Thrivapy: Live, Learn, Have Fun

  A recent post, 3 Reasons Why Students Have Trouble Setting Goals , has quickly become one of my top five most visited posts and has become my top "+1'd" article.  To recap, those three items are: 1.  They do not get specific enough. 2.  They confuse "get better" goals with "be good" goals. 3.  They have trouble navigating the "why" and the "what" As a follow up, here are three suggestions for how to help students set goals. 1.  "Let go of the reins." Goals that we set for ourselves have a better chance of being followed through on than those given to us by others.  This is true for your students as well.  When you start the goal setting process, give students a chance to set any goals they want.  Avoid trying to "help them" set the best goals at first.  This allows students to gain ownership of the process and also provides a place for you to coach them as they move forward.  If you try to get to

D o a search for "qualities of effective leaders" and you will find no shortage of opinions.  As a practicing educational leader and as a researcher of educational leadership, I am always interested in those opinions and look forward each day to learning a little more about the theory and practice of effective leadership - especially educational leadership.  However, sometimes lost in the conversation is a quality of an effective leader that many time is taken for granted, and may possibly be THE most important for effective leadership. You have to WANT to be a leader. I know, this sounds obvious, maybe even a little anti-climactic, but bear with me as I explain. I have a friend who was a school administrator that had come up through the ranks at his school.  Before he became an administrator, he was considered one of the school's best classroom teachers.  Soon after taking on his administrative role, he began to realize that he really didn't want to be an admin

  T here are times when asking for input and opinions helps a teacher or administrator gather a necessary perspective on a pending matter.  There is a difference between asking for input and being aware of how others feel. Knowing how others feel or may react depends on how much time and energy you have invested in getting to know and understand those whose reactions with which you need to be concerned.  Taking this into consideration does not require the other person to be actively involved. Asking for input potentially provides the same information, but carries with it a much different set of implications.  When you ask for input... there is an expectation from the people providing it that the decisions made as a result will clearly demonstrate that the input mattered. that there will be a follow up made directly to those who gave input about the results of gathering the information. that you will give credit to those for whom credit is due. that the decisions made based

  I f I have learned nothing else as an educator, I have learned to NOT underestimate what a motivated student, who sets appropriate goals and follows through on a relevant plan of action, can accomplish.  That is why coaching students about how to set goals and create action plans is such a powerful tool for student achievement.  Unfortunately, this is another area that most teacher preparation courses do not address.  Since anything you accomplish can basically be attributed to attaining a goal, helping students set and attain goal Here are 3 reasons students have trouble setting (and attaining) appropriate goals. 1.  They do not get specific enough Often students need prompting to get specific about what they want to accomplish and how they plan to do so. Without clear and thoughtful ideas, most goals will not be met.  A few classic unspecific student goals and plans are "to get a higher grade", "to do better", and "to work harder."  If you

  T he Roman philosopher Seneca is credited with saying, "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." Of course today being St. Patrick's Day, most are thinking more Irish thoughts than Roman.  So, maybe a better way for us to bring more luck into the educational process is to travel to the Emerald Isle and kiss the Blarney Stone. Being of Irish descent, it is hard for me to admit it, but I think I need to side with the Roman on the idea of luck.     In matters of luck, I'll take preparation and opportunity over folklore any day - except maybe St. Patrick's Day. As educators, preparation is essential.  Not only lesson preparation, but also expanding our body of knowledge.  Continuing to improve our understanding of how to better serve our students' needs is as important as lesson planning.  You will never know when an opportunity will present itself for you to use that additional knowledge. When and if that happens, who is the lucky one

  B ack in April of 2011, I wrote a piece titled "Smart" People Ask Good Questions .  I ended that post with the following: All questions have their place in schools.  From the ordinary and expected to the truly enlightening and exploratory, questions are essential to the educational process.  As educational leaders, we should pay attention to the questions we hear and ask.  The amount of time spent answering and asking “smarter” questions may provide an interesting insight into how engaged your teachers, parents, and students are in the learning process.  Paying attention to the frequency and quality of questions asked in schools can help educational leaders be more effective in supporting the needs of the school community.  I was reminded of that post today when I read an article on Big Think by Kirsten Winkler titled, Search Engines replace Teachers and Parents .  The article includes some interesting information, including: A  survey  for Birmingham Science Cit

I just finished my first reading of Seth Godin's new free eBook, Stop Stealing Dreams .  After my first reading, I decided to read it again, take more notes, and highlight more passages. Here are a few of my thoughts after my initial reading. Students are probably NOT dreaming about how school helps them prepare for the future when they are not in school.  These dreams are more likely to occur in classes that either put students to sleep or are so unclear about their relevance that students begin daydreaming. Dreams become reality when we take action to make them come true.  This is applicable to teachers, schools, students, and parents.  Anyone can act on their dreams (it isn't dependent on someone else). Many teachers want to provide what students need, but when teacher education hasn't caught up to those needs, teaches are left to make their best guess which, if not effective, can give the appearance of helplessness . Some schools do content, facts, and tests

I recently participated in one of my favorite weekly Twitter discussions, #isedchat, during which the topic of "student helplessness" came up.  As I read the various comments, questions, and answers being shared, I wrote  a simple thought that a few people said was interesting and asked for me to explain.  Here is what I wrote. # isedchat  I think the "help" students need is changing faster than the "help" teachers are trained to provide. Here is the explanation behind my idea. I am not convinced that "helplessness" is the right term for students.  Many need motivation.  Many need inspiration.  Many could use more grit and determination.  However, I see helpless as the the inability to act without help, and I think teachers confuse helpless with a possible disconnect between traditional teacher training and the less pedagogical/curricular needs that many students have.  Teachers are then left to try to figure out what is needed and when the

  O rion Jones recently wrote a piece for Big Think titled  Collaborative Consumption: The Rise of the Sharing Economy that got me thinking about the concept of sharing.  The piece, inspired by an article from the Washington Post , includes this explanation of collaborative consumption: the new sharing economy modifies the idea of ownership over private property, one of the pillars of the American ideology. The change is part of a gradual cultural shift that takes stock of the economic recession and the rise of social media. In the midst of a lingering economic slump, many are rethinking the imperative to buy a new gizmo when the impulse strikes.   I have written about sharing before , but this post reminded me that often we think about sharing in terms of tangible items - ties, toys, etc.  The issue with many people is probably that once you give away an item, you no longer have it yourself.  Sure, you may replace it with a different item, but the one you once had is gone. This

   A ccording to Greek mythology, once Pandora opened the box that Zeus had ordered her not to open, hate, disease, and evil escaped into the world.  Pandora, rightfully, was afraid of how Zeus would react to her disobeying his wishes, but Zeus knew that she would open the box and, therefore, did not punish Pandora. . . .  Recently, teachers in New York were subjected to the same challenge that teachers in Los Angeles were - their names and value added ratings were published.  Naturally, this has inspired many responses, including a very well written one by Diane Ravitch for Education Week titled, How to Demoralize Teachers . While I largely agree with those who are criticizing the decision, the purpose of this post is not to add to the growing number of articles either attacking or supporting that decision.  For one, I am not a public school teacher and will not attempt to fully understand how such a decision makes those serving in public schools feel.  Second, I will follo