“Opportunity looks a lot like hard work” – Ashton Kutcher, American actor At all levels of education, the interaction between the student and teacher is perhaps the most influential actor in a student’s academic success. Research shows that exposure to effective teachers, over several years, makes a tangible difference in achievement. Alone, this may be enough to significantly narrow the achievement gap. Those gifted
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“Summertime and the living is easy…” – from the folk opera Porky & Bess, George & Ira Gershwin, 1937 Summertime was anything but easy for those students who habitually spent part of their vacation back in school. Now that school has been dismissed for summer vacation, I recall spending many summers, in the stifling heat, making-up for what I hadn’t done during the year. School started
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A post from veteran educator and interview coach Charlie Margolis. “We are told that talent creates its own opportunities. But it seems that intense desire creates not only its own opportunities, but its own talents.” – Eric Hoffer, (1902-1983) American social philosopher, author They were the talented kids; the athletes who ran fast and far, seemingly without effort. He was the kid in art class
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Below is the first of two posts from veteran educator and interview coach Charlie Margolis. “I think high self-esteem is overrated. A little low self esteem is actually quite good. Maybe you’re not the best, so you should work a little harder.” — Jay Leno Have you seen the State Farm Insurance commercial that features Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rogers? The setting is an
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This the second post from Charlie Margolis regarding how overinflated self-esteem and excessive praise affects our children. Pedagogy today is far superior to what – for those who are old enough to remember – teaching was like when no one cared how we felt. Unlike the “good old days,” stellar students do not receive all the attention while those of less academic achievement are ignored. Learning disabilities
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This the second post in a series from veteran educator and interview coach Charlie Margolis on creativity, higher order thinking and raising creative children. The first post talked about the process of creative thinking, and how creativity is for everyone. Charlie continues the discussion here … Why Creativity? When I coach people who are looking for jobs, I advise them to show they have solved problems. Employers want
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This the third and last post in a series from veteran educator and interview coach Charlie Margolis on creativity, higher order thinking and raising creative children. You can view the first post and second post – and then finish the discussion below! Whether or not a child fully develops his/her creative potential depends – to a large degree – on the environment. At home and in school, children need to
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“My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with same status” – Sir Ken Robinson This is the first in a series of posts from veteran educator and interview coach Charlie Margolis on creativity, higher order thinking and raising creative children. A Bucket, Mop and… For many years, I washed my floors with a rag mop and
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We have another great series of posts from veteran educator and interview coach Charlie Margolis – this series will provide teachers and parents with tips for effectively communicating with their young children. How we speak to our children is relevant – here are a few “talking points” from Charlie! My one and only foray into the world of musical performance occurred when I was in third
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Here is the last post in our series from veteran educator and interview coach Charlie Margolis. Charlie has been providing tips for teachers and parents about communicating with children. Here are links to PART 1 and PART 2 … now onto PART 3! Say Something Nice My poetry mentor used to find something nice to say about every poem I wrote. I valued her feedback because it was
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