July 18th, 2010
Anxiety: where are you feeling it?
This week I had an experience I’d like to tell you about.
I have a summer engagement working with professional actors who are recording the voices to a well-known video game.
In the middle of one of the recording sessions I found myself starting to worry about something. What I was worrying about isn’t the point here. The point is I was…
May 29th, 2010
At a book discussion and signing at Borders in Pleasanton, CA, a seasoned teacher perused the book and said, “This book is the missing link. It’s the Rosetta Stone.” This is a big complement coming from a person with years of experience working with under-served students, helping them to succeed on tests.
The teacher, Steve Shramko, works at the Eastside Adult Education Program in San Jose, and has, over the years, recognized the need for material– “a curriculum” — that addresses the test taker, not just the test content. “This is exactly what we need,” Steve said, referring to the book.
May 4th, 2010
Stop pulling your hair out!
Here’s a quick and vital tip: when you are feeling stressed pay attention to your body.
Much of what we think of as stress is exactly that, thinking. We start worrying about something that hasn’t yet happened (like an upcoming test) or fretting over something that has already passed (like the answers we put on the test this morning– Did I circle a or b?!). As soon as this kind of thinking kicks in we start amping up. We begin feeling anxious.
So here’s the tip: the feeling is just that, a feeling, something that’s going on in our bodies. Yes, it might be
April 16th, 2010
“It shouldn’t be so hard!”
How often I hear this from students, teachers and parents. And how often I think this myself!
From students it’s about homework, assignments, tests, keeping up with the schedule, all those after school and extra curricular activities. Pile it on! Parents and teachers have their own litanies.
I get the feeling pretty often that most of us are stressed out most of the time! Or, to be more exact…
March 29th, 2010
Today I watched a TV clip of an interview with someone who wrote about reducing test anxiety. If I were a student about to take the SAT or GRE or GMAT or LSAT, I would have found it woefully wanting. It’s not that the information was wrong (the specialist talked about “breathing”) but it was all so “tips” oriented. What do I mean and what’s wrong with “tips”?
March 20th, 2010
The calm, confident and focused teacher
As the health care debate nears some resolution (at least for the time being), the legislative agenda is already setting its compass to point towards education. A lead article in the New York Times titled “Obama Calls for a Major Change in the Education Law,” the President and his Secretary of Education Arnie Duncan are calling for a re-visioning of No Child Left Behind.
(see referenced article link to ‘Major Change in Education Law’)
One of the key features of the new policy is the focus on teachers and how they teach.
Quoting the article: The administration’s proposals would also rework the law’s teacher-quality provisions by requiring states to develop evaluation procedures to distinguish effective instructors, partly based on whether their students are learning.
I read this to mean: teachers are going to be tested. Big time. I don’t mean…
February 22nd, 2010
Calm, confident, focused
On November 4, 2008, 66 million people elected Barack Obama the 44th president of the United States.
How did he, a young man with a brief resume, make this dream come true?
February 12th, 2010
Barack Obama faces big tests daily: the economy, the war, international crises, opposition in Congress… the list goes on. Whatever you think of his politics, one thing we can all agree on is that he possesses the three traits necded for success in any stressful, test-type situation: He is calm, he is confident, and he is focused.
He never loses his cool, he never seems dejected or bitter at a loss, and it certainly doesn’t make him lose steam and he is never off-message.
He is a good role model for facing important tests: staying calm, keeping confident, and being focused is the key.
These are the skills that should be part of any leadership training. Leaders are constantly tested. They have to face moment-by-moment challenges, and we trust that they will do that. Have you ever considered that we are really trusting them to stay calm, confident and focused? Imagine a leader who is tense, doubtful and distracted. That doesn’t define “leader.” Calm, confident and focused do.
If you are in a leadership position, or you are training others to be leaders, consider that for the vitality of the organization and the well-being of its members, you want to cultivate the three qualities in The Workbook. We want, and value, leaders who stand on a sturdy three-legged stool. Leaders who are calm, confident and focused.
What are the qualities you value in a leader?
January 15th, 2010
Alan Sitomer: one passionate teacher
I have been reading, with great interest, the postings of a California teacher, Alan Lawrence Sitomer. His committed work and passionate voice first came to my attention last week with a blog post titled, “Raise your test scores, that’s all they want.”
I highly recommend that every teacher start tuning in to Mr. Sitomer’s blog. They will find mirrored there the many questions, frustrations, joys, challenges, and tests that every thinking, heart-centered teacher has.
January 5th, 2010
In a most interesting article in yesterday’s Washington Post, reporter Nelson Hernandez covered a story at a local middle school. He wrote, “Schools these days focus mostly on preparing students for tests of reading and math, but during lunchtime at Kenmoor Middle School in Landover, the youngsters sitting in a small circle were tackling the really deep questions: Ethics. Fairness. How to split dessert.”
