Month: August 2016

Note to Student #4: $TEM

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math)

Student,

As of August 2016, half of all high-paying jobs in America require at least some computer coding knowledge or skill.

“High paying” is defined by an annual income of $60,000 or more. If terms like SQL, Python, and Javascript aren’t familiar to you, then half of all U.S. companies will not be interested in hiring you.

Just something you should think about the next time you’re chilling on social media, watching TV, or playing video games.

Why not teach yourself to code. Khan Academy has a free course and it’s the real deal. 

Your future matters. Learn.

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Advertisement

Note to Student #2: You are the Company You Keep

Student,

If your friends drink, eventually you will begin to drink. If you are friends with smokers, you will become a smoker. If you hang out with robbers, thieves, pill heads and otherwise trifling people, you too will become trifling.

Just the same, if you hang out with friends who are focused on school, you too, will focus more on school. If your friends spend their evenings studying, you will find yourself studying more. If your friends strive for excellence, you will begin to expect excellence from yourself, too.

Please be intentional about who you choose to be friends with, for you are the company you keep.

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Note to Student #1: We are Counting on You!

Student,

Set academic goals, and set those goals high. Take full responsibility for your actions and your results. “Google” has made prolonged ignorance inexcusable. If you can’t gain an understanding from your classroom teacher, go online and find the teacher, video, article, or blog post you need.

Make sure you practice self discipline. Become obsessed with self improvement. Read and read a lot! Manage your time well and keep going, even when (not if) there is adversity and strife in your personal life.

I believe in you. You have a purpose. You are here for a reason. You are reading this for a reason. It’s time and the time is now! Get busy, because our school, our city, our state, our country, our world is counting on you! We need you to be at your very best.

Regards,

Mr. Guest

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Execution.

Reading and learning from books is good.

Listening and learning from podcasts is good.

Watching and learning from documentaries, youtube, social media, etc., is good.

Not applying what you learn – is BAD!

It’s good to learn from those before us. It’s good to learn from those around us. However, we should never be satisfied with merely “learning.” Don’t just learn the success stories of others. Instead, apply and execute on what you learn and then create a success story of your own!

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Successful Students vs Poor Performing Students.

90% of the human population have roughly the same IQ.

5% are above the norm.

5% are below the norm.

Almost ALL of us are born with the same intellectual capacity.

Question: Why do some students succeed and some students fail?

Answer: HABITS

Successful students aren’t born “good at school.” Successful students establish good “Academic Habits” early on, and then those habits carry them through college and beyond.

Top 5 Academic Habits (In order of Importance)

  1. Good Behavior – “Sit Down, Be Quiet and Listen!”
  2. Specific Homework Spot and Specific Homework Time.
  3. Complete All Math Homework – Every Problem, Every Assignment and then do more!
  4. Study – Know how to Study and Retain Information. Then, the student actually applies the Study Habits they know by studying and studying often.
  5. Perseverance – When problems or work is confusing, successful students have the habit of “pushing through.” Successful students understand that some work will be difficult. Moreover, successful students know that they are smart enough to figure it out if they just keep trying. Successful students don’t quit.

Poor performing students often want to succeed. Poor performing students often care about their grades. Unfortunately, poor performing students just haven’t built the same habits as their successful classmates.

Ultimately, we are all slaves to our habits. We become what we repeatedly do. We have to be insanely intentional about our everyday actions. We have to be insanely intentional about the habits we form.

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.

 

 

“5-6 Pages” Every Subject, Every Night. (Part 1 of 2)

Part 1

Why is it wrong to expect our students to read?

Why is it wrong to expect our students to read the entire textbook? Not all at once of course, but 5 to 6 pages – every night?.. Would that be too much to ask of our children?

Why is it wrong to expect our students to study the 5 to 6 pages that they read – every night? Would it be wrong to assign homework questions over those 5 to 6 pages – every night?

Would it be wrong to give a daily quiz, covering the previous nights reading assignment? Would it be wrong to give this quiz, first thing every single class period?

After the quiz, would it be wrong to discuss the quiz questions/answers in class? What if the teacher then transitioned from this discussion to a lesson that re-explained or built upon the 5-6 pages that were assigned the night before? Every Friday, could the teacher give an exam that covered the 25-30 pages that were assigned during the week?

Would it be wrong for an entire school to make “5-6 Pages” the norm for every subject? Would this strategy challenge our students, consistently?

Would the expectation of reading and mastering 5-6 pages every night, for every subject, be too much too ask?

 

(Continued below in the following post.)

“5-6 Pages” Every Subject, Every Night. (Part 2 of 2)

(Part 2 of 2 – Continued from Part 1)

As educators, we over-complicate teaching and learning.

We over emphasize technology.

We over emphasize group work.

We over emphasize project based learning.

We place too much emphasis on entertaining our students and too little emphasis on educating our students. Lets get back to the basics!

Students should read – more!

Students should write – more!

Students should study – more!

And finally, students should be quizzed, tested, and assessed on their progress!

Educators, we must raise our expectations! We should take the textbook, read it, study it, and master every page. Afterwards, we should demand that our students read, study and master every single page too. Sure, we can add our individual touch to our lessons, notes, and stories. We can supplement the textbook any way we deem necessary. We can add to the textbook, but we should never subtract from the textbook. We must cover every page!

Will the students like this approach? No, but that’s not news! We already know that most students don’t like to read. We already know that most students don’t like to write. However, just because the students don’t like to do it, does not mean we shouldn’t make them do it!

We are the educators! And we should make our students read, write, and study the entire textbook – 5 to 6 pages at a time!

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Entitlement Syndrome

Below is a list of everything we are entitled to:

  1. ____________________
  2. ____________________
  3. ____________________
  4. ____________________
  5. ____________________
  6. ____________________
  7. ____________________
  8. ____________________
  9. ____________________
  10. ____________________

Get it?

Let’s get to work. Success is earned not given.

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Step Into Your Greatness!

The secret to stepping into your greatness is simple: TAKING STEPS!

Even if your steps are small, those small steps represent action! To step into your greatness, you must take steps – you must take action!

We can visualize and dream all day long, but until we take action – our dreams are just “make believe.” Until we take action our dreams are just “fairy tales.”

You are not a character within a children’s book! You are real! And this is real life! You were born to create! You were born to build! You were born to achieve greatness!

Step into your greatness – today!

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.