I’m pretty cautious about “group work.” It can be beneficial but the “can be” should be in italics because it has endemic problems that are often over-looked. One of which is the fact that it can be really hard to ensure that everyone is working, thinking and benefitting. The happy buzz of voices in…
In our forthcoming book on the Science of Reading, Colleen Driggs, Erica Woolway and I discuss the importance of attention to reading. Short version: if nothing else, the smartphone, having fractured the attention of millions, has taught us that attention is malleable. This is especially important in reading, which places such intense demands on…
In a few weeks I’ll be in Miami with my colleague Hannah Solomon talking about techniques to Check for Understanding (There’s still room to join us: info and registration here). One of the things we’ll talk about is the power of Active Observation–the idea that building systems to harvest data and observations about student thinking…
This week I’ve been posting excerpts from the forthcoming book on reading I’ve been writing with Colleen Driggs and Erica Woolway–it’s tentatively going to be called The Teach Like a Champion Guide to the Science of Reading. Today I’m sharing the first few pages of our chapter on Attention, which is of the most important…
Bringing the Book Back to Life It’s exciting times at TLAC Towers in terms of reading. Colleen Driggs, Erica Woolway and I are finishing the manuscript of a new book about translating the science of reading into classrooms. We’re really excited about it and will be sharing some of our new insights at our Reading Reconsidered…