NEW: Last school year, a 7th grader viewed 4,700 YouTube videos during class. An 8th grader viewed 5,700 videos in class. A 2nd grader viewed ~500 in just 2 months. Less than 5% were educational. @nbcnews analyzed the YouTube watch histories of students from across the country. My new story shows how far some take it on their school laptops and iPads --> nbcnews.com/specials/hooked-…

A great part of Sold a Story 2 is that all the people interviewed so far are those who know Direct Instruction. They taught it, coached it, wrote it, and breathed it for 50 years. It’s time other journalists start treating the matter with equal seriousness.

You can listen to the first two episodes of Sold a Story Season 2 today. We also have things for you to WATCH! youtube.com/watch?v=gDUMHdqc… What is Direct Instruction?

Students who repeatedly disrupt class are put on behavior contracts. The student is given a folder with the rules and a daily teacher signature page. The rules are usually: 1. Come to class 2. Don’t throw objects 3. Don’t interrupt instruction 4. Don’t walk out without permission Basic rules that others are expected to follow as well. The difference is that with a behavior contract, if the student gets a certain amount of signatures from their teachers, they get Chick Fil-A or whatever lunch they choose on Friday. Most of the time the students will brag about it to everyone in the class. “All I have to do is come to class and sleep and my AP buys me lunch on Friday from wherever I want.” As a teacher it was difficult to navigate this. I had multiple students say things like, “so all I have to do is act a fool then I get free lunch? Okay bet.”

What's something education experts say that sounds great in theory but doesn't work in a real classroom?

Cautionary tale! Instructional coaching is usually seen as a safe bet for school improvement. But a recent EEPA study of a $20M/year coaching rollout across 130 schools paints a very different picture. Despite spending about $5,800 per teacher on the program, the district saw: Zero improvement in teacher retention. Flat ELA scores. Math scores that actually leaned negative. It turns out that the logistics of scaling killed the impact. First, the district simply ran out of top-tier talent. To fill all the open roles, they had to start drafting average teachers as coaches. Second, pulling their best teachers out of classrooms for half the day hurt students more than the peer coaching helped. Finally, 80% of coaches were eventually tasked with summative evaluations, destroying the trust and vulnerability required for actual instructional growth. It’s a great reminder that structural changes don't automatically improve the instructional core. more on it here: ammaramerhbi.substack.com/p/…

Written lesson plans are a complete joke and should not be required. A teacher who fully understands their content or has taught the same lesson for years should not need to write it down for administrators. They are another example of senseless work plopped on teachers’ laps. Let teachers profess their content without the burden of typing it up. Education needs to get simpler.