Professional Learning for Busy Educators

One thing that is important to me is that we, as adults, are modeling the practice of elevating other adults and inspiring them to succeed in meaningful ways.  Not only is this beneficial to others, but ourselves.  When I do things to help others, it selfishly leads me to have a better feeling about myself. To know that I had a part in amplifying someone’s message or helping them in some way to get to a higher level of success is something that I find satisfying. But it is also modeling something to our students (and children) as well.  Why would kids cheer on one another if the adults are not doing the same?

No matter how many hours you spend helping your teen with his math homework, he’s unlikely to succeed unless you actually love math, according to a new study in Child Development. Researchers surveyed 1,500 ninth-grade students and their families and found that teens with “engaged but unmotivated” parents—those who are happy to help with homework but report limited interest in the material—tend to do worse on math exams than students with aloof parents who love math but seldom help.

Students succeeded when “families were interested in math and perceived their own math competence to be high, regardless of their amount of academic involvement,” said co-author Isabelle Häfner, in a press release. On the other hand “helicopter moms can impair their child’s performance if they are not themselves interested in the subject.”

If you always succeed in school, you’re not setting yourself up for success in life.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but many people don’t realize just how important a morning meal is to a child’s ability to learn.

According to a recent survey by Kellogg Canada, the vast majority of teachers report large differences in a child’s behaviour depending on whether or not they’ve had breakfast. According to the report, 93 per cent of teachers agree that hungry children are more disruptive in class.