Mike Kalin

Educator, writer

The most powerful lessons about citizenship haven’t occurred in my history courses -- they’ve happened in my English classes.

To overcome intolerance and bigotry, students must possess the capacity for empathy and understanding that reading fiction fosters. 

Kids Who Read Fiction Are More Engaged, Empathetic Citizens

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Commentary

Books

Education

News

Opinion

Why Facebook, Twitter And Instagram Belong In The Classroom

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commentary

Technology

If grades are meant to convey information about academic achievement and promote student growth, we need to reevaluate our grading system.

Letter Grades Deserve An 'F': A Recommendation For Updating School Report Cards

The truth is that traditional report cards rarely provide accurate assessments of student learning, writes Mike Kalin. (DoDEA Pacific/Flickr)

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...the physical design of schools reflects outdated models of teaching and learning.

Touting the benefits of student collaboration becomes empty rhetoric if we do not also intentionally work to establish collaborative learning spaces.

To Build Better Learners, We Must Build Better Schools

For hundreds of years, the structure of school buildings has remained unchanged, writes Mike Kalin. Pictured: Students study in one of the many flexible learning spaces at the Vittra Telefonplan School in Stockholm. (Kim Wednt/Rosan Bosch, Courtesy)

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...educators will soon confront a difficult question: should we share our own political views with students?

Perhaps more than any other obligation, educators have a duty to uphold civil discourse that values diversity and dissent.

Teaching Trump: Rethinking Civic Education In Turbulent Times

A young attendee holds a sign supporting Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, right, as he speaks during a campaign event at Watertown International Airport, Saturday, April 16, 2016, in Watertown, N.Y. (John Minchillo/AP)

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Politics

Donald Trump

Election 2016

Educators and parents should praise students' efforts, rather than their achievements, in order to nurture a love for learning.

Carol Dweck: The Effect of Praise on Mindsets

...the cognitive science revolution in education is here to stay.

Changing Minds: Discoveries In Cognitive Science Can Reshape The Way We Teach

Mike Kalin: "New findings expose the flaws of many traditional teaching methods and force us to reconsider fundamental assumptions about how students learn." (inertia NC/flickr)


Classroom-Banner

Teachers cannot continue to pretend that new technologies do not represent existential threats to the profession.

In the Khan Academy era, content expertise can be outsourced to machines, but moral leadership cannot.

Are Teachers In Brick-And-Mortar Schools Even Necessary?

American educator and entrepreneur Salman Khan pictured in 2013.  Khan, a former hedge fund analyst, launched his academy in 2008 to provide free classes to anyone, anywhere. The nonprofit provides free educational content globally in areas of math, finance, history and art. (Dario Lopez-Mills/AP)

Mike Kalin

Recently published

Kids Who Read Fiction Are More Engaged, Empathetic Citizens

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Why Facebook, Twitter And Instagram Belong In The Classroom

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Letter Grades Deserve An 'F': A Recommendation For Updating School Report Cards

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To Build Better Learners, We Must Build Better Schools

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Teaching Trump: Rethinking Civic Education In Turbulent Times

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Changing Minds: Discoveries In Cognitive Science Can Reshape The Way We Teach

Cognoscenti

Are Teachers In Brick-And-Mortar Schools Even Necessary?

Cognoscenti