Teach Me

  What Game Design Teaches Us About Learning Design By Jason T. Rogers I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how people learn—not just what they learn, but how the experience is built. And the more I explore that question, the more I find myself circling back to one unexpected source: game designers . That’s right—people who build video games might actually have something important to teach us about building better classrooms, better training environments, and better learning systems overall. I recently watched a video called "Why Game Designers Use Maslow" by Extra Credits. It’s a short, sharp explanation of how good game design lines up with something we usually only hear about in psychology class: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs . Watch here → Why Game Designers Use Maslow – Extra Credits And it got me thinking—maybe it’s time educators started thinking more like game designers. The Levels of Learning… and Why They Matter If you’ve ever seen Maslow’s pyramid, you ...

  12 Areas That Transform a Classroom Book review of The New Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano. By Jason T. Rogers I’ll be honest—I've read a lot of teaching frameworks over the years. Some are packed with theory but hard to apply. Others give you checklists but forget the heart. But I did enjoy the book  The New Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano.  It’s not about gimmicks or trends—it’s about building a classroom where learning sticks and students grow. There are 12 key areas in this framework. I want to walk you through. I’ll share quick example moments from a story story I call  Mrs. Lacey’s fifth-grade science class . You’ll see these ideas come to life in a way that’s simple, doable, and inspiring. 1. Providing and Communicating Learning Goals Mrs. Lacey starts class with a clear goal: “I can describe the planets in our solar system and explain their unique characteristics.” Every student sees it. They track it. They own i...

  VISIBLE LEARNING Making Learning Visible: Insights from John Hattie Dr. John Hattie, a leading education researcher, has transformed how educators understand effective teaching and student achievement. In his groundbreaking work, Visible Learning , Hattie synthesizes decades of global research to uncover what truly impacts learning outcomes. One of his core messages is simple yet powerful: "When learning is visible, students know what to do, how to do it, and where to go next." In the video “What Works Best in Education: John Hattie at TEDxNorrköping” , Hattie dives deep into the data, revealing the factors that most significantly affect student success. He explains the importance of teacher clarity, feedback, and setting high expectations. Rather than relying on popular trends or assumptions, Hattie uses evidence-based findings to guide instructional practices. One of the most striking ideas from the video is that it's not about what teachers do—but about how studen...

The Parts of Learning By Jason T. Rogers I’ve been trying to learn electronics lately. There’s this idea in my head—this vision—of building my own computer parts a few years from now. Not just tinkering, but really understanding what’s happening inside the circuits, the components, the flow of energy. I don’t want to just use technology. I want to shape it. But I’ve also realized something: learning is rarely a straight line. It’s more like a cycle of excitement, frustration, curiosity, confusion, and rediscovery. Over and over again. A Delicate Balance There’s this delicate balance between desire, curiosity, exploration, and how I feel about my progress . That last part—how I feel about it—turns out to be one of the biggest pieces. Sometimes I come across a complicated spec sheet or a dense diagram, and my brain just stops. It's like trying to read another language. I feel overwhelmed. Depressed, even. I find myself thinking, how long is it going to take before I can actually und...

  The Desire to Learn — and the Story We Tell Ourselves When It Gets Hard By Jason T. Rogers There’s an old story that’s been told for more than two thousand years. Simple on the surface. But it holds something deeper—something we still wrestle with today. A fox is walking through the woods on a hot day. He’s hungry. He sees a vine full of ripe grapes hanging high above him. They’re just out of reach. He jumps once. Misses. He jumps again. Still too high. He keeps trying, and trying, but he can’t reach them. After a while, he walks away and says, “Those grapes were probably sour anyway.” That story comes from Aesop, a storyteller from ancient Greece. His fables were short, sharp, and packed with human truth. This one’s where we get the phrase “sour grapes.” What’s funny—and a little sad—is how often we do this in our own lives. Especially when it comes to learning something new. Wanting to Learn Is Natural. Sticking with It? That’s Where It Gets Real. Think about it: we ...