And one of the ways to be a better teacher...Be less helpful.

Another reason for relying less on textbooks and making learning real.
Get a compelling question which produces a compelling answer.  Develop the problems with students.

Develop patient problem solving.

Start with the visual



To watch the TED talk, click here.

Don't throw away the pencil sharpeners just yet.

Here's a great article on the history and cognitive role of handwriting.

I would hate to live in a world where we were unable to communicate without a keyboard, and keyboard free is also not  future I would enjoy.

We need to straddle both worlds and some of us will lean more on the handwriting side than others.  The question of which to use keyboard skills in school is more about resources, competency at typing and the level of integration of computers within school.

Don't throw away the pencil sharpeners just yet!

Drive with a M.A.P., by Dan Pink

My recent non fiction read has been Dan Pink's Drive.

Motivation is the theme.

He finds that money works when the task is repetitive.
It doesn't wotk when the job required creativity.

The key, says Pink, is:
M - mastery
A - autonomy
P - purpose.

I could write a summary in several pages, but the video is far more entertaining:

Online Smart board rival?

Virtual manipulatives is a fantastic looking version of smartboard software.  I just looked at the maths software and was really impressed by the easy to use tools, including base ten manipulatives, a set of scales or balance and a simple timer.

I'm sure that smartsoftware has more functions, but is does seem like a good quick and easy alternative.

Go here to try it out.