Why Don't Students Like School?

A book is like a lover. You need to meet the right person in the right place at the right time. Destiny brings us together and takes us apart.

I highly recommend colleagues to read Daniel T. Willingham's Why Don't Students Like School? (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009).

Willingham answers the big questions in the following nine chapters (or sub-questions):

1. Why don't students like school?
2. How can I teach students the skills they need when standardized tests require only facts?
3. Why do students remember everything that's on television and forget everything I say?
4. Why is it so hard for students to understand abstract ideas?
5. Is drilling worth it?
6. What's the secret to getting students to think like real scientists, mathematicians, and historians?
7. How should I adjust my teaching for different types of learners?
8. How can I help slow learners?
9. What about my mind?