Real solutions for Procrastination from Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl, part 1
Student Success Podcast No. 13, Jan. 15, 2014
Today’s Guest: Timothy A. Pychyl, Ph.D.
Dr. Pychyl shares his incredible knowledge, experience, research, and insight into the nature of procrastination and how to overcome it. Dedicated to bettering people’s lives, he uniquely applies academic concepts in a way we can all understand and appreciate.
This is part 1 of 2 segments we are publishing on the Student Success Podcast. Tim has also published his own version of the interview on his “iProcrastinate” podcast. Continue reading →
Christopher discusses his strategies for teaching music and compares learning music with regular classroom learning. His music program, School of Rock, holds strong examples and practices that can be employed in the traditional classroom. One of the biggest lessons Chris brings to classroom teachers is the need for students to practice independently, exploring and building curiosity and interests independently, then applying it — performing it – in the larger classroom. Continue reading →
Now that he’s about to graduate from college, JP discusses his experiences in K-12 and college and how it all fits together to make him the student and person he is. J.P. cuts through the B.S. with excellent critiques of his K-8 and 9th-12 Catholic education, and what worked, what didn’t and, most importantly, what makes a great teacher. In J.P.’s case, those teachers are Brother Martin and Prof. Carlander, teachers who inspired, pushed, and turned JP into a real student with real learning.
An important challenge J.P. brings to education is his K-8 experience, which he found entirely lacking once he came upon Brother Martin’s 9th grade Honors English class. Are we underserving our K-8 children? And what of those kids who didn’t get into Brother Martin’s class?
J.P. Cassignol is a senior at Salisbury University, Eastern Shore, MD, with a concentration in History. J.P. Graduated from St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., and prior to that was enrolled in a Catholic school K-8 program. J.P. loves history and literature, and he works as a tutor in those and other subjects.
Topics Discussed
St. Johns College High School: what’s the “college” thing about?
JP was not prepared for 9th grade
his K-8 did not prepare him
never had written anything more than a few paragraphs
9th grade: what do kids bring to it?
why are elementary schools all so different?
why should 9th grade be so much harder?
Elementary: seeking universal standards
JPs 9th grade was challenging
Big gap between elementary and high school
are we pushing kids hard enough in K-8?
“Excellence Gap” study by Dr. Jonathan Plucker
J.P.’s school competitive?
Catholic school admissions: an incestual orgy? (lol)
Public school kids more prepared?
depends on the demographic
are outcomes defined by zip codes?
Rte 50 / Univ Blvd: the dividing lines
do charter schools drain talent?
lowest common denominator v. the cream of the crop
Was his high school worth the money? maybe not
Would rather have gone to college twice
But he did go there, it is who he is
What if he had gone to public school?
would have lost all the expereinces of a catholic school
Brother Martin: English teacher
heavy workload
read a book a week
not reading in class… taking turns lol
depth of analysis that he had never encountered
English class was no longer about structure, was about literature
then next year, teacher was back to reading out loud in class
so teachers matter?
should any teacher be able to teach anything?
JPs definition of a good teacher? Hope Brother Martin is listenng to this
the difference between a teacher who knows everything but can’t teach and a teacher who may not know everything but can teach and lead you to where you need to go
why do some kids like certain teachers and others not?
kids look for easy teachers = business major etiquette
but they won’t remember those teachers
a good assignment is powerful
has assignments from high school that he still thinks about
Bromley’s best teacher: Prof Wright who threatened to fail him Senior year of college: 1st teacher who ever “kicked my ass”
Dr. Carlander at Salisbury: they’d get into for 3 hours .. he’d rip up his paper … they’d argue with each other.. inspiring!
always read the prof’s book!
knows his stuff: and “a real teacher”
Prof got JP to write a grant application: got it & went to a national conference >> all because of a real teacher
What make a good teacher:
learning is supposed to be rigorous
“no pressure no diamond”
teachers who earned respect, who mentor, who respect kids
unlike teachers who just put notes on the board
good teachers: challenge, drag, empower
learning is a fight! “I’m a 13 year old kid, what do I give a shit about Julius Caesar?”
You could see it in Brother Martin’s brow lines … but patient and caring … loved his students
The A+ Club from School4Schools.com LLC, based in Arlington, VA, is dedicated to helping students across the U.S.A. meet their goals and find the academic success the want and deserve. Contact us here or call now to (703) 271-5334 to see how we can help.
Today’s Guest: Prof. Jonathan Plucker, University of Connecticut
Prof. Jonathan Plucker discusses the just released study “Talent on the Sidelines: Excellence Gaps and America’s Persistent Talent Underclass.” Prof Plucker shares his amazing insight on the need for educators and policy to address both equity and achievement for our students, as today’s focus on equity has left us with a tremendous “Excellence Gap” between socioeconomic and racial groups, and has left behind untapped talent among our lower performing groups.
Guest Biography: Dr. Plucker received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from The University of Connecticut in 1991, where he also received a master’s degree in educational psychology in 1992. After briefly serving as an elementary school teacher, he attended the University of Virginia, where he received his doctorate in educational psychology in 1995. After briefly teaching for two years at the University of Maine, he arrived at Indiana University in 1997 as a visiting assistant professor. He become a tenure-track assistant professor in 1998, with promotion to associate professor in 2001 and full professor in 2006.
Dr. Plucker has received a number of honors for his work. For his creativity work, he has received the Daniel E. Berlyne Award for outstanding research by a junior scholar (2001) and the Rudolf Arnheim Award for outstanding research by a senior scholar (2012) from Division 10 of the American Psychological Association, and the 2007 E. Paul Torrance Award for creativity research from the National Association of Gifted Children. For his gifted education research, he has received the NAGC Early Scholar Award (1998) and two awards from the Mensa Education & Research Foundation Award for Excellence in Research (1997 & 2000). For his education policy work, he was ranked in 2011 as one of the Top 100 most influential academics working in education policy.
Dr. Plucker is a fellow of the American Psychological Association (2009) and was named a Fellow of the American Associate for the Advancement of Science in 2011 “for distinguished contributions to the science of creativity and the creation of research-supported education policy.”
Topics Discussed
Achievement gaps: but minimum competency gaps
Minimal achievement is not helping — still losing talent
2010 Report the product of these questions: is anyone really considering wasted potential?
3 years work for this new report
Early years demonstrated excellence, but by 8th grade loses all advances
“Excellence gap” = measurement of differences in high level performance between
across minority groups: 2% achieve excellences… unfathomable… yet, this was an increase over previous measurements
Means huge pool of wasted talent
Critics impugn that these studies claim that excellence gaps are more important to close than minimum competency gaps: not so! : moral and ethical requirement to assist the lowest levels, but minimal competency should not be the sole policy focus
“Free and reduced lunch” defined
Impact of poverty on education
Opportunity gaps v. achievement gaps
Untapped talent
Not equity v. excellence: this is equity AND excellence
Bias towards reporting or testing results towards minimum competency and avoiding excellence gaps
Laws of unintended consequence
Example of special education: can be followed for excellence gap in policy
How to get more students performing at the highest level?
Next study: looking at state k-12 accountability and how each treats excellence. Currently , they either ignore excellence or implicitly penalize it. And these systems drive priorities for instruction
add straight forward-indicators on excellence to promote awareness and action on driving excellence.
Excellence is an American value, should be imnportant. We can achieve equity and excellence.
We don’t limit achievement in extracurricular activities so why in academics?
The A+ Club from School4Schools.com LLC, based in Arlington, VA, is dedicated to helping students across the U.S.A. meet their goals and find the academic success the want and deserve. Contact us here or call now to (703) 271-5334 to see how we can help.
Before leaving the classroom in order to work directly with students, parents, and teachers, Michael Bromley taught Social Studies at Archbishop Carroll High School in NE Washington, DC for eight incredibly inspiring and happy years. Prior to that, Bromley built a successful export and distribution company based in Miami, FL, Asuncion, Paraguay, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is the author of two books, Stretching It: The Story of the Limousine and William Howard Taft: The First Motoring Presidency, 1909-1913, and many magazine articles on automotive and political history. Bromley loves history, cars, kids, and learning.
The A+ Club from School4Schools.com LLC, based in Arlington, VA, is dedicated to helping students across the U.S.A. meet their goals and find the academic success the want and deserve. Contact us here or call now to (703) 271-5334 to see how we can help.
Helping middle & high school students and parents find academic success: tutoring, coaching & mentoring from the A+ Club
Real solutions for Procrastination from Dr. Timothy A. Pychyl, part 1
