What’s one word that describes your morning routine? Rushed? Stressful? Old? How about creative?

New studies show the repetitive morning routines most of us have are exactly what we shouldn’t be doing if we desire flexible and open-minded thinking, according to the Time article “Why Morning Routines Are Creativity Killers.” One study published in the journal Thinking and Reasoning showed “imaginative insights” will more often turn up in our groggy and unfocused moments. These insights come to us because the mental processes that restrict “distracting or irrelevant thoughts” during the day are at their weakest when we’re tired. Creative thoughts erupt when a tired person tries to problem-solve because they have to “widen their search through their knowledge network,” leading to more possible, and creative, answers.

If you answered that your morning routine is “stressful,” your stress hormones could be harming myelin, “the fatty substance that coats our brain cells.” When the myelin sheaths are damaged, they slow and cause a person to have less “Eureka!” moments. Finding a way to take the stress out of your morning, whether it’s waking up earlier, getting more done the night before, or finding some extra help, could energize your morning, and therefore the rest of your day, week, and more.

In the article, Annie Murphy Paul gives the following suggestions for redesigning your morning routine:

• Set your alarm a few minutes earlier.
• Lie in bed and follow your thoughts.
• If you have any great inspiration, write it down.
• While you get ready, don’t let your mind wander to “task-oriented” thoughts, like what you have to do at work.
• Instead of reading the news, watch or read something uplifting and save the news for later in the day.

Taking time to make your morning more fluid and to be more conscience of your thoughts, can not only reshape your morning, but set the pace for your day. How could embracing a more fluid morning routine improve your day? How can you model fluid behavior for your kids and encourage their creativity through morning routines?

The economy has done more than take away jobs. It’s forced families from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds to be homeless, hungry, and lose the comfort of  having other basic needs. Nearly three-quarters of all U.S. households with income below the federal poverty line spend over 50 percent of monthly household income on rent (Endhomelessness.org.)

We are often reminded of the number of Americans losing jobs, or graduating into a bad economy, or taking low-level, minimum wage jobs just to get by. However, what about the students in these families? We also hear a lot about poor student performance on standardized tests, college grads who graduate without critical skills, decreases in school budgets, and the lack of student proficiency in literacy and STEM subjects. We’ve known for decades that students don’t do well if they are hungry, sleep-deprived, or stressed. As more families hit the poverty line, is it any wonder that more students aren’t successful?

“The results are plain to see,” writes Mark Naison in his article “America’s Teachers See Growing Poverty Up Close.” “After ten years of No Child Left Behind, three years of Race to the Top, and twenty years of Teach for America, we have seen no change in the global standing of America’s schools and no reduction in the test score gap between racially and economically disadvantaged groups and the rest of the population.”  Teachers on the frontline of teaching kids in “generational poverty” or those “made newly poor by the economic crisis” are an untapped resource in finding an answer to education reform.

Naison illustrates the picture that many educators see in today’s schools, a perspective he believes many “education reformers” don’t have:

• Many students who live in poor and working class neighborhoods don’t have a secure place to stay, moving from apartment to apartment, experience bouts of homelessness, and move in and out of foster care.
• Students may disappear from school for days or weeks at a time, sometimes not returning altogether.
• Those who attend class often fall asleep in class from sleep deprivation due to crowded homes and homelessness.
• Many students go hungry, and fear the weekend when they don’t get school meals.
• Many live without healthcare.

As many questions about education reform remain unanswered, consider what you can do to give legislators the perspective of a teacher. Is there more you can do to illustrate the struggles and achievements of your students? What would you do to solve the problem of poverty in the classroom? What can you do with your resources to make a difference in a child’s life? How can you use academic coaching to coach a child who is having a hard time at home and in school?

 

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Source:

“America’s Teachers See Growing Poverty Up Close,” By Mark Naison. 17 January 2012. Beyond Chron. Accessed on 18 January 2012. http://www.beyondchron.org/news/index.php?itemid=9812#more

Emotionally intelligent people are aware of what they do and who they are. Many issues young people have can be alleviated with the knowledge of the people around them and the feelings of others. This awareness makes for successful students, professionals, and members of society and it can thwart or redirect bullying or other inappropriate behaviors. In the recent article “10 Ways to Enhance Your Emotional Intelligence,” Dr. Norman Rosenthal explains there are two schools of thought surrounding emotional intelligence: your EI is an inborn characteristic or you can improve your EI with guidance and practice. Dr. Rosenthal is a believer of the latter, and offered the following tips to “enhance your emotional intelligence” in his article:

As you solidify or adjust your resolutions for 2012, how do you see becoming more emotionally intelligent helping you achieve your goals? This year is also an election year. How can you use emotional intelligence to make a well-thought out decision on the ballot? How can you use emotional intelligence to look outward and make an educated judgment or decision of a candidate?   How can you work with a young person to promote emotional intelligence? How can you model emotional intelligence for a young person?

LifeBound’s book, PEOPLE SMARTS FOR TEENAGERS, builds on these principles so that young people can manage themselves and their relationships with others respectfully, effectively, and purposefully. Incorporating these skills early can promote attention and intention as well as academic, emotional, and social success. Academic coaching of students on emotional intelligence can make the difference in school and out in both the short and the long term.