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Educational success should be measured by how strong your desire is to keep learning.

Alfie Kohn

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Alfie Kohn
Age: 67
Born: 1957
Born: October 15
Author
Teacher
Writer
Miami Beach
Florida
Measured
Educational
Learning
Success
Desire
Strong
Keep

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Grades are a subjective rating masquerading as an objective evaluation.
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Educators remind us that what counts in a classroom is not what the teacher teaches it’s what the learner learns.
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Do rewards motivate people? Absolutely. They motivate people to get rewards.
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Don't let anyone tell you that standardized tests are not accurate measures. The truth of the matter is they offer a remarkably precise method for gauging the size of the houses near the school where the test was administered.
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Students should not only be trained to live in a democracy when they grow up they should have the chance to live in one today.
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Maximum difficulty isn't the same as optimal difficulty.
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Saying you taught it but the student didn't learn it is like saying you sold it but the customer didn't buy it.
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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.
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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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Whoever said there's no such thing as a stupid question never looked carefully at a standardized test.
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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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Trying to do well and trying to beat others are two different things. Excellence and victory are conceptually distinct . . . and are experienced differently.
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Being a team player should not imply a demand for simple obedience and conformity.
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Very few things are as dangerous as a bunch of incentive-driven individuals trying to play it safe.
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The overwhelming number of teachers ...are unable to name or describe a theory of learning that underlies what they do.
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Children learn how to make good decisions by making decisions, not by following directions.
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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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If I offered you a thousand dollars to take off your shoes, you'd very likely accept--and then I could triumphantly announce that 'rewards work.' But as with punishments, they can never help someone develop a *commitment* to a task or action, a reason to keep doing it when there's no longer a payoff.
Alfie Kohn
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When was the last time you spent the entire day with only 42 year olds?
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Social psychology has found the more you reward people for doing something, the more they tend to lose interest in whatever they had to do to get the reward.
Alfie Kohn