Justin Shell

One of my core beliefs: All kids are homeschooled. Some just do it full time.

😯

Was just thinking this as I sifted through mail today. 10 pieces of mail. 1 of mild significance.

@helenrey Yes indeed. A problem never to be fully resolved. Once there is agreement on what to learn, there needs to be a way to measure if that’s been learned or not, but then even past that you have to know the depth to which that concept is understood. It’s not easy an easy problem.

@JShell085 Ah! Talking my language (of mathematics!) 😊 It's a bit of a measurement issue. Measuring inputs (teachers, classwork, homework, YouTube, parents, peers, AI... etc - how?) and measuring outputs. Well, first we have to agree on the outputs to measure... because...

Call me crazy, but I don't actually agree. I can learn from a book and have no relationship with it. I don't have a relationship (much less a significant one) with those I follow on Twitter, but I learn a lot from them. Relationships are important, but for a diff reason.

@helenrey Coming up with equations to better model “learning” has been an interest/hobby of mine for a while, but frankly I don’t think I’m any good at theoretical mathematics. In my view that would greatly help educators focus on what factors they can have the greatest effect on.

@helenrey Attention is downstream of many contributing factors, but it attention that is the direct, causal mechanism for learning. You could say that’s a “relationship” with the material, but that seems to incorrectly lead to social constructivism that I think is flawed.

@helenrey No, I just want to point out that this isn’t a universal truth. Relationships strongly influence desire to pay attention and THAT influences the direction of attention and therefore the learning resulting from it. But that’s just one of several reasons to focus attention.

@JShell085 Are you extrapolating your experience of learning from a book to: - all students (specifically adolescents)? - all subjects? Great fan of definitions and boundary conditions :)

Me every time I hear that learning is a social endeavor…

@C_Hendrick @mbateman I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this.

A strange thing is going on right now: Both cognitive science traditionalists and constructivist progressives now seem to be both arguing for learning as primarily a social enterprise. For example, I don't know who Dan Meyer is but I gather he has largely progressive views and this conversation he had with @mrbartonmaths is symptomatic of this thing I mean where the emergence of AI in education is creating a weird kind of alliance where both camps now seem to be saying: learning has to happen between humans in real time. I disagree and this is why I think the Alpha model is potentially so powerful. 🧵eedi.substack.com/p/ai-in-educat…

@adamboxer1 Boring. Repetitive. Systematic. Perhaps a niche for AI/software in education? Time for a follow up with @mrbartonmaths ?

Why are so few people interested in doing retrieval practice properly? I had a Friday thought: doing retrieval properly is fundamentally a technocratic process. It involves systems, policies, processes and relentless accountability for relatively boring things (both staff and students). Its benefits cannot be seen immediately, and take months and years to manifest. It doesn't lend itself to quick things or resources you can post and get a million likes and requests for downloads. Also, it's especially important for the students who are targeted by the "inclusion" agenda, but particularly hard to implement properly for those students. It's much easier to land on less effective approaches for them. There is less resistance. And, therefore, it isn't exciting or fashionable or sexy. It's hard work. It's dry. It's technocratic. So people scroll on by, and focus on something else instead.

@AtlasLiteracy My 7 year old successfully answered it. When I asked him how he knew he was surprised. “Dad, he just said it. It’s so easy.” So yeah. I wish I knew “why” they would include something like that.

This is not high school level work. 3rd grade level work at most.

@jliemandt It’s surprising how differently we treat sports vs academics. Direct instruction, the need for fluency and automaticity, the importance of testing one’s skills and using feedback to improve… It’s all just more intuitive in the sports world.

@JShell085 Most parents demand direct instruction when they evaluate the coach for after-school sports.

Alpha School critics: 'An AI school will be terrible for socialization.' Alpha parents: neighbor stops us on the street to rave about our kid's manners, eye contact, and conversation skills. Turns out socialization workshops beat leaving it to cafeteria chaos.

@adamboxer1 In politics it’s flip flopping. For everyone else it’s called learning.

The reason I could never be a politician is because any time you change your mind or redo your priorities list you get accused of a "U turn"

@NielsHoven Good uses Bad uses 0 1 Good start to our survey.

@JShell085 Playing rock paper scissors in a school-organized tournament, apparently

“we tried edtech and it didn’t work”

@ASmithAZ 1/3?! This result doesn’t even pass a basic smell test. A basic understanding of learning would suggest a low to null causal relationship. How does this stuff get published?!

While we’re on the topic of bad K-12 research, here’s a doozy: Researchers estimate that one-third of the achievement gap in reading and math is due to air pollution. The solution? More money for facilities, teachers, tutors, and mental health.

@ben_m_somers Overall though I agree. His conclusions are illogical. It’s, it doesn’t work everywhere therefore get rid of it. It should be, let’s look at what high performing places do. Are they using tech? If so, how? Let’s see how we can get more places to be like those places.

@ben_m_somers Anecdotally, attitudes and behavior seem to have changed quite a bit. Many teachers I’ve spoken to have said they no longer want to be in the classroom and that getting kids to even do the work is now clearly worse than ever before in their careers.

My mission in life is to make it very obvious that idiots like this are doomer boomers

This is the far more correct version of Terman’s findings. Glad someone took the time to correct a post that got lots of reach but was factually incorrect.