Causing Learning

08/25/2023

If I demand it, do I have a right to it? If I am louder than others, do my demands supersede their demands? Is the new law of jungle - If you think you have a right to it, demand it loudly enough and it will become yours!

Parent demands and parent rights in the arena of public education are not the same thing. Read about ”Parent Demands in Public Education are not Parent Rights” at www.causinglearning.com.

Unanticipated thoughts at unexpected times

03/24/2023

Who controls what and how children are taught in school determines the nature of the adults they will become. Independent and informed thinkers or parrots of what they are told; this is important! We are either educating children or training parrots. To read more, go to “If you want parrots, teach birds not children” at www.causinglearning.com.

03/06/2023

Talented teachers do not grow on trees. They range from all-stars who light up every child’s learning to solid backbone teachers who guarantee every child a foundation of knowledge, skills, and positive self-concept. Schools also employ assignment filler teachers because every classroom needs a teacher. A principal’s challenge is to nurture the talented teachers and unload the untalented. This leadership’s reality. To read more go to www.causinglearning.com.

02/18/2023

How we label important student assessment data is important. A deeper dive into a school’s data may reveal that banners and news reports contradict the truth of student assessments. Inflated labels ignore our need to change instruction for children who are not proficient in essential academic areas. Pay attention to the data not the labels. To learn more, read “When Labels and Data Contradict” at www.causinglearning.com.

02/13/2023

Munch’s ”The Scream” captures the plight of the insane. In the world of schooling, we face insanity when others try to ban books, limit curriculum, and inject prejudice into the education of children. Margaret Mead told us we need to “teach children to think not what to think”. To read ”When the Edges Crumble, We All Fall Down”, go to www.causinglearning.com

02/02/2023

”Can you hear me now?” may work for selling a cell phone, but it doesn’t get a lesson learned in class. The world is full of noise and good teaching changes hearers into listeners. Listening is an acquired behavior and a skill that matters. Read more at www.causinglearning.com.

01/24/2023

Now that the Science of Reading is helping children to be skilled readers, they need our help in communicating what they have read. Skilled writing is the complement to skilled reading. “I write to discover what I know” - Flannery O’Connor.

Read about ”Righting the Second R” at www.causinglearning.com.

01/18/2023

Engaging each child in a lesson is not easy. Some children crave teacher attention, others are shy, and some hide from the teacher in plain sight. Read more about ”To Be Visible Or Not To Be, That Is The Question” at www.causinglearning.com

01/09/2023

If a wheel ever fell off while you were driving or if you ever had students fail to learn from lessons you worked hard to develop, this blog will have meaning for you. It is essential that we tighten and check the tightness of the lug nuts of our teaching to ensure secure and safe learning. Take the time to tighten the essential outcomes for every student.

Read ”Tighten the Lug Nuts of Learning” at www.causinglearning.com

01/05/2023

Memory is fickle! We read, hear, see, and experience so much everyday that most of the “much” is forgotten. Forgotten unless we use best practices to create muscle memory. As teachers we can instruct all children how to build short- and long-term muscle memory. If we want them to remember what they learn, we need to teach them how to build memory.

Read ”Remembering Is Difficult; Forgetting Is Easy” at www.causinglearning.com

01/02/2023

“You need to study!” Students everywhere are belabored with these words, yet few students anywhere are taught how to study. Were you taught how to study? Or, was it a voyage of self-discovery. Read ”If We Want Students to Study, We Must Teach Them How” at www.causinglearning.com

12/28/2022

Teachers and parents tell children to study as if every child is born with a study button a child can push on demand. Studying is an acquired behavior that children must be taught. If we teach children to read, write, listen, and speak, we also must teach children HOW to study.

”If we want students to study, we must teach them how” at www.causinglearning.com

Unanticipated thoughts at unexpected times