Michelle Medintz spent at least $5,000 in 2022 alone, largely on books. She created a 'cozy corner' in her classroom with shelves filled with books, cushions on the floor, and stuffed animals. 'That doesn't make me a better teacher than my colleagues,' Medintz said.
As a "Big Picture School, MetWest follows a nontraditional model, where students spend three days a week doing core learning and instruction, and spend Tuesdays and Thursdays participating in internships and career learning with a mentor. Their internships are in fields ranging from automotive to education, healthcare, and videography. "At Big Picture Schools, we believe not all the learning happens inside the schools but outside as well,"
Maya Duckworth-Pilkington spent the first two weeks of January buried in her textbooks, studying. Until she submitted her final advanced functions exam, the Rosedale Heights School of the Arts senior didn't realize how much time and effort she was putting into her studies. The pressure is higher than ever to do well, she explained over text message. People aren't sleeping well, eating well or getting leisure time.
On platforms like TikTok and Instagram, instead of sharing clothing hauls or skincare routines, creators are sharing their book stacks or media diets promising to make their viewers "disgustingly educated" in a matter of minutes. For further optimization potential, take note of these brain hacks to improve memory (so that your time cracking open Plato's Republic won't go to waste).
Practical physics classes were competing with the allure of sports in the 1800s, and top tips for the best-smelling garden, in this week's peek at the Nature archives. 100 years ago doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00297-2 This article features text from Nature's archive. By its historical nature, the archive includes some images, articles and language that by twenty-first-century standards are offensive and harmful. Find out more.
Ministers have asked the exams watchdog, Ofqual, to extend current arrangements, providing GCSE maths, physics, and combined science students with formula sheets. Ofqual is consulting on extending this until current GCSEs are reformed following a curriculum review. The government will then consider if memorisation is required for new qualifications.
During this Black History Month, let us attend for a moment to the reading achievement gap, as it affects all of us regardless of race. Here's why. Lack of literacy is linked to some of the biggest and costliest problems in society: spiralling special education spending, school dropouts, juvenile delinquency, incarceration, poverty, and mental health (NSBA, 2019; Vacca, 2008; Vacca, 2004; Nelson & Gregg, 2012). We all pay for these problems, at the very least in taxes.
