Dear Reader,
Somehow, I made it to the last week of school. I don’t know about you, but after a year with so many changes, I am relieved to reach the one consistency of my teaching career: summer vacation.
On that note, Prep Time is also going on vacation. I am getting married in July (woohoo!) and embarking on a road trip around Oregon. I will be back in mid-August to start sharing more newsletters about the intersection of research and teaching. We have so much more to explore, from the testing effect (see book recommendation below) to worked examples in math (yes, another recommendation below) and to the fascinating research behind cognitive load theory. And don’t worry, I will never forget my first true love: literacy.
It has been a pleasure to share this newsletter with all of you. Two and a half months ago, I would have never guessed anyone would read it. Thank you to everyone who sent emails and thoughts. Most importantly, thank you for reading. When I imagine real eyeballs taking in my words, I discover new sources of motivation and humility.
Even though I’m on vacation, feel free to comment, email, or send messages.
Warm Regards,
Erin
Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children at School by Carla Shalaby
Shalaby crafts a heartrending account of four young children (early and mid-elementary school) who acquire the title of “Troublemaker” in their respective schools. The book, divided into four parts, follows each individual child in their school setting. Shalaby explores their relationships with teachers and other students, and describes in painstaking detail the way children who get in trouble are suffering in their own way.
All four of the stories lingered with me after I finished the book, but none more than Zora. Zora, an energetic and creative youngster, desperately wants to make friends. Her capacity for originality is in constant tension with her desire to fit in. Her only friend in the class is someone she frequently rejects, and her teacher, who she shares so much in common with, is more often an adversary than a mentor.
There are times I read the book and I resent Shalaby for her portrayal of teachers — not because the portrayal is unfair, but because it makes me turn inward and see myself. Shalaby shows the teachers with all their desires and good intentions foiled, both by larger structures of schools but also by their own inability to satisfy their own needs and wants in the classroom. One teacher towards the end of the book is preparing to leave the classroom after failing to build the kind of classroom community she wanted. Shalaby notes the careful planning and beautiful materials created by this teacher, who clearly desires to do their job well. And yet, as every teacher knows, this desire is often compromised by the difficult realities of classroom teaching.
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger, and Mark A. McDaniel
This book transformed my understanding of teaching and learning. For most of my teaching career, I focused on what I thought was critical thinking. I thought I needed to ask kids the hardest questions and see what they came up with, that the only valuable tasks and questions maxed out Bloom’s triangle. I still believe in asking kids hard questions, but this book reframed what it means to do something hard. Kids need to know a lot, from recalling factual knowledge to executing complex tasks. If students are to remember everything we want to teach them, we need to focus on that very important verb: remember. What does it take to help a kid remember something? This book offers some enlightening answers, like spaced retrieval practice as well as other productive learning techniques like interleaving. I immediately saw connections to my reading instruction, from building background knowledge to teaching phonics.
It’s an easy read most people can breeze through in a day or two, but you’ll find yourself opening it up again and again.
Why Kids Don’t Like School by Dan Willingham
Readers of this newsletter will recognize Willingham’s name from previous posts. In addition to publishing books on teaching and learning, Willingham writes a column called, “Ask the Cognitive Scientist” in the AFT magazine American Educator. I highly recommend checking out more articles on his blog.
Why Kids Don’t Like School — it’s a provocative title, and most people will expect a different book between the covers. Willingham’s thesis is that kids don’t like school because schools don’t teach in a way kids can learn. Willingham does not advocate intense differentiation or exploration of learning styles; rather, he looks at the way inquiry learning practices can obstruct learning, especially when teachers assume prior knowledge that students simply do not have. The book discusses similar ideas to Make it Stick, but it exclusively looks at the relevance of those ideas in schools.
Willingham’s book is the type of book that makes its reader question all of their assumptions about teaching and learning. And that’s a good thing for a teacher to do during their summer!
Teaching with Examples by Michael Pershan
Unlike the other books on this list, I read Pershan’s book only a few weeks ago. It’s a short and sweet read about teaching math, but it is chock full of helpful ideas for teachers of all subjects. Pershan steps outside the current paradigm of discovery-based math education to encourage teachers to demystify mathematical processes for its students. Based on the research into cognitive-load theory and self-explanation, Pershan models how to break down mathematical concepts through direct teaching without relying on rote practices.
The book is refreshing and so, so different from other books about teaching math. Like I said before, even if you do not teach math, Pershan’s instructional moves are replicable in other subjects. I was struck throughout by the parallels to writing instruction, and how studying examples of great writing practices can support a student’s development.