(Part 2) Best school & teaching books according to redditors

I disagree.

Most people's notion of "improving" involves their intellectual brain doubling-down on denial and oppression of their natural, animal brain. And this leads to dysfunction, not improvement.

For example...

> if people were to just "be themselves", they'd never improve.

curiosity is a human trait. Ever hear of it? It leads to things like space missions to the moon.

For a better discussion of what I'm talking about, see "Summerhill School" by Neill. Takeaway from Neill's experience: if you provide children with healthy access to psychologically healthy adults, and otherwise leave them the fuck alone, they turn out fantastic. Likewise, if you abuse them horribly improve them since preschool, they turn out all fucked up. Hence the society we see around us.

>> Have a source for how they 'perform worse'? By what metric are you measuring performance? The guy you were replying to wasn't saying that the education an average child receives was the best, but that the best education in the world that money can buy is in the US.

And that's absurd. You can't have an education system that only serves the privileged few, education is a god damn human right and does nothing but improve this country.


>> Citation needed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/15/education/15report.html

Private schools don't even outperform public schools in America when you account for factors.

https://www.amazon.com/Public-School-Advantage-Schools-Outperform/dp/022608891X

Here's my 2 cents on the subject. First, I'd give up on the idea of debating. Most of the debating I see is nothing more than verbal warfare--how productive is that? Well, it probably depends on what your objectives are. Are you out to belittle people and make yourself feel better? Than verbal warfare is the way to go. Are you out to improve knowledge or discover truth? Then debating probably isn't the route to take. Whatever, I'd establish the objective upfront. I'd recommend simply asking questions and providing sources.

So what are some questions involved in the spanking subject?

1. What are the parents goals?
   
2. Do the methods applied meet the desired goals?
   
3. What is the self-ownership status of a child?
   
4. When does a child gain full agency?
   
   
5. Goals will vary by parent, but shouldn't this question be asked every time the subject comes up? Most parents will answer with goals like happy, productive, independent, socially skilled, able to think critically, whatever. I doubt many parents will say out lound that they want obedience, silence, blind acceptance of authority, shyness, inability to bond, addictive behavior, a poor relationship with their parents as adults, approach-avoidance behavior, depression, divorce, etc. The point is, the question needs to be asked, and the answer must frame the response.
   
   
6. Do the methods applied meet the desired goals? Now would be an excellent time to provide links and sources. There is a wealth of information available on the effectiveness and consequences of different parenting techniques. Read the sources, compare results to the desired goals, make your decision. No emotional and verbal warfare required.
   
   
7. What is the self-ownership status of a child? I've yet to see a complete theory or philosophy on this subject. I'd recommend saying you don't know or labeling all proposals as a "working theory" to diffuse all the negative reactions you're likely to get on this emotional subject. Personally I think parents should have a trustee relationship with their children, and that a child's request to leave a household should be honored as soon as he can make it. I have no idea how to put that in an argument but suspect it would involve knowledge of cognitive development.
   
   
8. When does a child gain full agency? Well, first you have the whole can one own oneself debate. Then you'd have to argue when that occurs, if it does. I again lean towards the trustee relationship and gradual development of agency.
   
   Here's sources for those interested in studying the issue instead of yelling at each other:
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbiq2-ukfhM
   
   http://www.alfiekohn.org/index.php
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Unconditional-Parenting-Moving-Rewards-Punishments/dp/0743487486/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338338284&sr=8-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Discipline-Compliance-Alfie-Kohn/dp/1416604723/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338338349&sr=1-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_17?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=punished+by+rewards+by+alfie+kohn&sprefix=punished+by+rewar%2Cstripbooks%2C256
   
   http://www.amazon.com/No-Contest-Case-Against-Competition/dp/0395631254/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338338440&sr=1-2
   
   http://nospank.net/
   
   http://www.rie.org/
   
   http://www.wholechild.org/vision/documents/TheEffectsOfImprovingCaregivingOnEarlyDevelopment.pdf
   
   http://www.echoparenting.org/
   
   http://www.becomingtheparent.com/all/hp.html
   
   http://drgabormate.com/
   
   http://www.committedparent.com/
   
   http://www.janetlansbury.com/
   
   http://www.regardingbaby.org/
   
   http://www.eileensclasses.com/
   
   http://www.mindfulparentingnyc.com/Mindful_Parenting/Welcome.html
   
   http://www.riemiami.com/
   
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Dear-Parent-Caring-Infants-Respect/dp/1892560062/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338339719&sr=1-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Your-Self-Confident-Baby-Encourage-Abilities/dp/1118158792/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1338339719&sr=1-3
   
   http://www.amazon.com/The-RIE-Manual/dp/1892560003/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294253451&sr=1-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Blessing-Skinned-Knee-Teachings-Self-Reliant/dp/1416593063/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1298050770&sr=8-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ruth+anne+hammond&x=0&y=0
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Becoming-Parent-You-Want-Sourcebook/dp/0553067508/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1294253521&sr=1-1
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Emotional-Life-Toddler-Alicia-Lieberman/dp/0028740173/ref=pd_sim_b_2
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Theories-Attachment-Introduction-Ainsworth-Brazelton/dp/1933653388/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1298051329&sr=8-10
   
   http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XR2CGU/ref=s9_simh_gw_p14_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1C1SJ1BR2T4ADEN9VMJM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846
   
   http://www.amazon.com/Unfolding-Infants-Natural-Gross-Development/dp/1892560070/ref=pd_sim_b_1
   
   http://www.youtube.com/user/stefbot/videos?query=parenting
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyNQFG7C8JM
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjxXuDYdBzY
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONNRfflggBg
   
   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1GJsCa_4G8
   

I think the word, "great teacher" is a little like the word "genius". It shouldn't be thrown around too often, as they're so completely rare. When I think of great teaching I think of a couple of teachers at my school that are amazing.

1. Content area knowledge - these two teachers are insanely knowledgeable on what it takes to teach a kid how to read. They can talk for hours on the subject, and are intimately related with strategies, techniques, and the vocabulary of their subject area.
   
   
2. This is their career. Yes all teachers love kids. But they really see what they're doing as an avenue for social empowerment. I don't always agree with these two teacher politically, but they really see what they're doing as an extension of the civil rights movement. That seems cheesy but is important. You have to believe in what we're doing in the classroom. Otherwise, the stress, the long hours, etc, are not gonna be worth it to you personally.
   
   
3. Classroom Management - Obviously. Required Reading #1 Also, This + This = amazing teaching.
   
   
4. Data Driven Instruction - they constantly track student mastery of outcomes. They know which students have mastered what, and have clear strategies for getting them to that outcome. This is a key which many good teachers lack.
   
   I could say much much more on the subject, I'm sure.
   
   
   

Your focus on detention is arbitrary. It's like saying it's unfair that hostages don't have access to pizza. Maybe, but the whole state of being-a-hostage is unfair. Instead of obsessing about their lack of pepperoni and mushrooms, why not, instead, focus on the actual problem?

• We force children to go to school.
  
• We force children to study specific subjects at school.
  
• We force children to do homework after school.
  
• We stigmatize them if they fail at school.
  
• We use school grades as one metric of mental health.
  
• In most schools, we force children to be subject to archaic. pedagogical methods--once that have been proven to be ineffective.
  
• And, yes, we force children who have (in my view) naturally bucked against this system, to stay in school longer than kids who accept it.
  
• In most schools, children learn very little, especially given the amount of time the spend there.
  
• In many cases (e.g. when forced to read Shakespeare), they often develop a lifelong hatred of the subject.
  
• Many children spend years in school being bullied, mocked, and ostracized.
  
• Throughout this time, they're repeatedly told all this is "good for them," and, in the end, like serial abusers, they inflict in on their own kids, telling them it's good for them.
  
  All of this stuff has been studied for decades. We know that most schools are run horribly, according to unsound educational principals. But that never changes.
  
  When psychologists or neuroscientists discover something about learning or education, it takes years or decades to affect classroom practices, if it ever does.
  
  Schools aren't generally affected by Science. Instead, they are buffeted by politics and held fast by tradition.
  
  See
  
  
• Wounded By School
  
  
• Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes
  
  
• The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing
  
  
• video: The 3 Most Basic Needs of Children & Why Schools Fail
  
  
• Summerhill School: A New View of Childhood
  
  
• [A Mathematician's Lament (PDF)] (https://www.maa.org/external_archive/devlin/LockhartsLament.pdf); longer book version: A Mathematician's Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form
  
  
• Ken Robinson's TED talk: Do Schools kill creativity?
  
  
• How Children Fail
  
  
• Unschooling
  
  
• Why do we get frustrated when learning something? (written by me)
  
  I am skeptical that I will CYV, even though I believe that this is the best argument against it--not your view that detention is wrong, but that it's not even worth talking about. Sure, detention is a bad thing--but not the worst thing--about a horrible, corrupt, abusive system.
  
  I'm skeptical, because the system is so deeply entrenched in our culture. And the most people can do is argue about small tweaks: whether we should use this textbook or that, the length of Summer break, the size of classrooms, etc.
  
  The debate about Creationism vs Evolution in schools is a good example. If the Evolution folks (or the Creationist folks) win, they will pat themselves on the back and walk away happy, never glancing back and noticing that the same shoddy educational methods are being used now as before--with just one correction.
  
  Yes, Dominoes is bad pizza. It won't suddenly become good pizza if you put it in a less-ugly box. I agree that the box is ugly, but why focus on it? It's not the core problem.

Yes. I've been there, and I've gotten out of it, too. The anxiety comes from having more things on your to-do list than you have time to get done, and not knowing if it's even possible to do them. Check out the book The Together Teacher for the answer to your anxiety. You might not be able to get everything done, but you can sure become a lot more organized and effective, which means that you can honestly say, "There was just too much. I worked hard and it didn't all get done, but that's okay," and feel good about it. I started using it over winter break last year and it has literally changed my life from where you are at to where I am at now. At least that helps with the "feeling swamped" bit.

Congratulations! ! I'm a second grade teacher and absolutely love the age. They're old enough to learn to work independently but they're still young enough to engage in imaginary play. So much fun!

I would highly recommend getting this book to help you start off your year. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1892989816/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1466540252&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40&keywords=the+first+six+weeks+of+school&dpPl=1&dpID=41CWPyLbqNL&ref=plSrch Really helpful in pacing and teaching routines. Also, even if you don't use the Daily 5 structure, I would highly recommend reading the book to give you an idea of how to teach routines for independent work and to build stamina. Those strategies for teaching routines really helped me establish a routine for independence that lasted all year. Slow down in the beginning so you can cruise the rest of the year. You'll also need to get really comfortable with beginning and transitional reading stages. I'd recommend On Solid Ground by Sharon Taberski and Jennifer Serravello's The Reading Strategies book.

You are going to love this age group! ! Best of luck and feel free to pm me if you have any questions!

I'm a high school science teacher and I can't recommend the Hands-On series enough. I use the physics, but the chemistry one is great too.

• This is my image, one that applies to me in several ways. I believe it's the best photograph I've ever shot. And it's a picture of my best friends daughter, taken while she was staying with us while her mom was being treated for breast cancer. It was a very difficult time for us all and this photo brings me to tears every time I look at it. I'm so proud to show it off, but damn it hurts to see it. I know you probably weren't in the mood for a sad entry. One of my photos were the first thing that popped into my hear, and that's my best one. I hope I didn't bum you out :P
  
  
• My absolute favorite book is The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. I first read it in my third grade class and just fell in love with it. I was very happy when I finally got ahold of a copy for my son a few weeks ago.
  
  
• The ebook I want most right now is Social Studies Through Children's Literature, but thats a bit out of the price range so my runner up is Project-Based Homeschooling.

Here you go. Cheap and legit

I just bought a book called Teaching as a Subversive Activity at a thrift store. I am in the middle of reading it.
Great read so far. It's right up the guy in the article's alley.

Jesus, ever hear of a paragraph?

>This is similar to the voucher debate where good schools get better and bad schools get worse only now smart kids get better teachers and under-performing students get little and less.

Why shouldn't smart, high achieving kids get the best teachers? Do you deny that all kids learn at different rates?

>The second flaw in the classical capitalistic economic model as it applies to teachers is that Education is a fundamentally Socialist.

No Comrade, it isn't. First, education is a private good, not a public good. Second, the overwhelming majority of what we learn is done on our own. Consider the incredible success of the Khan Academy, for an example of individuals doing it for themselves. There is absolutely nothing "fundamentally socialist" about education.

Oh, and read this book.

E: added links

According to the Thailand FAQ you only need a bachelor's degree to teach in Thailand, so if you can't afford a CELTA or CertTESOL I'd skip getting another cert. Unless that quid's burning a hole in your pocket. Those online certs are worth about as much as the paper they're printed on.

CELTA courses use this book by Jeremy Harmer and this one by Jim Scrivener as introductory textbooks to TEFL. They will teach you more about teaching than the course you linked at a fraction of the cost.

Fix It Write and Write Now! for the lazy

Another great resource is "The First Six Weeks of School." https://www.amazon.com/First-Six-Weeks-School/dp/1892989816/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501256208&sr=8-1&keywords=the+first+six+weeks+of+school
They help you get your classroom up and running right away. The first grade teachers in my building swear by the routines section.

Okay, you mention electromagnetic field and photons. I'll agree with you there. I am sensitive to the sound of frequency through television especially if its poor reception. I hear like an annoying highish-low pitch sound when the signal is poor. I thought I was crazy but I later discovered about Mosquito frequency.


My visual snow was the strongest when I first started seeing in 2012, New Year's Day. This is where I agree with your "shape" anecdote. I recalled seeing swirls, circles, and anything near circular squiggles in my field of site. I thought I was going insane upon seeing these "illusions". I still see them but over the last 7 years, I grew accustom to them and rather see them as a "bonus feature" to my field of site. Plus, it does make my imagination go wild hahaha It keeps entertained than feeling hopeless than I can't change it.


Side tracked in this conversation, I honestly do believe its neuron connections and more specific to our eye sights. Like wires to a light bulb, I think those wires got burnt out. Or why is it that suddenly, visual snow is being labeled and talked now in the age of technology and bright blue lights as opposed to past. Unless pointillism artists had it and we just mistaken it for art.


If it helps with my idea of neural connection, I recommend checking out Sensation and Perception textbooks. https://www.amazon.com/Sensation-Perception-Bruce-Goldstein-ebook/dp/B00BF3VMSA .


If you may be kind and patience with free time, could you link me to your TED talks. I figure to see what your side of grass looks like to you. :)

Be Bilingual - Practical Ideas for Multilingual Families https://www.amazon.de/dp/9526803701/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_wtoNBbYN8DYCM


This one. We have it bought but I didnt read it full sice our little one is only 4 months old. But its very good so far, she had a master in that area and a mother of one or two i guess

For us basically my wife will speak only spanish and I German. We talk Romanian between us.

>Therefore, I'm looking for advice on how and when to introduce the class routines and procedures.

Day 1, and continue for the next several weeks. Jointly develop and agree upon classroom expectations with the kids. Have them sign a "Classroom Contract" with the rules you came up with together. Display it in the room and keep it up.

>I'm guessing because they are so young and unable to read, it is better to repeat expectations / procedures often

Yes. Very often. But do more than repeat; model. Then have kids model. Comment on how they model. Ask other kids to comment on the modeling their peers do ("what do you notice ____ doing?")

>Should I make "personal anchor charts" for each student explaining these procedures

That's not really necessary if you have a large anchor chart for the whole class. An anchor chart is essential, but individual ones are not (with a few exceptions--usually kids with significant disabilities).

Now I've got some questions for you:

1. So this will be French immersion? 100% French? Or part French part English? Do you share the kids with other teachers?
   
   
2. Since you're starting the year, will you be the one setting up the classroom?
   
   
3. How many on your roster?
   
   
4. When is the first day? Is it a full day or half day?
   
   
5. Do you have this or have access to it? It's the best for those critical first weeks.
   
   
6. Who else is on your first grade team?

Teach Like a Champion by Lemov and The Skillful Teacher by Saphier are great resources to study. They'll provide you with techniques and tips on teaching. We used them in my Masters of Education course work. Extensively. It's worth it to note that in earning yourself a TEFL certificate, such as a CELTA, you'll be taught the rudimentaries of the profession.

Other than that, if you're really worried about it you could try taking some college courses on Education, either Applied Linguistics or Elementary, to get a broader idea of techniques and expectations. I wouldn't worry about it too much though. I went to China to teach knowing nothing except small bits of info from my CELTA course, and I got along just fine.

Absolutely - history has shown us that public education can be used in exactly that way, in Nazi Germany and the former USSR. I think in a lot of ways those specific programs you mention are detrimental since they do more to just enforce meaningless metrics and quotas than they do to cultivate thinking young minds.

We need smarter teachers. And you know what: you get what you pay for. Teachers are so underpaid but they alone are going to be responsible for the quality of future generations, so we're only cheating ourselves. But if we were serious about our future as a society, we'd have better paid teachers, and more of them, and they would be free to be independent and come up with innovative lessons instead of teaching off rubrics which might not work for every class and child. This book made me want to be a teacher.

Definitely consider switching schools. If, however, that's not an option, you might be able to read up on some of the literature that great coaches use to develop great teachers. My school likes to send teachers to the Research for Better Teaching (RBT) program. You can find development through their website: http://www.rbteach.com/ and through the book that they use for the program, The Skillful Teacher (http://www.amazon.com/The-Skillful-Teacher-Building-Teaching/dp/1886822107). RBT is not an easy course, but it has completely revolutionized the way I teach.

http://www.amazon.com/Fix-Write-Nan-Jay-Barchowsky/dp/0965674584/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426625318&sr=8-1&keywords=fix+it+handwriting

http://www.amazon.com/Sensation-Perception-E-Bruce-Goldstein-ebook/dp/B00BF3VMSA/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1452534476&sr=1-1

This book says its a "print replica" of yours or something. DeDRM it

Get this book -- TONS of ideas https://www.amazon.com/Hands-Physics-Activities-Real-Life-Applications/dp/087628845X

The Underground Guide to Classroom Management is good. Short but lots of good tips.

My first year, I read this book from [Fred Jones](Fred Jones Tools for Teaching 3rd Edition: Discipline•Instruction•Motivation Primary Prevention of Discipline Problems https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F2LJ0J4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_emoHyb7RSXQ74) . I thought it really helped improve my behavior management, and even now, I still remember his thoughts that at the end of the day, I should not have a headache from having to manage behavior. The students are the ones that should be doing the work, not me.

Here is my copy and paste list:

Books

TIPERS

• TIPERs: Sensemaking Tasks for Introductory Physics
  
• Newtonian Tasks Inspired by Physics Education Research: nTIPERs
  
• E&M TIPERs: Electricity & Magnetism Tasks
  
• Ranking Task Exercises in Physics
  
  TIPERs are a fantastic resource for including conceptual thinking assignments. Answer keys are generally available if you talk to your school's Pearson Rep. IMO, the E/M book is the weakest, in part because it ignores that circuits are a thing. I would start with the first as it is a general overview, and go from there.
  
  

  General Physics Education
  

  
  

• Five Easy Lessons: Strategies for Successful Physics Teaching
  
• Hands-On Physics Activities with Real-Life Applications
  
• Tutorials In Introductory Physics and Homework Package - This is less helpful as you get further in your career and are more comfortable designing your own assignments, but was very helpful when I first started.
  
• Thinking Physics: Understandable Practical Reality - If you like Hewitt's next time questions you'll love these.
  
• Teaching Introductory Physics - Pretty much all physics teachers should read this at some point, such a fantastic resource.
  
• Teaching High School Physics Volume I - First of a three volume set, I like these, but they were written by one of my college profs, so I am biased.
  
  

  Websites
  

• Pretty Good Physics - While mostly an AP resource, tons of teacher made materials are available. If you want access to the good stuff (tests and such) those are keep in PGP-secure, there are instructions on how you can gain access.
  
• PheT
  
• Compadre - Tends to be hit or miss for me, but a good collection of resources.
  
• AP Physics HTML 5 Sims - A collection of simple simulations written by an AP Physics teacher, good for introductory labs.
  
• New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning - Another collection of materials for all types of courses, particularly handy if you have any ESL students and know none of the language.
  
• Physics Classroom - Pretty much the defacto online physics textbook.
  
  

  Youtube
  

• Lasseviren1 - Great Calc-physics tutorials
  
• Flipping Physics
  
• Minutephysics
  
• Veritasium
  
  Let me know if you have questions about any of these, or about particular types of physics courses.
  
  

Start here: http://giftedhomeschoolers.org

They have a lot of resources.

i also love this book: http://www.amazon.com/Project-Based-Homeschooling-Mentoring-Self-Directed-Learners-ebook/dp/B009AHTRBC/

You could try posting this to r/TEFL as well. If you're going for a qualification then CELTA is your best bet and there's a CELTA trainee book that might be useful. Some schools also recommend Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener.

A couple of books worth checking out, both by Alfie Kohn:

Punished by Rewards

Beyond Discipline

There's education, then there is education. The US has yet to unify what it considers to be a nationally accepted curriculum and as such schools have been able to pick and choose subject matter to teach and not teach. If you want to understand what modern education is here is some suggested reading which explains how schools are structured and why they are built the way they are.

I understand your frustration completely. Before starting my first year of teaching, I set up my room, was told to move to another, and then told to move again. I think I had final confirmation on my room less than a week before the first day and construction held me up from setting up and organizing in a way I felt comfortable with. This stress became a lot of my focus, and I neglected solidifying routines. If you have some solid routines that make your life and your students' lives easier, your room will fall into place to mirror these routines.

Think about your preferences for collecting worksheets, storing materials and books, and for grading. Can you create any temporary or mobile homes (milk crate with hanging folders, bins, furniture on wheels, etc.), that can be moved as you settle in more?

I was given this book during my new teacher orientation. You might find some ideas that resonate with you.

Best of luck!

I'm having a very similar experience with both my emotional state and the classroom environment.

Most people wouldn't say this, but perhaps your instincts about discipline/punishment are worth listening to. In the short term, for the sake of your sanity, you may need to set them aside, because in my experience, they don't lead to quick fixes, and as you said, a structured environment is important for your students. However, I would posit that structure does not REQUIRE punishment, though that's certainly one way to get there.

I highly recommend these two books: Beyond Discipline and Lost at School. I think you would find them quite validating. Even if you (or any others reading this) are not willing to entirely give up punishment, I believe there is ample evidence out there that there is another way.

Feel free to message me if you are interested in discussing. This is an issue I feel very deeply about, even if I am currently not skilled enough to create the kind of environment I'd like to see.

Best of luck with the rest of your school year!

To be honest this doesn't sound like the best homeschool environment. But: Many (if not most) homeschoolers of kids who were pulled out of public school take a sort of "detox" period when the kids are taken out of school. This kind of gives them a chance to relax, put the public school environment really on the back burner, and kind of reset to get ready for homeschooling.

The kinds of programs you are describing are basically "school at home." This is fine for many kids. For a kid who obviously hates school and "learning" as he perceives it (i.e. what he has been forced to do at school all his life,) this is probably not a good option.

There are as many different ways and methods of homeschooling as there are families who homeschool and that's really what is so exciting and effective about it. Now is a great time to start exploring these methods WITH HIM. He is certainly old enough to have a vote in how he learns.

For a kid who is resistant to book learning I would read up about unschooling, free range learning, project-based homeschooling. It goes by different names but the basic premise is the same: people learn best when they are interested and engaged and making their own choices about what to learn and when.

He needs to start taking an inventory of his interests and abilities. Is he mechanically inclined? He obviously doesn't like to read but what about math? Video games? Does he want to learn how to code? What about animals? He could become involved in a program that trains dogs to become service dogs for people with various disabilities. The possibilities are really endless and bounded only by his own imagination.

This could be a very exciting time for your brother (and the rest of your family); fighting about sitting in front of a computer all day and reading about the civil war or whatever is not going to help anything. He has decided he doesn't like to learn. This is a potential tragedy but he is still young and there is still time to change his mind.

It is important that when you begin his interest inventory (I would suggest doing this as a family) that there are no disparaging comments made. If he says he is interested in video games, it goes onto the list. If he loves to play guitar, it goes onto the list. There are plenty of ways to work those interests into valuable projects, you just have to get creative.

On another note: he is old enough to start learning about trades; if he thinks that's where his interests may be. You could track down electricians, plumbers, any kind of tradesman in your area and I'm sure any one of them would be thrilled to explain their career and necessary education to a 14-year old.

It looks like you live in Texas? I am also in TX and the state has some of the most liberal homeschool laws in the nation. Unschooling is definitely possible here.

I noticed that you said your parents are high school dropouts and that they can't teach your brother. This does not have to be a barrier to his education; at the high school level most parents aren't actually "teaching," anyway, they are acting more as mentors. It is important that they are on board in supporting his projects and interests but they don't have to teach him trigonometry; there are plenty of other ways to go about getting that information when he needs it.

I hope this helps. The most important thing you can do right now is to get him excited about learning something. ANYTHING.

This is one of several attacks on the finding that public schools outperform private schools when student SES is accounted for, that was documented in the book The Public School Advantage. These attacks do nothing to dis-prove the findings of this book. One of the authors of the book provides a thorough rebuttal to the attacks here. So, no private schools don't beat public schools.

The main reason I'm interested in the MS credential is to teach middle school core. I already have the book by Zarillo and I've used Teacherstestprep which has helped me in the past.

In order to help yourself stay sane: The Together Teacher by Maia Heyck-Merlin. SO MANY tips and tricks about how to make the most of your time. I didn't read it till my third year teaching and I wish I had read it sooner.

Personally, I've never had the chance to take a CELTA course, but I have heard many good things about it. I haven't heard of the other programs you mentioned.

BTW, If you would like to pick up some general TEFL tips in advance of taking a course, I'd recommend investing in a comprehensive text like Learning Teaching.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0230729843/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1393974279&sr=8-1

There's a fair amount of information in the text on lesson planning as well as teaching listening, reading, writing and speaking.

Cheers.

What book are you using to study? A professor at my school wrote this: http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Revised-RICA-Preparation-Californias/dp/0137008686

I found it really helpful. Our reading classes were structured around it and I passed the RICA no problem.

>but it's not like our government controls the means for food production and I hope they never do.

My main point is that government bureaucrats are faced with the same backwards incentives regardless if they are producing food or providing the service of education. Removing competition means no accountability and no pressure to increase quality or reduce costs.

>What is your stance, how would you like our educational system to operate?

I'd like it to operate with zero state involvement.

https://www.amazon.com/Underground-Guide-Classroom-Management-ebook/dp/B07NKZ2W7G/ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_1?crid=1USDH3SKZ0RQ6&keywords=connor+mcgill+underground&qid=1556997905&s=gateway&sprefix=connor+mcgill&sr=8-1-fkmrnull

Hello, it appears you tried to put a link in a title, since most users cant click these I have placed it here for you

^I ^am ^a ^bot ^if ^you ^have ^any ^suggestions ^dm ^me

Looks like it was Drout's Quick and Easy Old English, which has the advantage of being pretty cheap.

The Kindle version is OK, but a dead-tree would be nicer (I found myself using bookmarks pretty heavily to refer back to things.)

If you'd like to see a page or two, let me know what you want and I'd be happy to provide.

----

bonus: All professors' websites are garbage.

----

>Old English Wikipedia

of course that's a thing.

I enjoyed Homeschooling for Excellence https://www.amazon.com/Homeschooling-Excellence-David-Colfax/dp/0446389862 and Project Based Homeschooling https://www.amazon.com/Project-Based-Homeschooling-Mentoring-Self-Directed-Learners/dp/1475239068/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=project+based+homeschooling&qid=1557432686&s=books&sr=1-1

I've giving Fix it Write a try.

STUDY THIS BOOK:
http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Revised-RICA-Preparation-Californias/dp/0137008686

Zarrillo.

SERIOUSLY.

Don't mess with quizlet- I found most of the questions/answers to be inaccurate.

Focus on case study examples.

> I am not sorry if this infuriates you, because you're sympathizing with murderers and that's not my jam.

If you think I'm sympathizing with them, you need to increase your reading comprehension skills.

> You're inability to acknowledge this is quite pitiful.

I said it happened. Where did I say 100% we WEREN'T lied to?

> When you hand over your guns be sure to fetch them the bullets, the duct tape, the gag and the blindfold while you are at it. I know you're just trying to be helpful...

Bro, why do you assume everyone has guns? And then why would you assume that if I do have guns, I'd just give them up?

> If you still believe in terrorists that existed prior to 9/11 then I know I'm smarter than at least you. Yes terrorism exists now of course, we created it after 9/11 by occupying their country.

Do you know what the definition of a terrorist is? Of course, people having been terrorizing for political influence for millennia. If you think we created the first terrorists, then you have read a total of 0 books on history.

> You look back at iran crisis in the 70s. Know what they were shouting? "yankee go home yankee go home". Why not try it their way for a change AND YANKEE FUCKING GO / STAY HOME

UHHHHHHHHHHHH, I'm voting for Bernie Sanders so what in the actual fuck are you talking about? Your aim is so far off you don't know where your shot went.

Here, take this

If you are interested in learning about one of the founding fathers A. S. Neill wrote about the school he founded in his book Summerhill School: A New View of Childhood https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312141378/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_YUfuybCMVVWD7

>https://www.amazon.de/dp/9526803701/ref=cm\_sw\_r\_cp\_api\_wtoNBbYN8DYCM

Hi,

Babies in-fact already start to pick up sounds from when they are in the last trimester. Your husband should differently stick to only speak Japanese to your child and you English. It is important that the baby learn right from the start which sounds/languages are associated with which parent. Which is the one language one parent method. Which country are you living in as this will also support with language development.

I'm reading Market Education right now, might be of interest to you

http://www.amazon.com/Market-Education-Unknown-Frontier-Economic/dp/1560004088

What if you flipped it and tried to catch the 3 of them doing the "right" things?

It's a long-term strategy, but it might change the energy in the room with them. It reminds me of some things I learned at a Fred Jones Positive Classroom Management Course a long time ago . . . if you have your whole class "earning" for some type of reward - game time on Fridays (with the games all related to your content) or a movie day (again, a movie related to content) - then you can orchestrate it so that those students can't take time away from what the class has earned if they're misbehaving, but they CAN add additional time when they're behaving.

Example: The goal is to earn 30 minutes for the reward day. I give them 15 minutes to start with (so the goal is 45 minutes total), and students can earn minutes by being in their seats working on the warm-up at the beginning of class, everyone having all their supplies, everyone turning in their homework, etc.

For the 3 students you're struggling with, if they DON'T do any of those things, it doesn't penalize the whole class. If they DO the things, it gives the class extra time - so if they're all 3 in the same class period, that gives the class an opportunity to earn 4 minutes for each of the activities instead of only one.

In my experience, that motivates their classmates to put positive peer pressure on them, so that they get to their time goal faster.

Also, you can play it up when they misbehave: "Oh, man. I'm so disappointed that I can't add more time because you (fill in the blank.) I was really looking forward to game time on Friday, but I guess we'll just have to try again next week."

Here's the Fred Jones book, if you want to check it out: https://www.amazon.com/Fred-Jones-Tools-Teaching-Discipline%E2%80%A2Instruction%E2%80%A2Motivation-ebook/dp/B00F2LJ0J4/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=fred+jones&qid=1564510410&s=gateway&sr=8-1

My public school was awesome. Great physics, science, math, computers, language, technology, and history educations. (graduated mid 00's) Ended up in a top university.

Know why? I lived in middle class neighborhood in a rich area of town. Schools are funded largely by local property taxes. Poor places tend to have worse schools. A great example of this is 2 elementary schools in the city of Atlanta: Morningside Elementary School, one of the best schools in the entire state, and Thomasville Park Elementary school, one of the worst in the entire state. They are both part of the Atlanta Public Schools district. One resides in the dilapidated old industrial south part of town. The other resides in the northern, office-based, commercial, and residential part of town. I'm sure I don't need to tell you which is which.

This pattern is repeated across the nation. Poor places have bad schools, well off places have great schools. Given this, do you really think that poor places are going to just grassroots fund their way into great private schools if public schools are taken away?

>You need not ask if your policy feels good, but does it do good. In other words, does it work? Social education doesn't work for the same reason no other bureaucratically managed industries work - they lack proper incentives and controls to innovate and self-manage efficiency.

This just doesn't seem to be true. In the past decade, a bevy of new research has shown that private schools do not actually produce better outcomes. This book is a deep examination of data that shows this. You can find gobs more information out there, including the foot notes and references in that book.

I guess I still don't think the ideas you're proposing are going to educate everyone, though I certainly think we could agree upon the fact that they ARE over-regulated with the endless testing and metricization and focus on memorization rather than teacher certification/trust, reasonable pay, and training students to think and learn problem solving skills.

>Are there asshole parents out there that are going to buy a new car instead of send their kids to school? Sure. But you can't get hung up on this as a reason to make ineffective decisions based on appeals to emotion.

Isn't that what you're doing when you say government schools are producing uneducated people who are destroying the west? "Oh my god, destroying the west? We have to get rid of public schools now!"

> No government welfare program can even hold a candle to the Red Cross

The US Military seems to do a pretty kickass job of being there for disasters that happen across the world.

>The absolute most effective mechanisms for social welfare are private institutions - hands down.

After Reagan gutted the public mental healthcare system (an admittedly primitive system, but one that at least attempted to help the most likely to recover to do so) the only private system to spring up has been those based on exorbitant profit which the majority of Americans cannot afford.

>Why is it you put so much trust in a group of people that has little accountability and no incentives? The market has these - put your trust there.

This seems farcical. Some serious mistakes were made at the founding of the country (and many on the way to now) that prevent us from truly holding our elected officials accountable, including but not limited to: non-enforcement of increased representative count with larger populations, FPTP elections (for some positions), allowance for arbitrary and politically motivated district allocation, and others. In the early 1920's onward, after a pushback against the guilded age corruption from the 1880s to the 1920s, the increased involvement of money in politics, allowed by the justice system, and codified by the judicial branch, has led to our officials becoming beholden to moneyed interests, instead of the people.

I think we could if we make a few changes so that the system is a bit more accountable to us, rather than those with gobs of money - which leads me to...

As for the market - we've seen what happens when the market allows companies to act uninhibited - they attempt to maximize profit at the expense of anything that gets in their way: they permanently contaminate large swathes of land ( here), they pollute water supplies indiscriminately ( [here] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes#Pollution) and (here), they kill people via food for profit (here and here), they kill those that get in their way (here), they poison vast swathes of the world (here). I could go on. So I ask you: what makes you place your trust in opaque capital market entities that pursue profit at all costs rather than the one entity in society that isn't driven entirely by never-ending increase in profit regardless of the consequences?

>Ask yourself honestly, which are you?

Definitely a 1, I'm just trying to get by while leeches like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamara_Ecclestone and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump inherit billions of dollars and don't have to do an honest day's work in their lives to live in the lap of luxury.

Given a more equitable society I would love to do hands on work with children, but it's just not possible if one wants to escape the trap of labor exploitation and one day be able to pursue such works.

If you put this book on your Amazon wishlist and send me a link, I will buy it for you.

I am 100% serious.