Friday, December 8, 2017

Kids and Sports: 5 Effective Ways to Foster a Growth Mindset

by Ashley Cullins

When we talk about growth mindset, we usually apply it to academics. But practicing growth mindset in sports is extremely beneficial as well.
In sports, the focus is too often solely on outcomes (winning or losing).
Instead, parents and coaches should emphasize the process (practice, effort, improvement). Not only does this make sports more enjoyable for kids, but it also helps foster a growth mindset.
Here are five effective ways to nurture your child’s growth mindset through sports.

Discover 5 effective techniques to help your child develop a growth mindset in sports.

Free printable poster for children in sports (growth mindset).

1. Motivate Kids to Try New Things

Many children prefer to stick with what is comfortable and familiar rather than taking a risk and trying something new. Kids worry that they won’t be good at a new sport, and this fear of failure can keep them sidelined.
You can motivate your child to venture outside of his comfort zone.
TALK ABOUT BENEFITS
Explain the benefits of trying a variety of sports: learning a new skill, having fun, discovering a new interest, etc.
Of course, you don’t want your child to try something only because you want him to—you want him to be intrinsically motivated. Help him see that playing a new sport can make him STRONGER and BETTER.
Discuss HOW the skills he learns through sports can help him reach his dreams in the future.
APPLY “HARD THING RULE”
Another way to address this fear is to lead by example. Adopt Angela Duckworth’s “Hard Thing Rule.” In Duckworth’s family, every member must attempt one “hard thing.” Each family member gets to CHOOSE their own activity, and no one gets to quit.
Choose a “hard thing” that you will attempt, like taking lessons or teaching yourself something new. As a family, agree that you will each try something new, offering one another guidance and support along the way.
Three-part hard thing rule by Angela Duckworth

This gives your child a gentle push to try a new activity, but he will also get the freedom to decide which new sport he would like to play.
Demonstrate enthusiasm about your new activity. SHARE with your child your struggles or bumps along the road, but emphasize that learning something new is fun and exciting—even when there’s a bit of a learning curve.
ASK WHY THEY'RE AFRAID
You can also discuss with your child WHY he’s afraid to try a new sport. What exactly is he afraid of? How could the two of you address these fears?
Ask him what some of his favorite activities are, and REMIND him that at one point, these activities were new as well. What if he had never summoned the courage to try them for the first time?

2. Encourage Persistence

Most parents have experienced this: Your child begs to sign up for a new sport. You meet the coaches, buy the uniform and equipment, go to the first game...and within a couple of weeks, your child is now pleading to QUIT.  
The reasons children want to quit sports vary. Often, they aren’t immediately good at the sport and would rather give up than continue trying (and, in their minds, embarrassing themselves by failing).
FOCUS ON THE COMMITMENT PART
Another part of Duckworth’s “Hard Thing Rule” is that no family member may quit. Once they have selected their activity, they’re committed for a season, a semester, a month, etc. Make this AGREEMENT in advance and remind your child about this commitment when they want to quit.
You can also remind him that he’s made a commitment to his TEAM to play for the remainder of the season. Even if he feels he “isn’t good,” each member of the team brings something to the table, and he shouldn’t let his teammates down.
DISCUSS SOLUTIONS IN ADVANCE
You can also discuss in advance what your child will do if he wants to give up.
Gabriele Oettingen, a professor of psychology at New York University, studied effective goal-setting. As a result of her research, she developed the WOOP method.
WOOP involves Wishing (setting a goal), visualizing the best possible Outcome, brainstorming potential Obstacles, and Planning HOW you will overcome these obstacles if they occur.
WOOP technique for children
You can use our goal-setting printable which is based on the WOOP technique to help your child set a goal for his new sport. This printable is available as part of our Growth Mindset Printables Kit 1.
 Goal-setting printable worksheet for children (WOOP technique)

Then, discuss potential obstacles (including wanting to give up) and make a plan. If your child does eventually want to quit, remind him of your original plan and implement it.
DISCUSS HOW PERSISTENCE LEADS TO SUCCESS
Remind your child that no one is good at a sport overnight. He’s only just started playing, and it does take practice and time to begin to excel. If he quits now, he’s not giving himself an opportunity to succeed.
Talk about success using the “iceberg analogy.” When you see successful people, you only see the tip of the iceberg. You don’t see what’s “under the water,” or what it took for them to achieve that success: failures, rejection, grit, effort, discipline, persistence, etc.
Our "Success Iceberg" poster is a great tool to help you out in this type of conversations. It is available as a printable PDF or a high-quality hardcopy.

Success iceberg poster for children by Big Life Journal. Classroom or homeschool.

This poster is also available in French and Spanish.

TALK ABOUT FAMOUS ATHLETES
Discuss examples of famous athletes who have struggled or experienced failure. Michael Jordan, for example, famously didn’t make his Varsity basketball team in high school. Instead of giving up, he used his failure as motivation to train even harder. The following year, he was his school’s Varsity basketball star.
Our Famous Failures Kit for kids is an excellent way to introduce Michael Jordan's and other famous people's stories about persistance: 
Famous Failures printable Kit (PDF) by Big Life Journal

Michael Jordan was so successful because he trained himself to view defeat and failure as an opportunity for growth.

“I’ve missed more than nine thousand shots. I’ve lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot, and missed, and that is WHY I succeed.” 

- Michael Jordan
Persisting through failures and setbacks will build your child’s character and growth mindset. Even if he doesn’t fall in love with the sport, he will likely notice some improvement and learn that persistence and practice do pay off.

3. Reframe Losing

When children play sports, especially for the first time, they often struggle with losing. You can foster a growth mindset by teaching your child to view losing as an opportunity for GROWTH.
EMPHASIZE PERSONAL MASTERY AND IMPROVEMENT
Your child can lose the game but still experience a personal “win” if he played his best, demonstrated good sportsmanship, and is making improvement from week to week.
Remind your child to not compare himself to others, but to his OWN past performance.
Is he improving? Is he taking steps in the right direction? You can explain to him that this is NOT losing. Teach your child to focus on the positive and celebrate improvement and progress.
REFLECT ON WHAT THEY COULD DO BETTER NEXT TIME
After your child loses, you can help him reflect on what he or the team could do better next time.
Avoid pointing fingers, but ask your child what went wrong overall and how this could be prevented in future games. Maybe there’s a particular skill he would like to practice more, or maybe he needs more conditioning so that he doesn’t get winded.
Teach your child that losing is ultimately a learning experience that can lead to more winning in the future.
DISCUSS HOW FAMOUS ATHLETES RESPOND TO LOSSES 
You can also point to famous examples in sports, like when the Florida Gators football team lost to Mississippi in 2008. After the game, quarterback Tim Tebow gave a passionate speech.

“I promise you one thing, a lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any player in the entire country play as HARD as I will play the rest of the season…”

- Tim Tebow, Florida Gators
After turning this loss into a learning experience, the Gators went on to win the National Championship. This speech can be found on Youtube, and it’s also immortalized outside of the Gators’ football stadium.
HELP EMBRACE THE FUN
Help your child embrace the fun of sports by changing the way you SPEAK to him after games or practices.
Before going into an analysis of his performance, ask, “Did you have fun?” If you don’t obsess over winning and losing, it’s likely that your child will follow your lead.
Although you can help shape your child’s mindset about losing, be prepared for the fact that he’ll sometimes be disappointed with a loss. Allow him to feel this disappointment, then guide him to use the loss as motivation to improve.

4. Reframe Winning

One way to reframe your child’s attitude about losing is to also change how YOU react when he wins.
EMPHASIZE EFFORT, FOCUS AND DISCIPLINE
Growth mindset is all about emphasizing progress and the process rather than outcomes.
When your child wins, emphasize their EFFORT, FOCUS, and DISCIPLINE. Help him understand the connection between winning and his actions: the extra practice he put in, his willingness to try again after missed shots early in the game, etc.
This way, when your child loses, you can remind him of the connection between his actions and the outcome. Talk about how he can try to alter future outcomes by using different strategies and taking different actions in the future.
SAY THIS WHEN YOUR CHILD WINS WITHOUT EFFORT 
If your child wins easily, with almost no effort or extra practice, you may want to use Carol Dweck’s approach.

“So what should we say when children complete a task - say, math problems - quickly and perfectly? Should we deny them the praise they have earned? Yes. When this happens, I say, ‘Whoops. I guess that was too easy. I apologize for wasting your time. Let’s do something you can really learn from!’”

- Carol Dweck

If winning was too easy for your child, he hasn't improved or challenged himself.
Explain that sports aren’t all about winning and losing according to the rules of the game. Isteand, winning is about improving past performance, taking on new challenges, and having fun. 

5. Teach Your Child to Handle Constructive Criticism

Criticism is a natural part of sports, but many children struggle with any form of criticism.
POSITION CRITICISM AS ADVICE
Teach your child to view criticism as as a piece of advice that he can use to improve his game.
Tell them it’s offered for his benefit with his best interests in mind. Even if he doesn’t enjoy hearing it, it will ultimately help him become a better athlete.
All athletes, even professionals, receive constructive criticism to shape them into more successful players.
CRITICIZE WISELY
As you critique your child, also keep in mind that too much criticism can destroy a child’s love of the game. Jim Thompson, founder of the Positive Coaching Alliance, offers guidelines for criticizing young athletes.
If you criticize your child following these guidelines, it will be easier for him to accept the criticism rather than feeling hurt or put on the spot. 
How to criticize children
Pay attention to what you criticize. If you want to emphasize a growth mindset, criticize lack of effort and discipline, poor sportsmanship, etc. No matter if your child wins or loses, comment on the amount of effort, hard work, and discipline that your child demonstrated.
ENCOURAGE SELF-ANALYSIS
You can also give your child the opportunity to self-critique by asking, “Did that go how you expected it to go?” or, “What do you think you want to do differently next time?”
Ultimately, criticism, like failure and losing, is an opportunity for growth. If you can teach your child to view it in this light, you’ll also be cultivating his growth mindset.

Recap

Sports provide opportunities to teach critical life skills, including how to adopt a growth mindset. You can help foster your child’s growth mindset by:
  • Motivating him to try new sports and tackle new challenges
  • Encouraging persistence despite failures and setbacks
  • Reframing losing as a positive learning experience
  • Reframing winning as demonstrating effort, improvement, and progress
  • Teaching your child to view constructive criticism as a gift that helps him learn
As your child learns to persist, use failure as motivation, and grow from his mistakes, he’ll develop a growth mindset that can help him not only in sports, but in all aspects of his life.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

Recipes for Healthy Kids and a Healthy Environment


This nine-lesson program was designed to excite kids about environmental health and empower them to take steps in their everyday lives to improve the environment for their community and reduce their environmental risk.

Audience

  • Geared toward children ages 9 - 13.
  • Can be used inside or outside the classroom. The program encourages kids to actively explore the environments in which they live and play. It is geared toward use in:
    • Out-of-school programs.
    • Extracurricular groups.
    • After-school clubs.

What Kids Will Learn

  • What environmental health is.
  • How to protect themselves and positively impact their communities around this issue.
  • How to become champions for children’s environmental health in their homes, schools, and communities.

What the Lessons Include

  • Easy-to-use lesson plan cards organized around key actions for teaching: ASK, DO, and EXPLAIN.
  • One or more hands-on activities in each 45- minute lesson.
  • Materials for kids to take home to share with their families.
  • Posters and visual cards.

How to Teach Each Lesson

  • Read and print the lesson plan.
  • Decide on timing for the lesson and which activities to include.
  • Print handout(s) for the kids to take home.
Link: https://www.epa.gov/children/student-curriculum

Activity Book: Discover Your Changing World With NOAA

Ten Activities to Introduce You to the Essential Principles of Climate Science

Activity Book cover
  • How does the sun drive Earth's climate system?
  • How have plants, animals, and humans affected Earth's climate?
  • How do the ocean, ice, clouds and atmospheric gases affect the impact of the Sun's energy on the Earth?
  • How may Earth's changing climate affect plants, animals, and humans?
Are you ready to discover your changing world? This free activity book will introduce you to The Essential Principles of Climate Science, help you learn about Earth's climate system, the factors that drive and change it, the impacts of those changes, and what you can do to explore, understand, and protect our Earth. Download the full activity book or individual activities below. Have Fun!

Monday, November 6, 2017

Goal Setting

With all that is being written now about "mindset," it is an excellent idea to begin school by having our students set positive goals. More and more K-16 schools are introducing concepts like SMART goals as a way of gradually building students' capacity to tackle the increasing challenges they are facing.

Developing a Specific Goal

SMART goals are:
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Relevant, Rigorous, Realistic, and Results Focused
T = Timely and Trackable
Learning how to frame goals as SMART goals and being willing to adjust them to get SMARTer is an important skill that would help every student get off to a better start and have a better school year, this year and into the future.
Here is a practical example, starting with a typical, but not especially SMART, goal:
I will do better on my report card in the next marking period.
Here is a way to make it SMARTer:
In the next marking period, I will get at least a C on all my math tests, and at least a B on most of my quizzes and homework assignments.
But it's not SMART yet because it has no action plan or benchmarks. Here is a pretty SMART goal:
In the next marking period, I will take careful notes and review them at least two days before tests and quizzes so that I can ask the teacher questions about what I don't understand. I will do my math homework before I do things with friends, and when I hand it in, I will ask the teacher about anything I am not sure about. When I get anything wrong, I will make sure to ask the teacher, or one of my classmates how they got the right answer.
It's not easy to write SMART goals. This skill takes time to develop, and it’s especially important to have in place for students at the secondary level. A goal is an outcome, something that will make a difference as a result of achieving it. It can't be too ambitious to be out of reach, but also not so simple that it does not challenge. A goal has to be realistic with a stretch, requiring effort and focus to achieve it. That's why goals need timeframes and measurable action steps along the way so that we can keep track of progress and make adjustments as necessary.

Setting Character Goals via Peer Interviews

In The Heart of Education, Dara Feldman recommends that students set character goals as a way to show themselves -- and others -- that they have the capacity to live a happy, principled life. She recommends the following interview structure as a way to help students set goals (which can also be framed as SMART goals). I have seen the interview work effectively in grades five and up.
Adapt this to your students' ages and circumstances. For example, you may have to explain about the importance of trust in sharing this information in class.
Begin by orienting your students as follows:

Step 1

At the start of the school year, it's important to set goals. Ask, "What are some things you want to have happen over the course of this year at school?"

Step 2

It's also important to set goals for ourselves, to become better as individuals. This is known as improving our character. We all have the ability to act in what can be referred to as "virtuous ways." Acting in these ways most of the time is good for us and good for those around us. Here is a list of 12 "virtues" (at this point, you can choose to discuss each one, ask students to add to the list, etc., as your time and interest allow):
  • Caring
  • Confidence
  • Kindness
  • Courage
  • Perseverance
  • Courtesy
  • Respect
  • Enthusiasm
  • Responsibility
  • Patience
  • Generosity
  • Truthfulness.

Step 3

As an in-class activity, tell your students, "I am going to pair you up with a classmate (or two) so that you can discuss these virtues and each set a goal regarding a virtue that is most important to you. Once you are paired off (or in trios), please follow this set of interview or conversation questions."
  1. Who is someone you admire, either in your life or in history, and what is the core virtue that you think they have followed?
  2. Find one of your own virtues on the list and share a few words about how you try to live this virtue.
  3. What is a virtue that you would like to work on to improve your life?
  4. What are some ways that you can show this virtue?
  5. How can I help you to do this successfully?
  6. Reverse roles in the interview.

Step 4

Make a list of the student pairs and the virtues they are working on. You may choose to share these with your class, or not. At the end of each week, have the pair check in with one another about how they are progressing on their chosen virtue. Encourage them to problem solve any difficulties. Consider having them join with other pairs working on one of the same virtues to expand the problem-solving pool. You can also assist as needed.

Step 5

At the end of each marking period, encourage students to self-evaluate their progress on enacting their virtue, seeking feedback from their partner. You can provide feedback as well. Perhaps this can be integrated into the report card process.

Step 6

Provide direction for the next marking period. You can change pairs, allow for additional virtues to be adopted, or other creative adaptations that might occur to you.
Please share your adaptations of these activities with us!

Link: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/smart-goal-setting-with-students-maurice-elias
https://www.whatihavelearnedteaching.com/student-goal-setting-in-elementary/


Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Leading the Way to a Sustainable Future

Leading the Way to a Sustainable Future
Sustainability has often been defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The word “sustainability” shares the root of the word “sustenance”, which refers to the maintaining of someone or something in life or existence. A healthy relationship with the environment supports us and gives us life similarly to how healthy relationships with family, friends, and among communities, provide support and give us life. So, sustainability can be thought of as living in a way that creates and nourishes healthy relationships among all living things, now and in the future.
How do we know if something is sustainable? There are three main components of sustainability: society, economy, and environment. To be sustainable, each of these elements should be in harmony and improving one should not negatively impact another. Of course, sustainable solutions aren’t always easy to achieve, especially when the solution requires a high level of change.
Sustainability begins with the recognition that we depend on a healthy environment to provide us with our basic human needs: air, water, food, and shelter. Our society influences our economy through shared values. These values influence the kinds of things we buy and how much of it we buy. For example, when we buy new clothes, are we buying them because the clothes we have are worn out or we’ve outgrown them, or are we buying them simply because we saw something in a store that we like or there’s a new style that we’d like to try? Some of these factors are based on need: we need clothes to protect us from the elements and keep us warm. Needs are fundamental for human survival or purpose. Wants on the other hand, are seen as a human desire to get something additional, and are influenced by factors such as personal values, social group, or broader social factors like media and advertising. Humans have other needs, too, beyond those which keep us alive such as freedom; a sense of personal identity and purpose; love and belongingness. Balancing our personal well-being with the well-being of others and the environment can be challenging, but it essential to a sustainable way of life.
The needs of individuals, communities, ecosystems, and the entire world, today, are equally as important as the needs of future generations. Every day, whether we realize we are doing it or not, we make decisions about what natural minerals to use, how fast to use them, and what to do with them when we’re done. Some of these choices are small, such as riding a bike or walking to school rather than driving, compositing food scraps so they can be used to help plants grow, or turning the lights off when leaving a room, or the heat down to conserve fuel. Some are much larger, such as ones that we make when we get older. What size family will you have? Will you purchase a more fuel efficient car, or maybe an electric car? Will you support government policies that encourage sustainability?
The choices we make today, big or small, will impact the future. Therefore, our choices must ensure that social institutions, the economy, and the environment will be well-supported for future generations. In our lifetimes, each of us has the opportunity to help create a world that offers well-being, good health, material comfort, education, and equality, while protecting these opportunities for future generations. Doing so requires us to think differently and live differently, but the rewards for making these changes are immense.


Sunday, October 22, 2017

How to be an effective teacher?









Notes from the inspiring book by Harry Wong and Rosemary Wong.


The successful teacher must know and practice the three characteristics of an effective teacher.
The three characteristics of an effective teacher
An effective teacher…
  • Has positive expectations for student success.
  • Is an extremely good classroom management.
  • Knows how to design lessons for student mastery.

These apply to all teachers. Note that none of the characteristics have anything to do with grade level or subject taught.

The first day of school can make or break you. Student achievement at the end of the year is directly related to the degree to which the teacher establishes good control of the classroom procedures in the very first week of the school year.

Control does not involve threats or intimidation. Control means that you know (1) what you are doing, (2) your classroom procedures, and (3) your professional responsibilities. It is urgent also that your students know that you know what you are doing.

You must have everything ready and under control when school begins.

Efficient: Doing things right
Effective: Doing the right thing
The effective teacher affects lives.

The Effective Teacher
Establish good control the first week of school
Does things right, consistently
Affects and touches lives.

Be friendly, caring, loving, and sensitive, but do not be their friend. They have enough on their hands with their own friends. The students of today need you to be an adult role model that they can look to with admiration and pride.

It is better to be a paragon than a pal.

Education is not teaching people what they do not know. Education is teaching people to behave as they are not already behaving.

Effective teachers affect lives.

For instance, what is the difference between a student who is tardy and a student who is not tardy? Between one who turns in the homework and one who does not? Between one who studies for the test and one who does not?

It is not height, age, sex, race, religious affiliation, or socioeconomic background.

It is behavior or attitude. You change or affect the attitude of a student, and you suddenly have a student who is not tardy, participates in class, does the homework, and studies for the test.

You were hired to affect lives. You were hired not so much to teach third grade, history, or physical education as to influence lives. Touch the life of a student, and you will have a student who will learn history, physical education, even science and math to please you.

The beginning of school is the most critical time of the school year. What you do in the first days of school to affect the lives of your students will determine your success during the rest of the year.

Positive expectations - high expectations, should not be confused with high standards. Having positive expectations simply means that the teacher believes in the learner and that the learner can learn.

The belief in positive expectations is based on the research that whatever the teacher expects from the learner is what the learner will produce. If you believe that a student is a low-level, below-average, slow learner, the student will perform as such because these are the beliefs you transmit to the student. If you believe that a student is a high-ability, above-average, capable learner, the student will perform as such because these are the expectations you transmit to the student.

It is essential that the teacher exhibit positive expectations towards all students. It can only benefit both the teacher and the student, as well as the total classroom environment.

Classroom management

Well-ordered environment + Positive academic expectations = Effective classrooom

The teacher must establish a productive and cooperative working environment. 

Lesson Mastery

To teach for mastery, an effective teacher must do 2 things:
Know how to design lessons in which a student will learn a concept or a skill.
Know how to evaluate the learning to determine if the students has mastered the concept or the skill.

Student success in the subject matter of the class will be the result of how well the teacher designs lessons and checks for mastery.

Teaching is a craft. It is a service profession.

Improving Student Achievement

Cooperative learning: students in small, self-instructing groups can support and increase one another’s learning.

Extensive reading of material of many kinds, both in school and outside, results in substantial growth in the vocabulary, comprehension abilities and information base of students.

Wait time: pausing after asking a question in the classroom results in an increase in achievement.

POSITIVE EXPECTATIONS

Humans have a success instinct.

There is absolutely no research correlation between success and family background, race, national origin, financial status, or even educational accomplishments. There is but one correlation with success, and that is ATTITUDE.

An expectation is what you believe will or will not happen.

All Children Can Learn!

Teachers who set and communicate high expectations to all their students obtain greater academic performance from these students than do teachers who set low expectations.

“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.” ~ Haim Ginott

What parents and teachers convey to young people in their formative years as expectations will influence young people to achieve accordingly.

Who you are and what you do and say will greatly influence the young people who will be the productive citizens of tomorrow’s world. Your expectations of your students will greatly influence their achievement in your class and ultimately their lives.

The effective teacher
  • Has a statement of positive expectations ready for the first day of school.
  • Creates a classroom climate that communicates positive expectations.
  • Goes to professional meetings to learn.
  • Has a personal goal of high expectation.

You do not get a second chance at a first impression. You are treated as you are dressed. It may not be fair. It may not be right. But people tend to treat other people as they are dressed.

In an ideal world, viewed through rose-colored glasses, it would be wonderful to be accepted for ourselves alone, not for our appearance. In the real world, however, our all-too-visible selves are under constant scrutiny.

We are walking, talking advertisement for who we are. 
We are walking, talking advertisement for who we believe we are as professional educators.

Every time you act, you validate who you are.

When you allow teasing in class, you are making a statement. When you refuse tolerate teasing in class, you are making a statement.

When you walk into class early, the room and materials are ready, there is a positive classroom climate, you are standing at the door with a smile and an extended hand of welcome, and the assignments are on the chalkboard, you are making a statement.

The statement that you make influences how the students will behave and achieve in class. And how students behave and achieve in class will determine your success as a teacher.

Dress for Respect
Clothing may not make a person, but it can be a contributing factor in unmaking a person.
Preparing Students for the World.

The Effective Teacher
  • Come to work appropriately dressed.
  • Is a role model for students
  • Thinks and behaves globally

All of us need to convey to our students and our colleagues every day that “you are important to me as a person.”

Inviting verbal comments
How can i help you?
Tell me about it?
I appreciate your help.
Congratulations.

Inviting personal behaviors
Smiling, listening, holding a door, thumbs up or high five, waiting your turn.

Inviting thoughts
Making mistakes is all right.
I could learn to do that.

The effective teacher
  • Has an inviting personality
  • Creates an inviting classroom environment.
  • Work at being intentionally inviting.
  • Maintains an inviting stance.

The Five Significant concepts that enhance positive expectations:
Name
Please
Thank you
Smile
Love

When you look at the truly effective teachers, you will also find caring, warm, lovable people.

High expectations have nothing to do with getting A’s in class, finishing college, making a lot of money, or having a great marriage. High expectations have to do with attitude or behavior, and it is this behavior that gets us the A’s in class, helps us finish college, or gets whatever else we want in life.

“Life is not a destination.
Life is a journey.
As long as you continue the journey, you will always be a success.”
~ Albert Camus

How a person behaves in the journey of life is directly related to what a person expects to happen in life. There are five significant concepts that will help you achieve whatever it is you want in life. They are addressing a person by name, saying “please” and “thank you”, smiling and showing care and warmth.

Repetition is the key

For a child to learn something new, you need to repeat it on the average 8 times.
For a child to unlearn an old behavior and replace it with a new behavior, you need to repeat the new behavior on the average 28 times.
~ After Madeline Hunter

I really appreciate what you did. Thank you.

A smile is the most effective way to create a positive climate, to disarm an angry person, and to convey the message “Do not be afraid of me; I am here to help you.”

As you smile and speak, use momentary pauses. This is called timing. Every performer knows that the key to delivering a speech, telling a joke, or giving a performance is timing. This is the pregnant pause before speaking an important or emotional line.

Love what you teach, and love whom you teach.

Only two things are necessary for a happy and successful life: being lovable and being capable.

The sincerest form of service comes from listening, caring and loving.

There will never be a shortage of love
“Love is the reason for teaching.
It costs nothing, yet is the most precious thing one can possess.
The more we give, the more it is returned.
It heals and protects, soothes and strengthens.
Love has other names such as
Forgiveness…
Tolerance…
Mercy…
Encouragement…
Aid…
Sympathy…
Affection…
Friendliness…
And cheer.
Love is, really, “the gift that keeps on giving.”
Give love in abundance - everyday.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Dear students
I believe in you.
I trust in you.
I know you can handle life’s situations.
You are listened to.
You are cared for.
You are very important to me.
Sincerely,

A well-managed classroom is a task-oriented and predictable environment.

The effective teacher
  • Works on having a well-managed classroom.
  • Train students to know what they are to do.
  • Has students working on tasks.
  • Has a classroom with little confusion or wasted time.

Readiness is the primary determinant of teacher effectiveness.

The effective teacher
  • Prepares, prepares, prepares
  • Prepares the classroom  for effective work.
  • Maximizes proximity to the students
  • Maximizes proximity to materials

Right or wrong, accurate or not, your reputation will precede you. Protect your reputation and create a positive image. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

The Effective Teacher
  • Cultivates a positive reputation
  • Communicates with parents and students before the school starts.
  • Greets the students with positive expectations.
  • Has the seating assignment and first assignment ready.
The ineffective teacher begins the first day of school attempting to teach a subject and spends the rest of the year running after the students.

The effective teacher spends most of the first week teaching the students how to follow classroom procedures.

Students risk failure because of the lack of structure.

Procedures and routines create structure.

The only way to have responsible students is to have procedures and routines for which the students can feel responsible.

The effective teacher
Have well-thought-out and structured procedures for every activity.
Teaches the procedures for each activity early in the year.
Rehearse the class so that procedures become class routines.

LESSON MASTERY

Teach your children the value of hard work in school.

Let your children know that their success and satisfaction in any field or endeavor is achieved only by diligence and hard work.

The Effective Teacher
  • Teaches students, not a subject or a grade level
  • Maximizes academic learning time
  • Keeps students actively engaged in learning.
Stop asking: “What am I going to cover tomorrow?”
Start asking: “What are my students to learn, achieve, and accomplish tomorrow?”

“Education is not a process of putting the learner under control, but putting the student in control of his or her learning.

The greater the structure of a lesson and the more precise the directions on what is to be accomplished, the higher the achievement.

The ineffective teacher covers chapters, find busy work for the students.
The effective teacher has students learn toward the criteria, teaches to the criteria.

The teacher who constantly learns and grows become a professional educator.

How to achieve happiness and success as a teacher

How a person chooses to behave will greatly determine the quality of that person’s life.

Leaders choose.
Life comes from within me.
I will generate my own happiness.
Life is better when I share or serve others.

What a person choose to do will greatly determine the quality of that person’s life.

The effective teacher chooses rather than decides