Education News: January 23, 2011

January 20 | Current researchers into curriculum and pedagogy emphasize the importance of the work of educator Madeline Hunter, whose insights into lesson planning and delivery were most popular in the 1970s and '80s

• Michael Schmoker emphasizes Hunter's components of a sound lesson (clear objectives, teaching/modeling/demonstrating, guided practice, and checks for understanding) and offers two highly effective templates for instruction: interactive lecture and direct teaching, and literacy-based lessons with a focus on text -- ASCD Express
• Patricia Wolfe suggests that recent neuroscience research supports Hunter's elements of effective teaching by showing how they aid the brain in preparing for, and engaging in, learning -- ASCD Express
• Jill Van Hof supports Hunter's contention that closure is an important part of a lesson and offers journal writing as one means to encourage students to reflect on what they've learned -- ASCD Express
• Leela George points out how Hunter's emphasis on the importance of students' active participation influenced George's own teaching and her students' learning -- ASCD Express
• Madeline Hunter herself wrote an article in 1985 addressing myths that had arisen about her model of effective teaching and clarifying how to apply her work to the classroom -- Educational Leadership

January 20 | Sec'y of Ed. Duncan hopes that his months of meetings with Congressional members from both parties will encourage Congress to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to include revisions based on lessons learned from its previous version (called "No Child Left Behind") -- Christian Science Monitor

January 20 | NJ elementary school teacher uses Wii for math, having students play interactive video games while others track scores and statistics -- Daily Journal
 
January 20 | IL teacher removes desks from her classroom and replaces them with bean bags, yoga balls, etc., hoping that unusual seating will inspire creativity and engage her students . . . but moves them to a more traditional room with desks when it's time to take tests -- Patch

January 19 | Professor posits that e-learning is not something separate from, or in competition with, traditional on-campus learning but is rather another means by which learning can take place as part of an overall on-campus education -- Campus Technology

January 19 | MO school district tries "going paperless" with pilot project that has a high school using e-textbooks and having students take notes and test using digital devices rather than paper and pens -- Suburban Journals

January 19 | Major textbook company creates an Apple iPad application version of its algebra textbook to determine, in a year-long study, whether its interactive features allow students to learn math better than via a traditional book -- Mind/Shift