Could This Be The Future?

Resumes are full of words. Black ink on crisp white paper. Sterile. Unimaginative. Boring. Dull.

I do not envy recruiters, interviewers, and human resources professionals tediously paging through and reviewing stacks of resumes they receive for each job they are responsible for filling. Black ink. White paper. Lots and lots of black ink on white paper. It must be similar to reading a really boring book. A literary purgatory...

How many decision makers read everything on every resume they receive? Those that do, bless your heart. I admire you. I don't want your job. I don't have the patience...

What if there was a way out? An escape from the mundane? A break in the pattern of doom? The light at the end of the tunnel?

Could this be it?

Here's how I see it:

• It contains all the pertinent information.

• It's a 1-pager.

• It's brief and to the point. No fluff.

• It's visually appealing.

• It can be reviewed in a minute or two.

• It contains pictures.

• It's visual and vision trumps all other senses.

• It includes a QR Code that can be scanned if more information is desired.

• It can be printed in color or grayscale, shared digitally, or displayed online.

• It stands out. It says: I dare to be different. I'm creative. I'm worth a closer look.

I have wanted to create what I call the 21st Century Resume (CV, calling card whatever) for myself for a while. Now I did. I want to make a few more. One will include a head to toes pic in a suit. I might wear a cape in another describing my superpowers.

I promise you this though. I love my job, but if I ever decide to seek new employment, the above is the resume my prospective employer receives.

I figure the one that calls me for the interview sees the world with a fresh set of eyes. And that's precisely the point. That's where I want to be.

And I want to encourage you to dare to be different. To disrupt the status quo. To diverge from the mundane.

Empower your students to dare to be different. Fill them with the confidence and skills to create. Show them the way and they will innovate.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on my 21st Century Resume idea. Does it have legs? Or is it just another crazy idea conjured up by my twisted mind? Leave me a comment and we'll learn together. And, if you like crazy cool ideas Sign Up for My Newsletter and I'll keep you entertained forever (or at least until they pull the plug :).

You have the power to change the world. Use it often.

Evoke Emotions To Help Students Learn

By Oskar Cymerman | @focus2achieve | BAM! Radio Network & Teaching Channel Blogger

As the students were working on their bell ringer today (recalling radioactive decay equations), I stood in the middle of class and read the following to them:

“He was the only person making his way into the city; he met hundreds and hundreds who were fleeing, and every one of them seemed to be hurt in some way. The eyebrows of some were burned off and skin hung from their faces and hands. Others, because of pain, held their arms up as if carrying something in both hands. Some were vomiting as they walked. Many were naked or in shreds of clothing. On some undressed bodies, the burns had made patterns—of undershirt straps and suspenders and, on the skin of some women (since white repelled the heat from the bomb and dark clothes absorbed it and conducted it to the skin), the shapes of flowers they had had on their kimonos. Many, although injured themselves, supported relatives who were worse off. Almost all had their heads bowed, looked straight ahead, were silent, and showed no expression whatsoever.”

— "Hiroshima" by John Hersey

Then, I showed them haunting imprints of people killed by the blast...

This was my prelude to starting the discussion on nuclear fission and fusion in chemistry today. And, while the images students undoubtedly saw in their minds upon hearing the above story were gruesome, my purpose was clear. I wanted to evoke strong emotions.

I am reading "Brain Rules" by John Medina, which I enjoy and highly recommend, as the guy is an incredible writer, in addition to being a college professor and a brain guru. I recently finished a chapter titled "Attention" in which Dr. Medina explains how to grab and hold students' focus throughout the lesson.

One of the strategies he uses in his college lectures is employing "hooks." A hook is an emotionally competent stimulus (ECS) or an event that triggers strong emotions. All learning has emotions associated with it, but the stronger they are the better encoded the information becomes. During an emotionally charged event, out brain releases dopamine, which helps information processing and improves memory formation.

Thus, the "Hiroshima" story I read was a hook. But it wasn't just emotionally charged. It was also relevant, which is another key ingredient to a successful hook. If the hook information is unrelated to the topic you're getting ready to discuss, it will not be effective.

Then I got to talking about the pros and cons of nuclear reactions (Hiroshima was hit with a fission bomb named "Little Boy") and gave examples of fission and fusion reactions. That took about 10 minutes followed by students completing and identifying nuclear equations in small groups.

I felt that all students understood the material. I'll have to come back to it and have them practice more, but I feel they are well on their way to mastery of nuclear equations.

Remember the magic number 10. It is the number of minutes you can hold an audience's attention before it spikes way down. So...

1. Grab your audience with a hook to evoke emotions.

2. Teach 1 big concept for 9 minutes. Explain the big idea. elaborate. Give examples.

3a. Have students apply the concept and teach each other.

3b. Have a new hook ready if you want to keep going for another 10 minutes. The hook gives your audience a much needed brain break and can be used to introduce the next big idea.

4. Repeat, and keep it to 3 (maybe 4) big concepts tops. Less is more.

Hey. Thanks for reading! What do you think about using emotions in the classroom? Leave a comment or Sign Up for my Newsletter and we'll learn together.

You Have The Power To Change The World. Use It Often.

Sources:

Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School by John Medina

Hiroshima By John Hersey

Overwhelmed And Overloaded: Welcome To Homework Central

By Oskar Cymerman | @focus2achieve | BAM! Radio Network & Teaching Channel Blogger

Hi everyone,

Today, I want to tell you about a serious concern I have. It all began this morning...

She looked visibly tired entering 1st period this morning, so I asked: How are you Mandy?

Mandy: I'm really tired. I didn't get back home from gymnastics until 7:30 and then I had 50 Pre-calc problems to do. Other homework wasn't too bad, maybe 15 minutes each, but when you have 6 classes... I got done at 11:30 and couldn't fall asleep till like 1:30, so I'm kinda out of it.

All I could say was that I am sorry she had such a stressful evening and night. She replied that she gets a lot of homework in math every night...

Mandy is in my engineering class.

Later, I had my chemistry students reflect on our classroom blog about their school year so far. I asked them to write about how they feel and whether they are stressed or not. Here are a few posts:

Notice a pattern?

Not every student wrote about homework, stress, or being overwhelmed. But, these were the most common and recurring themes and it's only week 2. It's the 8th day of school!

The ironic thing is that had I not started the classroom blog this year, I would have no idea how bad this is.

I engaged one student after reading her post and she told me that her math teacher doesn't always finish the lesson in class, so she has to try to teach herself before she can do the huge homework assigned every night. Even if the teacher does finish, many students do not understand or feel confident they understand the material as there's never time to practice in class.

We have grown accustomed to homework being the holy grail that solves the "practice" dilemma.

Stress, frustration, lack of sleep...

The next day cycle repeats.

Overwhelmed, overloaded, stressed, frustrated, tired, and expected to learn.

And, many students succeed despite these things, which is a flipping miracle considering how detrimental stress, fatigue, and frustration are to the brain operating at it's full capacity.

And no one knows. Hardly any student complains. They suck it up. They power through. This is what high school's supposed to be like, right?

This is the status quo in many American high schools. But who creates it?

We, the teachers, and our inability to let go of the old paradigms, are the source of student stress. We overburden students believing we are doing them a favor. We overwhelm them with information. And then, we promptly overload them with "practice" problems, often without regard for the fact that many of our pupils have not mastered the skills and concepts necessary to "practice."

What we are not doing is seeking to understand. We are not inquiring. We are not considering.

We assume too much. We don't trust enough. And that saddens me.

But the simple truth is that we can change it. We can decide to teach the whole child and pay attention to all of the other things that are not just important, but essential in children's lives.

Standards can wait. We must have the courage to put the standards aside and do what is best for the child.

I'm talking about embracing the development of the teenage mind, body, psyche and spirit here. Helping to reduce the meaningless busy work and stress. Fostering movement and encouraging physical activity. Decreasing the load to increase rest and sleep. Nourishing the individual with understanding and respect for who he is, and not who or what we think he should be. Validating the incredible importance of relationships, family time, and things that feed our spirit.

Whatever the status quo is where we are... We can do better. We must do better.

I am hopeful we will. It's because I know that a great majority of us join the education profession to serve students and not our own devices. We are at our best when we remember this.

We affect lives. This is a fact, not a choice. We can influence change.

We are dreamers. We are believers.

Sometimes, we wear capes. It's time to earn them.

Educators Have The Power To Change The World. Let's Use It Now. Let's Use It Often.

Hey. Thanks for reading! We can get rid of most, if not all homework, and it's not that difficult. All you need is the will and a few drops of creativity. But that's my next post, so Sign Up for my Newsletter and I will drop it in your email inbox as soon as it drops. Till then :)