Daniel Willingham
@DTWillingham
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Prof @ UVa who's puttin' the funk back in functional brain imaging and the psycho in psychometrics. One study is just one study, folks.
Joined October 2009
Guy I know was complaining about making his 8th grader's lunch. I didn't have presence of mind to say anything so 3 days later I made this. I don't think the guy's is on Twitter, this is my therapy.
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A friend just showed me this chart from her 8th grade science project and I don't think I've ever loved anything more.
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Dumbfounded when I hear "every child learns differently." .1) They literally don't. Scientists can make generalizations about the mechanism across people. 2) If every child *did* learn differently, experience would be meaningless. A teacher would be a novice with each new child.
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Mentioned to my wife, who teaches early elementary, there's talk of re-opening schools with social distancing. Now, four hours later, I'm still hearing her occasional bursts of laughter from the other room.
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What's the best teaching advice you can give in 3 words?.
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Kids can see the fish they've drawn swimming in this aquarium :)
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Too many edu-tech conversations are backwards. They begin with the tech. “Here's this new tech. how should it change what ppl do?” .We should start with ppl. “What problems are teachers working on? What do students need?” Tech is *one* avenue to explore in seeking solutions.
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Today is Trisomy-18 awareness day. That is the chromosome disorder my daughter had. She passed away last July. Nothing made her happier than connecting with people. Please teach your children that all children want to connect, and teach them how.
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Apparently schools are bad because 100 years ago evil corporations duped them into prepping workers for factories. And the solution is to emphasize cooperative, creative work, because that's what present-day, non-evil corporations say is needed for jobs of the future. Got it.
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@ObsessedTeach I study human learning. Humans can learn from people in denim. Here's a picture of me, conducting a field test of this theory @uva. I am in actual denim, teaching actual humans, successfully. (Article in preparation.)
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The student’s attention is most certainly not directly under the control of the teacher. It’s not even directly under the control of the student. Good lord what do you think is happening in the minds of your audience when you give a talk?
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Sharing a mental trick I've found useful. When responding on Twitter I ask "Would I be willing to show this thread to my students with my responses as a model of logic and courtesy?" Deleted a lot of tweet drafts that way.
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14 stages of paper writing.1 It's brilliant.2 It's ok. And I can hide the rest.3 Hmm.4 Hate paper.5 Hate self.6 "awaits further research.".7 Submit! Treats.8 WELL? Hate editor.9 At last. Hate reviewers.10 Sulk.11 Eat crow.12 Rewrite.13 Accept! Treats.14 Kind of forget I wrote it.
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This is our 15 yr old, Esprit. She’s just figured out that if she holds the “oh shit” handle when the car stops, I can’t get her out of her car seat, her first joke. That’s how much joy I wish all of you today. #MerryChristmas
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I have one student who, while I'm zoom-lecturing, periodically nods with an expression on her face that says "Oh right! Totally, that makes so much sense," and I just want to tell that student "You are keeping me going and I love you (but not in a creepy way).".
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My 14-year-old came in, picked one up and said "It's pretty heavy. Good job, Dad."
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Amazing how, when my wife comes home and announces “Richard turned the corner on reading today!” the whole family is in a good mood the rest of the night. Obviously, the rest of us have no idea who Richard is.
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Literally all I do as an education researcher:. It depends.Actually, that's been tried.Well, that’s complicated.You’d think so, but no.It depends.We don't have data on that.Probably, but no one really knows.That’s actually a really old idea.It depends.
Literally, all I do as a paleontologist:. Pretty sure that’s not a fossil.That’s not a fossil either.That’s a rock.That’s also a rock.Jurassic Park can’t happen.That’s a rusty crescent wrench.It’s not like Ross on Friends.Still a rock.Archeology is different.Fine, it’s a fossil.
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There was a contest to name my town's Xmas tree & the winner was Spruce Bader Ginsburg 😂.
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New edition coming in just TWO WEEKS! New chapter (on tech), discussion questions for each chapter, glossary, answers to life's most vexing problems, and more!
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What we know about reading comprehension should change schooling in 3 ways. @DTWillingham op-ed in @nytimes
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People who aren't teachers usually think it must be easier to teach pre-k than high school. until you point out that high schoolers can, to some extent, control their attention, read independently, commit things to memory. Pre-K have none of those skills. It's all the teacher.
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The fact that reading needs to be taught doesn’t make it any less magical.
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There are at least three different ways that "I'm losing my mind" applies to me this morning, but outstripping them all is the number of people in my country for whom racism and misogyny is not a deal-breaker in a leader.
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Second ed. of Why Don't Students Like School? now available for pre-order. In addition to research updates (obv), new to this edition: chapter on tech, discussion questions, glossary, more rec readings, more classroom suggestions.
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I'm not cautiously optimistic, I'm cautiously cynical, because
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Next level remote instruction: teacher without document camera improvises with refrigerator shelf. via @reddit
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This is a chalk tool so children can use sidewalk chalk without suffering "scuffed knees and dirty hands." Parents who buy this are the same one who, years later, will call me when their 19 year old fails a test in my class.
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Changes for 2nd ed: .1) New chapter on technology in ed.2) Pretty sig changes in lit review for Intelligence chapter.3) Updated refs, obviously, and a few new practice recs.4) Discussion questions for each chapter.5) Summary at end of each chapter.6) Glossary
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For those of you liking the interleaving study I tweeted earlier today, note that the lead author, Doug Rohrer, has put together a guide on interleaving you can find here:
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Not teaching it in teacher prep isn't enough. need to explain why it's not right, why it seems right, and offer better ways of thinking about student variation.
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For 30 years I've ended recommendation letters by telling recipients "please don't hesitate" to contact me for more information. No one has every called. Obviously something stronger is needed so from here on it will be "I fucking dare you to call me for more information.".
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A state official wrote to ask me "what does research say about how long K-3 students can engage on Zoom?' I thought my answer might interest some of you.
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Independent reading during school time (e.g., DEAR) has not had strong research support. New meta-analysis of 47 quasi-exp studies shows modest effects for reading motivation and word recognition, and no effect for comprehension. Article is open-access.
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There's more to the Science of Reading than foundational skills! Take 60 seconds to read this statement from a group of outstanding scientists (and me) about the importance of background knowledge to reading comprehension, equity, and motivation.
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I just finished re-reading "Ending the Reading Wars." Every teacher, administrator & policymaker ought to read this. It's clear, smart, comprehensive, and important. (open)
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If Twitter shuts down, no need to miss my content. Watch for me when a friend mentions their learning style. An odd chill will move through the room, and then someone--possibly you--will begin to harangue them.
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You: SOR is not just phonics, I get it. But where do I start with comprehension? Esp early grades?.Me: Did you know Susan Neuman at NYU has been working on this issue for YEARS?.You: Where can I read a quick intro?.Me: @SusanBneuman.
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My stress-reduction secret as a parent is not to ask “who took my scissors?”when they go missing from my desk. I just buy more scissors. There are probably 106 scissors in my house, but there is peace in my heart.
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"Teaching to others" is a VERY effective active learning strategy. New data show teaching to an imaginary audience (camera) is superior to live audience, which = distracting.
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“Why don’t I like reading? Phonics. I used to love it, but that phonics messed me up.” . —No kid, ever.
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New data on the Matthew effect: prior knowledge about a topic make it easier to acquire new knowledge on that topic ($)
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Time magazine looks at changes in the teaching of reading, prominently featuring @ReadingShanahan, @ehanford. The whole thing is good, but the opening is particularly effective.
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Why, when I'm in the process of sharing my screen, do I feel the need to say "I'll just share my screen. "? You know what I'm doing, and if you don't, I don't need to prepare you for it. You won't be startled.
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I *think* the Introduction to my next book is done. It went through 23 drafts and I more or less started over 5 times. I'm not a terrible writer. Writing is really hard. Hang in there. Don't quit until you're satisfied.
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Lots of Twitter talk about the next Sec of Education. can we all agree on this, as a starting point: someone who knows the difference between testing for growth and testing for proficiency?.
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There's more to cognitive science than spacing, retrieval practice, and dual coding. That's it. That's the tweet.
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Be sure to send your trick-or-treating kids to my house this year. My wife and I will be handing out sound study advice and confidence-boosting affirmations. 👻👺😈🎃🧛.
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I meant "Why *Do* Students Like School.".Sorry about that.
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Dear letter writers.I’ve read your letter to the editor about “Sold a Story,” and honestly ended up confused. I would be grateful for further explanation. I explain my failures to understand your argument in this thread.
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@SecCardona Statements like this lead people to think that teachers should grateful to employers for enabling them to fulfill their dreams, rather than feeling grateful to teachers (and compensating them) for fulfilling their children’s dreams.
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To my fellow professors. even if faculty typically don't go to graduation in your dept., go anyway. I guarantee there's at least one student to whom you matter more than you realize. It will be a big deal to them, and to their parents.
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How to apply memory theory to the classroom? Free 50 page book, written by Art Shimamura, one of the most eminent cognitive psychologists of this generation. Highly recommended!.
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E D (Don) Hirsch and I talking theory & data this week.
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If someone quotes Piaget and you disagree, show them this photo of Piaget in his office and say "Don't you think it's possible he didn't mean to say that, but the misprint kind of slipped by him when he was proofreading the book galleys?"
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If you're curious to know more about the role of knowledge in learning and curriculum, download this free e-book, a collaborative effort by an international team of eight experts.
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Don't understand cynicism about growth mindset. Intelligence is going to come up, & GM says you should tell kids:.1 you can get smarter.2 takes hard work.3 seek feedback.4 try new methods if old ones don't work.Far as we know, that's right. What else would you say about intell?.
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My latest for American Educator examines the evidence on growth mindset. My take:.1. Theory is right.2. Effect is small.3. Interventions can change it (on avg., obv.) but it is NOT easy.4. Said change is sensitive to context (chars of school, tchr) .
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"Children learn most effectively when instruction follows an evidence‑based cycle: grounding facts in conceptual understanding, using brief timed practice to make those facts automatic, then returning to discussion and reflection to deepen that knowledge."
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Sorry if this is a little preachy. Merry Christmas.
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At our house one way we remember those who have passed on is by having their favorite supper on their birthday. Ham steak, collards, hoe cakes, black-eyed peas, and a whiskey sour. Happy birthday, Dad.
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Most of what’s in the psychology section of Barnes & Noble is not psychology.
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How about be aware of what children have missed but *don't put that front and center*. When kids return don't make them feel broken and lacking; express joy that we're together, celebrate what they've learned since you saw one another. But keep in mind where you want them to go.
How about instead of trying to 'identify gaps' we applaud children and young people for what they have dealt with and ask them what extra things they learned while they were away? 🤷♀️ #remotelearning.
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That Calkins would say “The last two or three years, what I’ve learned from the science of reading work has been transformational" boggles the mind. The research consensus emerged in the NINETEEN SIXTIES and keeps being "rediscovered.".
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Bathroom scale: You have gained 12 pounds since March. Me: No I haven't. Scale: You have. Me: No. Scale:.Me:.Scale: I am a measuring device, calibrated to weigh. Me: [interrupting] I haven't conceded. Therefore, my weight is unchanged.
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Generating questions is as effective as retrieval practice (the testing effect) better than restudying (open)
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This is my nephew's first day working as a doc in a Toronto ICU for COVID-19 patients, so good thoughts, prayers, wicca enchantments or whatever else you got is most welcome, for him and his patients.
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This is a remarkable achievement. Masterful, comprehensive, CLEAR review of a range of issues re: reading acquisition from @annecastles, @Kathy_Rastle & @ReadOxford. This will be the definitive overview resource for years to come. OPEN DOWNLOAD
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Really proud that I've been appointed by @POTUS as a member of the National Board for Education Sciences.
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[insert your own deep meaning of this gif for ed tech]
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I thought I had probably by now seen the most profoundly stupid commentary on education, but records exist to be broken. 1st place in the "I'm a content expert, hence I'm an expert in teaching it to 7 year olds" category. (ht: @tombennett71)
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Vocabulary knowledge moderates the effectiveness of reading comprehension strategy instruction in teens.
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2nd edition of Why Don't Students Like School is available for preorder. New features:.-Chapter on tech .-Glossary.-Discussion Qs for each ch. -More reading recs.-More applications.-Everything updated.-290 pp (1st was 216).US UK
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Yeah, it is. I've explained why.
"There are educational experts out there who will tell you that remembering is super important for our education system (e.g. @DTWillingham). is it as important as it was when we didn't have an amazing machine in our pocket that has everyone else's memory in it?" @davecormier
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Reading on screen vs. reading on paper. Prev. analyses show adv for paper, but "screen" studies mostly meant "computer." Today, most Ss read on hand-held devices. New analysis shows there's still an advantage for paper.
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I'm increasingly afraid this is right. "The poor and the middle class are told that screens are good and important for them and their children. The rich have grown afraid of screens."
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Tweeps. I'm working on the 2nd ed of Why Don't Students Like School and there will be a new chapter on technology. What topics would you hope/expect to see in such a chapter? Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
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