5 Great Books About The Science Behind Growth Mindset General by Joel Wagner - August 3, 2016August 5, 20163 Rigor Grit The "10,000 Hour Rule" Growth Mindset We hear these buzzwords thrown around a lot in educational circles these days. Why? Because they're catchy! But what do they mean? The concepts are interrelated, and they stem from a series of recent research projects. Today we'll look at a few new books about the science behind growth mindsets. Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise by Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool This is the book that initially resparked my interest in this subject. Anders Ericsson was the researcher who studied "deliberate practice" back in the 80s and early 90s. Some of the those studies centered on violin students in a German music conservatory. The analysis concluded that the students who performed the best at the University level, and who would eventually
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
5 Reasons I Loved Teaching Middle School General by Joel Wagner - February 9, 2014July 3, 20161 This past summer was a whirlwind tour for me and someday I may share a bit about the amazing experiences I had traveling by myself across the country (including three nights stranded in airports, a fourth of July parade in a small town outside of Boston, following my beloved Texas Rangers to Saint Louis, New York, and Baltimore, a ride to the airport from Shelly Terrell, and an amazing time in some of this country's finest cities). But now is not the time for this. Now is the time to address the biggest change in my educational life. After 11 years of fighting in the trenches, I have finally moved on to the major leagues. I moved on from my previous
Work from Anywhere, And Touch Other Lives by Teaching English Online General by Aileen Pablo - September 29, 2012August 2, 20160 People get into teaching for a variety of reasons, but two of the biggest are the ability it gives you to personally connect with students and continue learning and growing yourself. At first glance, becoming an online ESL teacher might seem like an odd way to do this. How can you connect with people when you’re not even in the same room? Are you really going to learn anything new when you’re teaching your native language? But people who think this way don’t understand how online teaching works. Unlike 15 or even 10 years ago, lessons aren’t conducted just using email and written tests, or even recorded video where you lecture students using a static script and lesson plan. Online English language
What To Do When You Hate Teaching Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - September 3, 2012August 4, 20166 Disillusionment is common to most of us involved in the teaching profession. We all deal with it at one point or another. But what do you do when you hate teaching? From dream to reality Here's the general path many of us take: You major in education because you want to change the world You realize that in order to teach, you need a find a job You go through disappointing interview after disappointing interview and are told if you had more experience, you would be perfect for the job You get frustrated that the only way to get experience is to get the job they won't give you because you don't have experience Some school district that was not your first
Early Childhood Education: What Makes a Great Teacher General by Courtney Bishop - September 27, 2010June 25, 20164 This guest article by Courtney Bishop is a lover of all things creative. She likes to write, and has an obsession with crossword puzzles. She's recently started blogging, and you can follow her on Twitter @cbishopBG. There are many indisputable opinions from people who feel that great teachers are born, not made. Teaching is certainly something that most anyone can do; but teaching effectively and creating a thirst for knowledge in students is undoubtedly a gift that few people possess. Early childhood education is a breeding ground for sparking enthusiasm and creativity in the minds of youngsters. The teacher is likely the one who initially exposes the child to new concepts and makes ideas clearer and brighter to their young minds. This is
This Year Will Be The Best School Year Ever New Teachers by Pat Hensley - August 3, 2010August 3, 20102 This is a guest post by Pat Hensley from the blog Successful Teaching. As we gear up for the upcoming school year, So You Want To Teach? is featuring articles about making this school year the best year ever. I have been teaching about 30 years now and I still love teaching! I have taught all grade levels including the university level and I still feel the same way. After teaching special education classes for 28 years in public schools, I now teach teachers getting their master’s degree in special education and write a blog called Successful Teaching. I really appreciate Joel for giving me the opportunity to be a guest writer on his blog. Of course, at the beginning of the year,
Don’t Quit Teaching… Why Teachers Quit by Joel Wagner - July 24, 20104 Don't quit teaching. It could be that every single struggle you've ever faced as a teacher has been leading you to an amazing breakthrough that will happen this year. Make it happen!There may come a time in your life when you just get burned out from teaching or you come to realize that teaching people is not your gift. I won't argue with you, but I do want to encourage you to stick with it. It's a common desire, and I think that all educators have flirted with the idea of, packing the bags and moving to Argentina just to escape our chosen profession. Or maybe that's just me. But whatever the case, now is not the time!FearI'm not a
3 Reasons For Moms To Become Teachers General by Anna Miller - June 30, 2010June 30, 20106 This guest post is contributed by Anna Miller, who writes on the topic of online degrees . She welcomes your comments at her email id: anna.miller009@gmail.com It’s a job like no other because it involves both change and routine – you follow a similar routine every day and year after year, but you also see change in the form of different students and a new class every year. It may not be the highest paying job, but teaching at a school is probably one of the best options for most people because it not only allows you to grow as an individual, it also brings you a great deal of satisfaction because you know you’re making a significant difference in
Thank You For A Great Year! Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - December 31, 2009June 30, 20103 Over 10,000 of the visits to SYWTT this year came from nine sources. The top three alone actually sent me over 6,200 visitors. This is incredible, and I need to thank all of you for the help you've provided me. Top referring blogsThese are the blogs that have sent the most visitors my way in 2009. I cannot thank these people enough for taking the time out of their schedule in one way or another and finding something on my site that resonated enough with them to send their readers my way. You people rock! It's Not All Flowers And Sausages TutorFi.com with the post 50 Reasons Why I Enjoy Being A Teacher Guy Kawasaki with the post 20
Graduate First – Why I Won’t Add You As My Facebook Friend Yet Blogging & Technology by Joel Wagner - September 20, 2009June 7, 201214 This weekend, I read Back to School: Tips for Teachers on Facebook on the Facebook blog. In it, the author writes:Some teachers stay away from Facebook altogether, while others -- like some of my friends -- have found creative workarounds such as only accepting friend requests from students who've graduated or those who are over the age of 18. However, it doesn't have to be that difficult. In fact, it is useful and rewarding to connect with your students on Facebook. So, in honor of all the people who are heading back to school this month, here are some tips for using Facebook.The article continues by outlining some things that we as teachers can do to secure the privacy of
Where Do You Want To Teach? Navigating U.S. State Educator Certification Criteria New Teachers by Edward Kim - April 23, 2009June 30, 20107 This is a guest post by Edward Kim from The Certification Map Team. Joel, thanks for letting us write a guest post on your blog. This site is a great source for educators who want meaningful information with a down-to-earth touch. For Joel's regular readers, thanks for taking your time time to read this post. I want to start out by asking you a simple question: Do you know your state's teacher certification requirements? How many of you have experienced or heard horror stories about people trying to navigate through your state's Department of Education website trying to figure out the certification process (not to mention long phone conversations with the DOE that lead nowhere). It can be a
Inspired By So You Want To Teach? Inspiration by Joel Wagner - April 14, 2009June 30, 20108 New readers are coming to this blog all the time. As a new reader, the comments below will show you some of the many ways that reading this blog can be beneficial for you! I have received a large number of comments and emails from people who tell me that they have been inspired to begin blogging as a result of this here blog. I must admit, I am very interested in getting other people to begin seeing the benefit of blogging through their experiences. I also am quite focused on personal growth in many areas of my life. With that in mind, I know that I say some things very bluntly and don't pull too many punches. Sometimes the
10 Keys To Unlocking The Best Possible Student Teaching Semester Ever New Teachers by Joel Wagner - January 4, 2009February 26, 20115 I am getting emails coming in and have some friends who are about to start student teaching. Many of them seem to be expressing the same fear about going into student teaching. As we quickly approach what will for many be the first week of student teaching, I thought it would be helpful to throw out these 10 keys to unlocking the best possible student teaching semester ever. I was fortunate that I had been teaching private lessons for three years already in the district where I student taught before I began. My school had a two semester process, with the first being mostly observation and the second being full internship. I spent far more than the required 8 hours
Life Lesson 4: Choose Your Battles General by Joel Wagner - October 14, 2008July 1, 20104 Everybody loves being right. Everybody loves to win an argument. What if we change our mindset completely? What if we aim not to win outright, but to win by letting the other person win? There are some situations where winning is vital. And there are far more situations where winning an argument will net no real benefit. These are the situations when it is okay to lose. In fact, losing may be the biggest victory of all. How do we choose? Dr. Laura Schlessinger often uses these three statements to evaluate if a battle is necessary: Is it immoral? Is it illegal? Is it fattening? If the answer to all three questions is "no," then it may do