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Expanding Learning Frontiers

Education Needs To Be Different. Not Better.

Author: Brad Latzke

21st Century Learning 

Gratitude = Happiness

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As teachers and school leaders, there are days when finding something to be grateful about is the furthest thought from our mind. But there is plenty of evidence that consistently practicing the art of expressing gratitude contributes to a very big outcome:  Happiness.

Boston College student Josh Coyne recently conducted a thesis experiment with 30 college classmates. He wanted to see what effect gratitude has on stress levels, self-love, and happiness. Here is his amazing video summarizing the results. read more

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21st Century Learning 

7 Quick Tips For School Leaders to Build Relationships

Brad Latzke 0 Comments

A regular recommendation on my Twitter feed is “building relationships” as a foundational core to a successful school environment. Even Bill Gates has chimed in on the power of relationship building.

Roland Barth, consultant, author, and founder of Principals’ Center at Harvard University, has stated, “The nature of relationships among the adults within a school has a greater influence on the character and quality of that school and on student accomplishment than anything else.”

What are action steps that lead to improved relationships? It is the little things as much (or more) than the big things.

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Testing 

Where’s the Learning? The Fallacy and Folly of Final Exams

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“Bless me Father, for I have sinned.”

Had I grown up Catholic, the priest would have heard my confession more than once during junior high and high school final exam time. All right, college too.

There is no question that emphasizing important concepts and skills multiple times has significant educational value. No problem with circling back for review. Smaller, more frequent assessments coupled with real-time feedback result in learning that sticks. A formal exam has little impact on learning, especially contained as part of an exam week. Results though are useful tools for categorizing, sorting, and ranking.

Why is a final exam necessary? Short answer. It’s not.

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