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In outstanding classrooms, teachers do more listening than talking, and students do more talking than listening. Terrific teachers often have teeth marks on their tongues.

Alfie Kohn

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Alfie Kohn
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: October 15
Author
Teacher
Writer
Miami Beach
Florida
Tongue
Classrooms
Mark
Tongues
Students
Marks
Listening
Outstanding
Teacher
Terrific
Talking
Classroom
Often
Teachers
Teeth

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Standardized testing has swelled and mutated, like a creature in one of those old horror movies, to the point that it now threatens to swallow our schools whole.
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Each time I visit such a classroom, where the teacher is more interested in creating a democratic community than in maintaining her position of authority, I’m convinced all over again that moving away from consequences and rewards isn’t just realistic - it’s the best way to help kids grow into good learners and good people.
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The Legacy of Behaviorism: Do this and you'll get that.
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Whoever said there's no such thing as a stupid question never looked carefully at a standardized test.
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How can we do our best when we are spending our energies trying to make others lose - and fearing that they will make us lose?
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To control students is to force them to accommodate to a preestablished curriculum.
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If faculty would relax their emphasis on grades, this might serve not to lower standards but to encourage an orientation toward learning.
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John Dewey reminded us that the value of what students do 'resides in its connection with a stimulation of greater thoughtfulness, not in the greater strain it imposes.
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To feel controlled is to lose interest.
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We can't value only what is easy to measure measurable outcomes may be the least important results of learning.
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We have so much to cover and so little time to cover it. Howard Gardner refers to curriculum coverage as the single greatest enemy of understanding. Think instead about ideas to be discovered.
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Grades dilute the pleasure that a student experiences on successfully completing a task.
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When was the last time you spent the entire day with only 42 year olds?
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The race to win turns us all into losers.
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Grades are a subjective rating masquerading as an objective evaluation.
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Maximum difficulty isn't the same as optimal difficulty.
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Educational success should be measured by how strong your desire is to keep learning.
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Those who know they're valued irrespective of their accomplishments often end up accomplishing quite a lot. It's the experience of being accepted without conditions that helps people develop a healthy confidence in themselves, a belief that it's safe to take risks and try new things.
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Contrary to what you think, your company will be a lot more productive if you refuse to tolerate competition among your employees.
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There are different kinds of motivation, and the kind matters more than the amount.
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