I have been astounded by how much has been written about Steve Jobs since his death and how little much of it actually said.

The New Yorker, though, had a very short piece which I think is the best I’ve read and has much we can all learn. It’s called How Steve Jobs Changed, and describes how one of the keys to Apple’s success was Jobs making compromises about how much control the company would have on its products. Instead of keeping it completely closed, as he initially insisted upon, Apple subsequently opened up the iPod to mp3 compatibility and let thousands of outside developers create apps for the iPhone and iPad.

The last line in the article, I think, is particularly useful for us teachers and others in education to keep in mind:

“In giving up a little control, Jobs found a lot more power”

It’s similar to the community organizing principle that says power is not a finite pie — if you get some it doesn’t necessarily mean I have less. In fact, the more power is distributed, then the bigger the entire pie becomes….

It sounds to me like a good guide for a classroom management strategy, a good way for a principal to lead a school, and a good plan for a superintendent in a school district…..

These are two very encompassing English-learning sites from South Korea. I’m not going to add them to The Best Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced English Language Learner Sites because the initial navigation can be a bit confusing to someone who doesn’t speak Korean, and links to non-English games could be too seductive for learners. The biggest reason, though, for not including them is that a number of the animations, I think, portray the physical appearance of African-Americans (and/or Africans) in a somewhat insulting way. Nevertheless, they both have a huge number of useful resources, and teachers might want to link directly to certain resources on the site that don’t include those animations:

Jr. Naver Learn English

Yahoo Kids English

Many teachers know that an effective classroom management move to turn a disruptive student into an ally is by giving him/her responsibilities in the classroom — tutoring another student, offering them a key classroom job, etc.

I knew it, and have used it, but didn’t know until recently that an actual psychological finding explains why this strategy works. It’s called “The Benjamin Franklin Effect”:

You grow to like people for whom you do nice things and hate people you harm.

Here’s the story about the “effect’s” origins:

In his autobiography, Franklin explains how he dealt with the animosity of a rival legislator when he served in the Pennsylvania legislature in the 18th Century

“Having heard that he had in his library a certain very scarce and curious book, I wrote a note to him, expressing my desire of perusing that book, and requesting he would do me the favour of lending it to me for a few days. He sent it immediately, and I return’d it in about a week with another note, expressing strongly my sense of the favour. When we next met in the House, he spoke to me (which he had never done before), and with great civility; and he ever after manifested a readiness to serve me on all occasions, so that we became great friends, and our friendship continued to his death.”

This is not Ben Franklin’s first appearance in this blog. You might be interested in seeing Ben Franklin’s Daily Schedule.

Nor is this the first time I’ve written about a psychological “effect” or “law” and how it relates to the classroom. You might be interested in:

What Is The “Zeigarnik Effect” & How Did I Apply It In The Classroom Today?

Here’s a post on Campbell’s Law.

And I wrote about the Hawthorne Effect here.

How Do You Respond To “Unpredictable” Student Behavior? is the “question of the week” at my Education Week Teacher column.

Please leave your ideas at the site.

Here are the newest additions to The Best Resources To Learn About Alabama’s Awful Immigration Law (& Its Impact On Schools):

Alabama immigration threat: prove your legal status or lose water supply is from The Guardian.

Alabama parents prepare for the worst: separation from their kids is from The Guardian.

Sweet home Alabama no more is also from The Guardian.