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The way in which we experience and interpret the world obviously depends very much indeed on the kind of ideas that fill our minds. If they are mainly small, weak, superficial, and incoherent, life will appear insipid, uninteresting, petty and chaotic. It is difficult to bear the resultant feeling of emptiness, and the vacuum of our minds may only too easily be filled by some big, fantastic notion—political or otherwise—which suddenly seems to illumine everything and to give meaning and purpose to our existence. It needs no emphasis that herein lies one of the great dangers of our time.
—E.F. Schumacher, Small Is Beautiful (1973)
So: what kinds of ideas fill your mind?
From Chapter 2 of Good Habits, Good Students:
Here’s a good way to find out where you need the most improvement: check your report card. Don’t just look at the grades, though. Check the comments your teachers write about each subject.
Far too often when students receive report cards, they check their marks and then stop reading. However, if your reports include comments from each teacher, these can be more useful than the grades when it comes to figuring out what you need to do to improve.
Not all comments by teachers are useful in this way. Some consist mostly of a standard description of what the class has studied in the previous term. There may be only a brief comment on your own work, and sometimes such comments emphasize what is most positive—which is nice, but not helpful if you’re trying to identify your weaknesses.
Sometimes, too, teachers’ comments are written in a kind of secret code I call “report-speak”. “George has a good understanding of blah blah blah”, you read. Sounds good. Actually, however, a “good” understanding may be the third– or fourth–best level, below other possibilities like “excellent” and “very good”. Once you realize this, “good understanding” doesn’t sound so good anymore.
Because comments on reports don’t always include the information you’re looking for, and because they are sometimes written in report-speak, any attempt to use your report card to discover where you most need to improve must include this vital step: asking your teachers, in person.
Before you speak with them, however, do a bit of preparatory work. Continue reading Where do you need to improve?
A recent news article reports on research that appears to debunk the standard advice to drink lots of water—”8 glasses a day” being the usual formula.
Here’s the way Will Dunham, reporting for Reuters news service, opened his story:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The notion that guzzling glasses of water to flood yourself with good health is all wet, researchers said on Wednesday.
Dr. Stanley Goldfarb and Dr. Dan Negoianu of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia reviewed the scientific literature on the health effects of drinking lots of water.
People in hot, dry climates and athletes have an increased need for water, and people with certain diseases do better with increased fluid intake, they found. But for average healthy people, more water does not seem to mean better health, they said.
The article goes on to cite a long list of ailments that, according to the researchers, are NOT cured or prevented by drinking water.
Fine. But here’s my question: if you don’t drink water, what will you drink instead?
Coffee? Soda pop? Chocolate milk? Even fruit juice can be overdone. And if you think plain milk is a good idea, do a little research on lactose intolerance. Green tea?— only if it’s not loaded up with sugar.
The short answer: water may not cure your ills, but it won’t mess up your digestion or rot your teeth or lead to diabetes, either.
So go ahead: drink the water.
I’ve just upgraded the site to WordPress 2.5, and after a few months in which I’ve been extremely busy with other things I hope to resume more frequent posting soon. In the meantime, if you find that something on the site doesn’t work, please let me know!
He had not understood that in seventh grade he was responsible for handing in his homework, instead of waiting to be asked.
The New York Times has an article, “Giving Disorganized Boys the Tools for Success”, that echoes much of the advice you’ll find here: learn to file your papers, use a homework diary, find a quiet place to study, etc. The article quotes a Grade 12 boy who, with the help of an organization tutor, raised his grade average from B- to B+:
“I was really happy about that,” he said. “I always thought I could do it, and I didn’t understand why I couldn’t. I just needed that backing, that structure.”
All of us—not just students, and not just boys—can benefit from the support of others as we try to improve our habits. A parent, a tutor, a friend—find someone who will help motivate you and keep you on track.
One of my Grade 9 students, still learning English, wrote this in an essay:
Helping others are also very easy. You can volunteer only one minute to others. For example, pick up rubbish, five seconds. Wait in the elevator while people are coming, five seconds. You can only use a minute to help others. Then, you will have a habit, helping others. No one forcing to help others, you get habit, that is the greatest habit in the world.
Couldn’t say it better myself.
Heart attacks just come out of nowhere, right? They happen to anybody, without warning, right?
Wrong. In the vast majority of cases, they are caused by years of bad habits.
MyHealthInsight.com reports on a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finding that 90% of the people who suffer heart attacks have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes, and/or smoke cigarettes.
In other words, people who are overweight because they eat loads of sugar and fat and processed foods, people who don’t exercise regularly, people who smoke—they are the ones, 9 times out of 10, who have heart attacks.
It’s not just bad luck.
It’s not just luck, either, that some students do well in school and others do poorly. Good habits make good students.
Thanks to The Habit Guy for pointing to this story.
When I was 14 I came home after school and ate enormous amounts of food. I remember eating, for example, an entire half-gallon bucket of vanilla ice cream (more than two litres). Despite this behaviour my tummy stayed slim and I never suffered any ill effects. By the time I was 30, however, the eating habits I acquired in my youth had become toxic, even lethal. My 14-year-old metabolic rate had slowed to a crawl, and all that junk food turned into fat. The habits that worked fine for me as a kid were disastrous for me as an adult.
Something similar happens in school. Does anyone really need to write down homework assignments before Grade 9 or 10? No, not usually. There’s not that much homework, and life is not filled with appointments, meetings, to-do lists, complicated work schedules, and an endless sequence of family obligations.
So as young people we are betrayed into developing bad habits that work fine for us in the short run, but cause us big headaches in the long run.
Do yourself a favour if you’re in Grades 6-9, and try to develop good habits now, not because you need them now, but because you will need them later.
Are you hungry because you’re growing so fast your pants are always too short? Fine: eat! But don’t eat loads of sugar and processed foods. Fill up with whole grains and fruits and vegetables. Drink water, not colas and other sugar-laced beverages.
Are you tempted to skip writing homework assignments in your school agenda or diary because you can remember them just fine—or can ask a classmate later tonight? Write them down anyway, every time, so that using a homework diary becomes as automatic and painless as brushing your teeth. Then when your life becomes really complicated (and it will, I promise!) you will already have one of the most important habits you’ll need to keep everything organized and under control.
Don’t let yourself develop bad habits when you’re young, just because you can get away with them painlessly, because believe me: the pain will come!
Two educators I greatly respect have written reviews of Good Habits, Good Students and have kindly allowed me to post them here.
Caroline Ellwood was one of the founders of the International Baccalaureate’s Middle Years Programme. She has been a middle school teacher and principal, taught IB Theory of Knowledge, and has been a leading proponent of Islamic Studies in international schools. She is currently editor of International Schools and the International Schools Journal, the two flagship publications of the Council of International Schools.
Konrad Glogowski is well known and widely respected for his blog of proximal development, in which he chronicles his work as a middle-school teacher in Canada. If you teach secondary school, have a look: Konrad is sure to challenge and inspire you.
I am grateful to Caroline and Konrad for taking the time to read Good Habits, and very pleased that they have positive things to say about it.
This piece from AcademHack, aimed at university students, applies equally well to older high school students who are college-bound. Start acquiring these tools and using them in Grade 11 and you will find that when you enter university you are well ahead of many of your peers.
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