In the education world, the term “evidence-based” is often thrown around carelessly and used to end the discussion. But the question I would posit (and pardon me for being so inquisitive) is this: When you say a practice or strategy is “evidence-based” have you actually looked at the evidence of the evidence-base? Or are you just using the term because you heard somebody else use it?

There’s a difference between collecting data and research. While the research process includes data collection, collecting data is not research. The research process includes data. But collecting data is not research. In the world of science and academia, research is not research unless and until it has been subjected to blind peer review. Collecting data is not research. Confusing data with research is a common practice in the for-profit realm. Confusing data with research is a common practice with those who have a political or ideological agenda. Confusing data with research is a common practice those outside of education.

When people discover I have a religious view that is not in alignment with their own, there are three things that often happen. First, they try to convince you of the wrongness of their view and the rightness of their own. Second, they call you names. And third, they pray for you. This podcast focuses on the third. And yes, I realize I am sometimes guilty of one and two above.

When people realize I have a different perspective on reading instruction, politics, or religion, two things sometimes happen. First, they try to convince you of your wrongness and get you to be more aligned with their own views. And second, they sometimes use labels and call you names. The third thing only happens with religion - they pray for you.

The National Reading Panel identified 5 pillars of good reading instruction. They were a bit misguided in their methodology. As a result, their 5 pillars are 5 pillars short. This podcast describes the 10 pillars of good reading instruction

This is the introduction to my book, 'Coming Out of a Different Sort of Closet Living With Mental Health Issues'. Here I introduce myself along with an unconscious projection named, Gerry. This is a different sort of podcast for me. If you would my to continue along this line, please send me an email: [email protected]

1. Literacy standards (like the CCSS) should not be designed by literacy amateurs (as literacy standards most often are). There are some things that should be left to educational professionals (like classroom teachers).

2. Expository text calls for an efferent response. Narrative text calls for an aesthetic response.

3. In our approaches to literacy instruction, we must always focus on real-world macro goals for reading vs. artificial micro-goals. When reading narrative text, the macro goal is for students to be able to read and enjoy the story. When reading expository text, the macro goal is for students to read and understand (construct knowledge with) the text.

In being and becoming teachers of writing we must allow spaces for bad teaching to occur. This doesn’t mean I’m advocating bad teaching. But if you take risks and try new things, you are bound to have lessons that don’t go just the way you would have liked. Risks and experimentation are essential components of growth and evolution. Hence, if you’ve never had a bad lesson, you haven’t tried enough new things. If you’ve never failed, it means you’ve been clinging too tightly to the outline. Occasional teaching failure is an important part of being and becoming a master teacher.

As teachers and as human beings living on the good planet earth, we are not defined by our success, rather, by how we address our failures. A successful teacher and human is not failure-free. A successful teacher and human is failure-overcoming.

When writing the draft, the goal is to spew. Open the spigot. Let the ideas flow. This is something you will continually need to remind your students to do. Get the ideas out before you lose them. There will be plenty of time to go back and rearrange, shape, and even throw them out later. For now, get them out. The specific steps for drafting are listed here:

Steps for drafting

1. Don’t think

2. Get it out

3. Don’t think some more

4. Get it out some more

5. Repeat as necessary

Garbage is good when drafting. Rubbish is to be celebrated. Nonsense is to be commemorated. Mishmash, drivel, trash, twaddle, hodgepodge, and poppycock are all joys to behold when writing the draft. In fact, you cannot write well if you’re not willing to first write poorly. When drafting, bad writing is good, and good writing is bad.

Across the country, states are considering a Republican-based education bill promoted as the “Parents Bill of Rights”. This bill would promote “curriculum transparency”, allowing parents to review school curriculum “without cost and immediately upon request, and add a notice requirement that requires schools to make “reasonable arrangements” for alternative instruction when families object to what is being taught.

This transparency bill is a relic from the 50s that belongs there. Joe McCarthy is dead. The Berlin wall has been taken down. Elvis Pressley left the building. We must educate our children today to live in the world of the future not in a world of the past. To enable them to succeed and thrive in the increasingly diverse and interconnected global community of tomorrow we must ensure that they have the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to do so. However, the “Parents Bill of Rights” impedes our ability to do so. It would allow a small army of the angry to pick what they consider to be the lice off the educational monkey. This will result in a shallow, disjointed curriculum for the rest of us that creates a distorted view of the world.