Thrivapy: Live, Learn, Have Fun

I recently published a post about the role of students as producers of educated work (as opposed to receivers of an education) which has been well received.  Some feedback I have received has been for some guidance on how to help students begin thinking of themselves in terms of being " Student CEOs ."  One way you can engage with your students is to ask about their mission. Student CEOs think about learning as their business.  Every business needs a mission - a reason to exist.  Missions consist of two basic parts. 1.  A purpose statement 2.  An action statement The purpose statement answers the question, "What is your purpose?"  The answer should be short; one sentence is ideal.  For example: " (Fill in the name of the student), inc. produces high quality, growth oriented educated work. " The action statement answers the question, "What do I do to accomplish this purpose?"  As with the purpose statement, the action statement sho

Greetings visitors to The Art of Education, I am honored that you have chosen to spend a few moments of your busy day here at The Art of Education .  Over the past few years, I have operated this blog with the intentional purpose of keeping comment writing, for you, open and free of my moderation.  It was my hope that by doing so, you may feel more welcomed to express your opinions and join me in conversation.  For many of you, that s exactly what has happened and I am a better blogger because of your input. Unfortunately, over the past few weeks, I have been receiving spam-like comments left on my posts.  As such, I was left with a dilemma, should I moderate comments and risk loosing some of your feedback, or leave things as is and hope the spam-like comments do not drive you away. I have decided that I care too much about the potential for you to accidentally become spammed by visiting that I have changed my settings to moderate all comments.  Therefore, before your comment app

Y esterday, I started something new at the school I serve. The Art of Student Success session notes Beginning yesterday and lasting for seven more Tuesday afternoons from 4-5PM EST, I am leading a group of Middle School students in a series of sessions called, The Art of Student Success . The Art of Student Success is "professional development for students."  The sessions are designed around basic, proven principles of success.  These principles are discussed and filtered into language and action steps that students can understand and apply.  Just as you may seek a financial planner to help with your long term financial goals, I am working with students to help them achieve their long term academic goals. Keep in mind that when you work with students at this age, "long term" may not mean years as much as months or weeks. The Art of Student Success is built upon a few basic principles: Proper goal setting, action planning, and follow ups Formation

H ere are 6 questions that students should answer about each school assignment.  The answers place the student in a great position to be most successful on that assignment. 1.  What am I supposed to do? 2.  How long should it take me to do it? 3.  When is it due? 4.  Where will I do this assignment? 5.  When will I do this assignment? 6.  Do I need to turn it in?

O n Sunday (9/23/2012), I was loosely observing the NBC News Education Nation postings on Facebook.  In the course of the day, a poll was posted that asked about the purpose of high school education.  Specifically, the question was: What is the primary focus of your high school education? A.  To learn how to learn B.  To get into college C.  To prepare for a job D.  To learn how to be a citizen Yesterday (9/24/2012) morning, I checked Education Nation's Facebook page for the results.  The screen shot below is what I saw (6:00 am, EST). As stated in the post, the answers were provided by the Student Town Hall audience.  So, I am left to assume the respondents were all students (hopefully all high school students, given the question).  However, given the choices, I am not shocked at the results. Now, I want to avoid reading too far into the results, for no other reason than the poll itself is so unscientific that it cannot be used to generalize the feelings of all hi

H ere are two ways students can see their role in school. 1.  As the recipient of an education. 2.  As the producer of educated work . The first ,one may argue, is the most common way of thinking.  Simply put, students show up to class and receive an education through the work of the teacher. The second view has much more powerful implications.  As producers of educated work, students now take on a different role - one that I like to refer to as being the President and CEO of (fill in the name), inc. (or .com, etc.) As CEOs of their own learning "company" students view their role in school under the following conditions. Students are no longer the customer.  Now students SERVE customers. The customers are the teachers. For payment, customers will not use cash, check, or charge.  They will use feedback and grades. Teachers place orders with assignments and expectations. As CEO, the student is responsible for filling those orders. The student is

R ecently, I updated you on my newest book-in-progress, Thrivapy .  While  Thrivapy is marching along quite nicely, I also am excited to announce that another book-in-progress, Digging Deep: Nuggets of Wisdom for Educators , is close to being finished. Digging Deep is a compilation of a few dozen thoughts, ideas, reflections, etc. gleaned from  The Art of Education .  Frequent, and very loyal, visitors might recognize the content, but much has been updated and rearranged to enhance the flow of the book as opposed to shotgun style blog posts. For newer visitors to The Art of Education , Digging Deep is a nice way to catch up on what I have been thinking about over the past few years. So, for you my favorite blog readers, I have two requests. 1.  I need a cover for Digging Deep .  So, I would like to invite you to submit an ORIGINAL cover idea for consideration.  The winner will be notified via email and announced here at The Art of Education .  In return for being chosen, I

T here is no one formula for success because formulas require exact amounts of ingredients.  While the ingredients for success are somewhat consistent, the amounts of each needed for any one individual may depend greatly on the situation in which that individual finds herself.  This is true for practically anyone: students, teachers, administrators, etc. So, what ingredients are part of any formula for success? I suggest these.  Feel free to suggest others. Effort Vision Grit Luck Help Prudence Fortitude Willingness to share Willingness to listen Courage Passion Reliable Trustworthy Learn from mistakes Focus on getting better

T his is my 400th published post for The Art of Education .  When I began this exercise on July 21, 2010 , I wasn't sure where this would go or who would possibly visit.  What I did know was that I was going to use this platform to share my ideas, thoughts, reflections, and suggestions about education and leadership. Looking back over my earlier posts, I clearly see myself trying to find a voice.  I am proud of those earlier posts, not because they were particularly well written, but because they are a record that at one time, I summoned up the courage to ignore my lizard brain and pressed "publish." Writing The Art of Education continues to be one of my most enjoyable exercises.  Without it, I wouldn't have connected with so many generous people who care deeply about education and leadership.  I would not have written any of my books .  I would not have the confidence that comes with realizing your voice matters.  I'm not sure where The Art of Education

N o matter what you choose to do, one thing is for certain.  You are probably going to make mistakes along the way.  Making the mistakes is not the problem.  Making them is human. Refusing to learn from your mistakes is a problem.  Learning is human also. Fear is a significant reason why many people do not aspire, plan for, take action, or see through to the finish the ideas or opportunities that could help them find a greater level of satisfaction and  achievement  in their lives.  If in making mistakes, we are faced with the opportunity to learn, then to consciously dismiss that opportunity can be seen as giving in to the fear that keeps you from taking another step towards greater satisfaction and achievement. In other words, fear can prevent us from learning.  Fear can prevent us from sharing.  Since sharing what we know is how we create knowledge, fear can also suppress knowledge creation. There are two basic fears that seem to come up as the major players in this discuss

P op quiz time. What do exercising, the new school year, and doing homework have in common? For those of you who exercise regularly, probably not too much.  However, for those of us (like me) who take “regular and extended” breaks from exercising, I think there is much in common. 1.  Soreness When you begin a new exercise routine or try to get started on an old one again, the first few days are the worst.  It is those days that your body screams, “Why are you doing this to me?” with every move you make.  You are reminded with each still joint and sore muscle that you have been inactive, and are now paying the price.  The payoff is that if you stick to a good plan, the soreness goes away and you begin to be much more efficient in your workouts. The start of school and homework can bring on a similar response.  After a few months of summer relaxation, trips around the country (or world), hours of TV and video games, students’ brains and work habits are seriously out of shape.  Beginnin

The following post was submitted by Neven Jurkovic. Neven is the creator of Algebrator , a math tutoring software. Currently, he lives in San Antonio, TX and is the CEO of Softmath : http://softmath.com/ . Several advantages to having 1:1 technology in a classroom (such as a class set of laptops or iPads) are obvious.  For example, student work in 1:1 classrooms can be more effectively differentiated to meet a wide variety of learning abilities, students can publish their written pieces and multimedia projects for a potentially global audience, and students can become technologically fluent at a time when technology plays a critical role in almost every workplace. I would argue that educational technology, when implemented well, can play another important role in the classroom: it can serve to strengthen a classroom’s sense of community .  This assertion flies in the face of the common notion that technology, despite its amazing power as a communication tool, actually serves to hi

I n a recent piece titled, The Surprising Secret to Selling You , Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson summarizes a hand full of research projects that suggest most "p eople are much more impressed, whether they realize it or not, by your potential than by your track record."  After reading it, I couldn't help but think about the implications this research has for educators.  Here are four. 1.  New students Every year, schools enroll new students.  Each of whom went through some sort of process to apply (mostly private schools) and/or register.  Each student has a file with records of past work, recommendations from teachers, etc.  All of this is a record of the past.  It is the facts that make up the student's academic story.  It is NOT, however, a measure of who you will be. Your new student file might suggest potential, but it doesn't determine it. 2.  Honor Roll Making the Honor Roll is a wonderful achievement.  In most cases, it is the result of hard work a

O nce in awhile, we all need a boost, something a little extra to get us out of a stall and into the next level of achievement and satisfaction.  Sometimes, we need an advantage.  Taking advantage of an opportunity presented by someone else to create more art, do more great things, or raise our awareness of our next possibility is not a solo exercise.  Chances are, someone needed to make the advantage you are now taking. The advantage you take today was probably made possible by someone else.  It most likely didn't just appear out of thin air. So, in your pursuit of excellence, satisfaction, art, etc. it is important to spot the advantages to take. It is also important to make a few for others.