The words open and closed, are descriptive of the way students often see themselves and approach difficulties. Closed: “I’m not good at math.” “I’ll never understand this!” “I’ll never improve.” Open: “OK, I’ll try this.” “I’ll ask questions if I don’t understand.” “I’m determined to get it even if it takes many ‘do-overs’.” What’s behind both kinds of thinking…
You might be saying to yourself, “Working backwards means what exactly?” The idea has been around for a while. It was popularized by time and task management expert, Stephen Covey. What he said was, “Begin with the end in mind.” When he used that phase, he was referring to a process he believed was helpful…
As I mentioned Wednesday, there’s potentially a downside to doing easy things first. If you put too many “easy things first” tasks back-to-back, it’s possible you won’t get around to doing the doing the hard things, especially that one hard thing. In other words, doing the easy things becomes the excuse for not doing the hard things. We…
Do some easy things first! When I was home schooling, I found that doing some short, easy things first at the beginning of the day provided a warm-up of sorts. If the subject was math, we had a “question or story problem of the day.” We often followed this with “mental math” drills. If we began with English, we…
I was thinking back to when I bought my first IPhone. As I left the Verizon store, I thought, internet, iTunes, email, weather, news, and way more, even a flashlight, all at my fingertips except…I didn’t know how to access all of them. I needed help to get up and running. There’s an ancient saying,…
When you think of the word, “authority,” what comes to mind? Whether you click on this word in a Word document to see the synonyms or look up the definition on-line, at the top of the list is “power.” At the bottom of the list is “influence.” When you think about “power,” the idea of…
Some states require home schoolers do end-of-the-year testing to prove they are making adequate academic progress. Years ago in Oregon, the phrase, “Doing well enough to be left alone,” was used to rally opposition to government involvement in home schooling. The results of the data collected by the state were undeniable. Home schoolers, compared to students…
I see three doctors on a regular basis- a nephrologist (kidney doctor), a cardiologist, and an oncologist. I see a gastro doctor and naturopath on an “as needed” basis. I met with my nephrologist recently. He reviewed my latest lab work. The numbers were going in the wrong direction. He commented, “Well, I won’t be raising…
Did you make a New Year’s resolution? If you did, and you’re like me, you may have had a variety of motives for doing so. But, the main reason was to gain control of something. We all, to some degree, make resolutions, set goals with deadlines, or create task lists. We all have a basic desire to be in control….
This is the first day of school for many as we enter 2021. The first third of the school year is over. Christmas, in spite of Covid, provided a nice break. But, the break is over and it’s time to get back to work. Did you make the progress you hoped for? If you’re like most of…