What I Was Reading This Week

Great Teachers. A great teacher can make all the difference in your child’s life. I know. My kids have had the incredibly good fortune of having some really terrific teachers. According to an article in The Atlantic, Teach for America has been gathering data for more than 10 years and has started to pinpoint some of the key attributes of a great teacher and to use that information to improve the selection and training of its teachers.

Expertise and Perseverance. Penelope Trunk has a post up this week discussing the idea that expertise results from almost daily hard work over a period of at least ten years and not as a result of innate talent. These are the same ideas behind Malcom Gladwell’s theory of Outliers. To me, this discussion raises all kinds of questions about what might motivate someone to spend so much focussed time on a pursuit — and to persevere when they encounter failure. At least part of the answer was offered by Jennifer Kolari last week in her post about helping children succeed.

It Made My Day. I also spent way too much time this week reading this website, which collects little snapshots of things that made someone’s day (h/t to Gretchen Rubin of the Happiness Project). Love this one:

My 3 year old was playing with her LeapPad and in a cheerful voice it instructed, “Push the green GO circle and have fun.” She replied quite seriously, “Don’t tell me what to do.” IMMD

What have you been reading?

"Connected Parenting advises us not just how to parent, but—far more important—who to be as parents. The therapeutic methods suggested by Jennifer Kolari are based not on simple-minded behavioural solutions, but on building warm, nurturing relationships with our children, with insight and compassion not only for their little flaws, but also for our own larger ones."
—Gabor Maté, M.D.

"A must read for parents, educators, and any other adults who want to connect in a deeply caring and positive way with the children in their lives."
—Barbara Coloroso