2”
My Baby Can Read
Over the last 30 months or so, I’ve taken my youngest daughter from unable to recognize all her letters to maxing out a phonics and high frequency word recognition test, and sliding into a reading comprehension test at a “grade level equivalent” of 12.8. (This does not mean that my daughter can read at theContinue reading “My Baby Can Read”
Why Use Discussion Questions?
Written discussion is one of the ways in which teachers can assist students in building camaraderie within the course. Shy students, students with low processing speed, students with facial recognition issues, students with high anxiety levels, students with speech delays, and so on can feel especially isolated. Having written discussions helps give students a low-keyContinue reading “Why Use Discussion Questions?”
Curriculum — and What It Isn’t
Philosophy of Education Have you got one? Why should you have one? What are the main areas? Contrary to my MA in secondary education, I don’t think this has anything to do with constructivism. That’s a pedagogical style, not a philosophy. Instead, I offer you these four contrasting ideas in tension with each other.Continue reading “Curriculum — and What It Isn’t”
Book Review: The Future of Teaching
Having read The Future of Teaching, I think I can safely say that this book joins a very short list of books I would never recommend to others. Given my past experience with reading education pundits, I should have taken the hint from the introduction, and left the book unread. Claxton is quite clear thatContinue reading “Book Review: The Future of Teaching”
algebra in 100 minutes per week
We are counting down the number of lectures in my algebra classes. Only two more left, and then my math students have an end-of-year, cumulative final exam. One question for every concept we’ve covered this year, 70-90 questions. Naturally, students are feeling a little stress. My email inbox is full, with requests for assistance onContinue reading “algebra in 100 minutes per week”
Problems and Solutions for Online, Written Discussion Questions
Problem: Students are rude to each other. Solution: Depending on the severity of the rudeness, a teacher might wish to screenshot the comment in situ, and then delete the comment. If peers have called the student to task, the teacher will need to decide whether the “public” reprimand by peers is appropriate. If not, thenContinue reading “Problems and Solutions for Online, Written Discussion Questions”