7 Secrets to Using Great Puzzles in the Classroom or at Home

The Power of Puzzles If you want to build students into great problem solvers, there is really no tool better than puzzles. Good puzzles engage students in productive struggle. They motivate them intrinsically. They remove the stress and anxiety that so many feel at school. Instead, they lead to feelings of wonder, inspiration, discovery, curiosity, […]

The Principles of Fun, Rigor, and Community

Silverquicken is all about fun, rigor, and community. Why are these three principles so important for our kids? Fortunately, a lot of research tells us why. Fun provides the right kind of motivation—intrinsic, not extrinsic—for sustained effort on rigorous academic and social tasks. In turn, succeeding at such tasks creates not only long-lasting learning but […]

Solving Complex Problems in Creative and Collaborative Ways

The Changing—and Unchanging—Landscape of Education In recent years, schools have changed greatly. Formative and summative assessments have enabled the creation of longitudinal data sets and detailed methods for evaluating student learning. Accountability metrics have come and gone. Meanwhile, technology continues to get smaller, faster, and more prevalent in the classroom. But what is taught and […]