Once school is out for summer, teachers are able to take a small break from their daily grind and enjoy the summer sun. However, unlike students, teachers really do not typically kick up their feet for the entire summer “vacation”. In fact, many teachers end up teaching summer school, attending conferences, redesigning their curriculum, going to school/district meetings or even picking up a summer job. Redesigning school curriculum is typically on every teacher’s summer agenda. With standards changing, new classes being taught, and a desire to fit student needs better, there is something … [Read more...]
New Year Tips for 2016 and Update from the Outlier Team
Happy New Years Outliers Family! Can you believe another year has come to end? As students, parents, entrepreneurs, over-achievers or even for the newly reformed slacker, we owe it to ourselves to make this year count. Don’t miss out on all your 2016 has to offer, and the chance to re-evaluate your goals! There will be naysayers, echoing the criticism about this annual practice, but we wouldn’t miss the chance for the world. There’s just something about starting fresh on January one. Even if you have to look at them again in February, and again in June. As a quick aside, if you find you are … [Read more...]
The Secret to Learning = Curiosity
From Chapter 9 “Learning” in Ingredients of Outliers. A Key Ingredient Fair enough! But what’s the secret, the primary ingredient, to being a lifelong learner? The answer, of course, is curiosity! The 18th century English author Samuel Johnson called curiosity “the thirst of the soul.” Two centuries later American author William Arthur Ward described it as “the wick in the candle of learning.” And the late, great Walt Disney claimed that it “keeps leading us down new paths.” If asked to nominate one person who, perhaps more than any other, might epitomize the word “curiosity,” it … [Read more...]