MzTeachuh's Library: Every Teacher Should Read This Book NOW

Teachers struggle when students do not behave, don't focus on their work, cannot test well on the Common Core. Why the monumental struggle? Because most teachers have little or no training in child development.

I happen to have Child Development credits close to an AA degree;  I took the classes just because I was raising young children and wanted to learn more about that age.

It didn't dawn on me until recently that most classroom teachers K-12 have no formal training during their credentialing programs to help enhance their understanding of the growing child, and cannot gear their instruction toward what is reasonable to expect of kids. And neither do administrators--who set up whole school programs for students like a factory at Ford Motor. If they could include robots to instruct, they would.  That's why the needs of the whole student are ignored. It is no mystery, then, to understand why the students don't test well and there are problems in the general ed classroom. The 'professionals' don't understand the organism they are trying to train. (I say 'organisms' in jest--that's what B. F. Skinner, the famous behaviorist, called kids. I always thought that was funny.) A student is a Renaissance person thriving with the whole spectrum of  human experience and learning. Its true.

Rae Pica

Rae Pica is an author and founder of BAM! Radio http://www.bamradionetwork.com/--an expansive system of podcasts about all of education by educators. I have had the privilege of commenting on several programs. This network is a great resource for all educators.

Rae's background is in child development, emphasizing the need for movement. Her book logically lays out the argument for education that attends to the needs of the growing child in physical, mental, and emotional spectrum. It is very helpful. All teachers need to read this to learn or refresh their knowledge of child development, and to change--I mean change now-- the practice of removing recess for any reason. Kids need recess, singing, art, and exploration all the way through Grade 12. That's what I think. To see what Rae thinks about these topics, read her book, What If Everybody Understood Child Development? Straight Talk About Bettering Education and Children's Lives https://www.amazon.com/What-Everybody-Understood-Child-Development/dp/1483381846