Why Failure Can Sometimes Be A Good Thing

     The documentary, Race to Nowhere,  takes a look at the high level of stress many high school students are experiencing in reaching maximum success in their education.  One of the most important points made in the film is that achievement is not the same as learning and that sometimes students (and parents), in their quest to be the best they can be at everything, lose interest and the fun in learning for learning's sake.  
     In a recent article in TeachThought, it highlighted 8 reasons why failure can actually be a good thing:  

1.  Failure Causes One to Learn Lessons- studies show that learning is actually  good for the brain and promotes overall good health.
2.  Failure Causes Many to Work Harder-  some of the greatest minds our world has ever known always seem to mention that early failures were the catalyst to push them farther in their studies.
3.  Failure Can Build Empathy- as we gain an appreciation for hard work in ourselves and others.
4.  Failure Can Cause One to Gain A Sense of Humility- it's healthy to keep the ego in check.
5.  You Can Find Out Who Your Friends Are- it helps build a network of trustworthy companions.
6.  Failure Can Open Up the Chance for Simplicity- keeping yourself focused on what is really important to you.
7.  Failure Often Leads to Creativity- helps one look at something a little differently and perhaps spark an innovation.
8.  Failure Can Force One to Learn Flexibility- prevents one from being rigid and unreasonable.

     It's important to re-iterate to our students that succeeding in different aspects of one's life sometimes includes falling down from time to time.  This healthy perspective will help students cope with the pressures that are often put on them.  

Our Hearts Go Out to Sandy Hook...

Like so many Americans, I was completely devastated to hear the news that the lives of twenty young children and six adults were taken in a senseless act of school violence last Friday.  To think that someone would inflict such harm on innocent children and adults  is incomprehensible.  The ELHS community will remember the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary in a moment of silence on Monday and with donations to the United Way's Sandy Hook Fund on Friday.

In order to relieve some anxiety over situations like this, it is very important to remember that they are very rare.  However, every school should be prepared with a comprehensive safety plan in place.  Since the start of school, we have had two safety drills that involved an intruder lock down and full evacuation of our building to an alternative site.  We will continue to run these drills regularly so that our students and staff are on alert and know what is expected of them in an emergency.

This year, we added seven new cameras to the high school and are working to add more sometime this summer.  These cameras are monitored by our main office staff, our school resource officer and all administrators.  It has always been the practice of ELHS keep all doors locked throughout the school day and only allow access to the building to visitors who buzz our main entrance and sign in at the main office.

In light of this event, we are holding an emergency crisis team meeting this week to review our plans with our staff and the East Longmeadow police.  Additionally, we will be reminding students how they can help keep our building secure during the school day by following very important safety protocols.  Some of our students may need extra support this week, so we also be informing students that our counselors are available to them if they just need to talk some things through.

The link below offers some great guidelines for parents and schools on how to deal with such tragedies such as what happened in Newtown on Friday.   It's definitely worth a look.  It is times such as this that we all are reminded of our blessings- which includes being a part of the wonderful Spartan community. Our hearts and prayers go out  to those in Newtown, CT.

http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/terror_general.aspx

Creating Meaningful Homework

     

     One of our teachers recently sent me an article about the value and purpose of homework.  For most students, homework is a means to an end- not something that they really value. However, when designed properly, homework assignments should reinforce the concept or skills taught in class, give the teacher an understanding of what the students know and/or are able to do and bring relevance and meaning to the student regarding the content.  It should never be just “busy work.”   How much homework a teacher gives really depends on what may be necessary to seek the above.  For example, if the objective is to  simply recall content knowledge, this would not need as much time as say an objective in where students need to analyze, evaluate or create something.  Homework can be particularly meaningful for a student when he or she  is asked to draw from their own experiences and the world around them. There will always be a need to do simple math problems or science equations, but the new national Common Core Standards and the push for 21st-century learning is requiring more relevant lesson design embedded with higher level thinking skills.  For any given homework assignment the following questions should be asked to determine it’s quality: 

• Does the assignment clearly align to the course content and skills that the teacher is currently covering in the classroom? 
• Does the homework assignment  give the teacher the necessary information needed to assess the student’s progress on content and skills covered in class in the most effective manner possible? 
• Can the student gain an understanding of why the assignment is important to their future development of the course content and/or has an application in the real world?

For more information on the effectiveness of homework, check out the following website:  http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/sept10/vol68/num01/Five-Hallmarks-of-Good-Homework.aspx