Teaching Blog

Hello and welcome! I’m a 6th grade teacher in Minnesota. This is where I share what I learn about teaching, learning, and psychology.

I publish a new article every few weeks, and capture book notes as I read and learn.

To get started, my most read articles are listed below:

MOST-READ ARTICLES

Habits for Lifelong Learning: Applying Behavioral Insights to Education

Deconstructing Constructivism: A Widely Misunderstood and Misapplied Theory of Learning

Countering Cognitive Impatience: Less Activities, More Deep Reading

Making Lessons 85% Review: The Genius Behind Engelmann’s Teaching to Mastery

Rethinking Rigor: Desirable Difficulties vs. Heavy Lifting

Tracing the Origins: “Reading Comprehension Strategies”

Checking For Understanding: Rediscovering the Lost Art of Questioning

TOP TWEETS

Hot take:

Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson series has done more for instilling a love of classics than all AP classes combined.

It is absolute gold for children’s imagination while simultaneously weaving in complex mythology.

— Jon G (@MrGmpls) February 20, 2021

Education needs less disruption and more simple ideas that work well.

— Jon G (@MrGmpls) April 30, 2020

Crucial difference:

Comprehension *is not* going on a scavenger hunt after reading to find answers to questions.

Comprehension *is* building a cohesive, accurate representation of a text. Questioning while reading helps to highlight key details and construct understanding.

— Jon G (@MrGmpls) November 12, 2020

Background knowledge is like a secret, hidden key used for unlocking an infinite amount of meaning and understanding in our world.

Only once we have it do we realize its power. Yet without it, we trick ourselves into believing it is meaningless.

What an enigma.

— Jon G (@MrGmpls) November 11, 2019

Cognitive load theory is an absolute game changer in teaching that helps me:

-give better directions
-understand why sts forget things and how to help
-better explain complex ideas in “chunks”
-provide better scaffolds for WM
-recognize *critical flaws* in curriculum design

— Jon G (@MrGmpls) October 23, 2019