“White hot and passionate is the only thing to be.” Roald Dahl
As we continue to push our students to become critical thinkers, we allow them to direct their learning, focus on their interests, and use their imaginations. This is more and more what we need to remember:
Imagination is Power.
Creativity leads to connection. Social-emotional learning, project-based learning and inquiry learning all come from an authentic, student-centered place. In each of these, for creativity & imagination to blossom, we must allow & encourage students to follow their natural curiosity.
Wishing you all the best for a 2014 that is filled with family, friendship, laughter, and new opportunities.
Thank you so much for supporting this blog for the past 6 months. It has truly been a labor of love. I have been so fortunate to have visitors from 47 countries and I appreciate each and every visitor here. I’ve also enjoyed reading your posts, and learning and growing from all of you!
I’m looking forward to a new year chock full o’ possibilities and opportunities to share and connect with all of you.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!~
xo~Lisa
“Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow”
~~Kurt Vonnegut
“Your Focus Determines Your Reality.”~~George Lucas
So, what are you planning to do in the New Year to increase your focus or productivity? Besides naps, of course. Naps are always a good thing!
I love the new opportunities and new beginnings the New Year brings to focus on what really matters. You know, the big things, like family, friendship, and doing what you love with passion and joy. Sometimes, though, you first need to clear out the mental clutter before you can do that. All the distractions on that mental “to-do” list can keep us stuck.
Over the next month, I’m going to be focusing my posts on ways to embrace the new year feeling peaceful, energized, focused, and yes, even organized. This article by Janet Choi of The Daily Muse on how to declutter your mind is a good place to start. Read it here, “5 Ways to De-clutter Your Mind and Regain Your Focus.” I like this particular list because it is short and sweet. Highlights: Make Lists, Automate (or delegate, if you will), Embrace the Junk Drawer–of your mind–the crumbled thoughts of those things we need to get to, but just can’t seem to do, Manage that In-box (Truth! I can REALLY relate to this one. I once had over 4000 unread messages.), and finally, just Think About it. Make time for some reflection on how you’re spending your time.
It might not be easy, but finding some focus is one way to embrace the new year with a peaceful attitude and positive outlook. You’ll feel more in control and right away, you’ve scored a personal success. I am on the same journey and I’m looking forward to checking some items off of the mental to-do list, pronto!
Napping is still recommended. Heck, with a de-cluttered mind…you’ll be certain to have peaceful dreams. Score! (Again!)
This is very true:
As educators, we need to fill ourselves up with positive thoughts, so we can pass that on and pay that forward to our students. It is essential.
When students are discouraged and disheartened, they do not learn at their full potential. One of the sometimes daunting but always awe-inspiring aspects of being an educator, is that what you do every day matters. In the life of a child. And that’s a crazy, hard, challenging, but yet oh-so-rewarding responsibility, right?? Because every time you fill a child’s bucket, so to speak, with a positive thought, or an affirmation, that he or she can figure that challenge out, will make sense of that problem, and can and will make it to the finish line, you are propelling them forward. Yep. What you do. What you say…
You Empower.
You. Change. The. Trajectory. Of. A. Child’s. Life. One word for that: Wow.
So to all you amazing educators out there, please take a moment, and remember…
that quite simply & in so many amazing, wonderful, complicated ways…
you matter.
Thank you for that.
xo, Lisa
I am so #Happy. To celebrate, I’m having a party…
Ok, it’s a virtual party but consider yourself invited. This milestone is a big one: over 1000 of you have stopped by College Ready, making it the “Little Blog that Could.”
THANK YOU! I am so thrilled with the support that you have given me over the past 2.5 months. I wish I had something profound and meaningful to say to mark this occasion. Instead, I’ll just say THANK YOU. For reading, for visiting, for “liking,” for following, for sharing, for commenting and again, for reading what I had to say. I hope that something in what I call my “Ed Soup” has been useful in your professional or personal life, or just to warm your soul.
I also want to thank all of you for inspiring me. The blogging community is sassy, smart, and full of ideas that launch conversations. And so many of you do it so well! While making it look easy. Anyone who writes knows that push and pull of fear, and risk, the anticipation of audience reaction. And the writer’s block, and the deadlines that you missed hours before the clock read 2 am. Far from easy, but you all write on.
WRITING ADVICE: At my last milestone (500 visitors on 9/30), I posted some writing advice from Hemingway. I’ll continue that tradition with one of his better-known quotes on the writing process:
Here’s what Philip Roth said of the writing process: “You build a book out of sentences. And the sentences are built up out of details. So you’re working brick by brick. And the bricks are heavy.”
And finally, here’s a post, courtesy of the amazing Brain Pickings where Jack Kerouac cites his 30 Beliefs and Techniques for Prose and Life.
As I continue this journey, I look forward to working & writing alongside so many inspirational colleagues, who happen to be damn fine writers, creative thinkers and bleeding edge thought leaders. I am so lucky to know you all, whether F2F, or just here… In the Soup.
GOING FORWARD: College Ready Coach is a resource for parents and students who are navigating the college admissions process. We work together to evaluate what the student needs to be prepared. Academic coaches serve as mentors, and have been found to be the key ingredient in a successful college “launch.”
MY PART: In addition to working with a small number of clients each semester, College Ready Coach–hey, that’s me :)–commits to mentoring one student from a traditionally under-served population each semester, free of charge. We simply have to provide educational equality to students, and this is one small way for me to give back and “walk the walk.” Please do contact with me if you wish to nominate a highly-motivated high school student for this mentoring opportunity.
AND THEN, THERE’S YOU: You can be part of the journey by following the blog here, or liking the College Ready facebook page, and learning more about helping your students or your own children be “college ready.”
Together, let’s turn the crazy maze of college admissions into a road map to success.
xo, Lisa
In yesterday’s post, I included an image of 40 books that have been banned and today, I promised you the title of the Most Dangerous Book in America… and here it is. Drum roll please…
He’s charming. He’s bald. He’s a baby in a diaper. He’s CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS…
That’s right. The #1 spot on the Top 10 Most Frequently Challenged or Banned Books for 2012 goes to none other than the irrepressible, irreverent Dav Pilkey and his erstwhile tralala’ing Captain Underpants.
I get it. Parents don’t like potty mouth and they don’t like the word Poop. Or boogers. Or diaper-wearing babies that make fart jokes. But guess what?? Kids do! Boys and Girls do! Reluctant Readers do! And that’s all that matters, in the end, is the reading. We need to hook kids into reading, and kids love these books.
Let them read. Please. Parents and teachers, I implore you to simply let kids read what they love. And hey, I’ll let you in on a secret: a few silly poop jokes never hurt anyone.
So go ahead. Live Dangerously and read this book or any other banned book. Celebrate your Freedom to Read!
xo, Lisa
“We shouldn’t teach great books. We should teach a love of reading.” B. F. Skinner
College Ready 