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Reading tops the list of daily habits observed in wealthy, successful people

 • Issues in Education

You encourage students to read and teach them to set reading goals because you know it will help them later in life.

But, did you also know it might make them financially well off?

Tom Corley, an accountant and financial planner, researched the common habits of wealthy people for his book Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals. He discovered the difference between self-made millionaires compared to people making less than $35,000 a year came down to seven regular habits. And guess what? Reading tops the list….
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Feeling burned out? Maybe it’s finally time to seek a better work/life balance

 • Issues in Education

Last week my father died.

He had been unwell for quite awhile, but the end still came much too quick. What troubles me the most is the time I didn’t spend with him. We lived 600 miles apart, and while I sent fairly regular emails (my father didn’t text), I rarely picked up the phone to call him. My dad was a talker, and I knew if I called I would be on the phone for an hour at the very least. It felt like I didn’t have the time. I was tired after spending 11 hours at work each day; on the weekends, there was always grading and planning and household chores.

Now when I think about how I’ll never speak to him again, my heart aches, and I’m filled with regret. I’ve been asking myself: Why couldn’t I have just set aside an hour a week to call? Why couldn’t I find the time?

I can’t turn back the clock, but I can make a change in my life going forward….
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Tuning in or tuning out: Does listening to music help or hurt students in class?

 • Issues in Education

“Please can we listen to music while we work?”

How many times have you heard that plea? Students say the music helps them focus, and they will do better. But is that really true?

According to most research studies, the answer is no. Although motivation increases, performance on literacy tasks decreases when students listen to music with lyrics. Since language-processing centers are activated while listening to music with lyrics, reading and writing activities become more difficult. The brain fights to process two types of stimuli at once, and students struggle later to remember information they read….
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How to handle teaching dystopian novels in today’s political climate

 • Issues in Education

When reality mirrors fiction, how do we keep from being political in the classroom?

My 8th grade students just finished a reading unit in which they read a mix of dystopian novels in literature circles. They were tasked with analyzing the social and political issues in their books and then making comparisons between their own novels and supplemental texts, such as the story “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut. Their summative assessment essay question asked them how the author of their book and Vonnegut used their texts to examine elements in our own society. How does that not open up a discussion of current political topics in the news this year?

Since the presidential inauguration, sales of classic dystopian books, such as George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, have become bestsellers again. Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway’s use of the term “alternative facts” to refer to false statements the administration made has led to comparisons between the dystopian societies and our current government. As a result, teachers are left in dangerous territory where it’s easy to cross a political line in trying to make reading relevant to students’ changing world….
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Survey shows fewer middle school students enjoy reading for fun

 • Issues in Education

Middle school students report enjoying books less while high school students report enjoying books more, according to a recently released survey.

 A Scholastic and YouGov survey released last month shows middle school students (12-14 years old) reported an 11 percent drop in reading enjoyment between 2010 and 2016 while high school students (15-17) reported a 4 percent gain during that same time.

 While that’s good news for high school teachers, middle school teachers are left wondering what happened. The survey does not explore the causes, so it made me wonder about a couple of possibilities.

…
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Cursive or print? Does it really matter?

 • Issues in Education

A few months ago I read the 2016 YA novel, How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather. From the first few chapters, I knew this was a story my students would love, and I became excited to do a book talk for my classes.

Then I encountered what I knew would be a roadblock for many students. No, it wasn’t difficult vocabulary or mature content. The story used fictional letters from the 1600s that were printed in cursive type to appear authentic. The problem? The majority of my seventh and eighth grade students cannot read cursive writing….
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