Pearblossom Education

"While she is a woman of strong aesthetic sensibilities, she is also one of epic doubt."- Brown This quote alludes to Bonnie Blodgett, a master gardener who surfaces the trials and tribulations of having a green thumb. Gardening can be a hit or miss, starting down to the seed and even the soil. To get it right can be a remarkable accomplishment, and there is no wonder why flora competitions have stuck by for centuries. But even epic doubt seems to find its way into the premise of success.   Try to find congruency with the phrase "desirable difficulties" and "growth mindset." This is ultimately what happens when we encounter issues that challenge us- we get into a certain mindset which is getting ready to grow... I ended 2/23's post with an excerpt about desirable difficulties. I cannot but help but to compare our current state as being difficult. Will these challenges have anything to offer us? Coming together as communities has been a highlig...

Visiting material after time can lead to better long-term memory retention.  So, let us think about what we do when we learn something. We can attend a culinary class. We can earn credits for a college course. We can take a CPR class and receive a certificate at the end, signifying that we have passed the course and that we are now equipped to take on certain responsibilities. But are we really retaining this information? Are we prepared to take on the world with our new cheesemaking, life-saving, academic skills? The answer is not only in the issue of memory retention, but also the process in which we recall information in the first place. Massed or blocked practice has been a traditional staple in education, and has been shown to be effective. When we cram information into our brains with whatever resources we can- acronyms, flashcards, hours of repetition- we are bound to remember something, right? Indeed. Yet, it turns out that interleaving practice, or taking breaks in b...