Thrivapy: Live, Learn, Have Fun

A few months back, I began writing a new blog for my educational advising service, Thrivapy . That blog, The Thrivapy Blog , has developed a similar tone and message to the articles I shared here on The Art of Education. Initially, I struggled with what to do with The Art of Education and have tried to find a place for updating this blog in my schedule. What I have found is that I cannot with the regularity that I expect from myself. In other words, my work here on The Art of Education cannot meet my minimum standard of expectations. Therefore, I want to announce that I am taking a break from The Art of Education for an undecided amount of time. This will allow me to focus more on my full time work as a Head of Middle School, write for The Thrivapy Blog , work on my next book, and serve the limited number of clients I have for Thrivapy. Oh yes, and be a father and husband! I am NOT deleting this blog. I believe it contains a valuable record of my work and a number of useful

T here are many reasons why setting goals helps one find greater success. However, when it comes to helping students set goals, there are three benefits that can go unnoticed. 1. Relationship building One of the more important characteristics of successful students is the nature of their student/teacher relationships. Engaging with students in goal setting provides an opportunity to help students outside of the usual classroom setting. This interaction can help enhance your relationship with students, especially if you take a FRITR (Friendly, Responsive, Interactive, Reliable) approach. 2. Foundational clarity Helping students articulate their goals ultimately requires some reflection on mission, beliefs, and vision. These foundational elements provide a sense of purpose in school, what success looks like without barriers to achievement, and a set of values upon which you are willing to take action. Clarity on all of these points helps bring specific, acti

W hen working with students, especially in middle and high school, time management almost always becomes a topic of discussion. There is much asked of students today. When you factor in school life, home life, and social life, the "to do" list can seem overwhelming. One tip I offer is for students to assign an estimated time for completion (ETC) for each assignment. For example, if a student gets a project with a future due date, she should take a few minutes to go over the project requirements and make an educated guess on how long it will take HER to complete the project. The important part here is HER timeline, not how long it should take the class. By applying a personalized ETC, the student can then fill in her schedule so that she meets the teacher's deadline without rushing to finish on the night before it is due. The same process can work well on regular nightly assignments.  In a previous article, I advised students to add "When?" and "Where?&q

T rying to stay organized or "in front" of the many demands on your time can be quite challenging. Because of this, it is easy to understand the wisdom behind never leaving until tomorrow things you can do today. However, there are times when waiting is probably your best course of action. Here are a few examples. Responding to an emotionally charged email We all get them. An email from someone that elicits an immediate negative emotional response. Your reading of the message makes you feel under attack and defensive. Your natural response is to fire back a similar message defending your position and pointing out how the other person is wrong. In almost every situation, writing and sending your emotionally motivated email will not only NOT help, but also make the situation worse. Instead, draft your response to allow yourself to vent. The emphasis here is on DRAFT. Do not send it. Wait a day or so to allow your initial feelings to subside and read your draft. Measur

A nyone who reads either this blog or  The Thrivapy Blog , knows I am a big advocate of growth mindsets and the potential impact "get better" thinking has on student achievement. This is one reason why having a growth mindset is one of the seven principles of  Thrivapy . One of the many reasons why I encourage "better" thinking over "be the best" thinking is how well "better" relates to developing ownership and responsibility (taking ownership is also one of the seven Thrivapy principles). "Be the best" thinking depends on comparing one's performance against another group or another individual. As a former athlete and coach, I have no problem keeping score to measure wins and losses, but when it comes to personal development, which is what school is supposed to support, measuring against others to determine gains presents an obvious problem - you have no control over how well someone else performs. You only can control your own e

P arents play a significant role in the success of a student. As a important member of the student's learning team, parents should be informed and appropriately involved in their child's school experience. However, this role takes different forms as students mature and move through different developmental stages. As a result, the nature of parent involvement also changes, which can lead to misunderstanding and an unnecessary strain on the parent/teacher relationship. Recently, a parent of a school aged child ask me about how to establish a better partnership with his child's teacher. I suggested that the parent engage in a conversation with the teacher using the questions below as a guide. 1. How can I, as a parent, best support your work as the teacher? 2. What should I expect in terms of development from my child this year? 3. What are your expectations of my child in terms of effort? These questions not only allow the key developmental issues to emerge as the ba

The   wealth of knowledge does not have anything to do with having  A   wealth of knowledge. Why? Because knowledge kept to oneself serves little purpose and has virtually no value to anyone other than the holder of the information. The value (wealth) of knowledge is not based on having it. Rather, the value of knowledge is found in sharing it. Value is created when someone is willing to give something in exchange for something else. The currency can be money, goods in kind, attention, time, etc. Having knowledge does not create value, making your knowledge available so others can improve their own understanding adds to the collective wisdom and, thus, has value - especially in a world where  the long tail  affects practically all markets (including knowledge). In essence, the wealth of knowledge is directly linked to the sharing of knowledge, not the storage of knowledge. This act of sharing also creates knowledge for those who were previously less informed. For those looki

I n the same amount of time it takes you to read this post, you can start each class with clarity and purpose which, in return, leads to better student engagement and focus. The formula is simple. Recall what has happened. Explain the current situation. Provide a vision for the day. Give a reminder of what is yet to come. Recall what has happened Talk with students about what the class did in its most recent meeting. Give a brief progress report on the topic or project the class is currently discovering. Using a map analogy, this is when you show the group where you have already been and what you have done to get where you are. Explain the current situation Using the same map analogy, this is where you mark your current location. In class, a statement telling students where you believe the class is, in terms relative to the topic or project at hand, provides their current location. Provide a vision for the day The vision for the day is articulated in positive terms

A  goal without taking action is, essentially, a wish, a hope, or a dream. That is why setting goals without taking appropriate action is an exercise in futility. This is one of the pitfalls with helping students set goals. Once set, the process usually stalls because their is an assumption that the student, now that she has a goal, will "go for it" and find a way to achieve it. However, life is full of challenges and reasons to loose sight of your goal. As a result, students tend to be more successful with strategies in place that help them stay resilient in the face of difficulties. I like to think of resilience as stubbornness directed at a worthwhile cause. Here are some ways to support student resilience. Think "Why?" When faced with the temptation to give up, remind yourself of why the goal is important. The result of this reminder will uncover one of two things. Either the goal is still a priority or it has been replaced by a higher priority. If it rem

S uccessful students know plenty, but some of what they know will never appear on a test or exam. While facts and figures are important and have their place in school, every student is not going to know everything. However, if I had to choose a few questions to which every student knew the answer, the list would include the following: 1. What is your purpose as a student? This question speaks to the student's sense of mission. Generally, students can take two approaches to their role. One is the student as a receiver of an education. The second is a student as a producer of educated work. I advise students to reflect upon and move towards the second. 2. If all barriers to success were removed, what does an ideal school experience look like? Another foundations* question, this asks students to craft a vision of success. An important element here is the need for specifics in the description. I have found that greater specificity leads to greater chances of success. 3. (2 par

"C ompletion amnesia" is a term I use to describe a student's insistence on having completed an assignment, but cannot recall any or all of these questions. 1. Where is the assignment? 2. When is the assignment due? 3. Why was the assignment given? Completion amnesia reaches its peak for many students during the middle school years (grades 6-8, ages 11-13). It is often misunderstood and often (mistakenly) assumed to be a symptom of a lack of effort. This leads to frustration and confusion which, in turn, create a less than satisfactory experience for students, parents, and teachers. There are some ways, though, to minimize the effects of "completion amnesia" that anyone tasked with supporting students can use. First, be patient. Adults, for the most part, do not struggle as much with such matters as adolescents do. Solutions that are easy for us to understand and use are not always easy for students. This can lead to a great deal of frustration when wha

R ecently, I chose to make a few changes to my first ebook, Paying Attention . I had the cover freshened up, enrolled the book in KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) Select, and changed the price from $0.99 US to a limited time promotional price of $0 - free. Today, I checked the sales figures and found out that Paying Attention is #1 on the Top 100 free ebooks list for Kindle in the Professional Education Development category. Thank you very much to all the readers and visitors of this site and my new blog, The Thrivapy Blog .

I   learned a long time ago that most people remember the first and last thing they see or hear. That is one reason why it is important to start and finish your school year strong. Even as the school year begins the final phases, you can still develop good habits, realize better results, and go into the summer with positive momentum. This applies to both students and teachers.   Keeping in mind the importance of a strong finish, here are a few tips to help you end the year on a positive note. "Low Hanging Fruit"   One way to finish strong is to take a moment to recognize when opportunities are presented for you to get ahead. These opportunities may include assignments that come easy to you, extra time for help from teachers, or a fee professional development event. I use a similar strategy when doing crossword puzzles. Do the easy ones first, then work on the more challenging items. It is sometimes amazing how an item that was very difficult becomes easier after

T hough your thesaurus (or the one you use online) may not agree, I believe there is a difference between pushing and shoving. This is especially true when supporting students.   When I think about pushing, I imagine an object with potential that needs some assistance to begin moving.  Imagines such as a grocery cart, a rock on a hill, a car that runs out of gas, or a lawnmower come to mind.  Each of these objects have potential energy, but need a push to do their work and move forward.   Shoving, to me, is entirely different.  When I imagine a shove, I think about the inconsiderate person trying to get ahead in line, Black Friday masses attacking the shelves at midnight, or the response of a school yard bully to a new student.   Pushing is cooperation between an object with potential and a force seeking to help that object do its work.   Shoving is selfish.  It is done solely for the benefit of the person shoving.   When you support the potential for students, kee

W hen helping students to take ownership of their work, we often begin to talk about motivation, or more specifically, how to design our work with students in a manner that supports higher levels of motivation. There are two aspects of "motivational design" that can help you. One involves the actual activities you expect students to perform.  The other involves the feedback you provide to students. The Activities The vast majority of activities students perform in class require some sort of focused effort. In addition, many activities demand attention to detail, creativity, collaboration, and the expense of some cognitive energy.  When designing activities that support greater ownership and internal motivation, keep in mind the risks of rewards . This is not to say that positive feedback is not important (more on that later), but if your plan to encourage ownership and motivation is based on rewards, you will likely fall short and potentially set your students back f

The following post was originally published by me on my new blog, The Trivapy Blog .   W hen we talk about vision in connection to success, we often hear about it in terms of organizational vision or a leader's vision. Seldom, if ever, are students engaged in conversation about their vision for success.  That is unfortunate. Many students hold a short term, "get me through this week" view of their school work, but just as having a clear vision of success is a vital component to organizational or leadership success, a clear vision of success in school is an important element to student achievement. So, if helping students create and articulate a vision of success is important, why do parents and teachers seldom engage in that conversation or exercise with their students? There are probably many answers to that question, but the two that I think are probably the most common are: Limited time Lack the tools to engage effectively in that conversation Limited ti

T his slideshow, from the Pew Research Center, highlights the findings of a survey they did on modern parenting.  For educators, the findings are important because they provide insight into the time demands on parents and the potential implications those demands might have on students. If you want to see the slideshow on the Pew Research Center's web site and read more about the findings, click here .

The lesson you never got taught in school: How to learn! The above article not only summarizes a number of popular learning techniques, but also rates their effectiveness according to a recently published research project.

T eacher burnout, especially among new teachers, is a real challenge for many educators.  This is especially true for administrators who spend plenty of time recruiting and retaining talented faculty members. Angela Maiers  recently published  this post that includes some excellent reminders about how to avoid new teacher burnout. Three Ways to Avoid New Teacher Burnout

I n July of 2010, I launched The Art of Education in hopes that my ideas, thoughts, and insights would be of use to someone with an interest in education and educational leadership.  What I did not realize at the time was that the one person who would benefit most from this blog was me. As I write this, I am reflecting on how much I have grown in the past few years.  Not only the upkeep here on The Art of Education , but also: Starting the American Society of Independent School Educators LinkedIn discussion group Creating and Founding THRIVAPY Starting The Thrivapy Blog Writing and self publishing 3 books Now, 500 published posts and over 100,000 visitors later, I find myself at a metaphorical fork in the road.  With the launching of THRIVAPY and preparing to begin a new chapter of my educational leadership career at a different school next year, I have some decisions to make about the future of The Art of Education .  These choices come from my decision to write more oft

 I f you haven't done so recently (or ever), it may be a good use of time to ask your students about their learning team. Learning team? Yes, you know; the people who are tasked with supporting, guiding, directing, and inspiring them. Oh, Dr. Roddy, you mean their teachers? Yes and no. Certainly, a student's teachers are an important part of the learning team, but they do not make up the entire group. Here are some other possibilities to consider. parents and/or other family members the principal counselors coaches academic advisers former teachers with whom the student stays in touch tutors friends Ask a student to name the people that are tasked with helping them and see how many they can name.  Do you see a potential relationship between success in school and the number/diversity of students' learning team members?  

The following post was also published on The Thrivapy Blog S tudents who set goals have the advantage of knowing what they want to accomplish, which usually includes a clear vision of success. However, simply setting goals is often not enough. Students need help with setting appropriate goals and aligning those goals with an action plan on which they can follow through. Therefore, it is very helpful to provide useful guidance to students about setting goals. In Thrivapy, I spend quite a bit of time helping students set goals. Once set, we use those goals to evaluate progress and as a foundation for the student's developing vision of success. This post identifies 3 qualities I look for in good student goals. 1. The goal is challenging. A challenging goal is one that requires some higher level of focus, concentration, and effort. 2. The goal is specific. A specific goal can be measured in some way to check for progress. 3. T he goal is flexible. A flexible

  W hen using a treadmill, one can take two basic approaches. Run (or walk) for distance. Run (or walk) for time. Going for distance means you move until you cover a set distance.  How long it takes you to go that far is not important.  What is important is that you covered a specific distance. When you go for time, the distance doesn't matter.  You set the workout for a specific amount of time and move until time runs out.  How far you went doesn't matter. Students are busy.  There is often a great deal of activity in their schedules and, like many people, their lives are managed by a list (written or remembered) of things to do.  There is value in living by lists.  They can help  organize and remind you to do important things. However, there is also a downside to ONLY living by the list.  Doing so can reinforce a habit of getting things done for the sake of doing them.  In other words, get it done/cross it off the list/move on to something else.  In the case of

T here are two basic methods to demonstrate your school cares about students.  Schools do both, but your school’s “story” probably leans towards one of these two areas more than the other. The first way schools can show they care is to offer a breadth and depth of programs to make sure every student is being given the program they need to be satisfied and successful.  In other words, programs are added to fill voids in operations that become apparent.  The mindset behind this method is, “more is better.”  This is what we ask students to do. This strategy can work, if you are able to support additional programs without creating a new challenge - which can be that the addition of programs changes who you are and whether or not you can support more and maintain an acceptable level of delivery on those programs.  More is only better if more is delivered better and the more more clearly defines who you are.   The second way is through nurturing relationships and making the connections neces

F inding a place is difficult when your view is limited and the available "space" seems tough to squeeze into. It can be equally difficult to find a place when the available space is so large that making a decision brings up doubts about the potential for a better space somewhere else. In other words, if space is very limited, the challenge to finding a place is essentially about comfort.  When space is essentially unlimited, the challenge is "did I choose the best fit?" I would argue that the latter challenge is becoming, for many of us, much more significant than the former.  We seldom lack "space", but I find that many people fail to act out of uncertainty due to the potential of a better option becoming available "around the next turn." For students and teachers, the story of education as a foundation for limitless potential and possibility may actually be more true today than ever before because of our connected society.  However, wi

I am thrilled to announce that my THRIVAPY web site is in the final stages of completion.  Below is a screen  shot of part of the home page. THRIVAPY Home Page Screen Shot  In the meantime, THRIVAPY now has a Facebook Page and Twitter feed to help keep you informed about THRIVAPY news, make connections, and continue the essential conversations about how to support higher levels of satisfaction, purpose, and production in your educational experiences. THRIVAPY is a service I created to support the needs of students, parents, teachers, and schools to find a better path to achievement.  THRIVAPY is based on 7 principles that are supported by both research and practice. Your personal foundations (mission, vision, beliefs, and philosophy) Goal setting Taking action Habits Growth mindsets Taking ownership Building relationships I am happy to discuss how THRIVAPY can work for you.  Please email me at troy@thrivapy.com for more information and to make a connection. 

T he best selling story of school may be in the process of being mythologized , but there is another story we often tell that involves school that is still very much a reality. Want better for our children (students). Sometimes, that is expressed with statements like, "I want my child to have the best opportunities."  However, in today's connected and growth oriented world the "best" get better ( see The Golden Apple Manifesto ). Better is not just about comparisons.  It is a frame of mind.  It is a commitment to growth and improvement. Thinking "better" is better thinking.  It empowers the individual to take ownership of her work.  Striving to make a difference by committing to growth, constructively filtering feedback, and improving oneself is a valuable characteristic today and for the foreseeable future.  As a matter of fact, it may be THE most important quality.  However, in order to foster this type of "better" we must engage in

Y esterday was Valentine's Day.  Without a doubt, the word of the day was, "Love".  This brings to mind a question. When it comes to being a teacher, working at a particular school, or our opinions of our students, do we really "love it"? We certainly say we do.  I can't count how many times I have heard a teachers say she "loves teaching", "loves his students", or "loves her school".  The same goes for social media.  How many blog posts, Facebook comments, Twitter messages, etc. speak of the "love" for school/students/teaching? The problem is the distance between love and hate may not be as far as we would like.  One might even look at a "range of satisfaction" and see something like this: Love....Like....Acceptable....No Opinion....Prefer Not....Dislike....Hate Not far, is it?  As a matter of fact, it took only about 3 inches to go from "Love" to "Hate". Joking as

P utting a tablet, laptop, or smart phone in the hands of students in a class does not make the class connected.  Sure, in the sense that you have a WiFi signal connected to the devices, sure there is a connection, but not the type of connection that matters, ultimately. The connection we seek is the type that emerges from our work being shared with others to create knowledge and transform the experience of someone other than ourselves.  The connection we seek produces an emotional response and strengthens our relationships.  This connection can be with the teacher, a class mate, a parent, a child in a school in another country, etc. These are the connections that will serve our students in their futures.  More than communication skills, connection skills are vital.  Not just in the future, but today. Having available technological resources enhances connections, supports the production of more enchanting work, leverages communication mediums to widen the range of connections.  T

I t started as a Google presentation .  Then, it was made into a free .pdf eBook .  Now, for Kindle readers, The Golden Apple Manifesto is available on Amazon for only $0.99 US. As an added bonus, for a limited time my two other Kindle books,  Foundations: Examining Vision, Beliefs, Mission, and Philosophy  and Paying Attention: Thoughts on Communication in Schools   are also priced at $0.99 US. Thanks for reading!

R ecently, I put together a presentation called The Golden Apple Manifesto .  So far, the response to that post has been very good.  Therefore, I have put a free .pdf version of The Golden Apple Manifesto together.   You can access it by clicking here . For Kindle readers, I am working on the Kindle version.  Once it is available, I will make an announcement here. The Golden Apple Manifesto is a short book (approximately 25 pages) with a big message.  It is an invitation to embrace 10 beliefs about teaching that can transform how you approach instruction in the 21st century.  What may take you about 10 minutes to read could make a lasting influence on your philosophy of education. The book is NOT a "How To" guide to teaching.  Instead, The Golden Apple Manifesto presents 10 beliefs about teaching along with supporting comments and reflections for you to consider. Give it a read and let me know what you think.