Building a Better Teacher - NYTimes

A good teacher is valuable and undefinable by most. S/he is both knowledgeable and adept at transferring that knowledge to others who may not be so inclined. Elizabeth Green's article, "Building a Better Teacher," that appeared in the New York Times' March 7, 2010 edition, explores those who are trying to pinpoint what an effective teacher is and how to transform that knowledge into new information and techniques in which to train teachers.

I find this sort of research interesting and frustrating. Interesting, because it is able to identify what we need to do differently for our children in a way that is doable. Frustrating, because public school are part of an often large system and can't change and adapt nimbly enough to reflect the science behind education. Which seems ridiculous. But time after time we are faced with examples of clear research that should inform how we do things but is instead greeted with ambivalence, ignorance and/or resistance. Our education system should reflect the current knowledge as it is its job to teach it.

Here is the article.

Nicholas D Kristoff

Nicholas D Kristoff, a writer for the New York Times, is a sort of hero for many who care about environmental causes and how they pertain to our health (and he also writes about many other important topics such as the result of war and poverty around the world). Here are some of the articles that he's written recently that I have bookmarked for their relevance to parenting and/or kids:

Do Toxins Cause Autism? Feb 24, 2010
Cancer From the Kitchen? Dec 5, 2009
Chemicals in Our Foods, and Bodies Nov 7 2009
How to Lick a Slug Aug 1 2009
Chemicals and Our Health Jul 15 2009
Its Time to Learn From Frogs Jun 27 2009