Teach Different

We are all individuals, yet we are all also part of families, schools, teams and peer groups. Our identities are shaped by what we think of ourselves and the groups we are a part of. The value of interdependence is hard to appreciate because we often want to focus on our own accomplishments and struggle to give others credit for helping us get them. Yet acknowledging the role others play in our su...

How do you know when to speak up? We're always telling kids to listen and to speak their mind. What we rarely do is help them discern when it is appropriate to listen and when it makes more sense to speak. Some suggest that listening to everyone is always a better way to go, because you learn more that way. Others say speaking your mind is the more courageous action, because then people know where...

Justice is often defined as a sense of fairness and equality which society has a natural obligation to bring about. Seen in this way, justice is a first priority that when met will yield all other benefits to citizens. Others may argue that there are other, more pressing responsibilities like public safety or peace which are more important duties. Different views on society's duties makes it hard...

Can you motivate people who are reluctant to learn? Motivating people to do things is exhausting, and many times futile. It happens in the classroom with students who are reluctant to do work. Sometimes the reluctance comes from the fact that they don't have the skills to succeed. Other times, the students have the skills, but are creating the impression that they don't care. Teachers must figure...

When should you have empathy for others? Sometimes it's important to follow rational thinking to solve problems. In those cases, turning off our own emotions helps lead to a solution. When dealing with others, however, the opposite is often true. We need to turn off rational thinking so we can listen and empathize. It's also the case that acting on one's feelings helps us make better decisions, an...

When should you put others' needs above your own? When we come to the aid of others, we also become happy ourselves by virtue of doing the right thing. It makes us feel worthwhile when we serve others. But happiness can come to us through a different path, where we focus just on ourselves and what we really want. Helping other people often drains us of our life energy and prevents us from becoming...

Should you fear mistakes? We all know what it feels like to be afraid of doing something. We hesitate, delay and ultimately choose to do nothing and then devise elaborate justifications for our inaction. Fear overcomes our courage. Yet, we also know the feeling of making quick decisions that lead to embarrassing mistakes. In those cases, a little fear would have encouraged us to slow down and make...

How do we know when cooperation is the best strategy for success? Working with other people is hard if you like to work fast. You have to slow down, compromise and wait for people to catch up to your pace. On class projects this can be a brutal experience. Going alone is so much faster and you're judged by your own efforts, not the efforts of others. Yet, cooperating with others brings a measure o...

Is it brave to do the right thing? Thinking about the right way to act requires patient and careful thought. Acting from a good conscience in this way conveys strength and confidence. But our conscience also makes us feel weak; oftentimes we don't know what the right choices are and so we are plagued by indecision and fear. Doing the right thing becomes a burden too great to bear and we turn to ou...

Should we look to the future or past for guidance? Finding our purpose in life is a confusing journey with competing forces acting against us. On the one hand, there's the force of our family background and history telling us who we should be.  And then there's our hopes and dreams which force us to look ahead and consider new opportunities. It's hard to know where to look for guidance. Join...

Should we be a role model for others? When we are being watched by others, we are compelled to do the right thing and that benefits the world. Being a role model has inherent value, but it is a difficult job that comes with significant sacrifice. It means that sometimes we can't be ourselves and do what we really want. We must forgo our own needs to make other people happy. It's hard to know when...

Should you always try to get what you want? We tell our minds to speed up, make decisions, satisfy our desires and create quick solutions to our problems. An active mind gets us places but sometimes leads to hasty choices and long-term unhappiness.  If we discipline our mind to slow down, we can think more clearly and make smarter decisions. By resisting the impulse to control the universe, w...

Is love more powerful than hate? Love is a powerful force in the universe. That much is true. What's unclear is just how powerful love is and whether it can and should be used as a tool to combat hate. Some say hate must be met with more of the same and that confrontation is the onlly reliable strategy to change human behavior for the better. Others take the kinder, softer approach and let love do...

How do you know when to adapt your goals? Rarely to we achieve our goals by following the exact path we set at the beginning. Instead, we experience twists and turns that we must learn to adapt along the way. These unexpected events inspire us to refocus and change our goals. Other times, however, we push through and continue along the path with the original goal firmly fixed in our mind. We maint...

What is the best way to respond to hard times? Tough times greet all of us in varying degrees. The challenge is how to figure out exactly how we should behave when those tough times arrive. One plan is to push through the difficulties and emerge stronger at the other end. That way, our pain can be short-lived. We can also stop the pain and change direction so that we can avoid the hardship and dis...

How hard should we try to be accepted by others? Being excluded for unpopular opinions hurts. Being excluded because of race, gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation is devastating. Exclusion devalues our humanity, which can make us bitter, resentful and angry. At these unpleasant moments we face crucial moral decisions. We can walk away and create space to preserve our dignity or we can stubbornl...

How do we know if we should change our goals? Setting goals forces us to picture success before it happens. If we are able to create a picture of what success looks like, then we are more likely to achieve it. Seeing the end motivates the beginning of the journey. But it is often the case that journeys take unexpected turns and force us to redirect our plans towards goals different than what we ha...

What's the best way to use questions? Not all questions are the same. Some challenge authority, break rules and send people down new pathways of thinking. Other questions take the safer road and are designed to gather new information. Regardless of how they are used, questions are the heart of student engagement. The more questions our students ask, the bettter critical thinkers they become. Join...

What does it take to be a good leader? Sometimes leadership means control and enforcement of rules. The leader must demand compliance from followers. At other times leaders must empower their people to be the best at what they do. In this way, leaders become helpers who put their own needs behind their followers for the betterment of the organization. Knowing when to embrace each of these roles at...

What is the mark of an educated mind?  When we hear a new idea, our first instinct is to accept the idea without question, either because we have intuition that it is true or we simply trust the messenger. Accepting truth in this way is comforting for it requires very little work and gives us permission to stop thinking. It's also dangerous. Sometimes new ideas must be met with delay and smar...

Should we tell the truth? Everybody hates to be lied to. When that happens, we feel anger and dissapointment. There is a sense of betrayal, a loss of trust, and enemies are created. But, there is another kind of hate we feel when somebody tells us the truth, especially when it is a truth that we don't want to hear. It's that feeling we get when a teacher calls us out for not trying our best, or wh...

Do we have control over our own success?   There are few things more frustrating than having to wait for other people to decide your future, whether it be waiting for college admission, that lead role in the play, or making the baseball team. In all of these cases, somebody else has control over your future. Rather than live a life of waiting for the approval of others (which may never come),...

How should you show confidence? The only thing worse than being afraid is for others to see you that way. Fear diminishes a person's ability to lead others. It causes hesitantcy, doubt, and an inability to make decisions when they matter most. Courage, on the other hand, inspires the opposite - faith, hope and an unbreakable will to overcome setbacks. But, maybe revealing our fears and being vulne...

Should we strive for success? We often think of success in life as being tied up with the external rewards we get like money, fame or power. Life is viewed as a race to achieve these rewards. But, maybe we are running the wrong race. Maybe we should pursue more internal rewards, like being a good person and doing the right thing. Aligning our life to the pursuit of moral values may not give us ric...

What is needed to change the world? Most agree that you can't change much in the world if you don't have the knowledge of what needs to be changed. With education comes understanding, perspective and a keen awareness of how to bring change into reality. Education is a powerful weapon indeed. But action in the form of protest and self-advocacy are also vital tools to effect change, and they don't r...