Gary Ackerman @garyackerman@qoto.org

It is sad to hear and see the first response that education leaders give to include “the data.” For almost every situation you face, neither the problem nor the solution is “in the data.” #education #schools #highschool #highered #leadership

Observation leads to inference; inference to conjecture. Conjecture to observation.

I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops. -Stephen Jay Gould

If you say, “this is how all students should be taught,” I will stop listening. #teaching

Variation and persistence produce culture.

Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe. - Albert Einstein

Scientific theories are not arbitrary. They reflect reality of nature and human interaction with nature. #science

When does “think, pair, share” stop becoming innovative instruction?

“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