Five Ways to Develop a Partnership with Your Principal Rarely will a new principal leave things at a school just as they are. Sometimes those changes do need to happen, but the teacher perspective might be the principal is coming in and trying to fix things that aren't broken. Instead of saying, "Throw the bum out!" I have some suggestions to help teachers get off on the right foot with a new principal. (As a principal new to a campus and recently experiencing this.) Number One: Have a Face-to-Face Meeting Whether you like it or not, your principal can be your greatest ally in helping you inspire high-performance learning in your classroom. Number Two: Make Your Resource Needs Known The new principal knows that you need the appropriate materials and tools with which to create effective learning environments and inspire learning in your classrooms. Number Three: Write It Down It can be frustrating for a teacher to not get what was requested after talking to the new principal in the hallway. Number Four: Invite Her into Your Classroom
Why Walking Is Great For Your Creativity Let’s face it, sometimes those brilliant ideas just don’t come easily. Whether we’re writing a paper, a book, or just trying to come up with an original birthday gift, we’ve all been stuck waiting for inspiration to find us. Finding a solution to these creative blocks is no easy task, but a group of researchers at Standford University set out to do just that. To figure out how to get our creative juices flowing, researchers first considered data showing that exercise prevents cognitive decline. Next, they focused on more short-term mental improvement, and the long-held idea that walking increases creativity. Their experiments are fascinating, and may be exceedingly practical in application. To start, the scientists tested creativity before and after walking on a treadmill. To see if these effects decreased with subsequent walking, they tested people who walked multiple times. Next, the researchers wanted to see if walking outside was more powerful than indoors. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
11 Things That Make Workers Happy Forget raises and big bonuses, there are much simpler and cheaper ways to keep your employees happy. From offering benefits to giving them flexibility, companies can find a number of creative ways to keep their employees happy and productive. Here are a few to get you started. Offer room for growth Employees are unlikely to be happy if they continue to come to a job that offers no room for growth and advancement. "We found that providing developmental support, such as training opportunities and career mentoring, to employees who do not believe there are attractive career opportunities for them within the company, led to such employees leaving the organization," said Maria Kraimer, co-author of the study. The research found that having the ability to advance at work made employees more inclined to stay at a company to strive for those opportunities. Offer a good training program Employers shouldn't underestimate the impact training has on new employees and their future happiness.
24 Questions to Enhance Students Reflective and Critical Thinking Skills August 31, 2014 Reflection is a fundamental skill from which is branched out all other thinking skills. Reflection is a form of meta-thinking, a process of deep contemplation and pondering. It is also the basis of critical thinking for we can not raise critical thinkers if we do not have good 'reflectors'. When students are taught the art of reflecting, they become independent learners who are engaged in a constant process of assessment and re-assessment of their learning needs and strategies. Reflection is all about questioning. To cultivate a reflective culture within your class, students need to be encouraged to pose challenging questions as to the way they learn and think. Check the full graphic from this page.
LDRLB - Terrific Mini Guide to Help Stude... December 26, 2014 Questioning is the key to critical thinking and through questions students get to explore the deep layers of meanings that would otherwise go unnoticed. Of course not all questions have this analytical ability. For instance, closed questions tend to limit the thinking choices available for students. The same with questions that promote factual recalling. In today's post, I am sharing with you this mini guide created by Foundation of Critical Thinking which you can use with your students to help them better comprehend and apply critical thinking in their learning. I learned about this great resource from a post shared by Education to Save The World. Image credit: Foundation of Critical Thinking
When Less is More A few years ago, my teenage daughter and I walked into a store together – me, the upset mother of a somewhat rebellious but proud-of her-new-look teenager who had just dyed her hair in stripes of red, white, and blue. I hadn’t fully decided how I should address this new look with my daughter. Imagine my surprise when an aging greeter at the store profusely proclaimed how much she loved my daughter’s new “do”! This woman’s enthusiastic support solidified how I should react to my daughter’s experiments with dress, hair and makeup. The patriotic hair stripes were a harmless way for her to express herself. There are certain unpleasant things you must do as a leader; most of them involve addressing people issues. Before you criticize, consider that sometimes, less is more. So before you open your mouth and provide your negative assessment, consider how to react: Stay calm: Spontaneous emotional outbursts make the situation worse. 0Share
Smart Strategies That Help Students Learn How to Learn Teaching Strategies Bruce Guenter What’s the key to effective learning? One intriguing body of research suggests a rather riddle-like answer: It’s not just what you know. It’s what you know about what you know. To put it in more straightforward terms, anytime a student learns, he or she has to bring in two kinds of prior knowledge: knowledge about the subject at hand (say, mathematics or history) and knowledge about how learning works. In our schools, “the emphasis is on what students need to learn, whereas little emphasis—if any—is placed on training students how they should go about learning the content and what skills will promote efficient studying to support robust learning,” writes John Dunlosky, professor of psychology at Kent State University in Ohio, in an article just published in American Educator. “Teaching students how to learn is as important as teaching them content.” [RELATED: What Students Should Know About Their Own Brains] • What is the topic for today’s lesson? Related
Creating an Unlife Life | Thin Difference Our lives contain an interesting mix of past and present. We carry forward a legacy from our parents, our experiences, and our communities. Many of these elements can be good, as they form a foundation from which we can build. Some can be bad, as they can hold us back or carry forward unhealthy habits and principles. In living, there is an unliving activity required. In creating our unlife life, our practices of learning and unlearning requires sharpening. Learning/Unlearning and Stuck/Unstuck creates a life receipe to make and take in fully. Learn vs. Our thoughts and actions place (un)learning against (un)stuck, setting the stage to see what really matters in creating our (un)life. Each combination brings insight to embrace and engage. Advance (Learn/Stuck): In the quadrant of learning yet being stuck, it delivers a message of advancement. We need to live an unlife. Create an unlife life. Join in.
Why "20% Time" is Good for Schools Have you ever met an adult who doesn't really love what they do, but just goes through the motions in their job and everyday life? Have you spoken with men and women who constantly complain, showing no visible passion for anything in the world? I'm sure that, like me, you have met those people. I've also seen the making of these adults in schools across our country: students who are consistently being "prepared" for the next test, assessment, or grade level . . . only to find out after graduation that they don't really know what they are passionate about. These are the same students who are never allowed to learn what they want in school. Enter 20% time. What 20% time allows students to do is pick their own project and learning outcomes, while still hitting all the standards and skills for their grade level. With 20% time, we can solve one society’s biggest problems by giving students a purpose for learning and a conduit for their passions and interests. Students Teachers Parents