Michael Pershan

1 month ago | pointsincase.com | Pete Lynch |Michael Pershan |Sam Di |Luke Herzog

The first rule of Fight Club Book Club is WE ONLY TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB. Yes, I'm talking to you, Carl. We’re not here to talk about any of Chuck Palahinuk’s later works. We don't care what you think of Rant, Haunted, or even the criminally underappreciated Snuff. We’re here to talk about one book, and that book is Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club Book Club is WE ONLY TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB. I’m serious, Carl. None of us care about your recent vacation on Carnival Cruise lines.

Sep 5, 2024 | educationnext.org | Michael Pershan

Early on in Math Mind: The Simple Path to Loving Math, Shalinee Sharma experiences a moment of doubt. After 13 years at Bain & Company, she cofounds Zearn, an educational nonprofit. Zearn wants to offer great math teaching free to any child. But Sharma and her cofounders immediately encounter an obstacle––one that has frustrated many an educational newcomer: there is no agreement about what great math teaching looks like. “There was no manual for what I wanted to do,” she writes.

Dec 14, 2023 | pointsincase.com | Michael Pershan

Sweet Baby Jesus,Your father and I are trying to plan Hanukkah. Think you’ll be able to join us in Nazareth for the last night? You also have a birthday coming up. Love,~Mommy <3Hey,Write your mother back when you have a chance. She has been trying to reach you. Hope to see you over Hanukkah. -DadSweet Baby Jesus,I was cleaning out the manger. Do you still like myrrh? Was thinking it could be a nice birthday gift. Or for Hanukkah, if you can find a minute to write back.

Sep 22, 2023 | pershmail.substack.com | Michael Pershan

Here’s a question that I wrote myself, but is extremely similar to a bunch of things I’ve seen people actually ask: I’m a 3rd Grade teacher (or: parent, or: journalist) and I’m enthusiastic about the Science of Reading. It’s totally changing how I think about reading, especially for struggling learners. But what about math? Isn’t it time for a Science of Mathematics movement? And I always want to answer with a very respectful, no, I don’t think so.

Aug 16, 2023 | pershmail.substack.com | Michael Pershan

Couldn’t we just get rid of homework? Basically no one likes it. And students get plenty of practice at school (or at least they should). The homework experience can go wrong in so many ways. Who needs it? The first decades of the 20th century actually did see widespread agitation in the United States to eliminate homework. It came from educators and reformers who saw homework as an unfair burden on children and the home as a poor environment for learning.