This week we’ve paid tribute to the lives lost in the Tucson shooting by offering teachable moments to transform the tragedy. Next Monday we will observe Martin Luther King Day and honor the civil rights leader throughout the week by providing tips on how to incorporate his leadership, vision, and perseverance in the classroom to inspire the best in your children or your students. In his speech on Wednesday, President Obama painted a picture for America of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her constituents exercising their right to peaceful assembly and free speech. Obama went on to say, “That is the quintessentially American scene that was shattered by a gunman’s bullets. And the six people who lost their lives on Saturday – they too represented what is best in America.” We end this week with a Friday profile of Martin Luther King, Jr. to remember his words that lead a nation and were silenced too soon.

On this important anniversary, we might ask:  What would Martin Luther King say to our country if he were alive today?

Martin Luther King, Jr., (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968) was born Michael Luther King, Jr., but later had his name changed to Martin. His grandfather began the family’s long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended segregated public schools in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of fifteen; he received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather had graduated. After three years of theological study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania where he was elected president of a predominantly white senior class, he was awarded the B.D. in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled in graduate studies at Boston University, completing his residence for the doctorate in 1953 and receiving the degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott, a young woman of uncommon intellectual and artistic attainments. Two sons and two daughters were born into the family.

This excerpt was taken from Nobelprize.org. To read King’s entire bio click here.

The hours after school are the peak time for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex (Bureau, Urban Institute Estimate, 2000). However, kids’ inactivity has also proven to be dangerous. In the last 30 years, childhood obesity has more than tripled as a result of poor nutrition, working parents, video games, and funding cuts that cause schools to cut physical education and recess (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion). After school programs provide at risk kids with positive activities, role models, and life skills. By keeping young minds and bodies active, whether it be through sports, tutoring, leadership programs or the arts, students are better prepared for social and academic success today and for the future.

No Child Left Behind primarily promoted the academic/tutoring aspect of after school programs and failed to show the benefits other organizations and individuals could provide to students by making them socially and emotionally intelligent, says the American Association of School Administrators. Students’ health, self-esteem, and social and emotional intelligence are directly correlated with their academic success. If we can get parents and students involved after school,we can strengthen communities, improve student learning, and boost this education reform. As we all realize, education reform isn’t going to happen over night, but we can make progress on a smaller scale by getting students involved with individuals, organizations, and clubs who can give them the tools to succeed.

At LifeBound, we focus on helping students succeed both in and out of the classroom. Our study skills program, emotional intelligence tips, self-assessments, and transitional guides are used in schools across the country. We also offer extensive academic coaching classes to parents,teachers and program administrators to bolster student improvement. Recently, the Boys and Girls Club of Metro Denver contacted LifeBound to work with their team. We look forward to partnering with this dynamic organization to keep kids learning, safe, active, and healthy afterthe last bell rings.

In my experience, the best principals have three skills: vision, project management, and interpersonal skills. These skills are often found in many of the most successful business people as well. If we want progress in education we need principals to point their school in the right direction, support reform by planning and managing the school’s resources, and participate in vertical and horizontal communication similar to great leaders in business and non-profit.

Huffington Post writer Steffen Thybo Moller questioned the recent trend in blaming tenure for failing schools, in his article “School Reform’s Latest Challenge: Leadership.”  A new research project led by Anthony S. Bryk, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, supports his opinion. Bryk’s research team concluded leadership is the most important factor in improving schools, not whether or not teachers are tenured, and school reform won’t happen unless these leadership roles are filled.   Leadership of a school is like a well run company.   Each person knows the vision and mission, knows their personal goals and is committed to the team of people with whom they work to achieve extraordinary things individually and as part of the collective staff.

Teachers are an important element in determining whether a student, a class and a community succeed or fail, but the principal can set the tone for the ways in which problems are solved, the spirit in which students, parents and community members are called forth and the way in which a vision is articulated, maintained and followed through on over time.  This is an important time for leadership in all aspects of our society and, especially for principals who can lead our country to new heights of student participation, experience, achievement and knowledge.

Whether you are a parent, a co-worker or a teacher, the holidays are an opportunity time to think of some of the neediest cases in our society and take action.  Last Friday, the LifeBound team had their client holiday party. Afterwards, we took the ham and several days worth of food to one of our families at Kepner Middle School  who lost their home to a fire two weeks ago.  As a family of seven with five children living now at their neighbors, the family was very grateful for the food.  As a company, we are now thinking about how we might involve Habitat for Humanity to rebuild their home and provide other ways to network to support the family with people we know.

There are many ways to help this holiday season and below are some ideas to get you started:

1.       Instead or in addition to a holiday party, make sandwiches and bag lunches for the homeless.  Spread out around town and deliver these lunches with a gift.

2.       Schedule a day to work at the soup kitchen.  Take your family or your office department to do this work and consider making time to volunteer on a regular basis.

3.       Call your local Hospice or nursing home and ask if you can come in to sing holiday songs.  Bring song sheets and provide them to the guests.

4.       Find out how you can make a difference at your local Children’s Hospital by learning what’s on their wish list and making a donation.

5.       Participate in a Toys for Tots campaign and collect gifts for children in foster families or poor families.

6.       If you have a group of school children, have them make cards for people in the public health hospital. Often these people have no or few family members.

7.       Gather blankets and coats for your local homeless shelter and ask all of your friends and neighbors to do the same.

8.       Have your family write out wishes and intentions for the community and the world—share this with families in the housing projects.

9.       Plan visits to the elderly in your community—neighbors who have lost their spouses and others who have no family.

10.   Call up a homeless youth shelter or a sober living community and offer to bring over a tree and other holiday decorations to brighten their spirits.

There are so many ways to help others this season.   The holidays this year will be especially difficult for many people and if you can look out, see the need and recruit your family and friends to make a difference the holidays will be much more meaningful than just going to the mall to buy gifts for others.   If you have that spirit, your class, your family and/or your company will bond in the most important way possible by reaching out to those in need.

After completing the first semester of freshman year, many college students find themselves wrestling with basic questions including: Who am I? Why am I in college? and What am I meant to do for the rest of my life? Not being able to answer these questions at the end of freshman year puts students at risk of being among the 40% who drop-out after the first year, or others who might stay in school but become students who take six years to graduate, or party disproportionately or feel aimless about what they want to do with their lives..

The revision of the best-selling book,  Majoring in the Rest of Your Life: Career Secrets for College Students is the perfect read for college freshmen over winter break.  “I remember well the scary feeling of being in college for the first year, ” said Peter Olsen, a college graduate. “This book helps to explain what makes college so overwhelming at times and how to successfully overcome these challenges.” High schoolers need to be given tools such as problem solving strategies to answer questions about their future while also learning about “real world” expectations so they can work toward career goals. Written in conversational style, Majoring is filled with interviews of people ranging from college aged interns to seasoned professionals, sharing advice on crucial issues including:

• Developing a savings plan
• Getting and staying out of debt
• Setting healthy boundaries with technology
• Exploring internships
• Discovering who you are
• Managing your time and study habits

Freshmen year and throughout college is the time for students to learn more about themselves, their interests and abilities, how their passions can lead to careers, and how to seek out experiences that will enhance learning in the classroom and open doors for their futures. “Majoring in the Rest of Your Life is your guide to connect students with what you want out of their lives. In simple, straightforward language, Carol Carter takes the guesswork out of pursuing, reaching and achieving your goals both in and out of college,” said national motivational speaker, Dr. Joe Martin.

To learn more about LifeBound’s library or purchasing information, visit us at LifeBound.com or Amazon.com

Michelle Rhee has just announced that she will begin a new organization called, Studentsfirst.org to give a voice to students and the many people in this country who believe that reform in education is, in Arne Duncan’s words, the civil rights of our day. Working ahead to bring about the change we need for all students, especially those in the Title 1 Schools, will not be easy, fun or without challenge.  But it is arguably the most important work we have to do for the rights and the future of all students and for the chance to have an economy going forward which is worthy of our past.

Appointed under Adrian Fenty who was mayor of D.C., and lost the most recent election, Rhee worked quickly to overhaul the system for evaluation, adopted new reading programs, reversed flagging attendance and made D.C schools the schools of choice for the first time in 41 years.   She herself says that she is likely the reason for Fenty’s loss of the election, but she sees the strides she has made in D.C.  as part of larger, scalable change model which will reflect favorably in the end on Fenty’s legacy.

Rhee is not against teachers, but rather she is not for keeping poor performing teachers in their positions at the expense of effective teachers who are able to motivate and inspire the most difficult students.   If there were tenure for doctors, would you want to be operated on by someone who had a poor record of surgery success and was paid the very same as someone who had an outstanding record?   It is perhaps time that we look carefully at systems and ways of thinking which can be reworked or replaced with more modern models.

I left a Vice President job in corporate America ten years ago to begin LifeBound because I could see first-hand in my work with college freshmen that we were not preparing students for college success or their own career and life success.  The first two years of this company, I was a volunteer teacher at the Federal Prison.  We also taught GED, ESL and computer skills for the Denver Housing projects.  By observing these two arenas, I learned volumes about how we are failing the most vulnerable people in our society. The books and programs I’ve published with LifeBound are designed to be the support and perspective that all students need, but often only those in the wealthiest families are able to receive.   We have worked with several inner city schools like Lincoln and Martin Luther King in Denver Public Schools, conducted parent sessions, trained teachers in coaching skills and next month we’ll be training the after school members of groups like the Boys and Girls Club.  We also have a close relationship with the district as well as the teachers and counselors on the ground.   Working with each of these groups who play a role with children at all  points of the day or the week influences the chances of the child’s success, as opposed to the old model of everyone in their own silo.

I applaud Michelle Rhee, who announced her new program earlier this week on Oprah and in Newsweek, and anyone else in any profession who is willing to step out and challenge how we’ve always done things.  What would have happened if someone as courageous as Rhee had been able to call attention to the SEC’s inability to govern financial practices that sent this economy and others around the world plummeting? What would have happened if someone in Countrywide Financial or one of the other agencies had questioned why poor people were being given loans that they couldn’t afford if they lost their jobs or had an unexpected illness?  On the other hand, what would have happened if Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yumus hadn’t discovered microfinancing and hadn’t been courageous enough to share his innovation and give  financial opportunity to countless women and citizens of the developing world? What if innovation was supported instead of feared?  If anyone had had the influence—public and political—we may not be in the financial hole we are in right now.    By encouraging people to fight for change, leave the cushiness of their world in order to make this world better—whether it is for eliminating the sex trade, setting up microfinance models, taking a stand within a company when there is clearly wrong doing — we are asking people to be active participants in ensuring our survival on a global level.   Confronting the issues of our day whether it is education reform, a cure for cancer, equal rights for all people, or global warming will take courage, tenacity and follow-through.  The times we live in right now are not for the meek.  Indeed, they are challenging enough to help us all find our own place of strength to help make our lives, our families, our communities and the world a better place.

Carol’s Summary:

How can teachers achieve a balance in the classroom between compliant students and those who are inactive, or too active, in the class? Teachers have the difficult task of taking the energies from a slew of different kids and making an atmosphere that harnesses learning for each student. Can a teacher take the chaotic energy from a rambunctious student and help an under-spoken student come out of his shell? Every student naturally brings their gifts, whether it be creativity, problem-solving, a positive attitude, or peacekeeping abilities to the classroom. How can these skills be assets instead of liabilities?

An outgoing student may need to learn how to channel her energy, while the quiet student needs to find how to express himself. A classroom is a great atmosphere for the student to be challenged, to take risks, get creative, and think outside of the box. School doesn’t always have to be about following rules and standards. School can be a place which encourages unique strengths, provides safety for introverts to expand and interact and creates boundaries for the overly energetic and talkative to calm down and focus.

At Ellis High School in Austin Minnesota, the whole school is thinking outside the box — in a different direction. Teachers no longer have parent-teacher conferences to discuss how a student turned their homework in late, was tardy to class, or didn’t raise their hand. Rather, teachers can only discuss specific skills the student isn’t grasping, changing the emphasis from having mastered their social skills to the emphasis that they need to master a subject. This mirrors the performance review process in the world of work. What did you accomplish?  What was the quality?  What was the contribution?  Could social problems be erased when the emphasis shifts to academic success and a quality track record? Would students be better prepared in the short run in school and in the long run in the world of work?

New Book Gives Teenagers 21^st Century Skills for Personal, Academic and Career Success

Denver, CO – December 1, 2010 – LifeBound, the company dedicated to student success, announced the release of Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers, available on Amazon.com and Lifebound.com.

Tony Wagner, Harvard-based education expert, cites critical thinking and problem-solving as two leading skills U.S. students must master to close the global achievement gap. LifeBound’s new book helps students develop these higher level thinking skills by using cross disciplinary examples and hands-on activities to illustrate the critical thinking and problem-solving involved in compelling science innovations, engineering feats, and humanitarian advocacy.

“Recent headlines report teen suicides triggered by social media blunders, high student credit card debt, and binge drinking in epic proportions—all pointing to teenagers’ need for greater critical thinking skills,” says LifeBound president, Carol Carter. “And in a challenging economy, the students armed with creative thinking skills will be better able to launch innovations and new companies that will drive the 21^st century economy.”

However, lessons for slowing down, thinking through options, imagining solutions, weighing consequences, and evaluating actions are often neglected in current resources. In response, Critical and Creative Thinking for Teenagers gives teens easy-to-use strategies for:

• Improving observation skills.
• Developing question asking abilities.
• Analyzing information by comparing, contrasting and connecting ideas.
• Piquing curiosity and stimulating the imagination.
• Evaluating options, decisions and outcomes.

This interactive book includes skill building activities that both challenge students’ thinking, while calling on them to contemplate some of the world’s greatest problems. Classroom curriculum that accompanies the book is also available. “Your materials are right on target…and truly captivate the students,” says high school teacher, Rebecca Mendoza.

About LifeBound

LifeBound was founded in 2000 by Carol Carter, a student success expert who’s written over 20 books on college and career success. LifeBound works nationally and internationally with students, teachers, administrators and parents to help students transition throughout their academic years and to succeed in school, career and  life.

Carol’s Summary:

New York Times reporter, Matt Richtel, looks at technology and the side effects on younger people in Sunday’s article, “Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction.” Richtel follows a few students who have natural obsessions with a variety of technologies and who see it effecting their academic lives. Vishal Singh, 17, is a bright student who aspires to be a filmmaker. He ended last year with a 2.3 GPA. He works on filming and cutting videos when he should be studying and hopes his talent will make up for where his grades lack when he is applying for college. Another student spends 6 hours playing video games during the week, and an even higher daily average on the weekends. While still another sends 27,000 texts a month and can get so caught up she forgets to do her homework. Can schools tear students away from their favorite technology? The principal at Singh’s school, David Reilly, believes that the classroom should incorporate more technology to get more students interested. “I am trying to take back their attention from their BlackBerry’s and video games,” says Reilly. “To a degree, I’m using technology to do it.”

Reilly’s method seems to be a common idea in the school system. Give students what they want and they will be more likely to show up and be engaged. Researchers are saying this might not really be so. Young brains are developing on technology that only asks for a quick piece of your time and is easily manageable with a low-attention span. Schools that cater to this new programmed thinking might be harming the student if it is the emphasis in both their personal and academic lives.

How can teachers use technology, white boards and gaming  strategies to get students to create their own lesson plans?  How can students be creative about teaching their peers through the technology they love to use? How can students be an ally for teachers in becoming technologically savvy? How can we look more broadly at how students learn and get them to be active participants in the learning process?  How can students and teachers collaborate more by developing great lessons together?

Article: Growing Up Digital, Wired for Distraction

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — On the eve of a pivotal academic year in Vishal Singh’s life, he faces a stark choice on his bedroom desk: book or computer?

Read the full article at nytimes.com

Carol’s Summary:

States understand that it is not a question of whether or not school standards will change, but rather when. The Obama administration has been working on improving common standards across the country to make American students competitive in the work force nationally and globally, but the debate lives on about whether or not an overhaul on school standards will have a positive effect on the system.

As common core standards are being proposed, we’ve watched the bar dip too low in order to pass students so schools could comply with the No Child Left Behind Act. States are battling alone to find a solution to boost scores despite worsening conditions like program and funding slashes. Only thirty-nine percent of college students are currently graduating from 2- and 4- year programs. States are facing common problems and a common solution may be the only way to pull the whole country from the poor performance scores and bring them back toward the top.

The proposed standards are supported by international evidence that shows mastery of these standards lead to higher success rates in college and the world of work. High school curriculums are expected to teach to college and career readiness to increase the percentage of graduates to 60 percent by 2020, as projected by President Obama.

Article: Coming to Terms with Common Core Standards

From its inception, the Obama administration has set its sights on the unevenness of existing state standards and promoting the development, adoption, and implementation of common standards that would provide each school across the country with clearly defined markers of what students should know and be able to do at each level of their K–12 schooling.

Read the full article at: ascd.org