Motivation

Today's Thought is one of those 'diamonds in the rough' found in the slew of Facebook chain posts that so often clog my newsfeed. While I must admit that it took me a minute to 'get' it, once I did I had to chuckle and simply agree with it's sentiment.

In so many of my education courses at the University of Minnesota, the topic of student motivation is brought up. How do we motivate students? What keeps us motivated? Many times when we ask ourselves that last question, we have to think a minute before we can come up with an actual answer. You see, motivation isn't some 'finger-snap' solution. It can't be turned on like a tap. It has to be cultivated, coaxed and pushed in order to grow not only in our students, but ourselves as well. It's rarely inspired by a poster. Instead it could be inspired by a desire to obtain a better job, a desire to learn or even a desire to make a difference. What motivates you? I'm guessing that it takes more than a poster.

Coloring

I suppose you could say it's some curse, this being my 70th post (who knew I had that much to say?!), but in all honesty I have been much too busy lately to write a blog post. Tonight that will change. Having this Thought on my door for multiple days has given me a lot of time to think. This past weekend I had a fantastic time introducing my girlfriend to my family. Specifically, introducing her to my 18 month old niece, Anya.

I think the best moment came when Anya decided she wanted to color with her crayons. Now being only 18 months old, coloring generally meant just drawing squiggles and other lines on a blank sheet. Now maybe this isn't that big of deal, but as my girlfriend and I were coloring with Anya, I realized just what we were doing. Instead of a passive experience of putting crayon to paper, we were asking Anya what the various colors were. And more times than not, she got it correct on the first try.

This whole idea of teachers in our lives is a powerful one. Sure, we can probably learn a lot by passively doing an activity. However, our learning is multiplied a thousand-fold when we have a great teacher guiding us on our journey. Are you a teacher? Perhaps you can relate to my story, maybe you have your own experiences of being taught or teaching someone else. Sure, we can study all we want, but another person, a teacher is what makes the difference.

Hindsight

Today's Thought is another gem from Calvin & Hobbes. This whole idea of change over time is an interesting one. So hard to see at the time it's happening, yet so enduring and obvious after the fact. How many times have you said, "hindsight is always 20/20"?

Looking back on my life, many small changes have taken effect, seemingly without me noticing. Take my school pictures. From about third grade, I have worn glasses. Looking back on all my pictures, I'm amazed by how much my choice in glasses have changed. And yet, at the time I really didn't notice the changes happening. While this example is relatively benign, I think some of the most enduring and consequence-laden changes occur without our knowledge.

What are your glasses? What are those changes that in hindsight, totally jump out at you? I'm willing to bet that it's nothing big. Maybe just a hair style, or a career change. And yet I'm also willing to bet that the consequences are far reaching. You see, it's not about anticipating these consequences. Sometimes it's ok to just look back in wonder. Everything you do have made you who you are today. What are your glasses?

Critic

Teddy really does say it all in today's Thought. Without expounding on his wisdom too much, I'd like to ask a few questions for all of us to think about.

Who do you identify with? Are you the critic? Or are you the man in the arena? I think we can be both, something simultaneously. It doesn't matter which entity we are, what does matter is which one we allow to bubble to the surface, to control our thoughts and actions.

Compete

It's been a while since I got anything from Calvin and Hobbes, so today's Thought is a welcome addition. When I was a young child, I took piano lessons. Not only did I take lessons, but I competed. There were two contests that I took part in. One was again all the other players entered - I had to play better than them in order to win. The other contest I entered was against myself. All I had to do was play better than I did the year before. In the end, my performance was compared to two entities - myself and everyone else.

Think back to a time when you competed with someone else. For many, I know the spirit of competition, the drive to be better than someone else, is very powerful. And there's nothing wrong with that. However, it is important to remember that the only person we really have to compete against is ourselves. Rather than beat out every other piano player, our mission should be to beat our previous years performance. Who do you compete with? Yourself? Or everyone else?

Lips

It has come to my attention that some of my actions over the past 72 hours were seen as inappropriate and offensive. For those of you affected, I do apologize. Throughout my life I have been known to make snap decisions based my thoughts and emotions. I maintain that sharing my honest, albeit occasionally offensive, opinion is a course of action that has served me well and will always resolve itself as it should. In the words of an old saying, "loose lips sink ships". There is no time that illustrates this more than now.

That being said, I cannot claim full responsibility for all opinions and emotions garnered over the past few days and I refuse to bend to the will of those who would have me believe so. It will take much time and effort on the part of all parties involved, myself included, to regain a level of trust and respect enjoyed prior to these events. Perhaps some wounds will never heal. But as I maintain, everything will work out as it should.

In conclusion, I do apologize for any of my own actions that may have been seen as offensive and inappropriate. I hope that everyone involved may learn relevant lessons that will continue to endure for many years into the future.

Excuses

When I was a college freshman, one of the gentleman in my fraternity had a tendency to parrot back a quote whenever someone would complain about a task: "Results or Excuses?" While not directly related to this quote by Booker T. Washington, it was the inspiration behind today's Thought.

How many times have we been presented with a difficult task? Perhaps it wasn't even a task, maybe it was a decision we had to make. How did you react? Did you come up with some excuse? Or did you suck it up, rub some dirt in it and make it happen? Far too often in my own life, I've opted for the former. Now I know that we all have far too many obligations to get results on all of them, but it's time to stop giving excuses for those things that truly do matter. Do you want results? Or do you want excuses?

Belief

I can honestly say that the first time I found this Thought, I laughed out loud. However, I think there's something much deeper here that deserves discussion. That is the idea of belief. Growing up Catholic, there are many teachings of the Catholic church that I firmly believe. How did I come to have these beliefs? It's an interesting question that I don't think has a singular, neat answer. Instead, it is a complex web, always evolving and always being evaluated.

What do you believe? How did you come to hold that belief? Perhaps it was a teacher or a friend or a parent. No matter where you obtained that belief, WHY do you believe what you believe? I can't say that I have the answers. Everyone has different reasons for believing what they believe. You owe it to yourself to explore your belief. Embrace it. Make it part of your daily life. After all, don't you believe it?

Ears

I'm not sure where I found today's Thought, but I do know why it resonates with me. I am firmly a believer that we are all learners. While I am studying to be a teacher, I am also a learner. I've written before about how I believe that a day in which you learned nothing is a day lost. This plays right into that sentiment. We have two ears and one mouth. If we just take the time to use our ears, how can we go wrong?

Have you ever gotten in trouble because of something you said? I know I have. Conversely, have you ever gotten in trouble because of something you heard? If you have, I'd bet that listening didn't result in as bad of trouble as when you said something. Do you use your ears? I know I don't use mine nearly enough. So much of the time we are consumed with the idea that what we have to say, what we know is the one and only right thing. If we are right, it doesn't matter what anyone else says, right? Don't fall into this trap. Listen. Hear. Understand. Don't be afraid to let go and listen to what someone else thinks is right. Odds are, you'll both learn something.

SOS

Today's Thought is a neat bit of satire related to education that I found a while back. How many of us remember making little designs in those bubble sheets before you realized they were actually important? Yeah, me too. SOS was adopted as the international distress signal in 1908. While it was phased out, it still is a visual distress signal today. Think about that. Over 100 years later, SOS holds true. However, this Thought isn't about standardized testing, nor is it about marine exploration.

Lately in class we've been talking about this topic of significant learning. This learning is that information which you remember for at least three years after you learn it. Quite a lasting legacy if you ask me.
What do you remember? I bet that it doesn't have much to do with facts or figures or concepts. Rather, the things you truly remember are those emotions. SOS is a signal for distress, one of the strongest emotions out there. Love, hate, anger, forgiveness, happiness, fear, bravery; they're all emotions that you feel every day. Don't be afraid to embrace those emotions. Odds are, you'll remember something significant if you do. What do you remember? Remember your emotions.