“We didn’t ban calculators. We taught math differently. We didn’t ban the internet. We taught research differently. So why are we trying to ban AI instead of doing the same?” We’ve been here before. I was a young teacher when the internet showed up in classrooms in the 90s. Educators panicked. Teachers worried it would make students lazy, that it would only be used for cheating, and that memorizing facts and dates would go out the window. They were right. Sort of. The internet did change things. But it didn’t destroy learning. It made us rethink what was worth teaching and how we wanted to spend instructional time. It pushed us away from memorizing trivia and toward analyzing, questioning, creating, and connecting. The same thing happened with calculators decades before. There was real fear that students would lose the ability to compute. But what actually happened was that students stopped getting stuck in multi-digit calculations and started spending more time doing real math. They m...
"Research on Small Group Effectiveness" OR "The Power of Few: Reflecting on the Impact of Small Group Instruction""
"Small group instruction: where learning is personal, engagement deepens, and understanding grows." I am working on organizing my thoughts around Small Group Instruction. But I wanted to post this summary of three research-based finding of small groups. Research used in Small Group post above (D isclaimer: Summaries written with AI) 1. National Institute for Literacy (2008) : This comprehensive report, "Developing Early Literacy: Report of the National Early Literacy Panel," highlights the effectiveness of systematic, small group instruction for improving key early literacy skills, including phonemic awareness, alphabet knowledge, and the development of early reading skills. The research suggests that small group settings allow for tailored instruction that meets the unique needs of each student, significantly boosting early literacy outcomes compared to whole-class instruction. Reference: National Institute for Literacy. (2008). Developing Early Literacy: Rep...