Teaching High School Psychology

Interesting Situation--Change in Teaching Assignments

2013-05-13T17:39:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

When I was younger, I was idealistic and thought politics did not exist in education. Yes, I was

delusional and naive. But I find myself in an interesting situation.

I have been teaching AP Psychology since 1992, the second year of the course's existence. I have been teaching the course successfully since then and have been an AP reader twice. As you can imagine, my passion for the subject is quite strong given my involvement with this blog and other activities.

So after making a decision, my school has decided to give the AP program I have created to another teacher. I still get to teach regular psychology, but the AP numbers have not grown to the satisfaction of the deciders, so AP was given to an English teacher who recently got a doctorate in counseling psych. As I sit here and write this, I am torn between laughing at the absurdity of the situation and doing something with the rage that I am feeling. Numbers--that was the sole reason. Let's give this a try and see what happens was the rationale. The words arbitrary and capricious come to mind.

So here is my question. Are there any schools out there looking for AP Psychology teachers? Preferably California--SF Bay Area to avoid licensing hassles, but I would consider most places. I still have a job, but am now actively seeking another position where I can teach AP Psych.

Sorry for using this blog for a personal platform, but I just wanted to inquire. If you would like to see my CV, please email me at psydways@gmail.com. Thanks for any advice or insight you may have.

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Child Abuse Ad--Secret Message Only For Children

2013-05-07T14:12:00.002-07:00

I was reading through my email today and found this phrase, "Spanish ad has a secret message only kids can see (video)." That took me to the page on Marketplace Radio show (NPR).
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/numbers/spanish-ad-has-secret-message-only-kids-can-see-video

The article and video describe the technology that makes adults see one image and kids younger than age ten see a different image. Powerful material directed at kids who may be abused.

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Set your DVR's! New "Brain Games"!

2013-05-06T15:11:00.002-07:00

Hi All,

The National Geographic Channel has produced new episdoes of the Brain Games. I've already missed 4 of them! Here is a teaser from tonight's episode, called "The Power of Persuasion."

"By exposing us to specific stimuli, Jason Silva can prime our brains to respond in certain ways. See how identical twins interview for the same job, in the same clothes, with the same resume. They even give the exact same answers—but the order of the words in their answers is slightly different. The result? One twin comes off negative, and the other gets the job. Would you believe that Texas seceded from the U.S. if a crazy-looking guy told you? Probably not, but what if a news reporter with a microphone did? This episode unveils the subtle tactics that advertisers, marketers and con men can use to get you to do what they want, without you noticing."

There are online games, clips, and information to support each episode. To find all of these resources, go to: http://braingames.nationalgeographic.com/

The episodes air on Monday's at 9:00 pm.

Happy viewing!
Kristin

Videos for AP Psych Content Review

2013-04-28T09:50:00.001-07:00

Beginning last year, I have created some review videos for AP Psych students with the assumption that they already learned the material and needed some brushing up or clarifying. My YouTube channel can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/SchallhornAPPsych

My seven newest videos are on psychologists (there are way more than you'd think when you put them in a PPT slide show). There are nearly 80 psychologists in the AP Psych outline, so each one has a page with a picture and a few key ideas for review. I hope you and your students find these videos useful.

Here are a couple of my most popular videos from the past year:

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

AP Psychology Exam - Last Minute Items - 2013

2013-04-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

This blog post is a slightly edited version from what Kent has posted in the past. Just a few minor updates/edits.
===================================================================
With the AP Psychology Exam only a week and a half away, many of us are reaching the end to a long journey that started last fall. Below are some of the "last minute" items I (Kent) tell my students. Note: This listing is basically the same as previous years, with the exception of the guessing adjustment.

General Information:

Monday May 06, 2013 in the afternoon
Bring pencils with erasers and blue or black pens
Bring a watch that does not beep
Do not wear any psychology related clothing
Do not bring anything else: books, papers, calculators, cell phones, etc.

Multiple Choice Section:

100 multiple choice questions
70 minutes
2/3 of the overall grade
A-E Answers
Names, charts, graphs, drawings are all possible
There is no 1/4 point adjustment for guessing, if you are not sure about a question, take your best educated guess after using process of elimination

Free Response Section:

2 required Free Response (essay) Questions
50 minutes
1/3 of the overall grade - 1/6 of grade for each question
Points are given for correct responses not taken away for incorrect material
Points can only be removed if one part of an answer contradicts another part
Read through both questions before doing anything else
Think through the answer before starting to write
Write an outline or notes in the test question booklet
Don’t be afraid to cross something out, if needed
Write in sentences - DO NOT OUTLINE OR BULLET YOUR ANSWER.
Be as complete as possible, but keep to the point.
Watch the time. Don’t get caught short on essay #2
Structure the answer following the structure of the question

Test Security:

Do not discuss the multiple-choice section with anyone
Do not discuss the free response questions for 48 hours. The general rule of thumb is wait until the questions have been posted on the College Board website
Do NOT post, text, email etc. anything about the exam on the Internet, especially on Facebook, Twitter or other social networks
Do not come and visit me between the multiple choice section and free response section

Please feel free to leave any other ideas in the comments section below. Best of luck to everyone.
=====================================

Updated posted by Chuck Schallhorn

2013-04-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

Free on-line HIGH QUALITY Video Lectures

What sets this apart from other free on-line lectures?

First, the engaging video micro-lectures that reinforce topics taught in a typical AP class. Second, the level of specificity makes it incredibly easy to review a specific topic. Clips are about 5 minutes long, but each topic is clearly labeled so teachers and/or students can easily target attention to a specific area.

Third, transcripts are a click away for those who prefer reading. Finally, there are quizzes for each section.

http://education-portal.com/academy/course/ap-psychology.html

Other courses are available, so looking around the site might prove useful for teachers of other topics. The Education Portal is committed to a no cost model of on-line education.

Please feel free to make a comment about your impressions or post how/if you will use this resource.

Thanks Sara I. for bringing this to my attention.
posted by Nancy Diehl

AP Review, Self-Diagnostics, and Metacognition

2013-04-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

When it comes to all my courses, I am a huge fan of students figuring out what they know and what they do not know. Most of my students come to my class not knowing this meta-cognitive process so I attempt to aid them in learning how to do this.

Some key questions in metacognition in learning are:
(from McTighe and Wiggins [2013] in Essential Questions: Opening Doors to Student Understanding)

What do I know and what do I need to know?
Where should I start? When should I change course? How will I know when I am done?
What's working? What's not? What adjustments should I make?
Is there a more efficient way to do this? Is there a more effective way to do this? How should I balance efficiency and effectiveness?
How will I know when I am done?
What should I do when I get stuck?
How can I overcome my fear of making mistakes?
What have I learned? What insights have I gained?
How can I improve my performance?
What will I do differently next time?

The first part is when we examine, in class, the most missed exam questions from the most recent exam. I either create a handout or project them onto the screen. We go over the questions examining:

what kind of question it was (definitional, conceptual, application, or analysis)
what vocabulary and non-vocabulary words in the stem and options were difficult
examining the WHY of the correct answer (often making subtle distinctions between the correct answer and the next most correct answer)

I also offer "test corrections." This is a process where a student must come in before or after school to examine which questions they missed and fix them. This is a link to the form I am currently using. The form asks "why did I miss this question?"

I did not understand what the question was asking.
One or more words were new to me.
I did not have the vocabulary term(s) in my notes
I did not ask a question about this topic in class.
Other:

In reviewing for the Advanced Placement Psych Exam, I give them an outline of the college board's course description (linked here) posted on my web page of documents for teachers of psych and soc.

I give them the outline and ask them to use a notation to identify which concepts and ideas they:

know well
kind of know
say to themselves, "huh?"

We use that as a beginning of a self-diagnostic of whether or not they know the material to use as a guide for their own studying.

I also use the released exams in the same way. As the students become practiced in this series of steps, their self-reflections become more sophisticated and their understanding of the concepts becomes reinforced. This also increases the quality of their study habits for those who avail themselves of this option.

We use all these materials as fodder for review when I host the Saturday and Sunday review sessions in my classroom the month leading up to the exam.

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

AP Review Resources--2013 Version

2013-04-14T07:51:00.001-07:00

The AP Psychology exam is now less than a month away and by now most of us have gotten to the point of finishing our curriculum and are prepping our students for the upcoming exam. Below are some resources to help students review on their own. While updating this list today, I've discovered that some old resources that were excellent are no longer available. Thanks to Steve Jones for some of these links in previous years.

Videos

AP Psych Review Videos from Chuck Schallhorn
YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/SchallhornAPPsych

Video Review from the UK
http://www.psychexchange.co.uk/videos/

The PsychFiles by Michael Britt-Video Review Series
http://www.thepsychfiles.com/?s=%22ap+psychology%22

Shared by Charleen Gribbon (I had forgotten this one)
http://education-portal.com/academy/course/psychology-101.html

Online and Apps
The Genes to Cognition Website for the Original 3D Brain and Other Great Bio-based Resources
http://www.g2conline.org/

AP Review on Twitter--Steve Jones Link from previous post
http://teachinghighschoolpsychology.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-return-of-ap-psych-review.html

For Brain Review--the 3D Brain App
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3d-brain/id331399332?mt=8

Brain Tutor 3D--App
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brain-tutor-3d/id301362928?mt=8

Apps - 5 Steps to a 5, Brainscape, PsycTest Hero

Vocabulary Sites

Quizlet exam review flash cards - 394 terms, 771 terms, famous psychologists

AP Psych Study Sets--Vocabulary
http://quizlet.com/subject/ap-psychology/

Teacher sites - these have an assortment of various links to review sites.

APPsychology.Com Study Site from a former AP student
http://appsychology.com/HowPass/howpasshome.htm

Course Notes for AP Psych--Most material taken from previous site
http://www.course-notes.org/Psychology

Psychology Review Notes from Intro Psych Classes
http://www.alleydog.com/101notes.php#.UWq5gSusbnw

Online Psychology Intro Course at National Repository of Online Courses
http://www.montereyinstitute.org/courses/Psychology/nroc%20prototype%20files/coursestartc.html

Review Books

If you have additional resources and ideas, please add them in the comments.

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

2013-04-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

FREE!! Join the world of Massive Open Online Course- MOOCs

Millions of users from around the world have signed up for an ever-expanding menu of courses offered for free from over 70 leading colleges and universities. Coursera and EdX are the two of the most popular.

Weekly lectures are available in short clips of 10-20 minutes, additional reading is specified, and how much you participate or not is up to you. There are all kinds of optional supplements for additional learning. The breadth of topics is tremendous with several psychology related classes on offer.

Above is a screen shot of my current status on Coursera. Behavioral economist (most content is directly related to psychology) Dan Ariely teaches the first course, and Scott Plous of the Social Psychology Network, which has fantastic teaching resources, will be teaching Social Psychology.

Happy free learning!
(This weeks lecture was, in part, about the special case of "free" and how that impacts consumer behavior. Note learning is applied in the title of the post.)

posted by Nancy Diehl

2013-04-05T18:34:00.004-07:00

Bipolar Disorder with delusions as the topic of a rock musical?
Lyrics/music as a teaching tool

Winning the Tony Award for best score and Pulitzer Prize for drama (2010), the rock musical, Next to Normal presents insight into how the lives of a family can be impacted by mental illness.

Of particular interest are parts of the songs:
1. "I miss the mountains" demonstrating the impact of how medications can take away an individual's sense of self as well as issues related to medication compliance.

2. "My psychopharmacolgist and I" touches on the inexact science of prescription, challenges regarding side effects, differing goals of the therapist and client AND even a nice demonstration of transference along with humor.

The links above are to the lyrics, the songs are available in the usual places (itunes, youtube, etc). The show is really interesting and well done, and the impact of mom's illness on Diana's husband and daughter feel very authentic. Wikipedia has a lengthy synopsis.

Even better, take a fieldtrip and see a production. (Be aware of adult language in certain scenes). Here (click on upcoming) is a link to the traveling productions page.

Happy spring!
Nancy Diehl

Can You Handle More on Phineas?

2013-03-28T15:06:00.000-07:00

Most of us have seen and seen again so much about our "poster boy" of brain damage, Phineas Gage--we've even included a few posts about him in our blog:
http://teachinghighschoolpsychology.blogspot.com/2009/09/phineas-gage-newly-discovered-picture.html
http://teachinghighschoolpsychology.blogspot.com/2010/05/phineas-gage-news.html
http://teachinghighschoolpsychology.blogspot.com/2012/08/another-modern-day-phineas-gage.html

Recently, the folks at Mind Hacks did another followup linked here:
http://mindhacks.com/2013/03/23/the-postmortem-portraits-of-phineas-gage/

In the comments, I found these links from Vermont and their claim to Phineas:
The Phineas Gage Info Page
http://www.uakron.edu/gage/

The 150th Anniversary Page
http://www.uakron.edu/gage/anniversary.dot

The Phineas Gage Memorial
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/phineas-gage-memorial

The Rutland, Vermont Newspaper Story
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100520/NEWS02/5200388

More links:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/10858
http://scienceblogs.com/neuronculture/2010/05/20/see-exactly-where-phineas-gage/

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Psychology of Magic

2013-03-26T14:18:00.002-07:00

For AP teachers, this probably falls in the category of "something to do after the exam," but I think it could be fascinating: I'm reading more and more lately about partnerships between psychological researchers and magicians/illusionists and how these collaborations are producing some unexpected findings in the areas of selective attention and sensation & perception. A few examples (not an exhaustive list!)

The Nova special "Magic and the Brain" is a great place to start - introduction to some of the neuroscience-based collaborations, and great visuals.
One of my favorite magicians is Teller (of Penn and Teller) and this WIRED magazine article is a fairly in-depth examination of some of what drives his artistic/magic/performance pieces along with some psychological connections.
This slightly more academic Scientific American article details some of the cognitive psychology work into concepts like misdirection (those same authors maintain this summary "psychology of magic" website)
This list of presentations from the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness is a good overview of some of the "hot topics" (Teller presented here too! He's all over. Also presenting: The Amazing Randi, one of my heroes.)
This Psychology Today blog post describes some simple "tricks" we can all do to demonstrate principles of experimental methodology, memory, and classical conditioning

It's very possible that you have some kiddos in your classes who are/were interested in magic as a hobby, and/or a local amateur magician who wouldn't mind demonstrating some tricks for your class. If anyone uses any of this, please let me know - I'm thinking this might be our first psychology club activity next year!

image source: http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/17-05/ff_neuroscienceofmagic?currentPage=all

posted by Rob McEntarffer

The return of AP Psych review

2013-03-23T15:30:00.002-07:00

It's back! Last year there was a wonderful global experiment called #appsychreview and it's coming back again in 2013. I would like to officially get it started again this Monday, March 25 and continue through May 6.

What is this? The idea is to offer students anywhere the chance to get some help reviewing for the AP Psych exam.
How will students get help? They can simply post their questions on Twitter, adding #appsychreview as a hashtag (#) at the end of their question.
Who will answer the questions? I will - and as I discovered last year - so will more than a dozen other AP Psych teachers.

ONE PLEA FROM ME: I beg you NOT to tell your students to post ALL of their questions this way. Last year a teacher misunderstood and gave extra credit to his students for asking a question, which resulted in dozens of questions being posted in just a few minutes. Also, if the student has a question like "Who is Piaget" we're probably going to refer them to their textbook or to Wikipedia, as opposed to a student who asks something like "How can I remember the difference between proactive and retroactive interference?"

If you want to follow the madness or jump in and answer questions, feel free to visit this link https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23appsychreview - we'd love to have you!

--posted by Steve

THSP is a Top Psychology Blog

2013-03-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our Teaching High School Psychology blog has been named a "Top 30 Psychology Blog for 2012" by the Website "OnlinePsychologyDegree.info." We are in very good company along with Mind Hacks, Psychology Today and the British Psychological Society.

The rest of our esteemed colleagues can be found at this link: http://www.onlinepsychologydegree.info/top-30-psychology-blogs-of-2012/

We thank the editors of that site for this honor.

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Guide to the Brain--Scientific American Mind

2013-03-17T12:16:00.000-07:00

I recently rediscovered these two links and videos that will likely be helpful for AP review. Check them out and enjoy.

Social Cues in the Brain [Interactive]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=social-cues-in-brain

Memory in the Brain [Interactive]
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=memory-brain-tour-video

posted by Chuck Schallhorn

Brain Awareness Week March 11-17, 2013

2013-03-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a few links for celebrating this year's Brain Awareness Week

DANA.org
http://www.dana.org/brainweek/

BrainFacts.org
http://www.sfn.org/baw/

Neuroscience for Kids
http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/baw.html

Brain Awareness on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BrainAwarenessWeek

The Brain Institute at University of Utah
http://brain.utah.edu/communities/sfn-intermountain/brain-awareness-week.php

Aspen Brain Forum
http://aspenbrainforum.com/brain-awareness-week.html
This last site has many links to other sites and activities

Enjoy your brain awareness week whether you honor brains this week or another time during your respective school years.

Posted by Chuck Schallhorn

THSP Surpasses One Million Views

2013-02-27T08:11:00.002-08:00

The Teaching High School Psychology Blog is four years old--we began in February of 2009 with just three of us blogging. We've added several members to the team and continue to grow. We've posted 876 blog entries. Our regular contributors have included:

Steve Jones
Kent Korek
Chuck Schallhorn
Rob McEntarffer
Kirstin Whitlock
Nancy Diehl

along with several guest bloggers

Sometime in the past month, this blog went over the one million views mark. That represents the number of pages on this blog that someone has viewed.

To our readers and contributors, the team of bloggers here gives you our profound thanks. We strive to share relevant and quality ideas and teaching resources.

posted by Chuck

Support David Myers and the hearing loop movement

2013-02-27T03:48:00.001-08:00

If you teach psychology, and particularly high school psychology, you are no doubt very familiar with David Myers. Even if you don't use one of his textbooks, you know the name and the dedication and support he has given to high school psychology teachers. I have used his books for years and on the first day of my classes I always introduce him to the students as if he is my co-instructor. Throughout the year I always select passages written by Myers from the text and ask students to comment and reflect on the passage - it's not "what does this term or concept mean for the AP test," but rather "how is David Myers getting us to think in new ways about this term or concept."

One of my favorite moments every year is on Day Two, when students come in and we talk about the content they read the previous night. And every year the same thing happens: without my prompting, a student will say "You know, I really enjoyed reading last night. It was like the author was talking to me." This, of course, is followed by a collective nodding of heads and yeah-me-toos all around the classroom.

So when I heard about the project above it was a no-brainer: could I support a movement that David Myers was behind that was a terrific way to blend psychology with social action? Definitely. I would encourage you all to visit the Oticon page to vote for David Myers.

-- posted by Steve

Step Inside the Real World of Compulsive Hoarders

2013-02-25T14:34:00.000-08:00

Many of our students are watching programs about hoarding, such as Hoarders on A&E and Hoarding: Buried Alive on TLC. This Scientific American article, Step Inside the Real World of Compulsive Hoarders, discusses how recent research has changed how mental health professionals diagnose and treat those who hoard. In the DSM-IV-TR, hoarding was linked to OCD. However, research has demonstrated that OCD is both genetically and neurologically distinct from hoarding. It is reported that hoarding may be genetically recessive whereas OCD is dominant. In addition, thoughts about hoarding are not unpleasant or intrusive, where OCD sufferers find their obsessive thinking to be both. Reportedly hoarding will be considered a disorder unlinked to OCD in the DSM V scheduled to be released this May. Read more at:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=real-world-hoarding&WT.mc_id=SA_DD_20130225

Kristin H. Whitlock

Replication and Psychology: Show me the Data!

2013-02-20T06:50:00.002-08:00

During the research methods unit, we often talk with students about "replication" being a final step in the scientific method. One issue I never thought much about is: how often do researchers actually try to replicate each others' results?

Brian Nosek from the University of Virginia is shouldering this considerable task. He and others are working on "The Reproducibility Project," and they are going to try to replicate every study published in three psychology journals over one year.

It's a big project, and it will be fascinating to see how it works out. Replication is a vital "check" that can help prevent fale reports (like the odd, sad case of Diederik Stapel) and can help refine theories through better operational definitions and more specific findings.

We psychology teachers have an opportunity: in many sciences, students have to wait until grad school until they have the training and access to equipment that can replicate important studies. But in psychology, our high school students might be able to do it! Some social psychology, memory, and other studies could be replicated with effort and care in high school settings. What if we could help complete this "science loop?" What if some of our students were able to identify an important nuance of an operational definition? This could be a "shortcut" route into an great research project for students - instead of developing their own hypothesis/literature review/etc., students could "adopt" the first part of someone else's study and see if they can replicate their findings.

image credit: http://skepchick.org/2012/10/free-the-art/

posted by Rob McEntarffer

Valentines 2013

2013-02-14T12:34:00.000-08:00

Last year I posted about the Valentines my students made that were related to the brain, and I'm back with this year's version - Valentines related to the eye. I only have a few seconds to post so I'll just share this delightful one.

Happy Valentine's Day!
---posted by Steve

BAM! WAP! KA-POW! Take THAT, poor research methodology!

2013-02-13T11:57:00.001-08:00

Librarians Assemble! Carol Tilley, media literacy professor at the University of Illinois, looked at the archival data from a study done by Psychiatrist Fredric Wertham, and figured out that his own data didn't support the conclusions he presented to the U.S. Senate!

"BAP! WAP! KA-POW! Library Prof bos doc who K.O.'d comic book industry"

This was back in the ol' days when comic books didn't have a great reputation Wertham told the Senate that comics might contribute to increases in violence, drug use, and "sexual deviancy" (as he defined it).

Enter our hero: Carol Tilley swoops in and uses her super-archivist powers to look at Wetham's original case study notes and finds that he often didn't have much if any data to support his dramatic conclusions. POW! Take that, bad science!

Psychology teachers could use this as a compelling example of the importance of responsible data use by psychologists, and that research should be re-examined and continually peer-reviewed, especially when dealing with case study and other qualitative research that might be easily misrepresented.

Look! Up in the sky! It's a librarian! It's a critical thinker! It's super-heroine Carol Tilley!

image credit: http://news.illinois.edu/news/13/0211comics_CarolTilley.html
posted by Rob McEntarffer

How to teach introverts

2013-02-12T17:42:00.003-08:00

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alamosbasement/4051861874/

I swear - if I had the time and energy, I'd write a book with the title of this post. (Although I suspect that my colleague Chuck might beat me to it, given his post last year about being an introvert.) It took me a long time to realize that I was one, and having two introverted daughters has made me really think about the best way to raise and teach them.

So I was really bothered - angered, bewildered, irritated, pissed - when I read this article Introverted Kids Need to Learn to Speak Up at School in The Atlantic. The author, Jessica Fahey, is a middle-school teacher who has apparently spent a lot of time recently learning about introverts, but still believes that students should be graded on class participation. What stuns me about this is that she apparently believes that verbal class participation and class participation are the same thing. Wow. In 2013? There are so many ways to measure how students are participating in class that don't involve speaking aloud in class - paying attention, participating in activities, collaborating in groups, writing short responses, etc. (I'm also guessing my colleague Rob would ask why she was grading on participation instead of what they know.)

And for goodness sakes - why not take advantage of digital ways to participate? Have the students create a blog and have other students comment on the blog. Create an online forum and have students create original posts and reply to others' posts. Use an online discussion board (like my favorite, TodaysMeet.com) and have the students discuss (via keyboard) the videos we were watching or the current events topics we were learning about. Have students make a Pinterest board compilation of images and videos on what you are learning. Tweet about what you are learning, or collect tweets from others who are talking about that topic. Create an online review quiz and have students electronically enter their answers to the review questions in teams around them room (using sites like Socrative.com) And on and on ...

I was heartened to read this afternoon that Susan Cain (author of Quiet) wrote a reply to Fahey's article ("Help Shy Kids, Don't Punish Them") and I was even more pleased when I saw that one of Cain's suggestions was to use social media. Her article also has several other great practical suggestions for teachers. I also just spotted another reply by professor Katherine Schultz in the Washington Post ("Why introverts shouldn’t be forced to talk in class") which focuses on the importance of silence in the classroom.

The final thing I'd say is this: high school is one of the last times students are given so few options to do what they love and avoid what they hate. Once they graduate, they can choose to attend college, go into the military or go straight to work. When they enter the work force, they can choose the kinds of jobs they do. They can choose paths that allow them to maximize what works for them and minimize what doesn't work. If they don't want to work with large numbers of people or speak in large groups, they don't have to - and, as the image at the top suggests, they don't need to feel bad about it either.

Middle school is hard enough. Do we as teachers have to make introverted kids feel like crap *inside* the classroom because they don't meet our imposed standards? I would love to know how you feel about teaching introverts - what works for you? Where do you struggle? And if you think I'm completely loony about this, let me know that too!

--posted by Steve

Tragic example of perception gone wrong

2013-02-09T09:20:00.002-08:00

When I read the book Invisible Gorilla by Christopher Chabris and Daniel Simons I was struck by the story of Kenny Conley, the Boston police officer who failed to notice a brutal assault while he was chasing a suspect. Conley later testified that he simply did not see the assault because he was focused on the suspect he was chasing, but a jury did not believed him, convicting him of perjury (which was later revered on appeal). Chabris and Simons did a very clever experiment modeled on Conley's experience and - well, let's just say that their experiment supported the real life experience. (Their research is available here and is an ideal short research paper to use with your students.)

Photo via the Los Angeles Times

What made me think about this was reading another story this morning about police who made another kind of perceptual mistake: misidentifying innocent people as a wanted criminal, and opening fire on them. Police in Los Angeles were hunting for an ex-cop who had allegedly killed one officer and perhaps others, and a number of officers were stationed near the home of a high-ranking police official whom they believed may be the next target of the ex-cop.

This Los Angeles Times article then describes how it went very wrong:

The officers' radio crackled with an urgent warning: He could be coming your way.
It was around 5 a.m. in Torrance on Thursday and police from nearby El Segundo had seen a pickup truck exit a freeway and head in the general direction of the Redbeam Avenue residence of a high-ranking Los Angeles police official, which was being guarded by a group of LAPD officers.
Police were on the lookout for Christopher Jordan Dorner, a disgruntled ex-cop suspected of hunting down members of the LAPD and their families in a twisted campaign of revenge. The radio call indicated that the truck matched the description of Dorner's gray Nissan Titan.
A few minutes later, a truck slowly rolled down the quiet residential street.
As the vehicle approached the house, officers opened fire, unloading a barrage of bullets into the back of the truck. When the shooting stopped, they quickly realized their mistake. The truck was not a Nissan Titan, but a Toyota Tacoma. The color wasn't gray, but aqua blue. And it wasn't Dorner inside the truck, but a woman and her mother delivering copies of the Los Angeles Times.

It sounds like a case of perceptual set, where the officers were told what they were about to see and despite the differences in the actual vehicle and the one they were expecting. I also supposed that because they were under enormous pressure (and still are) to find this former cop they were quick to act first rather than carefully verifying what they were seeing.

I realize that the reaction of the public will probably be like that of the neighbor quoted in the article who asks how the police could have mistake two Hispanic women for one African-American male. But I suspect that students of perception could see how this tragedy could have happened. Sometimes when you're looking for a gorilla, anything that's ape-like might seem to fit the bill.

--posted by Steve

"Making Children Smarter" - what does that really mean?

2013-02-08T12:39:00.001-08:00

A post by (the consistently wonderful) Daniel Willingham called "How to Make a Young Child Smarter" got me thinking about this popular combination of developmental and intelligence theory.

In his post, Dr. Willingham summarizes findings from a paper by Protzko, Aronson, and Blair (2013). Willingham talks about highlights of the paper, including findings about the benefits of some ingredients in infant formula, interactive reading with adults, and preschool. Interesting findings that could be used in class discussions about intelligence development.

But these findings make me wonder about what we might mean by "smarter": Protzko, Aronson, and Blair use IQ tests to operationalize intelligence, but we're hearing more an more convincing (to me) evidence that whatever IQ measures might not be incredibly important in how we might all define "school success."

Some of the other dimensions of this issue:

Carol Dweck's incredible book, Mindset, offers a convincing argument that abilities are NOT fixed at birth (or any other time), and changing the ways we think about ability might be one of the most important changes we can make to increase success.
Paul Tough's amazing book, How Children Succeed, builds on and expands Dweck's idea to include what he calls "character" and "grit" - which combine elements of resilience emotional intelligence, and deferred gratification. He offers convincing evidence that these elements and childhood stress should be the focus of interventions, not "making kids smarter."
Our textbooks usually include Multiple Intelligence theories (like Gardner or Sternberg) and these theories have profound implications. Can/should we even talk about "smarter" if we believe that intelligence isn't one "thing" as measured by IQ tests?

The fact that the question "how do we make kids smarter" keeps getting asked reveals something about our "default" ways of thinking about intelligence. In our classes, maybe we can help our students think about intelligence in more complex ways so that we can actually make some progress beyond singular, simplistic mindsets about what it means to be "smart."

picture credit: http://www.danielwillingham.com/1/post/2013/02/how-to-make-a-young-child-smarter.html

posted by Rob McEntarffer