Dir of Education @ficycleedu | Educational Consultant & Coach | Former NYC teacher & MfA Master Teacher. Lover of mathematics, teaching, dancing & games.
Brooklyn, NY
Joined June 2009
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I don't really use this account much. Please find me on Facebook or LinkedIn. @phildituri on all platforms.
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Heading to suburbs. 2+ hours & three trains from Brooklyn. I’ll be working with teachers.Virtually every content area in compulsory education is organized around concepts. Why are states creating mandates that look like a laundry list of things kids are supposed to memorize?
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Advice I've given new teachers for 20 years:
Please don’t go over the syllabus, norms, grading system, or any of the other sensible things most people might assume you should go over on day one.
I know that sounds a little crazy, so I wrote about why. phildituri.substack.com/p/ad…
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“Don't let them see you smile till November.” It was the first advice I got as a teacher, and the worst. To everyone heading back to the classroom this week: smile early. phildituri.substack.com/p/th…
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Only 1 in 3 teachers actually recover from their workday. Wrote about the research behind the split, and what actually helps teachers recover: phildituri.substack.com/p/a-…
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Do grades helps students realize this, or get in the way of it? Do they even matter?substack.com/home/post/p-198…
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Teachers say goodbye more than almost anyone. Each year, on a schedule, we lose an entire community we spent a year building. I wrote an article about how this time of year has always felt for me, and likely for many of the teachers you've had too. shorturl.at/VbzdG
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Telling someone learning styles aren't real is telling them part of their identity isn't real. They've said "I'm a visual learner" their whole life. You're taking away a tool they use to navigate the world. It never worked, but they don't know that yet. substack.com/home/post/p-200…
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There's a plaque on the Manhattan Bridge covered in graffiti and packed with numbers. I walk past it almost every week and I still stop and stare at it. There's a lesson in there somewhere (pun!), so check it out! phildituri.substack.com/p/30…
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Before you turn on the AC in your car open the window opposite a door. Rapidly open and close the door 2-3 times. You'll look like an idiot. Your car will cool down in seconds. Fluid dynamics for a better life. youtube.com/shorts/oKRcbRGDC…
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If you are a curious person who asks "why" a lot, I have a YouTube recommendation for you: Rabbit Hole. Brand new channel, older Veritasium vibes. This 29-minute episode about Iodized Salt should not be as good as it is.
youtu.be/XRcwwZXJ8gk?si=IIYE…
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Tell a room full of people that learning styles aren't real. A bunch of them will get angry. Here's why the myth refuses to die.
phildituri.substack.com/p/im…
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"The opposite of play is not work - the opposite of play is depression." Says Dr. Stuart Brown, the founder of the National Institute for Play, in the middle of his book about the subject. I love this conceptualization and believe it has profound implications for teaching.
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I've enjoyed using the "Ducks and Squirrels" problem with kids and teachers for 20+ years. Thought I'd seen every possible solution. Check out Claude's solution #9. In 20 years, not one person or LLM has ever done that. Picture is of my favorite solution. claude.ai/public/artifacts/b…
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A friend's MS child I know got a low grade and shrugged it off because "it doesn't really matter" His mom thinks he might have a point. That conversation inspired me to write small piece about why grades matter. open.substack.com/pub/phildi…
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Math, Sci, ELA, and His standards are organized around concepts. So why are Fin Lit standards still just a laundry list of topics to memorize? Ask any teacher why their subject is built around concepts. Personal finance should be no different.
tinyurl.com/2ex5wp47
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Headed far east today. Brooklyn to Patchogue. Sunrise at Jamaica. I’m giving a workshop on financial literacy instruction to about 25 teachers from eastern Long Island. New York State has recently mandated personal finance be taught at all grade levels!
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Logic puzzles, masquerading as quizzes, Self-Referential Quizzes look familiar at first glance but quickly reveal themselves as something different. A great non-routine challenge for students.
New to them? brainzilla.com/logic/self-re…
Challenge: brainzilla.com/logic/self-re…
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I'm giving a workshop on Tuesday on Standardized Test Prep that focuses on Leveraging Problem Solving & Conceptual Understanding. It's going to be remote, join us!
drive.google.com/file/d/1jrs…
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