Educator & author Robert Ward's blog for teachers & parents to become allies in education
Use these eight words when practicing mindfulness in the classroom and remembering the importance of presence for teachers: Patience Relaxation Empathy Serenity Engagement Non-judgment Centeredness Even temperament Patience In order to be truly present, we can learn to not rush the moment or seek to hurry to the next event. Choosing patience allows us to … Continue reading Practicing Presence and Daily Mindfulness for Teachers
Compassion fatigue can occur when our expressions of empathy and our acts of altruism begin to have a negative effect on our lives. A crucial component of living the benefit mindset is that in order to support the wellbeing of others, we must be sure to attend to our own health and happiness as well. This … Continue reading 10 Ways to Avoid Benefit Mindset Burnout and Compassion Fatigue
Every student benefits from curriculum and assignments that take them outside of themselves and their own personal (and perhaps painful) worlds. How can anyone say they’re only interested in a narrow range of subjects or activities if they haven’t been consistently exposed to people, places, topics, and situations that may be initially foreign, yet on … Continue reading A Benefit Mindset Helps Students Overcome Trauma (Education Week featured article)
With so much talk today about the importance of mindsets in education, one of the best ways to prepare for a successful parent/teacher conference is for the teacher to enter into those meetings with a positive attitude about how much responsibility each parent bears for the actions and accomplishments of their child. Through decades of … Continue reading Why Teachers Should Think Twice Before Blaming Parents (EdWeek featured article)
Push your students’ buttons from time to time! Provoke them and rile them up! But do so within a set of established procedures so students can air their thoughtful, informed opinions in a civil and intelligent manner. Honoring your students’ ideas and insights is a great way to get them “into” a new lesson or … Continue reading Taking a Stand: Engaging Students through Controversy
I recently had the honor of being interviewed by Tavis Beem and Danny Hauger for their excellent show, Inspiring Teachers. The subject was my latest book, Teaching the Benefit Mindset: Moving Empathy, Inclusion, and Altruism to the Forefront of Education. "Robert Ward is an ELA pro with blogging and growth to the ceiling of the … Continue reading Inspiring Teachers Show Interview: Teaching the Benefit Mindset
Predicting is a wonderful engagement tool because it encourages your students to be wonder-filled! The act of predicting places students in the driver’s seat of learning as they plot out the most probable destinations of where your curriculum and their learning will take them. Allow your students to be forward thinking and to come up … Continue reading Predictions: Activating Curiosity and Honoring Student Input
Most people know about the growth mindset and using the word "yet" as a way of maintaining self-confidence and hope, especially when one's growth process and path to success are long and riddled with setbacks. There's a world of difference and a wealth of optimism by changing your mindset with the word "yet": "I can't … Continue reading The Benefit Mindset and the Power of “Get”
Kindness is often encouraged as a random act, but this is only a start. I’ve already written about how kindness can be intentional and everyday, not merely arbitrary. Now I want to take this element of purposefulness a step further and suggest we model and teach the value of being a consistently considerate person. I … Continue reading Teaching Consideration, Not Just Kindness: A Benefit Mindset Lesson
It is part of our natural development to seek out work, even at a young age. Toddlers mimic their parents' household chores before they're old enough to be helpful. In primary grades, students want jobs in the classroom. By high school, adolescents seek value through traditional jobs or other service opportunities. But can a teenager … Continue reading Teen Jobs, Being of Service, and the Benefit Mindset (Guest article by Ron Stefanski)
