The Sandbox

Ahh…everybody’s favorite: HOMEWORK!

Here’s what the ASCD has to say about Cathy Vatterott’s new book, “Rethinking Homework” – At last, a book that forever solves the debate over whether homework is an essential component of rigorous schooling or a harmful practice. Veteran teacher, trainer, professor, consultant, and author Cathy Vatterott distills her years of experience with all kinds of schools into a balanced approach that ensures homework leads to more opportunities for learning and teaching without turning off parents and students.

A “balanced” approach? Now, who wants to try that?? Well, if you’re interested in what she has to say you might use the following link to buy this interesting book – RETHINKING HOMEWORK

2010: 01/14
CATEGORY: Uncategorized
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More from our friendly cognitive scientist…

So, Daniel Willingham, who’s book I posted about earlier (who, after all these years, he seems to have figured out why kids don’t like school!), also wants us to put some thought into learning styles. Well, kind of…actually, he’s of the opinion that learning styles don’t exist, and pedagogical energy spent trying to teach to them is a complete waste of time. Check it out:

2010: 01/14
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Hmm…ya gotta wonder what’s inside!

Cognitive scientist Dan Willingham has written a new book title: “Why Don’t Students Like School?” The book focuses Willingham’s acclaimed research on the biological and cognitive basis of learning. His book purports to help teachers improve their practice by explaining how they and their students think and learn. It reveals-the importance of story, emotion, memory, context, and routine in building knowledge and creating lasting learning experiences.

It just might be interesting to see what modern cognitive science might have to offer in regard to an issue that’s probably been in existence since the day kids first stepped inside the four walls of a school!

You can order the book here - http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle…

2010: 01/14
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Can You “Win” a Modern War?

Newsweek Online recently published an interesting article by Katie Paul titled, “A Farewell to Victory: Wars once ended with winners and losers. Then it got complicated.” It’s a pretty interesting article…

H. L. Mencken, America’s early-20th-century curmudgeon, was well ahead of his time when he said that war (like love) is easier to start than to stop. Before 1945, there was something like a formula for how wars were fought and ended. When groups disagreed, usually over a piece of land, and failed to reconcile their differences amicably, they duked it out until one surrendered and the other carried off the prize. When they ended, wars had clear winners and losers.

With U.S. troops leaving Iraq and deploying in Afghanistan, it’s worth asking: how are wars won now? Increasingly, they’re not. Instead, says Page Fortna, a political scientist at Columbia University who researches war outcomes, nearly half of all wars since World War II have ended indecisively. That trend between states started with the Cold War, and for civil wars it began when the Cold War ended. (By contrast, only half a percent of all wars fought between 1816 and 1946 ended without a victor, according to the Correlates of War, an academic project that codes war outcomes.)

The rest of the story can be found here - http://www.newsweek.com/id/229869