Before we jump into our article for this week, I would like to share with you, our experience this past week for the LEA Convocation. It was a blast. There was fun, a lot of it too. We got to be entertained by Joe Castillo http://sandstory.com/ A sand artist that took 2nd on America Got Talent. We were also entertained by The Skit Guys https://skitguys.com/ A duo of comedians that perform short skits. Both sets of performers use their gifts that God has given them to help spread His word. Other fun times were being able to talk and catch up with other Lutheran educators from around the world. I do mean around the world too, one of my good friends is the Director of Operations in Hanoi, Vietnam http://www.concordiahanoi.org/ He has been out there for the last two years. We were able to catch up with college classmates, individuals that used to teach and student teach at CTK, and lastly we were able to make new friends/acquaintances.
It wasn't all just fun and games, we learned a lot too. The sectionals were magnificent and well done. I don't think I heard a teacher say there were no sectionals for me. We also had two main speakers. Rev. Dr. John Nunes (originally from the Detroit area) who is the President of Concordia College New York talked about our Lutheran schools and how diverse our students are. Then the main speaker was Dr. Tim Elmore. He talked about adjusting our sails in the world of education. Not that we much change WHAT we teach, but we must change HOW we teach if we want to reach our students.
So, this leads to this week's article from Tim about Building Self Discipline and Willpower
http://growingleaders.com/blog/four-steps-build-self-discipline-willpower-students/
Tim starts out the article quoting (as he often does) a study where the University of Pennsylvania set out to measure self-discipline. Their results accurately predicted student's final grades, class attendance, and standardized test scores. "Self-discipline accounted for more than twice as much impact as IQ did..." What a bold statement. What does this mean? Students at CTK can succeed a lot more by just working on those self-discipline / willpower skills. In my running, I know will power has a lot to do with how good I will do in a race or training. During my long runs (6 to 10+ miles) there are many factors that make me want to just stop. It takes willpower to plow through these workouts and races where walking or quitting would be so much easier.
Dr. Elmore does give us four steps to help us build our self-discipline / willpower skills He also made it a game in a sort of way. 1st Step "DO IT IF YOU HATE IT" In this game Tim suggest we choose one activity we absolutely loath and then purposefully make it a daily act. For your child, that may be making their bed or put their clothes away EVERY DAY! The 2nd step goes with the 1st step "ACCOUNTABILITY BUILDS RESILIENCY" This is where you pair up with a buddy to keep you accountable. There are many Biblical principles to this step too. I have been part of accountability Bible studies in the past. We checked in with our partner to make sure they were doing what they said they were doing. Tim concludes this step with these words of truth, "we all do better when we are watched, and we all do better when we are encouraged." Read the rest of the article for the last two steps.
Have a Blessed Day too!
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