College Ready

Sharing strategies for student success, college readiness and academic coaching

Category Archives: Education


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How to be a Scholar. 6 Steps to Encourage Critical Thinking

As we get to the end of the semester and school year, we are expecting our students to demonstrate higher order thinking skills, or Critical Thinking. I like this infographic from Learning Commons at the University of British Columbia.

Critical Thinking Toolkit

Thanks to its simple flow chart style, students can use it to clearly reflect on their own thinking. Students need to constantly question their own process, and those of others. They need to ask questions about the text they read, test possibilities, and allow for new discoveries.

Higher order thinking skills (HOTS) push our students beyond simple responses and elevate them to scholars and critics in their own right. Part of what’s vital in education is for students to learn to trust their own voice, while still questioning their thinking. What strategies do you use in your classroom to encourage critical thinking?

 

Writer’s Say Saturday

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Writer's Say Saturday

Great advice from Hunter Thompson


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Mavericks, Outsiders & Rebels. Wise Words on Writing

Getting to the “heart” of writing. Here’s why outsiders, rebels and mavericks make the best characters. Some advice from writer Isabel Allende, who knows a thing or two about good writing:

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No Net Around the Future. Simple Ways to Help Students Soar to Their Potential

Students Need the Power of Belief to Soar to Their Potential

Teachers. It’s hard. We ask a lot of you. We ask you to keep getting up in the morning and showing up in that classroom and bringing your A Game.

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We ask you to notice the students who need the extra help and notice the students who need the extra challenge. And to do it with a smile and a magical “Mary Poppins” like presence in a classroom. Do all that but do it with fairly little community support and for not that much financial compensation, either. But do it all the same

because

Every

Student

Needs a Hero.

Keep helping our students realize that their potential is unlimited. They can soar and achieve any dream as long as they have someone in their lives that supports them. Our goal at College Ready is simply to let all students know, regardless of socio-economic background, there’s no net around their future.

They can soar to unlimited heights.


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Reading to Write

This is what I always tell my students: to be a better, writer–read!


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Empathy in Education: 3 Simple Steps

Here’s a simple and easy to understand definition of Empathy:

See…Listen…Feel

Put yourself in someone else’s shoes. We all need this reminder… children and adults, alike.

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When kids understand and practice empathy, bullying decreases, in the classroom and online. Community and compassion increases. We need more of that–that’s the good stuff.

Take some time to help the young people in your life understand what empathy really is. And don’t just tell, but show. Some simple suggestions: start a random acts of kindness campaign on campus, have older kids serve as “buddies” to the younger students, collect pennies for peace, or suggest another easy community service project that gets the whole school involved. Kids helping kids is a constructive way to foster empathy and watch it grow. Kids-Helping-Kids[1]

Best way to teach empathy–show empathy. Best way to affect change, not only in our classrooms, but in the world…be the change.

xo~Lisa, aka: The Happy Teacher


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Happy Teachers: Changing the World in Three Easy Steps

Education (+) Confidence (+) Hope equals Peace. That’s our mission as educators, isn’t it? Yes, yes it is. With love, to all of you, for all you do to add a little more peace to the planet…thank you. xoxo~L.

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Credit: This image is available via GottaTeachEmAll on etsy


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8 Tips on How to be a Writer

The Zen of Writing:

Let go of fear of rejection.

Write Everyday. Get Feedback. When not Writing–READ. Read everyday. Full list:


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Hot and Passionate …

“White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.” Roald Dahl

Creativity and Connection in the Classroom

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85% of college-educated professionals say creative thinking is critical for problem solving in their career.

Here’s what else they had to say on why creativity is such an important factor in our classrooms, in our careers, and in our everyday lives, as well:

Creativity and Connection in the Classroom

The study interviewed 1000 college-educated professionals who were employed full-time, 25+ years of age. See source “Creativity and Education: Why it Matters,” by Adobe.