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Chicago Teachers, Eisenhower, and Lincoln

On September 18, 2012   /   Learning  

President Dwight David Eisenhower (34th USA President, 1953- 1961) believed in The Declaration of Independence’s ideal that every person has the inalienable right to pursue happiness. He tried, with much success, to create a climate during his presidential years in which Americans could fully exercise that right.

He kept the peace managing a number of crises where his advisors and critics insisted on some military action. He managed each one without overreacting, without going to war, without increasing defense spending, and without frightening the public. During Eisenhower’s administration, the U.S.A never lost a soldier or a foot of ground.

If the criterion for success as a great president would be keeping the United States out of war, he would … >>>

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Obedience versus Responsibility

On September 17, 2012   /   Responsibility  

External motivators are used extensively in schools. This includes telling young people what to do, punishing them if they do not, and rewarding them if they do. These approaches teach young people obedience. The shortcomings of obedience appear when teachers and parents are not around to use these external motivators.

The Raise Responsibility System focuses on internal motivation, which builds the vision to act with responsible, autonomous behavior—whether or not anyone else is around.

If America is to continue the civil democracy that has been our heritage, we must do more than just talk about civil democracy and responsibility; we must actively foster it. We can do this in a classroom by providing opportunities for students to take responsibility and … >>>

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Problems with Telling

On September 13, 2012   /   Effectiveness, Relationships  

In my former role as a supervisor and administrator, and in my forever role as a parent, I always have aimed and always will aim at sharing, rather than telling.

Why? Because telling has many negative effects. When you tell someone to do something, the inference is that what the person is doing is wrong or not good enough and that the person has to change. People often don’t mind changing as much as they dislike attempts to be changed or controlled by others. Remember this key point: A change in behavior is as much emotional as it is intellectual. Negative emotions do not bring about positive changes.

Because people perceive telling as criticism, they often become defensive and have … >>>

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Chicago Teachers Strike and Standardized Tests

On September 12, 2012   /   Effectiveness, Learning  

Both the media and the critics of the current Chicago teachers strike are paying little attention to the primary reason that the teachers are not in their classrooms: Recent legislation passed by the Illinois legislature requires that scores from standardized tests be used for teacher accountability and performance.

To someone not in the education field, this mandate may seem reasonable. However, most people don’t realize that standardized tests were never designed to measure learning. Standardized tests were designed so that half of the test takers will fall below the 50 percent line. If 50 percent of students “fail” by design, how can these types of tests be justified for teacher accountability? Under this ruling, teachers will be judged and evaluated … >>>

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Build on Success

On September 10, 2012   /   Effectiveness, Parenting  

No child wants to fail or intentionally get into trouble. Henry David Thoreau said, “Men are born to succeed, not fail.” Renowned psychologist Abraham Maslow agreed with this concept when he declared that it is a basic human need to strive toward success and self-actualization. 

People improve more by building on their strengths than by working on their weaknesses. This does not mean that a weakness should be ignored, but it does mean that the emphasis should be on what the child can do, rather than on what the child cannot do. The simple belief that something can be done is the spark that ignites action. When a child is first learning a skill, it is the successes—not the … >>>

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Focus on the Important

On September 7, 2012   /   Parenting  

When it comes to parenting, it’s important to choose your battles. While clashes may be unavoidable, it is not necessary to get pulled into every skirmish or make a bid deal about everything the child does. An effective strategy here is to ponder the answer to the question, “Will this matter a week from now?”

As a rule of thumb, only make a fuss about those issues that are harmful to the youngster or others, or are irreversible.

For example, I know one four-year-old girl who likes to put Hello Kitty bandages on her arms and legs when she has no physical need for a bandage; rather, she wears them like jewelry. I know a thirteen-year-old boy who wears a … >>>

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Mean Comments and the Internet

On September 6, 2012   /   Effectiveness, Relationships  

Have you noticed that people are often meaner online than in real life? Many have blamed this on anonymity and invisibility, because when you are online no one knows who you are or what you look like. However, new research suggests that we may have a tendency to be nasty on the Internet because we do not make eye contact with those with whom we are communicating.

For example, a recent study demonstrated this point by having their subjects look into their partner’s eyes and predict how mean they were. When their eyes were hidden, participants were twice as likely to be hostile. Even if the subjects were both unrecognizable (with only their eyes on the screen) and anonymous, they … >>>

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Reap the Joy of Parenting

On September 5, 2012   /   Parenting  

A joy of parenting is watching a child develop and mature. Possessiveness has been a hallmark of parenting for hundreds of generations. Today, parents can no longer consider children their possessions. Children have rights and are watched over by the general society. An indication of this is the fine line drawn between punishment and child abuse.

Perhaps the paramount desire of parents has to do with simultaneously giving roots and wings. Parents model, foster values, and teach by what they say and do. They provide the shelter, clothing, affection, and security so necessary for a healthy environment. All of these provide roots. Parents also give wings and hope that the direction of flight will be toward responsible living. Perhaps the … >>>

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Reducing Anonymity

On September 4, 2012   /   Effectiveness, Relationships  

Imagine you are driving on a highway on a Saturday morning. The road is like a ribbon of concrete ready for you to unfurl—not the usual heavy traffic where you can see only the vehicle in front of you.

Your eyes begin to meander. You appreciate the azure blue sky with an occasional cloud, the verdant landscaping along the road, and the beauty of the day.

You glance in the rear view mirror and realize that someone is tailgating you so closely that you can almost feel the driver’s breath on your back. You look at your speedometer; you are going faster than the speed limit allows.

You move over one lane to allow the car to pass. As the … >>>

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Promote Success

On August 31, 2012   /   Effectiveness  

I recently read about Dean Cromwell, the track coach of the University of Southern California from 1912 until his retirement in 1949. No other coach in collegiate track has ever approached his records. His teams won 21 national championships, had 13 world record holders, and at least one of his protégés won an Olympic gold medal during his 39-year coaching career.

Cromwell was a master at getting people to believe in themselves and getting phenomenal performances from his athletes.

He believed in always keeping everyone in an optimistic mood. Yet, he didn’t give fiery pep talks. He always kidded on the “upside, never on the downside.” He never made fun of anyone—never a putdown, but always a buildup.

This highly … >>>

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Sesame Street a Poor Teacher

On August 30, 2012   /   Effectiveness, Learning  

At a recent meeting of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the National Speakers Association, Scott McKain, a well-recognized professional speaker, related a very interesting experience to me.

He said that he was asked to deliver a keynote speech at his former elementary school. After the presentation, he was surprised to see that his 3rd grade teacher was still teaching there, so he struck up a conversation with her. Scott inquired what his former teacher thought was the biggest problem in education today. Without hesitation, she replied, “Sesame Street.”

Scott was taken back and inquired into her reasoning. She responded that children today are brought up on entertainment, and when they arrive at school they expect to be entertained.… >>>

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Behaviorism’s Founder

On August 29, 2012   /   Discipline, Effectiveness, Learning  

Frank Knight (November 7, 1885 – April 15, 1972) was a professor of economics at the University of Chicago. Four of his students received the Nobel Prize for Economics (Paul Saluelson, Milton Friedman, George Stigler, and James Buchanan, Jr.) . Professor Knight was rather outspoken. The short paragraphs below are his comments about behaviorism and its best known founders, John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner.

John B. Watson was a founder of the psychological school referred to as behaviorism. Behaviorists, represented more popularly by the controversial utopian B.F. Skinner of Harvard University, argue that all human behavior can be understood in terms of stimulus-response models that have been developed from studying the behavior of rats in mazes.

In 1932, … >>>

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Positivity Is Constructive

On August 27, 2012   /   Parenting  

What we think and say becomes our habit. When our self-talk is negative, we have a tendency to communicate with others in a negative way. This is particularly true with our children. So often when we want our children to change, we attempt to influence them by using negative communications rather than positive ones that would actually prompt them to want to do what we would like. Even the worst salesperson knows enough not to make the customer angry. Yet, because we allow our emotions to direct us, we often ignore this commonsense approach and send negative messages. You can easily tell if your communications are sending negative messages if what you say blames, complains, criticizes, nags, punishes, or threatens.… >>>

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Reducing Perfectionism

On August 24, 2012   /   Effectiveness  

When young people perform academic-type tasks and are corrected before obtaining feelings of empowerment or success, they become candidates for discouragement.

A friend of mine related an incident that occurred at the birthday party of his young daughter. After his daughter opened a present he had just given her, my friend asked, cajoled, and finally coerced his daughter into sharing her new toy with the other children. It is hard for a child to share or open to others that which the child does not yet “own.”

The same principle holds true in learning. Young people need to feel some degree of ownership or success in performing a task—or have a feeling that they are capable of it—before correction becomes … >>>

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Learning and Expectations

On August 23, 2012   /   Effectiveness, Learning  

If you ask someone the key to success in real estate, they’ll tell you, “Location, location, location.” In the field of education, a critical component of the superior teacher is “Expectation, expectation, expectation.”

We can see evidence of this in Rainier Scholars located in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Robert Hurlbut, Ranier Scholars is a project for low-income students. It recruits 5th graders who are highly motivated and has them attend full-time summer school plus weekend classes. The goal is to shepherd them through college graduation.

Drego Little, one of the teachers, says that he visualizes his young students as future doctors, city councilmen, and other responsible, successful grownups. He explains, “I treat them as if they are going to … >>>

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Project Positive Expectations

On August 22, 2012   /   Effectiveness  

Attitude is the mind’s paintbrush; it can color any situation. The teacher who says, “This is a very important test. Be careful,” paints a negative picture that shakes confidence. Saying, “This is a very important test and I know you can handle it and do well,” paints a positive picture.

Which would you rather hear when you walk into a restaurant: “I can’t seat you for thirty minutes” or “In thirty minutes I will have a wonderful table for you”? The result is the same, but the perception is different. The child who wets his bed conjures up one image when the parent says, “Don’t wet your bed tonight” and a completely different picture when the youngster hears, “Let’s see … >>>

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Correlation Is Not Cause and Effect

On August 21, 2012   /   Learning  

The best story I have heard about the confusion between cause and effect was from my days as an economics major. The story that Frank Knight of the University of  Chicago told came from Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, a social anthropologist. Here’s how it goes:

Many years ago, a group of missionaries in the eastern part of Africa decided to teach the natives better farming methods. They concluded that the way to do it rapidly was to get a promising young man from each tribe, teach him the needed farming skills, and then send him back to practice the better methods, whereupon the entire tribe would follow the example.

One of the young men selected went back to his tribe in Portuguese, … >>>

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Homework: Whose Responsibility is It?

On August 20, 2012   /   Responsibility  

School has started in many areas (and will start very soon everywhere else). This is the time of year when Dr. Marshall gets many questions from teachers and parents about homework—specifically how to handle a child who simply refuses to do homework.

Many times the question comes in after the adult has asked the child reflective questions and has spoken to him/her positively about the matter. Often, the youth is also well aware of the various levels of The Hierarchy of Social Development and knows where his/her behavior falls when refusing to do the homework.

So what’s the solution?

According to Dr. Marshall, no one can force another person to learn. The person needs to be motivated. If there is … >>>

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