This page is designed to be an open "file cabinet" for things that inspire and motivate me as I explore how I can become a more effective teacher. Enjoy!
Caine's Arcade
Check out these fantastic videos. My friends at LearnZillion flew Caine and
Inspiration to "keep on keeping on"
COMMUNITY
Communities are not build of friends, or of groups of people with similar styles and tastes, or even of people who like and understand each other.
They are built of people who feel they are part of something that is bigger than themselves; a shared goal or enterprise, like righting a wrong, or building a road, or raising children, or living honorably, or worshipping a god.
To build community requires only the ability to see value in others;
to look at them and see a potential partner in one's enterprise.
-- Suzanne Goldsmith
FOCUS
One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.
- Tony Robbins
The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.
- Brian Tracy
That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.
- Steve Jobs
Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.
- Greg Anderson
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
-- Albert Einstein
VISION
Vision is the core of Leadership.
Vision is seeing the potential purpose hidden in the chaos of the moment, but which could bring to birth new possibilities for a person, a company or a nation.
Vision is seeing what life could be like while dealing with life as it is.
Vision deals with those deeper human intangibles that alone give ultimate purpose to life.
In the end, vision must always deal with life’s qualities, not with its quantities.
-- William Van Dusen Wishard
Communities are not build of friends, or of groups of people with similar styles and tastes, or even of people who like and understand each other.
They are built of people who feel they are part of something that is bigger than themselves; a shared goal or enterprise, like righting a wrong, or building a road, or raising children, or living honorably, or worshipping a god.
To build community requires only the ability to see value in others;
to look at them and see a potential partner in one's enterprise.
-- Suzanne Goldsmith
FOCUS
One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.
- Tony Robbins
The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear.
- Brian Tracy
That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.
- Steve Jobs
Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.
- Greg Anderson
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
-- Albert Einstein
VISION
Vision is the core of Leadership.
Vision is seeing the potential purpose hidden in the chaos of the moment, but which could bring to birth new possibilities for a person, a company or a nation.
Vision is seeing what life could be like while dealing with life as it is.
Vision deals with those deeper human intangibles that alone give ultimate purpose to life.
In the end, vision must always deal with life’s qualities, not with its quantities.
-- William Van Dusen Wishard
From http://principalthinks.com/engagement-over-management/
Recently I finished reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow. Csikszentmihalyi (2008) describes flow as an optimal experience where doing the activity is the reward. This can be a challenge in schools when so many students are motivated or unmotivated by extrinsic influences such as grades, certificates or even stickers. If a young person is driven by the extrinsic reward then they are less likely to enjoy the learning journey and be prepared to lead their own learning. Csikszentmihalyi (2008) has identified eight common elements when people experience flow.
1) The task poses appropriate challenge.
2) We must be able to concentrate on what we are doing.
3) The task has clear goals.
4) The task provides immediate feedback.
5) Deep but effortless involvement.
6) People feel a sense of control over their actions.
7) Concern for self disappears (although the sense of self increases afterwards).
8) The sense of duration of time is altered (hours feel as though they pass by in minutes)
Csikszentmihaly (2008) continues by stating:
Ideally, the end of extrinsically applied education should be the start of an education that is motivated intrinsically. At that point the goal of studying is no longer to make the grade, earn a diploma, and to find a good job. Rather, it is to understand what is happening around one, to develop a personally meaningful sense of what one’s experience is all about. From that will come the profound joy of the thinker.
Fullan (2011) does not propose a linear approach but instead gives seven interrelated elements of change leadership. These are:
1) Being resolute
2) Deliberate practice
3) Sustained simplexity
4) Motivate the masses
5) Collaborate to compete
6) Learn confidently
7) Know impact
There are different approaches that have been proposed in change literature. Kotter’s (1996) eight stage processes are:
1) Establishing a sense of urgency
2) Creating the guiding coalition
3) Developing a vision or strategy
4) Communicating the change vision
5) Empowering broad-based action
6) Generating short-term wins
7) Consolidating gains and producing more change
8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture
From http://principalthinks.com/transformation-in-leadership/
http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate
EL Haynes Charter Public Schools Mission Statement
Recently I finished reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book Flow. Csikszentmihalyi (2008) describes flow as an optimal experience where doing the activity is the reward. This can be a challenge in schools when so many students are motivated or unmotivated by extrinsic influences such as grades, certificates or even stickers. If a young person is driven by the extrinsic reward then they are less likely to enjoy the learning journey and be prepared to lead their own learning. Csikszentmihalyi (2008) has identified eight common elements when people experience flow.
1) The task poses appropriate challenge.
2) We must be able to concentrate on what we are doing.
3) The task has clear goals.
4) The task provides immediate feedback.
5) Deep but effortless involvement.
6) People feel a sense of control over their actions.
7) Concern for self disappears (although the sense of self increases afterwards).
8) The sense of duration of time is altered (hours feel as though they pass by in minutes)
Csikszentmihaly (2008) continues by stating:
Ideally, the end of extrinsically applied education should be the start of an education that is motivated intrinsically. At that point the goal of studying is no longer to make the grade, earn a diploma, and to find a good job. Rather, it is to understand what is happening around one, to develop a personally meaningful sense of what one’s experience is all about. From that will come the profound joy of the thinker.
Fullan (2011) does not propose a linear approach but instead gives seven interrelated elements of change leadership. These are:
1) Being resolute
2) Deliberate practice
3) Sustained simplexity
4) Motivate the masses
5) Collaborate to compete
6) Learn confidently
7) Know impact
There are different approaches that have been proposed in change literature. Kotter’s (1996) eight stage processes are:
1) Establishing a sense of urgency
2) Creating the guiding coalition
3) Developing a vision or strategy
4) Communicating the change vision
5) Empowering broad-based action
6) Generating short-term wins
7) Consolidating gains and producing more change
8) Anchoring new approaches in the culture
From http://principalthinks.com/transformation-in-leadership/
http://www.thersa.org/events/rsaanimate
EL Haynes Charter Public Schools Mission Statement
- Integrity. We accept nothing less than the best. We maintain high expectations for our entire school community. We cultivate an ethic of service, responsibility, participation and respect. We keep our promises.
- Determination. We never give up. We are relentless in the pursuit of our mission to ensure the success of every student.
- Achievement. We get results. We hold ourselves and our students accountable to the highest levels of academic achievement
- See also http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/org43965.jsp
I was thinking about why I teach, and I found this blog which states so well why I love being a teacher! Thanks, Erica Parker, for your heartfelt sharing.
http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/why-i-teach
http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/why-i-teach
