Author Archive

Movement & Phonics / How Hack Passwords / Miracle On The Hudson / Reconceptualizing Assessment / AI Thinking Partner / Podcasts on TV / AI for Job Searching / Teachers Lack Resources / The Science of Staying Calm / Get Smarter 10/29/2025

Wednesday, October 29th, 2025

I post content as I find it with the date of the top post in the headline. These are free Resources for Busy Parents and Educators Who Don’t Have as Much Time to Read and Surf as I Do. Be sure to check out my book summaries too.

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Adding Movement to Phonics Instruction – By providing strategies that combine letter sounds with motions, teachers help students learn to decode words in the ways that work best for them. @edutopia @FPSchools


How Hackers Steal Passwords: 5 Attack Methods Explained – There is great advice here for everyone. @JeffCrume @IBM


Captain Sully’s Minute-by-Minute Description of The Miracle On The Hudson – This is the most gripping 12 minutes I’ve ever viewed. I hope you like it too. @Inc

Assessment
Reconceptualizing Assessment in the Service of Learning – The primary purpose of assessment is to inform and improve learning, not merely to certify status. @Getting_Smart @EWGInstitute @APA

AI
Using AI as a Thinking Partner – An AI Tutor isn’t a shortcut or a quick way to find an answer. It’s not there to give away the solution to a problem, but to guide students in the right direction. @ClassTechTips

Podcasts
How to Listen to Podcasts on Your TV – You can listen to podcasts of your TV while you are doing work around the house without earphones. @ClassTechTips

AI
Using AI in a job search – AI can be a powerful tool to help articulate the impact you’ve had on students, research, and your institution. @CAHyatt

Teaches
New Gallup Poll: 1 in 4 Teachers Don’t Have Necessary Resources, Support Staff – Find a teacher you know who you can donate to like I did. @amanda_geduld @the74

KQED
The Science of Staying Calm: What the Brain Teaches Us About Conflict – When tension rises, a very old part of our brain — the limbic system — takes over. It’s fast, emotional, and determined to keep us safe. That part of our brain is miraculous, but it’s also wired for survival, not diplomacy. @weisburghm @MindShiftKQED

AI
Human Skills We’ll Need to Thrive in an AI World. We live in a moment of rapid change. Artificial intelligence is no longer the stuff of lab experiments or sci-fi, it’s becoming a tool students (and teachers) use every day. @ajjuliani


How To Get Smarter by Daniel Pink – Here are eight simple science tested things you can learn in only twelve minutes. @DanielPink


21 Books That Changed How Daniel Pink Thinks Forever – If these books can change Pink’s mind, they just might change yours too. “When we change our minds, we change the world.” @DanielPink

Porn
How to Keep Violent Porn Out of Your Home and Away From Your Kids – Parents often really underestimate the extent to which their own children are likely to have seen pornography, How about you? @FoodieScience @MindShiftKQED


What School of Rock Got Right about Education – One of the very best ways to motivate kids to learn is through the pursuit of their interests and development of their talents. Teachers must see this movie. @s_n_farley @middleweb


5 tips to improve your critical thinking – Samantha Agoos – Share with students who may not know what critical thinking is. @Pockless


The Science Behind Long Walks and Longevity – I walk a lot and am never sick. How about you? @HealthyLivingON


Elon Musk’s Incredible Speech on the Education System | Eye Opening Video on Education. All teachers and students should watch this. @elonmusk
  

Jooble

Recent Book Summaries & My Podcasts

AI
Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That’s a Good Thing) by Salman Khan
Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics Grades K-12: 14 Teaching Practices for Enhancing Learning by Peter Liljedahl
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini@RobertCialdini
Valedictorians at the Gate: Standing Out, Getting In, and Staying Sane While Applying to College by Becky Munsterer Sabky
Plays Well With Others: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Relationships Is (Mostly) Wrongby Eric Barker
How to Raise Kids Who Aren’t Assholes: Science-Based Strategies for Better Parenting from Tots to Teens by Melinda Wenner Moyer
My Post-Pandemic Teaching and Learning Observations by Dr. Doug Green Times 10 Publications
The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us Forward by Daniel Pink
Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead, and Live Without Barriers by Jo Boaler 
The Future of Smart: How Our Education System Needs to Change to Help All Young People Thrive by Ulcca Joshi Hansen
Cup of Joe
Listen to Dr. Doug on the “Cup of Joe” podcast. I recorded it last week. On it, I talk about the many good things I have seen in schools doing hybrid teaching. @PodcastCupOfJoe @DrDougGreen @BrainAwakes
This is my podcast on the Jabbedu Network. Please consider listening and buying my book Teaching Isn’t Rocket Science, It’s Way More Complex. Here’s a free executive summary. @jabbedu @DrDougGreen
Boys and Sex: Young Men on Hookups, Love, Porn, Consent, and Navigating the New Masculinity by Peggy Orenstein

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Personality Poker: The Fast, Fun Way to Unload Innovation, Collaboration, and Predictable Growth by Stephen M. Shapiro 4th Ed

Thursday, October 23rd, 2025

Personality Poker
Personality Poker: The Fast, Fun Way to Unload Innovation, Collaboration, and Predictable Growth by Stephen M. Shapiro 4th Ed offers a fun game that any organization can use to help everyone determine their dominant and secondary personality types. It makes it easier to put people in positions that best suit their personality strengths, better drive the innovation process, and help connect people with complimentary personalities. Once you know your hand, you can compliment it when you hire new staff. To date, the game has been played by over 250,000 people and scientifically validated.

Introduction

  • Personality Poker is a fast-paced game that helps you discover and understand your unique contributions to your team’s success, whether in driving innovation, strengthening collaboration, shaping culture, or achieving shared goals. Once everyone knows their strengths, the goal is to place the right person in the right position. Creativity is about generating new ideas. Innovation is about shifting culture to implement valuable new ideas.
  • Stephen divides people by suits. The Spades dig and organize data. Diamonds are the idea people. Clubs plan and execute. Heats engage the hearts and minds of team members. Stephen has used this system with success with organizations of all sizes since he invented it in 1999.

Part I: Are You Gambling Your Company’s Future? 1. Pregame Warm-up

  • Personality Poker can be used as a powerful conflict resolution tool. It focuses on what people like as opposed to what people are like. People often game personality tests by picking what they think is the “right” answer. People in a good mood solve more problems through flashes of insight and creativity. How others see you is an indicator of your behavior. Some personality traits such as inquisitiveness, are difficult to observe. First impressions can be “sticky.” Work roles often prescribe a particular behavior.

Part II: Playing Personality Poker 2. Before Getting Started

  • It’s important to know the difference between your preferred style and your adapted style. Your adapted style is a learned behavior that you develop on the job due to the role you are put in. You can tell it’s an adapted style as it tends to sap you of energy whereas using your preferred style is more likely to energize you at work. If you are different at home, you are probably using an adapted style at work.

3. How to Play

  • You first need a deck of the special cards that have style descriptive words on each regular playing card. The solitaire version involves going through the deck and placing cards in piles that are most like you, least like you, and others. The goal is to get nine cards in the like you and not like you piles. When you have that you should know which style you are most like, which style(s) are somewhat adjacent, and which are your opposite.
  • You can also do a five pile version, which adds like me but I infrequently use it and like me but an adapted skill piles. In a five-card draw version each player gets five cards and players trade cards until they get a hand with cards most like them. There is also a 52 card pick up version.

4. Finding and Understanding Your Style

  • The black cards are more rational and are more liked by people who rely on expertise and knowledge. The red cards are more relational in nature. These people like to connect ideas, experiences, and people. If your five cards don’t tell you what your primary style is feel free to get more cards. You are more likely to have two or three suits than only one or all four. Like the author, my primary style is diamonds and my secondary style is spades. The suit or suits you are missing are the styles you need to rely on from colleagues.
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How to Keep Your Kid’s Brain Moving Over Breaks by Emily Graham

Friday, October 3rd, 2025

Graham
How to Keep Your Kid’s Brain Moving Over Breaks by Emily Graham offers great advice to anyone who has to supervise a student during a school break, which can be as long as a summer break or as short as a weekend. Please share with parents you know.

Introduction

School breaks can be a time of drift or quiet acceleration. Kids need rest — but long
stretches without structure can dull progress, especially in core subjects like reading, math,
or even language learning. Parents don’t need to become teachers to stop the slide — just
good facilitators. With the right rhythms and low-pressure options, you can keep your child
curious and engaged without burning them out or turning summer into school 2.0.

Start With Why Learning Slows Down

Extended time away from school makes it harder for students to maintain academic
footing. Reading comprehension slips. Math skills fade. Kids lose the mental routines that
help them focus and retain information. That’s not because they’re lazy or disengaged,
it’s just how cognitive systems work. If you want to prevent summer learning loss, you need friction — just enough engagement to keep the learning circuits active. A small,
regular push is far more effective than occasional sprints.

Your Role Is to Prime, Not Push

You’re not trying to replicate a classroom. You’re trying to make space for questions,
conversation, and effort. When you read aloud with your child, pause. Ask what they think
will happen next. Try to engage them in learning through small, consistent co-learning
moments. The goal isn’t mastery — it’s momentum. Your presence, your tone, and your
interest shape whether your child sees learning as something to tolerate or something
worth showing up for.

Supplement With Human-Led Online Support

Not every subject clicks in the same way. And not every parent can support every subject
equally — that’s normal. One of the most practical ways to supplement is through online
tutoring. It offers structure without rigidity, and many platforms allow you to adjust timing
based on your child’s schedule. If your child needs extra help with Spanish, for example,
you might try online Spanish tutors that are personalized, flexible, and motivating. Some let
you switch instructors, book trial lessons, and match based on your goals — a supportive,
immersive, and best value for money approach that feels both engaging and effective.

Keep Learning Cadence With Short Practice Windows

One of the simplest shifts you can make is in how you pace repetition. Instead of long,
dense study sessions, spread things out. Short practice blocks — 10–20 minutes a few
times a week — help the brain store and stabilize new knowledge. The key is rhythm, not
rigor. Using a family toolkit that supports retention across math, reading, and writing can
help structure this without having to build your own plan. Let the tools do the heavy lifting
while you focus on showing up.

Include Movement to Reset the Brain

Cognitive overload happens fast — especially for younger kids. But movement resets
attention. That’s not anecdotal; it’s biologically grounded. Stretching, light cardio, even a
dance break has been shown to support focus and mental clarity. If your child is flagging
mid-session, pause. You’ll get more learning value after a reset. In fact, active breaks boost
attention better
than silent sitting or passive distractions. It’s counterintuitive, but stepping
away can make recall stronger.

Follow Their Interests — Especially in Reading

The best summer learning doesn’t feel like learning. It feels like following a question. If
your child loves sports, get them books about athletes. If they like animals, find stories set
in the wild. When reading is centered on choice and interest, motivation spikes. You’re not
trying to enforce a reading log. You’re trying to spark summer reading engagement by
showing them that books are a gateway, not a checklist. Even reluctant readers often
respond well when they’re given options.

Let Loose Structure Do the Heavy Lifting

Some parents go into break mode thinking, “We’ll just play it by ear.” Others build color-
coded schedules that collapse by week two. The sweet spot is somewhere in between:
simple routines that kids can anticipate without strict timelines. Morning reading? Check.
Screen-free hour in the afternoon? Done. That kind of balance between freedom and
structure
helps children hold onto school-year habits without making it feel like
punishment. You’re maintaining momentum — not applying pressure.

You don’t need a master curriculum. You need a few strong rhythms. Parents who build in
light structure, leave room for curiosity, and add small supports — whether it’s a reading
session or a quick language lesson — are the ones who see their kids return sharper, not
slumped. The secret isn’t piling on more work. It’s timing, tone, and matching how kids
learn when the pressure’s off. So as the break rolls on, worry less about doing “enough” —
and more about doing “just right.”

FAQ: Supporting Learning During School Breaks

Q: How much learning time is ideal during a break?
A: For younger students, even 15–30 minutes a few times a week can help. It’s the
regularity, not the volume, that matters most.
Q: What subjects should I focus on?
A: Reading and basic math are the most vulnerable to skill fade. But subjects like language,
art, and science can add fun and variety.
Q: How do I keep my child motivated?
A: Follow their interests. Let them pick the topic, book, or project. Offer small wins and
praise effort, not just results.
Q: What if I’m not confident helping with certain subjects?
A: Consider online tutoring for support. Many platforms offer flexible, subject-specific help
that complements your child’s pace.
Q: Will this really make a difference in the long term?
A: Yes. Children who stay engaged even lightly during breaks often return to school more
confident and ready to learn.
Q: Is school break a good time to start language learning?
A: Yes — it’s an ideal time. Without the pressure of grades or homework, kids can explore a
new language in a more relaxed, engaging way. Even short, consistent sessions can build
real momentum and boost confidence heading into the next school year.

Unlock a world of knowledge and innovation with Dr Doug Green’s insights on education,
productivity, and personal growth—visit today to start your journey towards a smarter
future!

Emily Graham
Emily is the creator of MightyMoms.net. She believes being a mom is one of the hardest jobs around and wanted to create a support system for moms from all walks of life. On her site, she offers a wide range of info tailored for busy moms — from how to reduce stress to creative ways to spend time together as a family. You can email her at emilygraham@mightymoms.net. She lives in Arizona.

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Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny by Robert Wright

Friday, September 19th, 2025

NonAero
Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny by Robert Wright takes us from the first forms of life to our modern world. It shows how biological evolution and cultural evolution have followed parallel paths from hunter gatherer societies, through the industrial revolution, to the information age. This is a great compliment to the way history is generally taught in schools and belongs in every school library.

Introduction: The Storm Before the Calm

  • About fifty years ago John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern invented game theory. They made the distinction between “zero-sum” and “non-zero-sum” games. In zero-sum games, the fortunes of the players are inversely related. In games like tennis, chess, and boxing, one contestant’s gain is the other’s loss. In non-zero-sum games, one player’s good news need not be bad news for the other. It is even possible for both players needs to overlap entirely.
  • Wright believes that the paths of evolution and human history have been driven primarily by non-zero-sumness as we evolved from the primordial soup to the World Wide Web. New technologies often permit or encourage new, richer forms of non-zero-sum interactions. At the same time, social structures have evolved to convert non-zero-sum situations into more positive lifestyles.

Part 1: A Brief History of Humankind – 1. The Ladder of Cultural Evolution

  • Human culture has evolved. Some refer to early human cultures as savage. They are followed by barbarians, and finally civilization. Some scientists argue against this evolutionary arrow as one that is inevitable. Robert, however, believes that you can see this arrow beginning tens of thousands of years ago and continuing to the present. He also believes that looking ahead you can see where it is going.

2. The Way We Were

  • An important concept when it comes to cultural evolution is reciprocal altruism. This is reinforced buy the quote “the best place to store food you can’t eat is in another person’s belly.” Cultures are more likely to advance if there are large animals that can only be subdued when many people collaborate. There are examples in Africa were people cooperated so they could all eat a giraffe.
  • One issue causing complexity is cheating. When someone notices that another is not doing their share, they are less likely to grant them a full share of the catch. Bargaining can also add some zero-sum aspect to what otherwise is a non-zero-sum experience. Once the most you will spend on a car and the least the dealer will sell it for is established, the bargaining that takes place is zero-sum even though the sale itself is usually a non-zero-sum deal.

3. Add Technology and Bake for Five Mellennia

  • After the early North American people crossed the frozen land bridge from Asia, the ice melted and was replace by the Bering Sea. This created two cultural petrie dishes where cultural evolution could occur. Again we see that places where acquisition of food required cooperation featured more complex cultures. Eskimos living on the coast had to cooperate in order to hunt whales in multiple boats. Capital investment to build boats and division of labor to create harpoon specialists and helmsmen are things we take for granted.
  • The Big Man emerges to lead villages and multiple villages. He requires each group to contribute, which can be seen as an early form of taxation. He employs specialists to monitor the environment to prevent over fishing and over grazing. Relying on many villages or groups is also a way to spread risk. Big men had to be well spoken, have a good memory, work to make peace, and lead his followers into battle if necessary.

4. The Invisible Brain

  • There should be close connection between population size and density on the one hand and technological and social complexity on the other. Cheap transportation and cheap communication are also necessary. The negative side of population growth is environmental stress. The New World lagged behind the old World by several millennia, which is how far the New World lagged behind the Old World in reaching early technological thresholds, such as agriculture, and early political thresholds, such as chiefdoms. This explains the cultural differences between them when they came in contact with each other.

5. War? What is it Good For?

  • While you can argue that wars are non-zero-sum in that they are bad for both sides, lose-lose, you generally see wars as zero-sum when one side conquers and subjugates the other. Regardless, wars tend to produce more complex cultures as villages join for common protection or one side gets larger when they win a war and add the losers to their population.
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Life On Purpose: How Living For What Matters Most Changes Everything by Victor J Strecher

Friday, August 8th, 2025

Purpose
Life On Purpose: How Living For What Matters Most Changes Everything by Victor J Strecher explains what purpose is, why it is so good to have one, and how to get your purpose. Victor also extolls the benefits of SPACE (Sleep, Presence, Activity, Creativity, and Eating Well). This book is a must for any professional development library.

Part One: A Harbor – 1. Crossroads

  • We start with the tragic death of Victor’s daughter at the age of nineteen and how her voice helped him find his purpose. This was coupled with Victor Frankl’s Book Man’s Search for Meaning that tells how people with a strong reason to live, purpose, where more likely to survive the Nazi death camps. People who score higher on a seven-point purpose scale live longer, sleep better, are less likely to become depressed, and are more relaxed. They are also less likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s disease. The side effects are more friends, more happiness, deeper engagement, and even better sex.

2. Origins of Purpose

  • There are two kinds of happiness. Hedonic happiness happens when we do things to seek pleasure as in hedonism. Eudaimonic happiness comes when we seek personal growth, improved relationships, and a better connection with our community. People who are good at one are usually good at the other although eudiamonic happiness is more likely to make you happier overall as it deals with self-discovery.

3. Our Best Purpose

  • Some know early in life what they were born to do. Purposes are often more aspirational than practical. If you set your goals high, the better you aare likely to perform. Consider separating your goals into family, career, and community. Strong purposes lead to longer, healthier lives.
  • At the end of this chapter is a six-step plan for finding your purpose. Start by selecting you three favorite values from a list of fifteen. Then think about people or fictional characters that you want to emulate. Now take the headstone test. What would you want your headstone to say after to die? Next create individual goals for family, career, and community and then assemble an overall purpose. Finally, post your purpose where you will see it every day and share it with others.

4. Self-Transcendence

  • According to Maslow, self-actualization is the pinnacle of human existence. Frank suggested that real fulfillment in life occurs only when a person transcends the self. John Wooden said, “what you are as a person is much more important than what you are as a basketball player.” The students who try to master course material with a purpose will outperform those who focus solely on their grade.
  • Scientists have seen transcendent (altruistic) behavior in other species like elephants, dolphins, chimps, and whales. It also seems that children have it well before it can be taught. A transcendent purpose results in a greater return. It’s also more fun. Organizations that help workers focus on their purpose have more engagement, greater productivity and lower absenteeism. Are you getting paid by the brick or are you building a cathedral?

5. Miracles, God, and the Afterlife

  • We start with the story of how Victor’s daughter recovered from six heart attacks in one evening. He wonders if this was a miracle and if miracles exist? This brings up questions about the existence of God and the afterlife. While he doesn’t tell us if he believes in either, he leaves us with the question, would we change our purpose if we knew for sure that both either existed or didn’t.
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