The Heart of Education: Taking Risks

Jennifer WaldvogelBlog, Differentiate Better, Engage Better, Innovate Better, Lesson Plan Better, Manage Better, Personalize Student Learning Better, Reflect Better, Teach Further, Teach Happier

TL;DR: Taking risks makes teaching more exciting and fulfilling. Start small with change to accomplish more in the long run. Risk-taking is easier for students when we build them a safety net. Failure is natural. Show students it’s okay to fail as long as we try again. Growing up, we’re taught to be careful: to wear helmets and knee pads … Read More

You Have Two Seconds

John VanDusenBlog, Connect Better, Engage Better, Innovate Better, Lesson Plan Better, Manage Better, Reflect Better

TL;DR: You have two seconds to grab and hold your students’ attention. They have conditioned their brains to consume content they wish to consume for short periods of time. Students lacking attention, focus, and respect for elders is not something new so how do we become better teachers tomorrow than we are today? Three principles that help us be better … Read More

Remove the Guardrails: Facilitate a Productive Struggle

Teach Better TeamBlog, Engage Better, Innovate Better, Lead Better, Self Care Better

TL;DR: Mistakes are essential to experience growth. Support students and facilitate a productive struggle for maximum growth. Challenges: Facilitate a Productive Struggle Mistakes are critical to deepening one’s reflection and becoming available for growth. Challenges are what we need to embrace the core of who we are, and what we could potentially become. Failure does not define us. It refines … Read More

The Secret of Building Resilient Kids: Growth Mindset

Pamela HallBlog, Engage Better, Innovate Better, Lead Better, Lesson Plan Better, Manage Better, Reflect Better, Self Care Better

TL;DR: Learn to teach kids that failure is a process and never a final state. Mistakes are opportunities to learn, to fail forward, and keep growing. Use picture books to teach resilience and grit. Growth Mindset: No More Giving Up! So often, kids say, “I can’t” or “It’s too hard.” So how do we instill the notion that failure is … Read More

The Power of Reinvention

Teach Better TeamBlog, Connect Better, Engage Better, Lead Better, Manage Better, Reflect Better, Self Care Better

TL;DR: The story of the blogger’s dad is shared to demonstrate the power of reinventing oneself. Growth is the heart of reinvention and we won’t fulfill our fullest potential without it. Teach students skills so that each individual can invent and continuously reinvent themselves. The Power of Reinvention: The Story of My Dad My father is one of the most … Read More