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I recommend these books often, but they really are that much more useful than everything else:
Teach Like a Champion and
Tools for Teaching.

Decide who you think the good teachers in your building are, and watch how they work. Ask them questions - most teachers know how important the details of teaching are, and are happy to share. I see a common professional formality among the good ones. It is polite and thoughtful, listening and supportive, but it is not eager to please or quick to react. Easy to say, harder to do.

Anyway - good luck to you!

Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto

The opening essay of this short read is a condemnation of traditional schooling techniques---and it's also the speech he delivered when he (again) won the NY Teacher of the Year award. Gatto gets at the heart of why public schools consistently produce pencil pushers, not leaders. Every teacher should read this book.

How to Survive in Your Native Land by James Herndon

If Dumbing Us Down is the manifesto in favor of a more liberal pedagogy, Herdon's book is a memoir of someone trying to put that pedagogy in action. It's also a simple, beautiful easy to read book, the kind that is so good it reminds us just how good a book can be. I've read the teaching memoir that made Jonahton Kozol famous, this one is better.

The Montessori Method by Maria Montessori

In the early 1900s, Maria Montessori taught literacy to children that society had otherwise assumed were unreachable. She did this by using the scientific method to study each child's learning style. Some of what she introduced has been widely incorporated (like child-sized furniture) and some of it seems great but unworkable in overcrowded schools. The bottom line is that the Montessori method was one of the first pedagogical techniques that was backed by real results: both in test scores and in growing kids that thrive on learning and participation.

"Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?": A Psychologist Explains the Development of Racial Identity by Beverly Daniel Tatum

While not precisely a book on how to teach, this book is incredibly helpful to any teacher working with a diverse student population, or one where the race they are teaching differs from their own. It explains the process that white, black, and children of other races go through in identifying themselves as part of a particular race. In the US, race is possibly the most taboo subject, so it is rare to find a book this honest and straightforward on a subject most educators try not to talk about at all. I highly recommend this book.

If there is any chance you will be teaching history, definitely read:

Lies My Teacher Told Me and A People's History of the United States (the latter book is a classic and, personally, changed my life).

Also recommend: The Multi-player Classroom by Lee Sheldon and Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov

Finally, anyone who plans to teach math should read this essay, "Lockhart's Lament" [PDF at the bottom of the page].

PS, I was tempted to use Amazon affiliate links, but my conscious wouldn't let me.

I'm interested in doing this too (getting an undergrad degree in game design right now). I feel like it has a lot of potential when implemented well. I don't believe the Extra Credits video does a super good job of explaining the concept, because it focuses too heavily on reward systems (more on that in my comment to u/notjawn), which should not be the core of a gamification experience.

Have you heard about ClassRealm? From what I've seen/read, its creator has had a lot of success with it. However, don't be fooled - it might seem easy, but gamification can be very difficult to implement correctly.

I've read some good books on the subject that I highly recommend: The Gamification of Learning and Instruction and The Multiplayer Classroom.

Additionally, I don't know where you are in your schooling right now, but NYU has a great graduate program in this vein.

EDIT: For anyone looking for an overview of true gamification, here's a quick and simple slideset. It is much more than just giving out points.

The biggest difference is that in China (and actually, most other countries around the world) curriculum policy is set nationally by the government, and thus the sequence of courses students take in high school is remarkably standardized from place to place. In China (as also in Japan and South Korea) upper-middle-class and wealthy families will supplement this with an extensive system of private cram schools and tutors that are meant to help their children get a competitive edge on college entrance exams. But the schools themselves are very consistent in terms of what is taught and how. Their national high-school curriculum also puts a heavy emphasis on mathematics and science, and less of an emphasis on humanities-based subjects.


In America, by contrast, there is no national curriculum (Common Core is attempting to change this, but with limited success thus far). States are free to set whatever curriculum and graduation standards they want, and even at the district level course offerings tend to vary widely. They also tend to correlate strongly with the wealth of the school district-- an upper-class community will tend to have many students taking accelerated courses at a much higher level than in a comparable Chinese school, while a school in a poor district may not even offer Trigonometry or Pre-Calculus in high school. So when you read that American schools are much easier/less rigorous than other schools internationally, this aggregated claim covers up the fact that this it depends completely on the wealth of your district.


If you're interested in differences between the U.S. education systems and other countries, a book you might want to check out is "The Smartest Kids in the World" by Amanda Ripley. (Amazon link)

> Even "winning" in our school environment isn't really good for a person's future, in some sense.

I love that you get that. Most people (especially the "non-winners") don't. You may also want to check out Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto.

Coincidentally, I graduated from MIT. It was an awesome experience, but I wish I had taken more advantage of the resources there. Truthfully, I wasn't ready for it 'cuz I didn't really choose it. It was just the next thing one was supposed to do on the educational path. I would totally encourage my daughters to take at least a year off before heading to college, if they chose to do so at all.

I'm 47, and I'm self-learned/directed since the age of 10. What I do (Immersive Design & Storytelling) requires 'a bit of everything' in both knowledge and skills: from business planning and interaction design to mythology and programming.

From your first indications, it seems you're going to delve into Neuromarketing!

In order to make it future-proof, you might want to:

• Attend some free, authoritative online courses such as Introduction to Psychology from Yale University, and Positive Psychology from Harvard;
  
• Learn about the Flow Theory of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, from all his books / audiobooks / video lectures;
  
• Save a few hundred bucks and experiment with a Neurofeedback headset such as the Emotiv Insight, and follow the development of devices such as Neuralink;
  
• Find your niche: for example, if you're also into video games you could enjoy a design / marketing book like 'The Gamer's Brain: How Neuroscience and User Experience Can Impact Video Game Design';
  
• Always look for problems that no one has ever addressed so far, and make solving them your mission!
  
  As for the 'hardness' of learning online:
  
  
• Find your pace: make it a daily habit with a schedule;
  
• Learn in chunks, and instantly apply what you've learned;
  
• Always keep written / vocal notes of your ideas: you would think you will remember them, but you won't;
  
• Organize your ideas visually, with tools like TheBrain and Mindmanager;
  
• Stay motivated: look for study groups where you can share this experience with others;
  
• Be curious about what happens around you: your work will affect the world you live in;
  
• Stay up to date to everything 'futuristic' like VR & AI, and see how they will impact your field;
  
• Follow your inspiration, and understand how can it be converted in money;
  
• Make a path of your own, by creatively combining different (new) subjects and disciplines;
  
  
  And most importantly...
  
  
  NEVER GIVE UP!
  
  
  Even if you fail hard, get back on your ass, analyze what went wrong, and correct the course. ; )

hey, good luck.

The Public Schools

Jim Crow's Children

Ghetto Schooling

We Make the Road By Walking

Teacher in America

Women's Education in the United States, 1740-1840

Savage Inequalities

Shame of the Nation

also, i'll second Tyack's One Best System

a few authors to read/study: John Dewey, Horace Mann, W.E.B. Du Bois, Maria Montessori, Myles Horton, Dianne Ravitch, Jeannie Oakes, bell hooks, Howard Gardner, Betty Reardon, Howard Zinn, Cathy Davidson

topics: Native American boarding schools, ethnic/racial biases of original IQ test designs, desegregation, resegregation, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, Bloom's taxonomy, multiple intelligences, tracking, career and technical education, the Common Core, school choice, special education, peace education, types of schools: traditional public, charter, contract, private, independent; the superintendency and school governance, elected/appointed boards, mayoral control, teacher cooperatives; resource inequalities, the incorporation of technology, teacher training, mind brain education, learning environments, standardized testing, accountability, teacher evaluation...

a list like you've requested could never be exhaustive, but that should be enough to keep you busy for awhile.

Amanda Ripley's The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way does a really fantastic job highlighting the South Korean education system and how, for better or worse, it produces multimillionare hogwan directors and internationally competitive students.

> Do you or your professor have any research that supports this claim?

The professor did not cite studies in her discussion, no. As to myself, I have no studies, just years of experience teaching in high schools and colleges.

> The largest determinant in student learning is student practice and practice is not always fun, but it is beneficial.

Agreed -- up to the point to where the student knows the topic. After that, it's simply drudgery and an exercise in following orders. Since you're interested in research, Alfie Kohn analyzed a lot of research on this topic in his 2007 book, "The Homework Myth".

A good book that brings this up is "why don't students like school?" By Danile T. Willingham. If I could make teachers read a book this would probably be up in the top 3

https://www.amazon.com/Why-Dont-Students-Like-School/dp/047059196X

Edit: Not sure why I was downvoted... but OK. Uhm, if curious, the chapter where this topic is discussed is chapter 7: how should I adjust my teaching to different types of learners.

Edit to the edit: and now it's in an upswing. Never mind my previous comment. Never change, reddit

Hi there,

When you say 'under privilaged' and mention that you are white - I assume you are about to work with a population that is primarily not white.

If that is the case, you have a very real challenge ahead of you - the challenge of recognizing and addressing your own biases before entering the classroom.

Teachers often unintentionally create classrooms full of bias and environments for negative 'self-fulfilling prophecies' for certain students. It is best to be very intentional about avoiding these common pitfalls from the start.

I'd recommend these books as a good place to start:

Other Peoples Children

Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together....

For White Folks Who Teach In The Hood...

Read this book. I've got ten years as a white teacher in South Bronx, Harlem, Washington Heights. Great book. Trust me.

For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood... and the Rest of Y'all Too: Reality Pedagogy and Urban Education (Race, Education, and Democracy) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0807028029/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_IRI7BbX2GMJ3C

>The stats become the goal. That is not HOW LEARNING WORKS.

That's how we confirm that the curriculum is working. It's not about predicting outcomes, it's about verifying outcomes.

>There are children who grow physically so fast that for one school year they learn almost nothing.

You can't grow physically and learn at the same time? Obviously you can do both. Your brain isn't entirely focused on just growing your limbs. You can improve your thinking while physically growing at the same time.

We just need to get our students to spend time thinking about the curriculum. Read the book "Why Don't Students Like School,". Students will spend time thinking about stories and we can turn history into a story about the most interesting things that have happened on our planet.

Diane Ravitch is among the best thinkers of our time on education reform, in my opinion.

About Diane Ravitch:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704869304575109443305343962.html

And see her book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System:
http://www.amazon.com/Death-Great-American-School-System/dp/0465014917

The book looks at many of the debates such as teacher training, school funding, charter schools, nationwide curriculum, parental involvement, high stakes testing, and governmental programs.

Amanda Ripley's Smartest Kids in the World answers this question very comprehensively:

https://www.amazon.com/Smartest-Kids-World-They-That/dp/145165443X

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These are all good books to start with ^^

First off, I'm operating under the assumption that you're looking into English classes at the secondary school level.

Second, it might be helpful note the type of class(es) that could incorporate PnPRPG elements.
Specifically, are you interested in writing about teaching - Literature, Grammar, ESL, Critical Theory, all of the above, or something else entirely?

Finally, here are a couple links to get you started:
The Multiplayer Classroom

Classrealm Start Guide

Analysis of Gamification in Education

That's a big question that can't just be answered in a reddit post. A good introduction and thorough overview is Bransford's 'How People Learn'.

This is depressing. For anyone interested in learning more about inequalities in schooling, I recommend checking out the work of jonathon kozol. It'll really make you believe we're living in a country of two vastly different Americas.

If you're interested, David Berliner has done a lot of research in this area and has written a few books that help to dispel the claim that America's public schools are failing. I recommend starting with The Manufactured Crisis (1996) by Berliner and Biddle, which debunks the Nation at Risk report that catalyzed the "failing" narrative. A more recent book by Ravitch (2014), Reign of Error, also covers the topic quite extensively.

Read The Optimistic Child by Martin Seligman. This book is awesome for adults and kids, and gives advice on how to not look at "failures" as statements on our entire set of capabilities, but rather as one time events that we can move on from and not judge ourselves on. I hate self-help shit, and this feels like a very logical approach based in actual SCIENCE. Not that I'm an expert. I found it very interesting and helpful, though.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0465014917

Relevant

Hey you. http://www.amazon.com/Fred-Jones-Tools-Teaching-Instruction/dp/0965026329/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262059116&sr=8-1

how people learn is one that was used in my undergrad psych program at ucla, and again in my credentialing program (again, through ucla).

are you looking at it from a cognitive or biological point of view?

Intrinsic

https://www.amazon.com/Why-We-What-Understanding-Self-Motivation/dp/0140255265

http://selfdeterminationtheory.org/

https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Happening-Body-Book-Boys/dp/1557047650

Guy Stuff: The Body Book for Boys is by the same author and covers all of those topics.

Not really surprising, is it?

This reminds me of the facts behind homework. The author of The Homework Myth claims that with the sole exception of high school math, the many, many studies on the topic find that homework is detrimental (or at best has no clear positive correlation) to actual student knowledge.

But our protestant work ethic and mindless football-like mindsets about toughness, work and punishment has us ignoring facts...

You must not have tried too hard.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1683370260/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Rz5UBbDN27MFF

https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Happening-Body-Book-Boys/dp/1557047650

Psychologist Dan Willingham's Why Don't Students Like School: A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works and What It Means for the Classroom delves deeply into these questions, especially as they pertain to teaching and learning.

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Dont-Students-Like-School/dp/047059196X

My friend, you have just stepped into a minefield. Get a helmet, and start reading some books. There is much for you to learn.

You aren't wrong, you're right about most is the things you say. It's why I ended up studying education policy in graduate school. Unfortunately, the more we know the more helpless we become.

Here's some required reading to get your feet wet:

http://www.amazon.com/Spinning-Wheels-Politics-School-Reform/dp/0815736355/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458110858&sr=1-1&keywords=Spinning+wheels

http://www.amazon.com/Tinkering-toward-Utopia-Century-Public/dp/0674892836/ref=pd_sim_14_28?ie=UTF8&dpID=51DQYN2V19L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR105%2C160_&refRID=0C983NQYAYFNVQ68XQT5

http://www.amazon.com/Distinction-Social-Critique-Judgement-Taste/dp/0674212770/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458110942&sr=1-1&keywords=Bourdieu%27s

http://www.amazon.com/Reign-Error-Privatization-Movement-Americas/dp/0345806352/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458111017&sr=1-14&keywords=Education+policy