“Educational determinism” (the idea that one can know with certainty how to teach anything and everything) eludes all who seek it... those who are the best teachers relish the fact such a thing does not exist.

People are clever, but almost no one ever devised an optimal quip precisely at the needed moment. -Stephen Jay Gould

Correlation and causation are not the same. Seriously folks, your “ed research” instructor taught you this.

“I know what the kids like.” Dude. You have no idea & neither do I. We haven’t been young since the last millennium. That’s why we should ask when we want to know.

Step 1: “measure whatever can be easily measured” Step 2: “disregard that which can't easily be measured or given a quantitative value” Step 3: “presume that what can't be measured easily really isn't important” Step 4: “say that what can't be easily measured really doesn't exist”

Here is your regular reminder... if your answer begins with “it is simple...” then you are wrong.

Here is your regular reminder to state the opinions upon which you base your facts.

Yeah... It your organization is partnering with one of the test proctoring platforms... I'm approaching it with the same incredulity as I do advocates for learning styles.

“Right sizing” is the most disingenuous phrase in existence. If you hear it... run. Not because of the fact programs etc. will be cut but the fact that leadership chooses to use it.

Yeah... IT... can be stop using colors to label acceptable and unacceptable domains? Like right now.

When you keep asking questions, you find out “facts” are usually interpretations of events and observations.

I have a weird sense of satisfaction when I watch narcissists turn on each other (which they almost always do).

When self-described "data-driven leaders" are called out on their weak use of data... I gotta say... I kinda enjoy watching them squirm.

Great vision... glad you spent lots of time crafting it, but how are you going to get there?

“But, how will they learn if I don’t?” is a sure sign that 1) the person misunderstands learning, 2) whatever they are try to teach is not worth knowing, 3) they really really like power. #teaching #edchat #learning #parenting

Was your sample random? That question should not cause a "data-driven leader" to ask "what do you mean?"

My father had only brothers (5 total). I had only a brother. My kids have only brothers. Today the fifth grandnephew arrive (all boys at birth in that generation). My two nieces ruin a perfectly anomalous family probability case.

Please don’t be that person who starts the meeting with “we want to hear from you,” and proceeds to yammer on and on. Did you see how polite I was there? I wanted to use a word other than “yammer.”

"Career and college ready" isn't a thing... never was... never will be.

On #edtech Decision Making www.hackscience.education/on-edtech-de...

A diversity of experiences is the foundation of all good teaching... at least that is the unmistakable conclusion after my 35+ years in the field. Now, if we can only convince others.

Contingencies determine what you can do much more than leadership does.

Unpopular opinion time: I don't think reducing students' performance to statements regarding their achievement of standards is any worse than letter grades.

I really don't get all of the negativity about #MOOC's that seems to have been resurrected lately... sure they never replaced #highered, but were they ever going to really? They seem to have filled a niche market that was unserved, and isn't that what is most valuable?

You know that finding that novices over estimate their skill while experts underestimate it? It is very true for “the quality of my lectures” too.

I’ve always done work I valued and would do without pay, but never at a job I loved. In education, especially, the misguided initiatives, the toxic cultures, and the narcissistic leaders have driven me out of many jobs where I loved the work.

The data is always strongest for those things one deeply believes.

"Hire the talent, train the skill." Sounds great... what does it look like?

Seriously people... stop reading the slides in your presentations.

When I hear business people talking about what they need, I don't hear much about academic skills. I'm curious about the "grades need to reflect academic standards and that is all" attitude in schools.

In education, discomfort arises when we are not replacing one thing for another. Imagine if we defined good teaching (we know what it is, but the answer isn ’t simple and it isn’t amenable to standard tests) and did that... and kept doing it.

Stuff marketed to teachers with eclectic capitalization... you know to stress certain words... annoys me. No, the marketing doesn’t bother me, the fact they purchase and display it does.

When IT systems become unmanageable (usually due to age and coincident incompatibility with others), they must be replaced... users have no say in this. Of course, they must be perceived usable and appropriate training provided... IT has no say in this.

Oh, you’ve changed the name but not the practice. Cool. Um, no, that isn’t how innovation works.

Please don’t confuse “retrieval practice” with teaching. I see a place for it... a complement to a rich and varied curriculum... reducing stress of “cramming, etc... but it’s role must be minor. Like the relief pitcher who comes in to get 2 outs in the 8th inning.

Math should not be a “call and response” activity. Really? That wasn’t what my teachers thought or how they taught.

I’m increasingly convinced learning objectives are useful to keep instructors on track, but just add to the extraneous cognitive load of a lesson for students.

I never realized my life as an educational technology professional would be just sending email reminders of the email reminders of the email reminders I sent last month to announce the recommended method of how to get your PowerPoint presentations created in 2003 to "work."

Our experiences as students inform our understanding of *how* to teach... and that is vastly more important than what we teach.

The problem with getting educators to change is their admitting they have been less effective than they thought they were.

The problem with giving your strategy a catchy name is that folks stop there and don’t get into what you really mean. The problem with not giving it a catchy name is no one will ever hear of it.

“Time. Training. Incentives. There will never be enough to satisfy those resistant to change. It’s gotta be something else.” This is a suggestion worth exploring.

Often “learning styles” does not mean Learning Styles... the term is used by lots of folks to mean “vary your instruction,” “unmotivated by irrelevant material,” “confused by my first explanation,” “distracted,” and the list could go on. I’ve started asking for clarification when folks use it,

The people who claim to know the most about teaching are those who preface the statements with, “I used to be a substitute teacher.”

An absolutely correct observation. Sensible. Supported by empirical evidence. Achieved by simple means using existing capacity. Cannot be captured in an acronym. No need for a consultant. For all of these reasons, it will never catch on.

I’m convinced calling out leaders on inconsistencies between their words and deeds leads to less workplace stress... and it adds positions to the resume as well.

False evidence based on misinterpreting dubious data is preferred to not “knowing” in the culture of many organizations.

Saying, "I agree" in 15 sentences is still just saying, "I agree." Sage advice form an online teacher.

Students Matter: At Least Decades Ago They Did www.hackscience.education/students-mat...

Configuration Matter with School IT www.hackscience.education/configuratio...