Being productive and powerful

Dr. Scott McLeod has a great post on his Dangerously Irrelevant blog about productivity and power not only in our students but in our teachers as well.

Personal note: I was extremely productive in June but what happened to July? (I can tell you it was little things that needed to be done that had nothing to do with me moving forward).

He brings up some great points:

1. Do worksheets (over and over) make kids more productive?
2. Does seat work make students empowered?
3. Is productivity and being powerful equal for all students?

So what is meant by productivity? We want more time and money in order to do something we enjoy. The theory of the Hedonic Treadmill is that even as income increases, happiness does not. And happiness does not always increase power either. The Hedonic Treadmill basically states that we get used to things, no matter what they are. Your happiness stays close to a specific baseline.

So how do you increase productivity? You structure your life.

1. Balance - this means a minimum level of recreation
2. Set regular goals focused on things other than happiness

A balanced life is productive. More people chase happiness especially in things that do not increase their happiness.

People who are productive struggle to stay there - they struggled to get there in the first place. IT IS THE PROCESS OF CONTINUOUS LEARNING THAT KEEPS THEM THERE! They read, go to conferences, connect to others, and tackle new concepts regularly. Use the best tools, techniques, and ideas that come your way.

So, what activities keep you back? For me, I think I deserve down time watching TV on the couch. I am no happier for it. I also believe I have to have my fingers in everything but the stress of not keeping up creates unhappiness. That is not productive.
How can we increase our productivity?

Better yet, how can we increase the productivity and power in our students?

Tags: productivity, empowerment, education

Life long learners and life long teachers

Darren Draper at Drape's Takes has written an excellent post about lifelong learners and weaker teachers. He provides a great quote from Michael Pressley:

Let me tell you about one of the most consistent findings in our interviews of teachers over the years. It is always the most effective teachers who have told us that they have much more to learn. They are always the ones seeking the professional development. The weaker teachers are often very confident that they already teach well. So, I think that rather than simply providing professional development, it may be necessary to select teachers who know they need to get better and are open to getting better, actively seeking ways to do so. (p. 6)

What I like about Darren's original post and his eloquent comment is that he is not afraid to say what we need to hear: We may have proved ourselves to be lifelong learners and not just lifelong teachers. We read and blog because we believe this. But, we are an echo chamber discussing the same things. Not being inventive and innovate and thinking and blogging about the students we profess to care about. I think we are all guilty and jump at conversations and beat them to death. When innovators (I would put Darren here) have something to say we blog and discuss to no end.

Now that I am comfortable with what I have learned, what will I do now to continue to learn?

• Break out of the echo chamber and search for information outside of my field.
• Discuss what others are saying only to record for my own benefit.
• Understand that lifelong learners may be there, just not discussing what everyone else is.
  

Are you a lifelong learner just because you blog about what everyone is talking about? Or are you a lifelong learner when you continually take yourself out of your comfort zone?

Tags: darrendraper, teachers, learning