{"id":260,"date":"2020-02-24T18:40:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T18:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/24\/2020-2-21-literacy-numeracy-and-idiocy\/"},"modified":"2020-02-24T18:40:38","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T18:40:38","slug":"2020-2-21-literacy-numeracy-and-idiocy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/2020\/02\/24\/2020-2-21-literacy-numeracy-and-idiocy\/","title":{"rendered":"Literacy, Numeracy, and Idiocy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>What do you <\/em><strong><em>know <\/em><\/strong><em>to be true?  Why?<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Our household regularly watches YouTube.  In fact, I believe watching YouTube takes up the bulk of our viewing these days.  I know our family is not unusual in that practice, but from our position, it\u2019s just so much safer to choose to watch videos as they are recommended vs taking our chances with with anything else on tv, as our daughter is almost always in the room.  Even Netflix and their new auto-play trailer option sees horrifically scary and overtly sexual junk playing before we can stop it and we just don\u2019t need hours of our day derailed by those conversations yet.  <em>And while we\u2019re nervous about YouTube\u2019s commercials (last week we saw a horror movie trailer when clicking on a Disneyworld video\u2026.huh?), we usually find things to be innocuous.   <\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">At the same time, it\u2019s nice to find things we all want to view.  <em>While the YouTube algorithm does seem to peter out after a few hours of viewing, not really sure what to promote next, we usually move between amenable clips and shows with ease<\/em>.  My daughter can see the YouTubers she follows, I get to watch plenty of disc golf coverage, and my wife enjoys the recaps of Ellen, while we all enjoy Colbert, Tasty recipes, and more.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">As you might imagine, educational videos are recommended quite often.  We sometimes seek them out while other times YouTube seems to place them in a regular rotation.  Our daughter actually likes many of those that are not \u201cobviously\u201d educational.  <em>(She usually sniffs out a bait and switch video masquerading as entertainment but in reality pure education\u2026she\u2019s good like that.)  \ud83d\ude42  <\/em><\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          combination-animation-none\n          individual-animation-none\n          individual-text-animation-none\n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:100%;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:49.069068908691406%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  \n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f\/1582567609974-GHG7QPEUFW237K6IO2B1\/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kARGguSyTft7yZAeQrl41XAUqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIIIbLZhVYy7Mythp_T-mtop-vrsUOmeInPi9iDjx9w8K4ZfjXt2dhhAAZuPUR5Ua61WrxLI4TSbFf4JQS9ug_Ecg14KLUq6CjLISwBs8eEdxAxTptZAUg\/FlatEarthSociety.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"FlatEarthSociety.jpg\" \/><\/noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f\/1582567609974-GHG7QPEUFW237K6IO2B1\/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kARGguSyTft7yZAeQrl41XAUqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIIIbLZhVYy7Mythp_T-mtop-vrsUOmeInPi9iDjx9w8K4ZfjXt2dhhAAZuPUR5Ua61WrxLI4TSbFf4JQS9ug_Ecg14KLUq6CjLISwBs8eEdxAxTptZAUg\/FlatEarthSociety.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" data-image=\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f\/1582567609974-GHG7QPEUFW237K6IO2B1\/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kARGguSyTft7yZAeQrl41XAUqsxRUqqbr1mOJYKfIPR7LoDQ9mXPOjoJoqy81S2I8N_N4V1vUb5AoIIIbLZhVYy7Mythp_T-mtop-vrsUOmeInPi9iDjx9w8K4ZfjXt2dhhAAZuPUR5Ua61WrxLI4TSbFf4JQS9ug_Ecg14KLUq6CjLISwBs8eEdxAxTptZAUg\/FlatEarthSociety.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"1665x817\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"FlatEarthSociety.jpg\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5e5410b54f74387f5e1d3fff\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Last week, we saw an education (TED) video that referred to a topic that my entire family finds great humor in lately: <strong><em>Flat Earth. <\/em><\/strong> It astounds me how many people ignore scientific evidence, common sense findings, and logical reasoning as they rely solely on what they see or feel.<em>  \u201cThe Earth looks flat from where I\u2019m standing, so it must be a conspiracy to call it round\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>Forget (for a moment) all of the alarm bells and arguments making you furrow your eyebrows.  Just stick with me. <\/em> <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Because believe it or not, I learned something when we watched this short segment.  As we watched the video, even seeing our daughter mock the ridiculousness of the claims these ignorant people were making, the speaker said something profound.  He stated a basic truth, really.  The TED talker, in <em>slight <\/em>defense of Flat World thinking said,<em> \u201c\u2026most people believe thousands of things that they don\u2019t understand, nor could they prove if they had to.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>   <iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jobYTQTgeUE?wmode=opaque&amp;enablejsapi=1\" height=\"480\" width=\"854\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><br \/>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>That was over a week ago and I have not been able to get that notion out of my head since.  <\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">But he was exactly right.  Take gravity.  Can you explain and\/or prove it in such a way that it explains WHY gravity occurs?  Could you explain the physics, the astronomy, the geology, and more?  No?  Me neither.  Aside from talking about centrifugal force, I could not \u201cprove\u201d it to someone, other than dropping something and saying, <em>\u201cSee\u2026there you go.\u201d  <\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Let\u2019s take a cue from Einstein who said that a person doesn\u2019t really understand something unless they can explain it to a kid.  How about the markets?  Can you explain WHY a bear or a bull market takes place in a way that is meaningful to a child?  Or what about politics?  Can you explain what the difference is between a Republican or a Democrat, outside of just stating that one believes a few things you also believe in?  Or what about faith, religion, or God?   How about why medicine works?  Or how a telephone or television relocates information from one place to another place.  Could you explain the world wide web?<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Ok, those things are all higher order and hard for anyone to figure out.  So let\u2019s bring it down a level.  <em>Let\u2019s talk about school-based information. <\/em> Can you explain WHY historical events took place?  Do you know how much fresh water our planet holds?  (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2009\/03\/090312115133.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Less than 1% of adults<\/a> answer the question correctly, which is about 3%.) <em> Now, can you explain WHY that is the case?  <\/em><\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          combination-animation-none\n          individual-animation-none\n          individual-text-animation-none\n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:1933px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<p>          <a class=\"\n                sqs-block-image-link\n                \n          \n        \n              \" href=\"https:\/\/www.cuemath.com\/blog\/why-does-long-division-work\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:59.130882263183594%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  \n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f\/1582568679644-4RKJM2ECHMQZ9ULTR308\/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kITClJ8npCNc9c5H5W4xHxt7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1URzs7mfOi6fU2e3okCismi_irLIvivmtcI67q_hfEV6XP7cJNZlDXbgJNE9ef52e8w\/WhyDivision.PNG?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"WhyDivision.PNG\" \/><\/noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f\/1582568679644-4RKJM2ECHMQZ9ULTR308\/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kITClJ8npCNc9c5H5W4xHxt7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1URzs7mfOi6fU2e3okCismi_irLIvivmtcI67q_hfEV6XP7cJNZlDXbgJNE9ef52e8w\/WhyDivision.PNG?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" data-image=\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f\/1582568679644-4RKJM2ECHMQZ9ULTR308\/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kITClJ8npCNc9c5H5W4xHxt7gQa3H78H3Y0txjaiv_0fDoOvxcdMmMKkDsyUqMSsMWxHk725yiiHCCLfrh8O1z5QPOohDIaIeljMHgDF5CVlOqpeNLcJ80NK65_fV7S1URzs7mfOi6fU2e3okCismi_irLIvivmtcI67q_hfEV6XP7cJNZlDXbgJNE9ef52e8w\/WhyDivision.PNG\" data-image-dimensions=\"1933x1143\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"WhyDivision.PNG\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5e5414e4263fa1037170331d\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div>\n<p>          <\/a><\/p>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Take math.  Can you explain WHY long division works?  Please read that carefully.  I\u2019m not asking if you memorized the algorithm and can still perform it (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/education\/2016\/mar\/07\/a-fifth-of-uk-adults-have-forgotten-how-to-do-fractions-or-percentages-mathematics-english-science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">which 25% of British adults have forgotten<\/a>, about half as many as American adults who could not perform long division if you paid them $1 million\u2026).  But if you are one of the 55% who can still perform long division, I am not asking about the method.  I\u2019m not asking HOW to do long division.  I\u2019m asking WHY the algorithm works.  Let me get specific.  I\u2019m asking if you could explain to a 4th grader why taking the divisor into the dividend in long division, starting with the digit in the highest place value and working your way down, digit by digit, to the smallest place value actually works?  Could you tell someone WHY that will work?  <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Could you explain WHY grammar works like it does or WHY we spell a dry arid place \u201cdesert\u201d and WHY we spell a sweet treat \u201cdessert?\u201d  Could you tell someone WHY the Earth rotates around the sun or do you simply just believe that it does without really another thought?  The point I hope you are seeing is that you likely cannot explain why you believe most things, just as the narrator of the Flat World video suggested.  Those \u201cthings\u201d simply are.  But is that ok?  Should it be like that?  Because it is not like that in other places\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">When we moved to Florida for a chunk of years, my wife (with her Master\u2019s in Education and a former primary school teacher) and myself interviewed a dozen or more school Principals, teachers, and administrators.  <em>We talked with public school advocates, private school advocates, charter school advocates, and other \u201ccreative\u201d solutions.<\/em>  As Florida does not have a reputation for excellent K-12 schooling, we wanted to be sure we did not do harm to our child educationally, socially, and\/or beyond.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">In the end, we chose to home-school our daughter.  The answers we got simply were not satisfying and the results we saw were too frightening in our minds. <em> And now that we are back home in Colorado and she is back in school, we could not be more pleased with our decision.  She is ahead of her peers in almost every way, with a far more complete toolbox of learning, rhetoric, literacy, numeracy, underpinning, social maturity, anti-bullying, non-sexualized living that we couldn\u2019t be more happy with. <\/em> <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">But as you might imagine, especially for a former public school teacher, we questioned the decision at every turn.  This meant that any time our daughter had a friend over, or any time we came home to visit Denver and were able to set up some time with her old friends, my wife and I grilled them about their educational progress.  Was she keeping up?  <em>Did we make a mistake?  <\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">However, as I talked with those kiddos, I always asked different questions than my wife.  She would get to the heart of the curriculum and levels quickly, but I asked another question set.  I always started by asking what classes they liked and what classes they disliked.  (It was amazing to me how few classes the students liked\u2026)  <em>But then, after they told me, I would start to ask them \u201c<\/em><strong><em>why<\/em><\/strong><em>\u201d questions.<\/em>  <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\"><em>\u201cYou like history?  You guys are studying the Civil War?  Nice!  Do you know WHY the Civil war broke out?\u201d  <\/em>The answer was flatly, <em>\u201cnot really,\u201d <\/em>not even explaining the typical albeit incorrect answer of slavery which would not become a battle cry until well into the conflict.  <em>\u201cYou like science?  You\u2019re studying the food we eat?  Great!  Do you know why we need carbohydrates, protein, and fat in our diet?\u201d  The answer was, \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ve talked about that.\u201d<\/em>  Unfortunately not a single friend of our daughter\u2019s ever said their favorite was math because I had some good questions for them!<\/p>\n<div\n        class=\"\n          image-block-outer-wrapper\n          layout-caption-below\n          design-layout-inline\n          combination-animation-none\n          individual-animation-none\n          individual-text-animation-none\n        \"\n        data-test=\"image-block-inline-outer-wrapper\"\n    ><\/p>\n<figure\n            class=\"\n              sqs-block-image-figure\n              intrinsic\n            \"\n            style=\"max-width:623px;\"\n        ><\/p>\n<div\n              \n                style=\"padding-bottom:135.31300354003906%;\"\n              \n              class=\"\n                image-block-wrapper\n                \n          \n        \n                has-aspect-ratio\n              \"\n              data-animation-role=\"image\"\n              \n  \n\n          ><br \/>\n            <noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f\/1582568554773-INB0S6MNI8K1I4EEOC2D\/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kATOnrajOvJxz9zOGVeY_thZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpzS1PW3YNoBiDINw31XDWTMSzQLyU3HPq2katFtQqLPcFZARjrAGxRmASSApSe9maA\/TysonQuote.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"TysonQuote.jpg\" \/><\/noscript><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"thumb-image\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f\/1582568554773-INB0S6MNI8K1I4EEOC2D\/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kATOnrajOvJxz9zOGVeY_thZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpzS1PW3YNoBiDINw31XDWTMSzQLyU3HPq2katFtQqLPcFZARjrAGxRmASSApSe9maA\/TysonQuote.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" data-image=\"https:\/\/images.squarespace-cdn.com\/content\/v1\/5a8d040564b05f9d780ecc2f\/1582568554773-INB0S6MNI8K1I4EEOC2D\/ke17ZwdGBToddI8pDm48kATOnrajOvJxz9zOGVeY_thZw-zPPgdn4jUwVcJE1ZvWQUxwkmyExglNqGp0IvTJZUJFbgE-7XRK3dMEBRBhUpzS1PW3YNoBiDINw31XDWTMSzQLyU3HPq2katFtQqLPcFZARjrAGxRmASSApSe9maA\/TysonQuote.jpg\" data-image-dimensions=\"623x843\" data-image-focal-point=\"0.5,0.5\" alt=\"TysonQuote.jpg\" data-load=\"false\" data-image-id=\"5e54146aedf2bb4b6de3edc4\" data-type=\"image\" \/>\n          <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">One example stuck out to me though.  I asked a peer of our daughter\u2019s why a giraffe\u2019s teeth are shaped like they are after hearing him say that his class was specifically studying the biology of a giraffe. <em> (I had recently received the answer from the world\u2019s foremost expert on teeth and I was keen to show it off\u2026)  <\/em>The young man responded simply, <em>\u201cMy teacher doesn\u2019t like when we ask why.  She says it disrupts the lesson.\u201d <\/em> <strong>Ah.  I see.  <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">But those three examples were replicated dozens and dozens of times.  No student EVER knew the answer to \u2018why.\u2019  Not one time.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Which brings me back to my question.  Is that okay? <em> Is it okay to memorize certain facts and processes without knowing the reasoning behind them? <\/em> While it may be seen as a pragmatic reality to some, most reasonable people will quickly see how problematic that is.  Part of the reason knowing why matters is how it helps a person weave together <strong>critical thinking and problem solving.<\/strong>  Part of the reason is to help <strong>remember the algorithm<\/strong> in the first place.  <em>But another part\u2026perhaps a bigger part, is to <\/em><strong><em>stop people from believing anything they see, read, or hear <\/em><\/strong><em>later in life (a massive problem in our society today, no?).  <\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">So WHY does this happen?  The answers are many.  <strong>Curricular bloat<\/strong> <em>(we cram way too much content into everything from our textbooks to our school days) <\/em>is a culprit, as <strong>a lack of subject matter expertise<\/strong> can be in some instances, while <strong>a lack of teaching and learning prowess <\/strong>can be in others, and <strong>a serious lack of brain based repetition<\/strong> <strong><em>over years<\/em><\/strong> (not weeks) must be discussed\u2026  Unfortunately, this list is not even close to exhaustive, but it does start to explain why we struggle to explain why. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Can it be done differently?  Of course.  Having traveled to so many other countries and witnessed their education systems, I posed the same kinds of questions to those students. <em> Finnish students<\/em> typically know why.  <em>Australian students <\/em>often know why.  <em>Canadian students <\/em>can almost always work their way back to why.  But American students cannot.  Not in elementary or high school, nor in college does \u201cwhy\u201d seem to be part of the equation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">So, while leaders push Reading Across the Curriculum programs, they rarely push Math Across the Curriculum, and they never, ever push \u201cWhy Across the Curriculum\u201d initiatives.  <em>What we are left with are people who cannot remember how because they never knew why.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" style=\"white-space:pre-wrap;\">Good luck and good learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">Which is more important?  HOW to do something?  Or WHY we should even do it in the first place?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":261,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[82,328],"tags":[89,236,762,763,244,765,10,757,761,758,237,760,764,613,243,759],"class_list":["post-260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education-reform","category-leadership","tag-context","tag-critical-thinking","tag-flat-earth","tag-flat-world","tag-how","tag-idiocy","tag-leadership","tag-literacy","tag-math-across-the-curriculum","tag-numeracy","tag-problem-solving","tag-reading-across-the-curriculum","tag-subject-matter-expertise","tag-ted-talk","tag-why","tag-writing-across-the-curriculum"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jeffpresents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/LiteracyNumeracy.png?fit=512%2C196&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9MbWB-4c","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":353,"url":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/24\/2018-7-24-can-curriculum-kill-curiosity\/","url_meta":{"origin":260,"position":0},"title":"Can Curriculum Kill Curiosity?","author":"bordenj88","date":"July 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Teaching today is far more about classroom management than it is about actually teaching leading to learning.\u00a0 But when you add in Common Core requirements, newly defined elements of \"rigor\", high stakes testing, the political and process-based rules setup by people who have often never been in a classroom, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Education Reform&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Education Reform","link":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/category\/education-reform\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":282,"url":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/2020\/05\/05\/2020-5-5-quarantinotes-series-6-curriculum-integration-without-it-liberal-arts-and-society-may-be-in-trouble\/","url_meta":{"origin":260,"position":1},"title":"Quarantinotes Series #6 &#8211; Curriculum Integration (Without it, Liberal Arts and Society may be in Trouble)","author":"bordenj88","date":"May 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Could curriculum integration be the only real way to help society embrace a \u201cLiberal Arts\u201d context by which to flourish and thrive?","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jeffpresents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/CurriculumIntegration.jpg?fit=406%2C283&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":280,"url":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/2020\/04\/28\/2020-4-28-quarantinotes-series-5-curriculum-bloat-interleaving-and-the-forgetting-curve\/","url_meta":{"origin":260,"position":2},"title":"Quarantinotes Series #5 &#8211; Curriculum Bloat, Interleaving, and the Forgetting Curve","author":"bordenj88","date":"April 28, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I will share with you two strategies to consider for both mitigating drift\/bloat, as well as helping students actually learn. (By learn, I mean remembering the information AFTER your class is over, not just acing the final and forgetting it all.)","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Professional Development&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Professional Development","link":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/category\/professional-development\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jeffpresents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/information_overload.jpg?fit=300%2C224&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":391,"url":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/29\/2020-6-29-if-a-pictures-worth-a-thousand-words-whats-an-infographic-worth\/","url_meta":{"origin":260,"position":3},"title":"If a Picture&#8217;s Worth a Thousand Words, What&#8217;s an Infographic Worth?","author":"bordenj88","date":"June 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Some of Dr. Borden\u2019s favorite infographics as seen in various keynotes, workshops, and other sessions.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;IDEAS&quot;","block_context":{"text":"IDEAS","link":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/category\/ideas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":114,"url":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/12\/2018-10-12-friday-campus-connections\/","url_meta":{"origin":260,"position":4},"title":"Friday Campus Connections","author":"bordenj88","date":"October 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Join us every Friday to see how connectedness shows up in \"real-world\" stories and scenarios.\u00a0 Here are 5 articles, blogs, or other resources that illustrate the power of connectedness.\u00a0 Of course, we'll keep blogging away too.\u00a0 We hope you'll stop back by on Monday, to see our newest post.\u00a0 And\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus Connections Digest&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus Connections Digest","link":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/category\/campus-connections-digest\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jeffpresents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Connectedness-1.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jeffpresents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Connectedness-1.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jeffpresents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Connectedness-1.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":226,"url":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/21\/2019-10-21-your-students-are-like-tomato-sauce\/","url_meta":{"origin":260,"position":5},"title":"Your Students Are Like Tomato Sauce&#8230;","author":"bordenj88","date":"October 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"There is no such thing as a \u201cbest\u201d tomato sauce, yet we push for a \u201cbest\u201d student moniker throughout education.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Education Reform&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Education Reform","link":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/category\/education-reform\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jeffpresents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/TomatoSauces.jpg?fit=616%2C460&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jeffpresents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/TomatoSauces.jpg?fit=616%2C460&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/jeffpresents.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/TomatoSauces.jpg?fit=616%2C460&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jeffpresents.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}