Education
Adversity May Just Be a Student’s Best Friend
6shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Last week I met someone at a student conference who inspired me. Alex is a junior in high school who has overcome several obstacles in his first sixteen years of life—an abusive, deadbeat dad who left the family; growing up in a single parent household afterward; family income that…
Continue ReadingMental Toughness Exercises for You and Your Students (Part Two)
6shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Yesterday, I offered four simple exercises for students to grow their “grit.” Today, I will offer four more, in Part Two of the Eight Ideas to Develop Mental Toughness list. Before I do—consider the day we live in. When we reflect on the realities that Generation Z grows up…
Continue ReadingMental Toughness Exercises for You and Your Students
19shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Did you know some of the greatest examples of “mental toughness” are unlikely heroes who failed or performed poorly prior to their rise to achievement? In other words, they all experienced a setback before they made a comeback: Roger Federer, the greatest tennis player in history, with seven Wimbledon…
Continue ReadingHow to Teach for Meaning Not Memorization
15shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn A few years ago, I spoke to a large audience of high school faculty in Kansas. During a question and answer period, one freshman algebra teacher raised his hand to ask, “How should I respond when a student asks me if he’ll ever use this subject after graduation, and…
Continue ReadingThe Unintended Consequences of Academic Pressure
12shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn I don’t have to tell you that the pressure to “make the grade” is greater in our society today than it’s ever been. For some strange reason, American adults have chosen to give one, single evaluation to our students of their worth…and it’s an academic report card. In our…
Continue ReadingAn Innovative Solution to Bad Behavior: Reverse Suspensions
11shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Parents listen up! One middle school in West Virginia just created an alternative to traditional school suspensions for students. Administrators at Huntington East Middle School introduced a new disciplinary response to bad behavior that seems to be working. You won’t believe what it is. For non-violent, non-verbally abusive behavior,…
Continue ReadingFive Steps to Develop Effective Communication
4shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn I’ll never forget hearing Zig Ziglar speak at a conference, back in 1978. It was my freshman year of college and he quickly became my role model for memorable communication. Zig was a salesman by training, and boy could he sell an idea. He became a best-selling author of…
Continue ReadingWhen Is it Right For a Teacher to Lecture?
2shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn I have two distinct memories in my childhood of being “lectured” by an adult. The first was my girlfriend’s mother, after I disobeyed her curfew as a teen. I knew better, but I tested the boundaries by returning her daughter after our date 10 minutes after the curfew. I…
Continue ReadingFive Ingredients to Build a Culture of Ownership on Your Campus
11shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn When Akbar Cook took over Westside High School in Newark, NJ, it was a mess. Students were divided into cliques that never interacted; teachers did their work in silos; and an attitude of distrust prevailed on the campus. Further, it was a low-income area, with 85 percent of the…
Continue ReadingWhat to Do with a Distracted Generation
20shares Facebook Twitter Google+ Pinterest LinkedIn Eleven years ago, I remember speaking to a large auditorium of university students. Social media had just arrived on the scene, so students were becoming distracted by their smart phones. As I stood to the side of the auditorium, I observed students reading magazines, staring down at their phones,…
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