Offering praise for inborn talent feeds a fixed mindset that can create self-doubt, weaken resolve, and reduce resiliency. In short, it can cripple a student’s ability to learn. Does that mean we should never celebrate God-given gifts?
Helping Goldilocks Grow
When designing ideal conditions for learning, we do well to consider the case of Goldilocks. If we make a lesson too difficult, our learner may shut down in frustration. Make it too easy and the learner walks away in boredom. In between those two poles lies a “Just Right” moment, a learning location that both fits and stretches.
Smaller Than A Baguette Box
We are creatures of comfort and of habit. Sometimes it takes stepping out of the box–or into a smaller one–to realize the limitations of our entrenched patterns.
Faster, Higher, Stronger
I stepped off the train in London three days ago into a wave of energy. Granted, I had just come from the open wind, dunes, and sea of the northern coast of Scotland. The tall buildings and bustling traffic of Charing Cross would have offered a shock no matter what. Given the Olympic games, however, [more…]
Dolphin Training (part 2 of 2)
(This post continues from the previous one. To read that entry first, click here.) The Dolphin Training game shows us how much fun–and success–we can have when learning by positive reinforcement methods, yet so few teachers use the approach the game suggests in their own pedagogies. I’m not yet sure myself what teaching improv–or any [more…]
Leading Beyond Dualisms
“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing, there is a field. I’ll take you there. When the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.” –Rumi Some people need clear direction, wandering rudderless when they don’t have [more…]
When Wrong Becomes Right
Moving around Edinburgh with my friends Carolyn and Stuart regularly had me shaking my head in befuddled amusement. Right after leaving the airport, I got into their passenger’s seat?…on the driver’s side of the car! Of course, I’ve always known about Brits driving on the left side of the road, the “wrong” side of the [more…]
