Building Resilient Students: How to Get Out of Your Own Way
Eight years ago, researchers began to discover that children today acquire more allergies than children in past generations. For instance, no one had any idea why “peanut allergies” are surging in our day and age, since so many parents and schools are protecting kids from such exposure to peanuts. While such allergies were low among kids until about the mid-1990s,
Three Top “F” Words Teens Use Today
If you work with students, you already know they have their own language. I suppose my generation did too, when I was a teenager, but language expansion must be on steroids today. Pause and think for a moment about the common phrases a high school or college student may use today: - Netflix and Chill - I Literally Can’t Even - Turn Down
When Achievement Becomes an Unhealthy Pursuit
I’ve committed my life to building student leaders—young people who are almost always ambitious and high achieving. The last two generations have grown up as students who are predisposed to believe they can and will change the world. But I’ve seen some kids cross a line when it comes to achievement. I just spoke to a high school senior who told me:
How to Decrease Entitlement: Combine Rights and Responsibilities
About a month ago, we posted an article on this blog page about how empowered today’s students are—possessing the ability to post content without the need to go through any authorities; to learn information without the need of an accompanying teacher or parent. You get the idea. One insightful reply to the article came from Cheryl Buford. She wrote: I appreciate the
Four Parenting Strategies for Leading Generation Z
I recently listened to a school administrator speak to parents, before I walked on stage to do a presentation to those same parents on the most common mistakes we make as we lead our kids today. That administrator attempted to encourage parents by saying: No student will be permitted to go to the restroom without an adult. All students must be with a
Design Thinking Could Be a Game Changer for Students
Once in a while, I hear something that stops me in my tracks. I recognize I’ve just heard a life-changing idea. One of them surfaced this year. During a recent Twitter chat I participated in, one of the educator participants asked a question: “Have you heard of design thinking?” The fact is, I had read about “design thinking” in a Stanford education
Seven Ways to Prevent Athletes From a De-Commit or Transfer
I know a high school senior who was recruited to play volleyball at a NCAA Division One School. Emily told me the coaches “courted” her for months until she finally committed to play there. And then, when she actually showed up to play, things were different. After a week of volleyball camp, Emily “de-committed.” It’s a coach’s thorn in their side. It’s
How to Enjoy Watching Your Teens Play Sports
I recently saw this sign (below) hanging near a youth sports field, just north of Atlanta, where I live. It made me smile and it had several people snapping photos of it prior to game time. Everyone was smirking, smiling or chuckling. The sign says so much about the adults who watch those games. When I ponder the problems with athletics today—from
Five Ways to Manage Disrespect from Students Today
During the 2017-2018 school year, more educators asked me for ideas about managing disrespectful students than any year in my memory. One teacher told me a student in her class was slouching and drifting off to sleep. She walked over to him and requested he sit up straight and pay attention. This 17-year-old high schooler replied, “Make me.” (This sounds
A Letter to My Kids’ Teachers at Midterms
The fall semester is halfway done, and students are entering midterm exams. Ahhh—there’s nothing like the fall, with high pressure fronts coming in with colder weather, in addition to high pressure expectations among our students. I also believe this time of year is a perfect period to evaluate our leadership. Teachers and parents have experienced several weeks of this school year and
Three Trends on the Rise as Generation Z Grows Up
Today, tech innovations are being introduced faster than I can keep up. Did you know that a flying car may be unveiled at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo? Yes, I just said that. A rider in this flying car plans to light the torch at the beginning of the games. Toyota is funding a company that hopes to introduce
Let’s Make Common Sense Common Again
Sometimes, I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry when I read some news stories today. Our world is more educated, more sophisticated, more modernized and more industrialized than ever before—but in our race to make progress, we often leave one important quality behind: common sense. Webster defines common sense as: “the ability to think and behave in a reasonable way
The Nobility of Working with Students
I recently led a workshop for administrators at a university. Attendees were college deans, vice presidents, heads of schools and high school principals. When I placed them in small discussion groups and posed the question, “What changes do you plan to make this year?” I overheard one administrator say to his colleagues: “I’m just biding my time until I retire in
One Cause of Entitled and Fragile Adults
A news story broke recently that made its away across the country. At first glance, I couldn’t believe it. My guess is—many of you heard about it. A Florida teacher was fired for refusing to comply with the school’s “No Zero” policy. This means, the school administration has created a rule that even if a student fails to turn any assignment