Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

“No amount of belief makes something a fact” - James Randi

I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy. - Richard Feynman

Toffler: The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn.

If you are not doing statistics, you can't be a "data person."

Toffler: You can use all the quantitative data you can get, but you still have to distrust it and use your own intelligence and judgment.

Eric Hoffer: Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.

Is it just me or does every call for “accountability” translate to “do what I want” especially if it makes absolutely no sense?

Speaker: “Learning styles help design lessons.”

Audience member: “But learning styles are not real.”

S: “No, my learning style changes depending on who is teaching, the topic, and other things.

A: “Yeah, that’s the point. If learning styles were real, then they wouldn’t change.”

Once you choose to become “the guru” of a particular teaching method, you choose to become effective for a fraction of your students.

Maybe we can start with curriculum that #students perceive to be real?

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology. - Carl Sagan

I’m not a spiritual person, but Carl Sagan said, “Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.” This almost makes sense. #science

“Routine methods [in schools] are a device for turning out cheap work in large quantities....” #education #school #highschool

How much #teaching is done to provide the appearance of success while causing few people trouble?

If your solution is simple, you don’t understand the problem.

If your solution is a recipe, it has limited applications.

Small colleges closing/ merging is sad for students, faculty, staff, alumni... it is not a new phenomenon. I think back on Vermont College, Trinity College, Windham College, Woodbury College, Burlington College....

Yeah, every generation finds it necessary to rediscover what was previously known. This is the important difference between science and education, and why our “evidence driven practice” is “hog wash.”

Every time I read a new treatment of “formative and summative assessment,” I become more convinced these are difficult to use and ineffective. #education #teaching

“You post for the people you follow rather than the people following you.” More accurate than we care to admit. #socialmedia