@MickeyWag

Director with @TNTP & father of 2

Joined November 2011
  • Tweets3.9K
  • Following1.3K
  • Followers1K
316Media
Follow Marcy Stein for DI math and reading
Marcy Stein@stein_marc36792Oct 23
Replying to @MrZachG
Incredible work digging through the archives. This is the story of Follow Through that should have been told decades ago.
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Claude
@claudeaiOct 21
We’re opening a research preview of Claude Duet, a new app where Claude works as a proactive agent. It comes to you with what needs your attention, completes tasks you ask of it, keeps working when you step away, and checks with you before it acts on your behalf.
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You can hear from my co-author @ColleenDriggs and one of my all time favorite reading teachers, Jaime Johnson, in this article on "re-centering" reading--making it an in-class, communal activity. edweek.org/teaching-learning…

Getting Middle Schoolers to Do the Reading Is Hard. Can Communal Reading Help?

New classroom methods aim to help kids internalize the message that engaging in print is worth it.

edweek.org
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Dale Chu
@Dale_ChuOct 9
“Critical thinking” without knowledge is just confidently not knowing what you’re talking about.
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Something I hear over and over when I’m visiting schools: “They were really engaged.” Fine. What did they learn? Can they explain it, use it on a new problem, and remember it next week? Keeping kids busy is a low bar. We’re supposed to be teaching them.
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Read a discussion on this recently where the author agreed but made the point that we moved to skills because it was easier than teaching political consensus on what knowledge to teach.
Robert Pondiscio
@rpondiscioOct 5
"...a pedagogy focused on supposedly generalizable skills like 'critical thinking,' rather than on the acquisition of knowledge, is the chief culprit for the stagnant American performance in the National Assessment of Educational Progress as well as PISA." Yup. jamestraub.substack.com/p/th…
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Does strategy instruction matter? I’m not convinced. We know that, ahem, knowledge matters. We know that foundational skills matter. There is evidence that teaching strategies can be beneficial but is it the best use of our time?
Knowledge Matters@KnowledgeMatrsOct 4
Strategy instruction matters. But strategies can’t replace what a student doesn’t know. Building vocabulary + background knowledge strengthens reading, oral language AND learning across content areas. 🔗: harriettjanetos.substack.com…
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Direct Instruction I know, definitions are *boring* but it's worth just being clear about this. 'Direct Instruction' with a capital 'D' and a capital 'I' generally refers to the programs developed by Zig Engelmann, Doug Carnine and others and available from McGraw Hill. These are modern versions of the programs tested in Project Follow Through. Teachers follow a script that includes the students' opportunities to respond. The programs can be used in small groups or whole classes. For example, at my school, we teach Spelling Mastery to all students in regular English classrooms, but we use the other programs for small group sessions with our Progress Support Team. The materials are quite costly. So, there's a business idea for someone who can devise something of the same quality. Direct Instruction is therefore a highly specific kind of explicit teaching. Confusingly, explicit teaching is often called 'direct instruction' with a lower case 'd' and 'i' and that's why I avoid this term.
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Not to keep bragging, but I called for this two years ago. A reckoning is needed.
Greg Ashman
@greg_ashmanOct 4
Now no paywall: Why Schools Need a Phonics-Style Reckoning for Math – The 74 the74million.org/article/why…

Why Schools Need a Phonics-Style Reckoning for Math

Yglesias: Teachers should embrace showing kids how to tackle problems — and then make them practice until they get good at it on their own.

the74million.org
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Apparently, I was early. On Feb 5, 2024, I wrote: “Science of Reading had its moment. It’s time for direct instruction.” More than two years later, that call feels timely. Cards 1–4. Read the blog + subscribe: thriveedk12.com/ideas
Charcoal and teal thriveED card. “One tiny victory lap. Apparently, I was early.” In February 2024, Mickey Wagner wrote that direct instruction needed its science of reading moment. More than two years ago. Card 1 of 7.

ALT Charcoal and teal thriveED card. “One tiny victory lap. Apparently, I was early.” In February 2024, Mickey Wagner wrote that direct instruction needed its science of reading moment. More than two years ago. Card 1 of 7.

February 5, 2024. Authentic crops from Mickey Wagner’s blog show the title “Direct Instruction or Bust” and the subtitle “It’s time for DI to have it’s SoR moment.” The enlarged author/date detail reads “Mickey Wagner” and “Feb 5, 2024.” Quotation from the article: “Science of Reading had its moment. It’s time for direct instruction.” The original screenshot’s wording is unchanged. Card 2 of 7.

ALT February 5, 2024. Authentic crops from Mickey Wagner’s blog show the title “Direct Instruction or Bust” and the subtitle “It’s time for DI to have it’s SoR moment.” The enlarged author/date detail reads “Mickey Wagner” and “Feb 5, 2024.” Quotation from the article: “Science of Reading had its moment. It’s time for direct instruction.” The original screenshot’s wording is unchanged. Card 2 of 7.

Teal thriveED card. “The point I was making: Explicit instruction deserved a fair hearing.” Too often, we get stuck on how teacher-led instruction feels. Card 3 of 7.

ALT Teal thriveED card. “The point I was making: Explicit instruction deserved a fair hearing.” Too often, we get stuck on how teacher-led instruction feels. Card 3 of 7.

“And now…” October 15: Sold a Story returns with What Happened to Teaching. The new season goes beyond reading. 2027: Doug Lemov’s book on Explicit Direct Instruction, with classroom videos. Title and exact release date to come. Sources: APM Reports and Lemov’s October 1, 2026 announcement. Card 4 of 7.

ALT “And now…” October 15: Sold a Story returns with What Happened to Teaching. The new season goes beyond reading. 2027: Doug Lemov’s book on Explicit Direct Instruction, with classroom videos. Title and exact release date to come. Sources: APM Reports and Lemov’s October 1, 2026 announcement. Card 4 of 7.

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@Doug_Lemov 🤝 @ehanford Excited to see these two leading our field toward the evidence. I can’t wait to see what comes next as we grapple with what effective teaching looks like in practice. features.apmreports.org/sold… xitter.cf/Doug_Lemov/status/2105…
Doug Lemov, handshake emoji, Emily Hanford. “Two separate projects are putting explicit instruction in the spotlight. I hope we follow the evidence, including when it is inconvenient.” The handshake playfully links the two public conversations and does not represent collaboration or endorsement. Card 5 of 7.

ALT Doug Lemov, handshake emoji, Emily Hanford. “Two separate projects are putting explicit instruction in the spotlight. I hope we follow the evidence, including when it is inconvenient.” The handshake playfully links the two public conversations and does not represent collaboration or endorsement. Card 5 of 7.

“Tiny victory lap over. Here is what I actually want: Use evidence-based practices, and let student learning be the north star. Our favorite approaches included.” Cream thriveED card with large charcoal and dark teal text. Card 6 of 7.

ALT “Tiny victory lap over. Here is what I actually want: Use evidence-based practices, and let student learning be the north star. Our favorite approaches included.” Cream thriveED card with large charcoal and dark teal text. Card 6 of 7.

“Which assumption about teaching are you willing to examine? I have a few of my own. Evidence over vibes.” Read the blog. Get the next issue. thriveedk12.com/ideas. Teal thriveED card, signed Mickey Wagner. Card 7 of 7.

ALT “Which assumption about teaching are you willing to examine? I have a few of my own. Evidence over vibes.” Read the blog. Get the next issue. thriveedk12.com/ideas. Teal thriveED card, signed Mickey Wagner. Card 7 of 7.

Doug Lemov
@Doug_LemovOct 1
Excited to reveal given all the conversation about it today that I will have a new book out next year on Explicit Direct Instruction. Full of great videos of real teachers.
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Yep. This.
Carl Hendrick
@C_HendrickOct 4
"Math needs a phonics-style reckoning: Teachers should teach students how to do stuff correctly." - @mattyglesias slowboring.com/p/math-needs-…
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The evidence for teacher-created curriculum is weak, and the evidence for the systemic use of quality curriculum is strong. A national conversation about this would be welcome.
Carl Hendrick
@C_HendrickOct 3
What are the most effective methods of improving student achievement? An NYT investigation. For me, the data point in the bottom left quadrant is absolutely critical to understanding why student achievement goes wrong so often: teachers making up their own curriculum. nytimes.com/2026/09/28/upsho…
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Preach
Matthew Yglesias
@mattyglesiasSep 30
People have heard about the phonics vs triple-queuing fiasco but there is a similar issue in math where ed school ideologues have stigmatized the normal and necessary work of drilling novice students in the fundamentals. slowboring.com/p/math-needs-…

Math needs a phonics-style reckoning

Teachers should teach students how to do stuff correctly.

slowboring.com
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Can’t wait to read it!
Doug Lemov
@Doug_LemovOct 1
Excited to reveal given all the conversation about it today that I will have a new book out next year on Explicit Direct Instruction. Full of great videos of real teachers.
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Sold a Story Season 2 is coming, two weeks from today. youtube.com/watch?v=4YDq-AB_…

Sold a Story 2: What Happened to Teaching

Sold a Story is an investigative podcast about how kids learn — wha...

youtube.com
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Lots of discussion out there about our next model(!), so I wanted to give an early look as soon as possible. Introducing Gemini 4 Argon! It shows frontier performance in complex workflows, cyber defense and software engineering. Teams are using it extensively at Google, from coding to quantum computing, great feedback. Here’s a look at the benchmarks:
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Initially I was a little skeptical of this, but I do think we need models for thinking through this so I’m tentatively open minded.
Douglas Fisher@DFISHERSDSUSep 28
How much AI should students be allowed to use on an assignment? Zero AI. Consultative AI. Full AI use. Giving students a clear level for each task makes expectations around AI in education much easier to understand.
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Can’t tell you how many PD sessions I sat through where we were told to essentially avoid recall/knowledge questions.
Carl Hendrick
@C_HendrickSep 27
It's difficult to overestimate how damaging this view of teaching and learning has been for so many kids. Virtually every teacher trained over the last 50 years was taught that knowing stuff is the least important part of thinking. This image taken from Utica University's assessment resources for faculty: utica.edu/academic/Assessmen…
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Haven’t tried this yet, but if it works well it’ll be a huge QoL upgrade and just plain nice.
ClaudeDevs
@ClaudeDevsSep 25
Claude Code will now try to find a graceful stopping point when you hit your 5-hour limit mid-task, instead of cutting off mid-edit. It gets a small, fixed allowance pulled from your weekly limit to wrap up what it can.
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