There's no app for good teaching

The Norwegian Secret To Enjoying A Long Winter Editor’s Note: This article is one of the top 10 Leadership stories of 2015. See the full list here. As the days get darker and colder in much of the northern hemisphere, it’s easy to indulge in gloom. The gloom leads to a common question: What can I do to cope with the dark and cold? If you truly want to be happy during winter, though, this is the wrong approach to the season. That’s the takeaway from research done by Kari Leibowitz, currently a PhD student at Stanford University, who spent August 2014 to June 2015 on a Fulbright scholarship in Tromsø in northern Norway. At first, she was asking "Why aren’t people here more depressed?" It turns out that in northern Norway, "people view winter as something to be enjoyed, not something to be endured," says Leibowitz, and that makes all the difference. Lessons From The Far North To be sure, there are some aspects of the near-polar culture that might be hard to emulate elsewhere. A Mindset Shift Get The Best Stories In Leadership Every Day.

life lessons from an olympian What does it take to jump from a 40-story building, fly through the air at 60 miles an hour, and execute perfect landings? Courage, character, and confidence come to mind. Or, as two-time Olympian and six-time national champion Nordic ski jumper Jim Holland reveals, it’s a combination of timing, attitude, and focused persistence. A member of the U.S. ski team for 9 years, Holland recently shared with me the lessons he learned training with his brothers, Mike (a fellow Olympic ski jumper) and Joe (an Olympic Nordic combined skier), as elite athletes. Lessons he later applied as the co-founder of backcountry.com—one of the nation’s top online outdoor retailers. “Unravel any great success story in the world,” explains Jim “and the picture is not what you imagine. Ironically, when Jim retired from competing at 26, he felt adrift. “It wasn’t until later, I realized everything that helped me as an athlete could be directly applicable to success in business.” 1) Inspiration.

13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do Mentally strong people have healthy habits. They manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in ways that set them up for success in life. Check out these things that mentally strong people don’t do so that you too can become more mentally strong. 1. They Don’t Waste Time Feeling Sorry for Themselves Mentally strong people don’t sit around feeling sorry about their circumstances or how others have treated them. 2. They don’t allow others to control them, and they don’t give someone else power over them. 3. Mentally strong people don’t try to avoid change. 4. You won’t hear a mentally strong person complaining over lost luggage or traffic jams. 5. Mentally strong people recognize that they don’t need to please everyone all the time. 6. They don’t take reckless or foolish risks, but don’t mind taking calculated risks. You may be interested in this too: 14 Things Positive People Don’t Do 7. 8. 9. Mentally strong people can appreciate and celebrate other people’s success in life. 10. 11.

Dear Teachers: You're Not Fooling Me | Alamo City Moms Blog Dear teachers, As a mom to a gaggle of kids, I’m a little consumed this time of year. I’ve spent hours at the store going over different school supplies lists and checking off stuff as I throw it in my cart. The total adds up in my head as I travel down each aisle, and I get a little sick to my stomach. I’m well over my budget and have a full cart before I even get to the aisle with the lunchboxes. I don’t even want to think about packing lunches for the kids each morning, and I’m exhausted just looking at the Pinterest posts on how all the good moms do it. We have six kids in our home that we are sending off to school this year—five of whom are girls. My nights for the next nine months will be filled with trying to get dinner on the table at a decent hour while managing piles upon piles of forms I need to fill out, slips I need to turn in, meetings I need to attend, box tops I need to cut, and t-shirts I need to buy. Bottom line, sweet teachers: school just started, and I’m wiped out.

Coddled Kids Crumble The results of over a decade of nonstop hand-holding and helicopter parenting are boomeranging back to parents and educators. Many college students are showing an alarming lack of even basic internal coping skills. As a result, today’s colleges and universities are becoming equal parts psychologists, in absentia parents, and even academic scapegoats (when students don’t get the grades they thought they would). Related: How to Thrive in College “The idea of fragility is now an overarching theme in kids,” said Lenore Skenazy, founder of FreeRangeKids.com. In the continuing infantilizing of America’s young people, colleges report having to warn kids when they are going to talk about something that might be mentally troubling in class, with a so-called “trigger warning.” At the University of California, Santa Barbara, the student government recently passed a resolution that makes these "trigger warnings" mandatory. What is happening to the youth of America? A world without F.

Teacher New Year's Resolutions--Version 2016! Where did 2015 go? Seriously. While I try to figure that out…here’s some NEW teacher new year’s resolutions to make you giggle. About these ads Like this: Like Loading... In 1968 Vermont Banned Billboards. Here’s Why In 1968 the state of Vermont passed a landmark anti-billboard law and the landscape has been billboard-free ever since. The law was the result of the extraordinary efforts of one man, Ted Riehle (1924 – 2007), who was determined to preserve the natural beauty of Vermont. According to John Kessler, chair of the Travel Information Council, the law’s original goals remain the same today: “We need to provide information to the traveler, but do not want to compromise our natural scenery. Nathaniel Gibson continues: “Businesses may display an on-premise sign up to 150 square feet… Off-premise signs — the official name for billboards — are not allowed, unless TIC grants an exemption. Below you will find 15 compelling reasons why Vermont (along with Alaska, Hawaii and Maine) banned billboards. [Sources: AdWeek, VPR, Nathaniel Gibson] 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 13. 14. 15.

Why Introverted Teachers Are Burning Out Jayson Jones was my favorite person to call when I needed a substitute for my high-school English classes. Jayson was an aspiring teacher who was extremely popular with the students and related especially well with many of the at-risk kids. One day, I walked into the classroom at lunchtime, and he was sitting alone in the dark, listening to music. I’ve written about the challenges faced by introverted students in today’s increasingly social learning environments, but the introverted teachers leading those classrooms can struggle just as much as the children they’re educating. The term “introversion” can mean a variety of different things in different contexts. It’s in this sense of the word that some teachers are citing their introversion as a reason why today’s increasingly social learning environments are exhausting them—sometimes to the point of retirement. A range of factors such as morale, accountability expectations, and salaries certainly contribute to the attrition problems.