These days every time you look at information about a film or book, you’ll be faced with the ubiquitous star rating system. And you will probably notice that most films and books don’t achieve 5 stars—even the books and films that you love.
What’s up with this?
Remember that rating systems are aggregations of user reviews and professional reviews. In other words, ratings are averages. And as we all know, averages … Read the rest!
You’ve probably heard this advice before. But do you understand it? As a teacher of literature, I find this a very important subject!
When you read text on a page or on a screen, your brain translates the marks into words. If you’re reading English, your brain translates familiar words directly into their meaning in your head. If it’s an unfamiliar word, or if you’re a slower … Read the rest!
Do you know the story, “The Little Engine That Could”? In the story, a little steam engine has to perform what seems like an impossible job….and through positive thinking he succeeds.
Did you know that to a certain extent, this is actually real?
OK, right off the top I’m going to admit that you can’t become a superhero just by thinking you are a superhero. You can’t walk upside-down on the ceiling just … Read the rest!
You’re studying a new topic in math that you just don’t get.
You’re fighting with your sibling about every little thing.
You did something embarrassing in front of other kids.
No matter what your specific situation is, I bet you’ve had times when you hear bad thoughts in your head. And some of those times, you probably say things aloud:
“I’m so stupid!”
“He’s an idiot!”
“I hate them!”
“It’s not fair!”
All … Read the rest!
The weird thing about learning is that we all do it, but we hardly ever talk about how we do it. And when we do, it’s usually adults talking to adults.
But since kids, teens, and young adults are the ones who are expected to learn lots of material and get graded for it, it seems to me that you all should know some of this information, too!
It turns out that there’s no mystery in the best ways to … Read the rest!
Note: Often I read articles written for adults and think, hey, I wish they had written this for kids! I started this blog is to present really important (and cool) information about learning to kids. If your parents are interested in reading the adult article that I based this blog entry on, you can send them this link. No need for you to read it, though, unless you want more details than I offer below.
It used to be … Read the rest!
One thing that happens a lot in education is that kids get stressed out.
Some kids get stressed by the school environment. Maybe you’re at a school that has a lot of competition and you don’t like competition.
Some kids get stressed by certain types of activities. Common activities that can be stressful are public speaking and test taking.
Some kids get stressed out by social interactions. Maybe you haven’t found any friends at your school. Maybe you’re … Read the rest!
“Learning to live with your biology?” you may ask. “What could that possibly mean?”
Before I had kids of my own, I didn’t know much about the brain, learning, and education. But then having my kids led me down this path to learning more about those subjects, and I learned something surprising:
The way your physical body is made has a lot to do with how your brain works.
Maybe that just sounds obvious to you, … Read the rest!
Are you in charge of your own learning?
Well, to start with, you might say that you can’t be in charge of your own learning because the adults in your life tell you what you have to learn.
If you go to school, perhaps your teachers tell you what to learn.
If you’re homeschooled, maybe your parents tell you what to learn.
But there is something you can do to take charge, here’s what it is:
Don’t be a sea … Read the rest!
