Curiosity May Kill Cats, But Conformity Kills Creativity General by Joel Wagner - July 9, 2016July 10, 20160 In the recent blog post 10 Habits of People Who Always Have Great Ideas, Ideapod author Lachlan Brown highlights 10 characteristics of creative people. I encourage you to go read the article. As I was reading through the list, I was struck by two thoughts: "Hey, those are all habits I cultivate in my life!" and "Wow, wouldn't it be great to have students like that in my class?" This article explores how I nurture creativity in my life as well as in my students.. How do I cultivate these habits in my life? Daydreaming I am constantly considering new ideas and looking for new sources of inspiration. Sources of inspiration include listening to a podcast (my current favorites are Revisionist History and DCI's Fieldpass), reading a book (I'm
Failing Forward: Turning Setbacks Into Triumphs Inspiration by Joel Wagner - June 25, 2016July 10, 20160 Another school year has come and gone. For many of us, it was a year of a few huge successes, a few colossal failures, and a whole lot of in-betweens. This article discusses how those colossal failures can propel you toward being a much better version of yourself. Every failure is an opportunity I love failure...at least after it's all over. I don't love failing. In fact, failing at stuff is one of my least favorite things. But I love what failure does to a person. It means I did something. It means I tried. It also means, I have a new opportunity to learn a great lesson. Often, the bigger the failure, the more valuable the potential lesson. The tough part about being
Lose The Training Wheels And Embrace Failure New Teachers by Joel Wagner - February 26, 2011February 26, 20111 Remember the first time you realized you were riding a bicycle by yourself? Probably not. But what about when you first got to drive solo? Your parents trusted you enough to give you the keys and go out on your own! It was a great feeling. If you're like most people, you were so scared of messing up that you were nervous and overcautious. Do you ever see the "Student Driver" cars where they put their turn signal on two blocks before turning and check the mirror seven times before changing lanes? For many of us, teaching was once like that. For some, it still is. Fast forwardWhat happened after a few years? You began to drive like a pro! Some
Planning for Technical Difficulties: Knowing Your Backup Options Blogging & Technology by Maria Rainier - January 10, 2011May 30, 20161 Maria Rainier is a freelance writer and blog junkie. She is currently a resident blogger at First in Education, where recently she’s been researching different physical therapy assistant schools and blogging about student life. In her spare time, she enjoys square-foot gardening, swimming, and avoiding her laptop. If your school is like a lot of institutions these days, you have to share resources and probably don’t have much in the way of educational technology. So when you get to spend time in the computer lab or use the interactive whiteboard, it’s usually well-planned and eagerly anticipated. However, if you’ve been teaching long enough to lose greenhorn status, you know about the scourge of the lab – technological failure. Even with the best
SYWTT Celebrates Two Years – A Brief History (2007) Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - February 11, 2009June 30, 20106 A Matter of Priorities During my first two years of teaching, I discovered that I had a whole lot of information, but the students just weren’t listening to me or learning from me. It is not, mind you, because I was giving them wrong information. It was, however, because I had placed the priorities in the wrong order. When we have the proper perspective, we will end up teaching far more than we ever imagined we might teach. And so began the very first post on the blog that would turn into So You Want To Teach? That was posted two years ago today, on February 11th, 2007. Over the remainder of this month, I will be looking back at
But It’s Not Your Fault! General by Joel Wagner - November 10, 2008July 1, 20108 Have you ever caught yourself trying to blame other people for something that is entirely your fault? Do teachers ever yell at kids for the teacher's failure to prepare? Never!!! We had our Homecoming Parade this week. I was there with the seventh grade band and we were setting up. One of the parents who was there with me noticed that I had put them in lines and they were out of lines and talking. She asked me if I wanted her to get onto them about it, because they were in for a rude awakening when they get to high school. I smiled and told her it wasn't necessary. They were out of line, but I told her it